THE CG REVOLUTION

by: Steven Snyder

Looking ahead to this summer’s slate of children’s films, the debate is not whether the genre is changing, but whether it is changing for the better.

With kids out of school and many parents spending more time at home, summer has always been a popular season for films with a younger target audience. And with the dramatic box office success of recent hits such as Shrek and Monsters, Inc., the genre has become even more attractive to major studios.

But last month’s box office disaster of Disney’s Home On The Range has led many to proclaim the death of hand-drawn animated films in Hollywood altogether.

Evidence of this changing landscape can be seen in the kid’s films scheduled for this summer. Gone are the days of Pocahontas and even Atlantis, replaced by the likes of Garfield, Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Shark Tales; all films that rely heavily on computer animation and digital effects.

It is not surprising in today’s world to see so many movies employing CG. What is surprising is that this summer will not feature a single traditionally-animated feature film.

The studios’ rationale is easy to understand. With computers, things can be done more cheaply and with greater freedom. My contention, however, is that just because something can be done does not necessarily mean it should be done.

Sure, Finding Nemo looked more realistic than any hand-drawn film ever could, but is it truly more enjoyable, more interesting or more artistic? 1998’s Godzilla was more “realistic” than 1933’s King Kong, but does that make it better?

The thought of a new generation of kids never seeing the surreal artistry of Aladdin’s genie, The Lion King’s sunrise or Beauty And The Beast’s ballroom dance makes me sad.

Art should be about more than economics.