Dreamworks dumbassedly states that only small children watch animated films

[Burgerpants]

So according to this link,

Quote

 

“During a meeting with investment firm analyst Benjamin Mogil of Stifel Nicolaus, DreamWorks explained to him that sometime between 2012 and 2014, kids stopped watching animated films as much as they used to, and now only very small children watch animated films.
Curiously, at the same time that DreamWorks was struggling with its “adult” animation problem, other studios were wholly unaffected. Disney scored its biggest hit ever with Frozen which appealed across a broad demographic range; Illumination had its biggest hit ever with Despicable Me 2; Pixar scored its third-highest gross worldwide with Monsters University; and Warner Bros. enjoyed an unexpected breakout smash with its broadly appealing The Lego Movie.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks is pivoting its approach to feature films, and will dumb down its output to reach a younger crowd. They’ll do so with projects like the upcoming Trolls, based on the 1960s Danish toy fad, and a film adaptation of the children’s book Boss Baby, starring a tiny, bald, stressed-out businessman.”

I... have nothing.

[terminoob]

Ugh what. They need to get some new talent that knows what they're doing.

[Metal Snake]

So according to this link,

 

I have nothing.

 

...I actually understand Dreamworks wanting to do more kid-friendly stuff to be honest. Most of this just sounded to me like the article writer's perception of what they're actually trying to do.

[terminoob]

...I actually understand Dreamworks wanting to do more kid-friendly stuff to be honest. Most of this just sounded to me like the article writer's perception of what they're actually trying to do.

 

Except the first sentence of the quote is DreamWorks saying that kids aren't watching animated movies anymore. Who are they making these movies for if they know no one's going to watch them?

[Clappy]

There is no major movie studio that I have less faith in right now than DreamWorks Animation.  Watching them struggle the way they are in terms of trying to make profitable films or get a clue as to what they're doing (and now their apparent mindset).  Because sequels, spin-offs, and adaptations can only get you so far if not done properly.  They need a new CEO badly. 

[Metal Snake]

Except the first sentence of the quote is DreamWorks saying that kids aren't watching animated movies anymore. Who are they making these movies for if they know no one's going to watch them?

 

"Meanwhile, DreamWorks is pivoting its approach to feature films, and will dumb down its output to reach a younger crowd. They’ll intellectually unstimulate viewers with projects like the upcoming Trolls, based on the 1960s Danish toy fad, and a film adaptation of the children’s book Boss Baby, starring a tiny, bald, stressed-out businessman (alternate title: The Jeffrey Katzenberg Story)."

 

I was referring to stuff like that.

[terminoob]

"Meanwhile, DreamWorks is pivoting its approach to feature films, and will dumb down its output to reach a younger crowd. They’ll intellectually unstimulate viewers with projects like the upcoming Trolls, based on the 1960s Danish toy fad, and a film adaptation of the children’s book Boss Baby, starring a tiny, bald, stressed-out businessman (alternate title: The Jeffrey Katzenberg Story)."

 

I was referring to stuff like that.

 

I know what you're referring to. I just don't get why they're deliberately dumbing down their movies to make them kid-friendly when they outright state that kids aren't watching animated movies as much as they used to. I don't understand the point of wanting to go against the grain like that when they have evidence that all-age animated movies can be successful (unless they're so up their own ass that they ignore box office numbers from any studio that isn't them and just aren't aware of Frozen, Despicable Me 2, Monster's University, or The Lego Movie). If they want to try to pander to kids then they should make a separate branch and do it from that. DreamWorks Kids or something. Like how Disney has ToonDisney make the Planes movies while normal Disney is doing things like Frozen and Big Hero 6. They're shooting themselves in the foot by thinking they're creative and innovative enough to pull this off.

[Metal Snake]

I know what you're referring to. I just don't get why they're deliberately dumbing down their movies to make them kid-friendly when they outright state that kids aren't watching animated movies as much as they used to. I don't understand the point of wanting to go against the grain like that when they have evidence that all-age animated movies can be successful (unless they're so up their own ass that they ignore box office numbers from any studio that isn't them and just aren't aware of Frozen, Despicable Me 2, Monster's University, or The Lego Movie). If they want to try to pander to kids then they should make a separate branch and do it from that. DreamWorks Kids or something. Like how Disney has ToonDisney make the Planes movies while normal Disney is doing things like Frozen and Big Hero 6. They're shooting themselves in the foot by thinking they're creative and innovative enough to pull this off.

 

Yeah, I get what you're saying. I just have a history of seeing article writers exaggerating.

[CyanideFishbone]

I..I'm speechless. 

[OWM]

because animation is just for kids right guise

[Less_SpongeBob]

Dreamworks, almost but not quite being progressive.

[Steel Sponge]

Post deleted.

Edited June 29, 2016 by thekidsArentAlright

[Clappy]

I can't see myself agreeing with the article....or disagreeing with it.

I'll agree that the whole perception where people think animated movies are meant and made for kids is an issue here, but even if the executives at DreamWorks has to go far into thinking that their movies are "too adult" for the younger audiences (when really, their most recently least successful movies aren't even close to the "adult" margin, from how I see it), I don't think it means DreamWorks are being "dumbasses." (Yes, I put the rest of my argument in spoilers, because why not?)

