(Source: www.post-gazette.com)
As the #2 animation studio in North America, DreamWorks Animation had a tough 2006. While its rival Pixar cranked out the most profitable animated movie of the summer (and a possible Oscar contender) in Cars, DreamWorks released a modest hit (Over the Hedge) and an outright bomb (Flushed Away). Other than the Shrek series and the 2004 hit Madagascar, DreamWorks' record has been decidedly mixed. Two of its last three movies required write-downs (applying to have an unprofitable movie listed as a tax write-off) which, in the case of Flushed Away, could be as high as $115 million.
Even the seemingly bulletproof Shrek 2 showed some weakness two years ago, when DVD sales failed to live up to expectations. Ths situation was so bad, that the SEC conducted an informal inquiry into the company's fiscal situation. DreamWorks passed but the damage was done.
So the studio has decided to imitate Pixar and slow down its production. According to the company, this means DreamWorks will release one original movie and one sequel a year.
"We've been racing to the finish line and that has meant compromising on story telling sometimes," claims DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. With one eye on the bottom line, he continues: "If we improve our box office performance by 10%, it adds $100 million pre-tax profit to the company."
The studio already has an intriguing slate of upcoming original flicks. Bee Movie, which features Jerry Seinfeld as writer and star, already has gained a solid buzz (pun intended) due to its unusual promotion. That hits theatres this November. 2008 sees the release of Kung Fu Panda, about an ancient panda who must learn martial arts in order to defend his village. That flick stars Jack Black and Angelina Jolie.
2009 features two original projects in the works. Monsters vs. Aliens is about a secret squad of monsters who emerge to save Earth when it is invaded by aliens. Then there's How to Train Your Dragon, based on the Cressida Cowell best-seller, about a young Viking who finds a baby dragon.
Unlike Pixar, which holds tightly to its "no unnecessary sequels" credo, DreamWorks is encouraging franchise movies to take the risk out of moviemaking. As president Lew Coleman says, "What we're really doing here is looking for sequels."
Katzenberg and Co. think they can squeeze out at least three more movies, a Christmas special and a Broadway musical before audiences get bored with Shrek. The first of these, Shrek the Third, comes out on May 18th, and the fourth movie is already slated for 2010. The studio is also contemplating a spin-off with Puss in Boots, featuring Antonio Banderas as the swashbuckling cat.
Madagascar is also being set up as a four-movie series, with the third flick aimed at a 2011 or 2012 release. Not only that, DreamWorks is negotiating with Nickelodeon to create an animated TV series around the paramilitary penguins from that movie.
DreamWorks hopes that, by that point, one of their upcoming movies will have turned into a franchise. This is not easy, considering that nearly every studio is putting out a CGI family movie these days, many featuring cute talking animals, and there's a lot more coming down the pipeline. In 2007 alone, Pixar has Ratatouille, about a rat who wants to be a French chef, and Sony Pictures Animation has Surf's Up about surfing penguins.
Sequels also have an inherent disadvantage in that they are always more expensive than the originals, usually by a factor of $30 to $50 million. One reason is that stars always ramp up their rates when approached for a sequel to a hit movie.
Another issue is that sequels, while profitable, can ultimately damage a brand name. From an audience perspective, one lousy movie can tarnish an entire franchise, as George Lucas discovered with his Star Wars prequels.
The Walt Disney Company ultimately killed its legendary animation division by cranking out thousands of direct-to-video sequels to hit movies like Aladdin and Fox and the Hound. Pixar's John Lasseter and Ed Catmull are trying to revive Disney Animation's lost lustre, but it's too soon to see whether or not their shock treatment will work.
DreamWorks' "sequel focus" may end up destroying the company as well. Early screenings indicate that Shrek the Third is in dire need of extensive retooling, and that the series' "deconstructing fairy tales for fun and profit" schtick may be growing old. Happily N'Ever After used the same formula and it's tanking at the box office.
While Madagascar was a hit, many reviews pointed out that the flick's finale was a letdown after the set-up in the first act. Not only that, it was a classic case of "minor characters stealing a movie from the stars," as the second-string penguins were more popular with audiences than Ben Stiller's lion, Queen Latifah's hippo or Chris Rock's zebra. Unless the writers of Madagascar 2 make the stars' characters more interesting, it's hard to see how it could spawn a successful franchise.
In comparison, Pixar has become the most successful CGI studio by developing a brain trust of talent that develops compelling flicks with good stories. It's interesting to note that in 12 years of hit movies, Pixar has only released one sequel, 1999's Toy Story 2. In fact, there's only one confirmed sequel in Pixar's schedule (Toy Story 3). Everything else in the studio's upcoming box is an original creation. There's a lesson in there for the other studios, one that DreamWorks should not ignore.
