Monday, September 28, 1998
Dreamworks hopes to infiltrate animation market
FILM: Fledgling studio hopes to get edge by releasing ‘Antz’
before Disney’s ‘A Bug’s Life’
By Sandy Yang
Daily Bruin Contributor
This fall, moviegoers who are anticipating this year’s
equivalent of "Toy Story" will be seeing double. Well, make that a
few thousand tiny characters that will invade the big screen in
Dreamworks’ "Antz" and Disney’s "A Bug’s Life." Both are
computer-generated and about cute insects, and there’s no question
the coincidence is uncanny. The big question, however, is how each
film will fare against the other.
The competition between the two films only scratches the surface
of what’s at stake, especially for Dreamworks. The fledgling studio
is going up against the very well-established Disney in a battle
for the animation market. Disney has proved to be the victor time
and time again. Others have tried, including Warner Bros., whose
most recent attempt at animation – "The Quest for Camelot" – was
quickly forgotten when "Mulan" arrived in theaters this summer. So
far, no other studios have even come close to matching the wildly
lucrative success Disney has enjoyed in the past 10 years with
record-breaking blockbuster hits such as "The Lion King" and
"Aladdin."
Even with fairly successful films such as "Anastasia" and "Space
Jam" from Fox and Warner Bros., respectively, Disney by far has the
stronghold on the animation market. Now, Dreamworks is positioning
itself against Disney not once, but twice. The second battle being
Dreamworks’ first animated feature, "Prince of Egypt," opening on
Dec. 18.
Unlike the other studios, Dreamworks can sport one of its
founders, Jeffrey Katzenberg, as a crucial element in making its
animated features something to be reckoned with. Katzenberg, a
former Disney employee, was the driving force for "The Little
Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King." With "Prince
of Egypt," Dreamworks makes its first submission into the
traditional animation market and also as Katzenberg’s first
animated project, a key film in establishing Dreamworks as a major
player in the animation industry.
"If anyone’s going to be able to do it, it’s going to be the
architect of the Disney animation renaissance who’s at Dreamworks
now," says Daily News film writer Bob Strauss. "You can certainly
expect Disney to try to counter-program that."
Yet, Dreamworks seems to be making the first move. Originally
scheduled to open in March of 1999, "Antz" will be the first
animated bug movie out of the chute and into theaters on Oct. 2,
six months earlier than planned. The conspicuous move would give
"Antz" a six-week leeway ahead of "A Bug’s Life" (Nov. 20), a
strategy Strauss says is simply, "to be the first out with a
similar subject matter … because generally the first one out does
better." (Dreamworks declined to comment for this story.)
Boxoffice Magazine Editor in Chief Kim Williamson believes the
move to the earlier date for "Antz" is nothing less but for the
mere survival of the film.
"I do think (the earlier date) gives ‘Antz’ a better shot than
it would have because it’s a movie coming out from a studio that’s
much, much, much younger than Disney," Williamson said. "With
Disney, they also have a big plus in that they can say ‘John
Lasseter.’ And because of ‘Toy Story,’ everyone knows (the film’s
producer) John Lasseter, so they’re willing to go see his next
movie. Whereas the Dreamworks folks, they can’t say that. It’s
just, ‘Here’s an animated movie about insects.’ So it probably was
a very good thing for ‘Antz’ that it hopped out first. If it
happened the other way around, I think it would be really bad for
‘Antz.’"
Visiting associate professor in the School of Theater, Film and
Television, Jonathan Kuntz, does not believe the timing of these
films is necessarily one studio trying to disembowel the success of
the other.
"They don’t like to go head-to-head, which is my guess," Kuntz
said. "But they have to get it out when kids are available, so
they’re kind of confined to those time periods. So it ends up that
they go head-to-head with one another."
"I don’t think they have much choice," Strauss said. "It seems
to be when animated films are begun years in advance before their
release, they’re pretty work intensive. It takes a lot longer to
make this film than to make a live action feature. There is a
demand for them, at least for the Disney stuff. And Dreamworks is
definitely hoping to be the next Disney, and so when you have them
ready to go, you’ve got to go with them."
