DreamWorks Animation recently announced their slate of films through 2014 and it was a pretty balanced blend of sequels/spinoffs and original content. Simply put, established franchises pay the bills while original content are things that the studio hopes catches on in a big enough way so it can be turned into a franchise. We’re living in a spinoff world these days so it’s no surprise that another film is being added to the DreamWorks slate and yep, it features characters you’ve seen before.
THR reports that the penguins featured in the “Madagascar” films — Skipper, Kowalski, Private and Rico — will now get their own feature-length movie in which to play around. Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons who penned “Megamind” will tackle the story and script.
The penguins have long been popular side players in the “Madagascar” films and their popularity helped spawn short spinoffs like “The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper” featured on the “Madagascar” BluRay, and they also have their own, hugely popular Nickelodeon show, “The Penguins of Madagascar.” So the audience is already built in and waiting for a film (one that will certainly be printing press of money for DreamWorks).
The film is in early stages — no director is attached just yet — but we imagine this will land sometime after “Madagascar 3” hits theaters on June 8, 2012.
Fair enough, I know I\’m not the target audience, and I know Cars merchandise helps pay the bills at Pixar. I know it all makes commercial and fiscal sense.
You\’re right on all these counts, but I still reserve the right to lament the loss of something like Monsters Inc. or Ratatouille.
I don\’t think either side is really wrong, just making two different points.
Kids love \”Cars.\”
The Playlist and other critics might say it is the weakest, and that\’s fine, but kids loved it and loved the characters (which is why the toys sell so well) much more so than say, \”Wall-E\” which a lot of kids couldn\’t even sit through.
I think when it comes to kids movies, whether they be spinoff talking penguins, Alvin and the Chimpunks \”squeakuals,\” or \”Cars 2\” and \”Airplanes,\” it\’s more important that they work for and entertain kids than grown up bloggers or critics, who seem to think everything should be geared towards them.
I just don\’t get these posts talking about \”we live in a spinoff world these days\” and acting as if sequels and spinoffs are somehow new and that this hasn\’t been going on for years.
Hollywood has been pumping out Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Police Academy, Rocky, , Planet of the Apes, Mighty ducks, etc etc. sequels/spinoffs in the 6\’s and 7\’s decades ago. I mean they even made sequels to Chinatown and the French Connection.
So I just find it ridiculous when writers seem to jump all over any sequel/remake/spinoff – this has been going on for decades, its always been part of the business, it\’s not a new trend or just part of the Hollywood/studio landscape now.
And JP – Pixar making a huge profit off of \”Cars 2\” gives them the ability to make an original movie knowing they have a movie like \”Cars 2\” to cover if the a movie like \”Brave\” doesn\’t perform.
Actually, in the case of Cars 2 it directly affects the making of original content. As far as \”original content\” goes, Pixar is often as good as it gets, but it has an established pattern of making and releasing movies. So every time they decide to make a movie like Cars 2 they choose not to make a movie like Brave (at least for another year). It\’s completely reasonable to equate the existence of a sequel like Cars 2 to the shortage of original content being created in animation.
Plus, it\’s not like The Playlist are the only ones saying Cars was the weakest of any of the Pixar movies. Wouldn\’t you rather them make a Finding Nemo or Incredibles?
Uh, where is this piece did I slag off this movie?
dude, get a life – it\’s a kids movie about talking penguins, not the end of \”original content.\”
It\’s so obnoxious when hipster sites like yours act like this and \”Cars 2\” are somehow bad. They entertain kids and are good for parents, they have NOTHING to do with other original movies getting made.
I understand the need for website\’s to churn out news on every single movie that ever gets announced, but at some point it gets absurd when adult bloggers are bemoaning stuff like kids movie sequels, who are great for their intending audiences, or crap like miss maple (marple?) or whatever that no one today has ever heard of or cares about.