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Tuesday, 13 March 2007 04:42 pm
(no subject)
Sometime in the last month, one of my friends complained about the proliferation of CG movies. He declared them to be soulless, with the exception of the better Pixar productions.
It's true that 2006 presented record numbers not just of animated features in general and CG features in particular, but of CG features that bombed. The process obviously has gotten easier: No company would have banked on Everyone's Hero half a decade ago. In some cases, like Jimmy Neutron and Hoodwinked, the designs and movement are unreal enough to appear lazy. It makes sense that this friend, who likes 16-bit consoles best for handling 2D better than today's 3D, would object. Other times, like in The Polar Express, the realism backfires by creeping out many viewers. I imagine that kids are less likely to feel that way.
But here's the thing: what my friend says about CG was probably said before about all animation. And before that, all film. And maybe even all theater. The only way that these media -- these forms of phoniness -- could be legitimized in the eyes of purists, and stay so, was with practice. Once the novelty of the pioneers wore off, junkiness rolled in, but the good stuff kept coming as well. A moratorium would do no favor to the dignity of good artists. Neither would a monopoly. And Disney has had enough of that.
( 'Soul,' huh? )
Ultimately, my guess is that as much as we embrace new technology for other purposes, we become highly suspect when it enters the realms of our greatest interests.
It's true that 2006 presented record numbers not just of animated features in general and CG features in particular, but of CG features that bombed. The process obviously has gotten easier: No company would have banked on Everyone's Hero half a decade ago. In some cases, like Jimmy Neutron and Hoodwinked, the designs and movement are unreal enough to appear lazy. It makes sense that this friend, who likes 16-bit consoles best for handling 2D better than today's 3D, would object. Other times, like in The Polar Express, the realism backfires by creeping out many viewers. I imagine that kids are less likely to feel that way.
But here's the thing: what my friend says about CG was probably said before about all animation. And before that, all film. And maybe even all theater. The only way that these media -- these forms of phoniness -- could be legitimized in the eyes of purists, and stay so, was with practice. Once the novelty of the pioneers wore off, junkiness rolled in, but the good stuff kept coming as well. A moratorium would do no favor to the dignity of good artists. Neither would a monopoly. And Disney has had enough of that.
( 'Soul,' huh? )
Ultimately, my guess is that as much as we embrace new technology for other purposes, we become highly suspect when it enters the realms of our greatest interests.