Even though the idea of animating fairly uniform bugs would seem
easier than a roomful of versatile toys, "A Bug’s Life" actually
took the same four years "Toy Story" had to produce. This time,
computer animation is delving into what "A Bug’s Life" producers
Darla Anderson and Kevin Reher describe as "the translucency and
iridescence found in the insect world."
"’A Bug’s Life’ was far more difficult to animate due to the
complexity of the characters," Anderson said. "On ‘Toy Story,’ Buzz
and Woody were the most complex, but on (‘A Bug’s Life’ the most
simple characters were to the level of Buzz and Woody."
Even with competition this time against Pixar’s second feature
film, Anderson and Reher don’t believe "Antz" will have an impact
on the success of "A Bug’s Life."
"Our movies are very different in visual look, tone and story,"
Anderson said.
Despite the years in production, the time has never been spent
in vain for Disney who is tentatively scheduled to release the
second installment of "Toy Story" in Christmas of 1999. In the past
10 years, Disney has not made many false moves. Even though the
past few animated features such as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
and "Hercules" had not done as well as their most recent
predecessors, Disney’s iron reputation as the ultimate bearer of
quality family entertainment has always remained intact – another
reason why it’s so hard to take away Disney’s business.
"There’s just a certain history behind Disney that is going to
be really difficult to replicate," Williamson said.
Its appeal has not only brought in a loyal following and
impressive revenues, but a multitude of celebrities who have lent
their voices to Disney’s colorful characters throughout the years.
Not only can Disney bring in the big names, but in some cases, the
match between celebrity and character is made so well that the
casting is actually well known, an added incentive that brings the
audience back for more in the case of sequels.
"You’ve got to give (Disney) credit for making some very smart
moves with the voice actors and bringing in certain celebrity
talents like Robin Williams specifically, which takes their films
to a whole new level," Kuntz said. "Certainly the Disney name is
going to attract the top superstars of Hollywood."
There is not a scarcity of big names behind the little creatures
in "Antz " and "A Bug’s Life." "Antz" brings in celebrities such as
Woody Allen, Sharon Stone and Sylvester Stallone while "A Bug’s
Life" includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin Spacey and Dave Foley in
its cast. But Williamson stresses that the likability of the
Hollywood star is just as important to the film’s appeal, pointing
to the success of "Toy Story."
"You had this movie star that everyone in the universe just
loved, Tom Hanks. And Tim Allen, a TV star who everyone seems to
like, and so there was a great likability just for the voices that
people seem to like to hear," Williamson said. "And Woody Allen’s
voice? Well … the last thing that Dreamworks needs to do or any
studio that’s trying to compete with Disney in terms of animation
is to have people who really love film be the audience that shows
up. What you want is mass appeal."
For Dreamworks, "’Prince of Egypt’ will test whether parents
will take the little ones to an animated feature that is a
departure from the usual Disney fare about the early life of Moses,
or stick with renting a classic Disney film.
"The competing computer bug movie notwithstanding, (Dreamworks)
do seem with ‘Prince of Egypt’ to be trying to … do something
different enough from the Disney formula that they could, well,
click. I think most other studios fail by slavishly copying the
Disney formula."
But with no other successful examples to look up to, the future
is yet to be seen if Dreamworks’ attempt at doing something
different will pay off in the end. Even with four scheduled
animated films this season, including "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed
Reindeer: The Movie" voiced by Whoopi Goldberg and Paul McCartney,
Kuntz believes that if the films are good, they will most likely
reach an audience.
"I don’t think that kids just are going to one film and that’s
it. I’ve seen my one film this year, I’ve got to retire now. If you
have two really great films, kids will go to two great films."
"I think really, the question is is there going to be enough
room for all the animated films," Williamson said. "If you have
Warner Bros., Fox, Dreamworks and Disney all making films,
certainly at the level that Dreamworks seems to be eager to put
out, probably not. But is there room for Disney and certain entries
from a variety of other players? I think there is. There is plenty
of audience out there as long as the films are good."
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