Spoiler

Sure, as the saying goes, "you're dead if you only aim for kids," but not everybody is going to follow that advice. Taking a look at Nickelodeon (put aside NIck & Nite), when they put kids first in everything they do, it's kinda like the truth, most of their animated programming lacks adult appeal and feels like Nick is only trying to appeal to their child audience, while most of their current animated shows suffer from hate from adult viewers/old fans. It's like their only goal is to solely be a "children's network." To change back to the main subject, here's a question: can we make everyone change their perception of how they think animation should appeal to just kids? I don't know what to say honestly.

I think the most important thing to make sure of when making a G/PG oriented film is to know how big your audience is. Demographic-wise or not, you wouldn't know how many people from all over the world have seen the company's film. I don't know what DreamWorks was thinking when the article implies they're trying to expect a big enough audience for their further projects, or when they said the state of their success meant some of their films were "too adult," but the idea that not enough people are watching their films is the least of my worries right now.

I understand that Peabody & Sherman (which I could've seen in theaters if I was able to buy the right time) and Turbo weren't that successful in terms of box office gross, but I'd argue with Penguins of Madagascar's performance. 132 million domestically isn't that good, but 373 million as a whole doesn't seem that bad to me either. What are we supposed to expect out of a big enough audience gross: 500 million? Besides, didn't How to Train Your Dragon 2 do so well in the box office? Heck, whatever becomes of Kung Fu Panda 3, I'll agree with the idea that people are "not paying enough attention to their movies," if it doesn't have a great box office performance, but if it does, then I'd still say it's the least of my worries. If anything I'd say for DreamWorks' current state and general success for any other movies they've made, they got so many movies, but not every one is going to have massive appeal. They either have an incredibly successful performance or lower, it's like the pendulum swings back and forth when judging how financially successful their movies are.

Overall, I think DreamWorks need to get their minds straightened up on how some of their movies don't gain as much steam. In fact, I don't care as much for their decision of targeting a specific audience for "Boss Baby" and "Trollz," I just wouldn't call it "dumbing down."

Any debates against my statement? I can take them since this entire rant is only from my perspective/opinion.

Nitpicking a few things with your statement:

-Penguins only grossed 83 million domestic.

-How To Train Your Dragon 2 earned less than it's predecessor.

-You have to consider with worldwide grosses the dollar inflation from other countries. Worldwide grosses need to be much larger than domestic to have a chance to be profitable, which Penguins definitely did better worldwide than it did domestic to help it break even.

-One of the things that is not included in budgets though are amounts spent on advertising. Where even with your "pendulum swinging" analogy about performances, advertising is never shown when it comes towards how it does.

-DreamWorks hasn't had a truly great box office performance since Madagascar 3. Everything else since then has either been decent (The Croods), barely broke even (Home), or underperformed (Rise of the Guardians). What is bothering a lot of people is how big DreamWorks Animation once was. The studio is not a stock I would recommend buying into anytime soon. Kung Fu Panda 3 may be coming out next in their line up, but the second one is another example of a recent DreamWorks underperformer at the box office.

-My biggest complaint with this article is how blind DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is by all the studios recent troubles. This is a guy who ran an animation empire back in the 2000s who has fallen behind the times because he, nor many of the DA heads, have any clue what they are doing anymore. Animated films for all ages can be successful. How impervious can this dumbass be if he's not taking note of the success of The LEGO Movie, Frozen, and Despicable Me 2. Kids are going to see animated movies. What DW isn't realizing is that parents are being smarter about what they are spending their money on for their kids.

[terminoob]

I can't see myself agreeing with the article....or disagreeing with it.

 

I'll agree that the whole perception where people think animated movies are meant and made for kids is an issue here, but even if the executives at DreamWorks has to go far into thinking that their movies are "too adult" for the younger audiences (when really, their most recently least successful movies aren't even close to the "adult" margin, from how I see it), I don't think it means DreamWorks are being "dumbasses." (Yes, I put the rest of my argument in spoilers, because why not?)

 

Spoiler

Sure, as the saying goes, "you're dead if you only aim for kids," but not everybody is going to follow that advice. Taking a look at Nickelodeon (put aside NIck & Nite), when they put kids first in everything they do, it's kinda like the truth, most of their animated programming lacks adult appeal and feels like Nick is only trying to appeal to their child audience, while most of their current animated shows suffer from hate from adult viewers/old fans. It's like their only goal is to solely be a "children's network." To change back to the main subject, here's a question: can we make everyone change their perception of how they think animation should appeal to just kids? I don't know what to say honestly.

 

I think the most important thing to make sure of when making a G/PG oriented film is to know how big your audience is. Demographic-wise or not, you wouldn't know how many people from all over the world have seen the company's film. I don't know what DreamWorks was thinking when the article implies they're trying to expect a big enough audience for their further projects, or when they said the state of their success meant some of their films were "too adult," but the idea that not enough people are watching their films is the least of my worries right now.

