[note to NWC head: This is a response article, Crystal Crysis review will be due at the end of this month] This article is in response to this video from a youtuber called WoollyOne regarding the state of animated film as of recent at the height of the "UglyDolls" film
It's true that the outlook of current Animated films looks bleak, that's because the only outlet we normally see this occurring is mostly in the cinema and the advertising for such therein Believe it or not, There IS good films out there before and after Pixar's "UP" - all you have to do is look for them In fact, Most of the good animated films either A: Get a limited release B: SVOD only (see: Mark Osborne's The Little Prince) C: Not released in the US at all (despite an English dub) D: US audience be lazy Allow me to aid the parents and those that are aimless thanks to Hollywood monopolizing options on the silver screen and people too lazy to buy a Fathom Event ticket #1: There's More to Animation than What's On The Silver Screen Wanna know why good films like Iron Giant, Cats Don't Dance, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Laika's The Missing Link and alike tank in the box office? Because of these likely factors - Moronic executives that have no faith in quality products (example: scheduling "Winnie The Pooh" on the same day as the final part of the Harry Potter anthology) - Film execs who think they know what kids want, basically - THESE kind of idiots
and finally, Bad Marketing and Release Dates 2 films come to mind in terms of execs killing a good film with a horrid release date, Mr. Peabody and Sherman and the last 2D film Disney released, the titular anthology film "Winnie the Pooh" DreamWorks (brain geniuses they are) released Mr. Peabody and Sherman on the same day as the pointless and critically panned 300 sequel and did a rubbish job marketing the film but then after the film tanked (no thanks to them), they blamed the film for being "too smart" for it's failure Winnie The Pooh had it far worse, picture this - Disney trying to return to it's glory after a slew of misfires like Chicken Little, makes a whimsical true to form 2D Winnie the Pooh film that's actually fun to watch and how did they handle this kind of quality and effort by not promoting the film well enough and let it die at the hands of Harry Potter
Bottom line, Just because a film has all the marketing and be in the top 10 or (god forbid) the #1 movie in the nation - doesn't mean it's good
Take the Ice Age films for instance, overall it make $6 million dollars over all of it's projects and as of now, nobody cares about them [same applies for Despicable Me/Minions]
Continuation: Where the Good Films Be At?
Great/Good Animated Films are kind of a rare endeavor either they are not marketed well and likely leave your cinema within a month or are likely to require you to buy a Fathom Event ticket or so [that's mostly involving the cinema on the record] But i can help with how and where you can find good films 1. Sometimes a good film can be ruined by a bad trailer or horrid TV ads (example: Mr. Peabody and Sherman), It's best to examine if there is good film despite how much they want to sabotage it with trendy cringe like music not in the film, scenes not in the film and and all that - be skeptical of Hollywood's tomfoolery 2. Physical Media: True, With everyone and their granny going to streaming - It seems like physical media is dying out but it's not to let it die as there are good stuff worth hunting for (more in the next part) 3. SVOD: While SVOD is a turkey shoot thanks to the fact that literally EVERYONE is trying to get into the streaming gold rush (examples: Disney+, CBS All Access and DC Universe) - it's best [for now] to rely on these services to find the buried treasures: Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video 4. Go Region Free: Acquiring a region-free Blu-Ray/DVD player [the best you can find] is beneficial in finding hidden gems #2: There's A Diamond In the Rough (or Physical Media worth hunting for)
as stated, Physical Media is a must to expand your horizons for your family
for instance, Suppose you want to see The Little Prince but are scared of Netflix's fee - you can easily import either the Blu-Ray or DVD of the film from canada as Canada shares the same region code as the US https://www.amazon.com/Little-Prince-James-Franco/dp/B01F8505M4/
There are other films on DVD/Blu-ray (Region 1 or otherwise) you can hunt down (especially after acquiring a region free player) like: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Bad-Other-Tales-Blu-ray/dp/B07QJ5XZ3C/ https://www.amazon.com/Moomins-Riviera-DVD-Irina-Bjorklund/dp/B00Z7EHMTG/
https://www.amazon.com/Ernest-Celestine-DVD-Combo-Blu-ray/dp/B00GOT165E/ https://www.amazon.com/Komaneko/dp/B000P5FF82/ https://www.amazon.com/Budori-Gusuko-Blu-ray-Artist-Provided/dp/B077JPB7C3/ (ignore the rating, the film is really good) https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00BZOBEWI/ref=tmm_dvd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1557606054&sr=8-2 (Wombling Free: Try eBay if out of luck - it's actually a fun movie) https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Man-Katharina-Thalbach/dp/B00GJTKW6I/ https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Game-Bluray-Combo-Blu-ray/dp/B07CTYDS3M/ these and many others are worth hunting down, all you have to do is explore #3: The Past Has Some Treasures Physical Media and SVOD has gems from the past, but mostly Physical Media This is why going beyond the silver screen and all the "current year" rubbish is a good thing here are some Gems from the past you can get for you or your entire family https://www.amazon.com/Hugo-Hippo-Robert-Morley/dp/B01M6BFNWK/ https://www.amazon.com/Gay-Purr-ee/dp/B01M6BGH7S https://www.amazon.com/Twice-Upon-Time-John-Korty/dp/B01M745O68/ https://www.amazon.com/Animalympics-Billy-Crystal/dp/B079FLRBR6/ https://www.amazon.com/Panda-Go-Blu-Ray/dp/B07451CRK1 The major thing is there's more to film than what's being marketed to ya sure there are good ones about like "Pokemon: Detective Pikachu" but Hollywood these days are starting to show that they care less about quality and providing a memorable film and more about turning animated films into a thing to distract kids and likely forgotten within the following year for a sake of a quick buck It's best to go beyond the cinema and find films you likely might like Hope this helps those who read it, thanks for reading and i hope your adventure in media is a great one
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