“You want a dark, Goth version of Tweety Bird? Have at it,” said Lisa Gregorian, executive vice president for worldwide marketing at Warner Brothers Television.
Please, if you can stomach it, read this great article from the New York Times on network execs bringing cartoons into the 21st Century.
Some brilliant creative highlights include:Artists produced nearly 400 drawings depicting new looks, then American Greetings asked licensing partners for feedback. With the drawings hanging in a single room, he told focus group members to put Post-it notes on the 20 that they liked. “We refined it from there,” he said.
And how about this:
On top of her new toy line, Strawberry Shortcake is getting a new computer-animated movie and a new TV series, starting next year. This time, in keeping with contemporary nutritional concerns, the franchise will downplay the sugary dessert theme and move, as Mr. Conrad put it, “fruit-forward.”
“It’s also about creating a cohesive line,” Mr. Conrad said. “We’re downplaying characters that were part of Strawberry’s world but who didn’t immediately shout out fruit.”
(Oh, I can't wait to see the characters that did "shout out fruit".)Recently I've been watching a lot of old Mickey Mouse (1930's) with my kids and, while not particularly funny, they are none the less well animated, beautifully designed and created with care and attention by real people.
Few things make me so angry as viewing the state of modern animation. Shit like Family Guy and King of the Hill make my blood boil.
Pop in Sleeping Beauty (my favorite Disney film) and try and imagine what that will look like done in Flash for the imminent straight to video sequel. Oh, it gives me ulcers.
Why won't Broadcasters, executives, producers, lawyers, marketers and their ilk trust in the ability of an artist to create without interfering? Is it too much to ask? I suppose if that were to happen we'd never have stuff like this:
What a loss.