 

I understand that Peabody & Sherman (which I could've seen in theaters if I was able to buy the right time) and Turbo weren't that successful in terms of box office gross, but I'd argue with Penguins of Madagascar's performance. 132 million domestically isn't that good, but 373 million as a whole doesn't seem that bad to me either. What are we supposed to expect out of a big enough audience gross: 500 million? Besides, didn't How to Train Your Dragon 2 do so well in the box office? Heck, whatever becomes of Kung Fu Panda 3, I'll agree with the idea that people are "not paying enough attention to their movies," if it doesn't have a great box office performance, but if it does, then I'd still say it's the least of my worries. If anything I'd say for DreamWorks' current state and general success for any other movies they've made, they got so many movies, but not every one is going to have massive appeal. They either have an incredibly successful performance or lower, it's like the pendulum swings back and forth when judging how financially successful their movies are.

 

Overall, I think DreamWorks need to get their minds straightened up on how some of their movies don't gain as much steam. In fact, I don't care as much for their decision of targeting a specific audience for "Boss Baby" and "Trollz," I just wouldn't call it "dumbing down."

 

Any debates against my statement? I can take them since this entire rant is only from my perspective/opinion.

 

I have opposing statements!

 

I think they're totally being dumbasses. Their track record gives me no hope that they can single-handedly turn the industry around. I mean, seriously, just think for one second about how stupid this is.

- They have evidence that kids aren't seeing as many animated movies now than they used to.

- They have evidence that all-ages are seeing more animated movies now than they used to.

 

"Kids", let's say, is... 7-12 (those are arbitrary numbers - they could be like 4-8 or 3-9 or whatever, the point is that there's a small gap).

"All-ages", let's say, is... 7-40 (again, kind of arbitrary - the point is that the gap is huge).

By definition there are less people in the "kids" demographic than there are in the "all-ages" demographic, and there are even less people in the "kids" demographic now than before, but DreamWorks is still only going for that demographic.

 

There's no way they won't lose money no matter how you look at this. They're aiming at a demographic with fewer people in it. They could make movies the whole household could watch on a rainy day - now they're making movies that only the youngest kid will be watching (and even they'll stop watching a couple years after getting the DVD because they'll grow out of the demographic that movie was made for in the first place). They're being stupid. They're the ones that are perpetuating the myth that animated movies are only for kids because they're too rigid to adapt with the times. And you wanna know the kicker? DreamWorks was ruling the all-ages demographic just ten years ago when Disney was the one floundering. DreamWorks' early canon includes Prince of Egypt, Spirit, Road to El Dorado, Antz, and Shrek - not to mention Kung-Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon coming along only a few years ago. Disney's canon in the early '00s was Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Home on the Range, Brother Bear, and Chicken Little - all of which were bombing at the box office while DreamWorks and Pixar were thriving. There's absolutely no reason why DreamWorks should be doing anything that they're doing.

[Steel Sponge]

Since Bubblerock reintroduced this topic, and that this is still kinda relevant, I'd like to say that I don't completely agree with the last statement I've made. I'll admit, I couldn't apprehend from what all the "wow just wow" remarks were completely saying compared to my own thoughts, so I had to go a little soft on DreamWorks. What these people from DreamWorks have said about putting children first than thinking about how to appeal to the rest of the family is very lopsided, but I wouldn't say that DW's current approach is everything leading to the company reaching a bigger decline.

Also, I'd like to point out that Amid Amidi comes across as a lot less agreeable when he writes articles where he enters filibuster mode.

Edited June 29, 2016 by thekidsArentAlright

[Frizzbee Entertainment]

So Basically Only Small kids are gonna watch this movie: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage_Party

[NegiSpongie]

Just now, Frizzbee Entertainment said:

So Basically Only Small kids are gonna watch this movie: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage_Party

Only kids whose parents won't pay attention to the R-rating.

[Jane]

9 hours ago, Steel Sponge said:

Also, I'd like to point out that Amid Amidi comes across as a lot less agreeable when he writes articles where he enters filibuster mode.

Amid's kind of a douche and makes a lot of click-bait. Sometimes he can make a decent article, but the site has been in a rut since Jerry left. He either likes to intentionally stir up shit, be very unprofessional and attack people (like John Lasseter or Lee Unkrich) or insert his very biased opinions into articles.

[Jane]

On 6/11/2015 at 9:31 PM, Clappy said:

My biggest complaint with this article is how blind DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is by all the studios recent troubles. This is a guy who ran an animation empire back in the 2000s who has fallen behind the times because he, nor many of the DA heads, have any clue what they are doing anymore. Animated films for all ages can be successful. How impervious can this dumbass be if he's not taking note of the success of The LEGO Movie, Frozen, and Despicable Me 2. Kids are going to see animated movies. What DW isn't realizing is that parents are being smarter about what they are spending their money on for their kids.

Hopefully Chris Meledandri does a better job than Jeffy has in recent years as CEO. I think a management shake-up was long overdue.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Teamwork

[Joe Biden]

Yeah, only small children watch animated movies.

 

South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut? That's definitely a kids movie.

 

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America? All the kids will enjoy that!

 

Sausage Party? You look me in the eye and tell me that that's not the perfect movie for kids.