John Kricfalusi, renegade animator and creator of Ren and Stimpy, has a blog in whcih he shares his musings on animation theory and history, as well as discusses his career as a lifelong cartoonist. I suppose you could call him an animation purist, or classicist, or something like that. It's pretty interesting stuff if you're interested in where cartoons come from and the theoretical structures behind traditional hand-drawn animation.
One story he's shared is about being invited by Dreamworks to come in and pitch an idea for an animated feature film. Unfortunately, it didn't go well. You can find Kricfalusi's blog entry recounting the incident here. (Be sure to read his entry before you continue on with this one.)
Here are a few of the films Dreamworks has put out over the years. Notice any of those 'arenas' the Dreamworks executives were describing to Kricfalusi?
An ant hill.
A bee hive.
A zoo.
An ocean.
Pretty groundbreaking and original, right? You get the right 'arena,' and this stuff writes itself.
Quick! We need an arena, stat! How About a fire station? Queue the clumsy Dalmatian with a heart of gold trying to earn his spots as the company's fire dog; queue the grouchy old pidgeon who lives up above the garage door and gets ticked off every time the the door opens and the trucks roll out; queue the sweet poodle who lives across the street at the nail salon and just knows the Dalmatian has it inside him to become a hero when – at the end of the movie – the fire station itself gets set on fire by - get this irony - a human fireman who leaves the oven one - and the dalmation must save all of the fire fighters who've treated him poorly the whole movie; queue the wacky feline sidekick who's always mocking the dalmation for not having spots; maybe throw in an organ-grinder monkey who’s always climbing a nearby apartment building and asking for quarters. Bingo! We've got our movie, gentlemen!
But I digress.
As you probably noticed in Kricfalusi's blog entry, that "desert arena with the plot of Casablanca" was already made...in the 1990s. Kricfalusi had a picture of the poster - Bugs Bunny in "Carrotblanca" (1995). Yes, it was a real theatrical short cartoon. So the execs at Dreamworks brought in a talented animator to get his ideas for a new movie, but instead ended up telling him to write a story that had already been made. And here it is. Give it a look.
Two questions: 1. What animated films from the past ten years or so, lackluster or otherwise, can you think of that were likely created using the 'arena method' of cartoon writing? (In other words, films in which the the setting came first, celebrity voices came second, and characters and story came in a distant third.) 2. Do you like "Carrotblanca"? Is it funny, original, engaging, and/or entertaining? Let me know what you think.
Well Carrotblanca isn't that original because it has some ideas of Casablanca. But it is original that it was incorporated into a cartoon. I thought it was engaging. I really enjoyed watching it, I didn't want it to end. It almost had a James Bond feel too because of the secret- hiding the document, the guy who is looking for it, the person hiding it, the girl who is caught in between two people, the cool hero, etc. I know that some movies choose the setting first and then everything else (its usually not that creative- Shark tales=ocean, Antz=Anthill... its not creative). Movies that can basically be created from the setting are films like: Finding Nemo (Lets have a movie in the ocean and then have a fish get lost. That was hard to think of). Or a cartoon in the jungle, just add a spanish girl exploring and you have Dora the Explorer. Or some guy said "Lets have a movie in Asia, add a Panda, and call it Kung Fu Panda!". Aloha, Scooby Doo (they really just choose Hawaii but in the gang and a mystery about Tiki monsters and Hawaiian stuff). Or Space Chimps-- monkeys having an adventure in space. And so on. Once you have a setting its really easy to make a movie, good or bad.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I think carrotblanca WAS quite an original movie even though it was highly reminisent of a movie.(Casablanca) this cartoon was simply different because of the spy feel to it. Everyone wants this document! On another note though, that's actually a good point that the setting might come first sometimes. You need a setting kids may relate with. By the way, the Ren & Stimpy cartoon we saw, it looks as though the setting came first (space)
ReplyDeleteDmitriy - Interesting comment about "Space Madness." Consider, however, that the characters were already created, and done so in such a way that they can be plugged into a vartiety of situations - firedogs, door-to-door salesmen, contest winners, etc. And the cartoon works because the characters work so well. I could imagine Jimmy Neutron in a space adventure, but I can't imagine the filmmakers having the guts to give him space madness and make him eat soap.
ReplyDeleteI can think of a few animation films that had an arena to them. For example I thought of finding Nemo which took place in a coral reef and the rest of the ocean. The second one I thought of was bugs life which took place in the perimeters of places where bugs live like outside near grass. The third one I thought of was Toy Story that took place in a child's room who had a lot of toy. Then there were a lot of animation film that took place in the jungle like the film "Jungle Book" and the film "Tarzan" both are about character who like in the jungle and what takes place in a jungle. I think this method of coming up with an animation film is somewhat affective but seems repetitive after so many films are made and you will eventually run out of places where an animation film can take place, which is already being done as you can see through the similarities between the films I stated and the ones above. So I really think that there are better ways to make a animation film then finding an arena and filling in the rest. For the second question about Carrotblanca I have to say that it was for the most part funny and entertaining but I never was crazy about the older bugs bunny cartoons. I think it is definitely creative although it does contain elements of the movie casablanca but it definitely has new exciting elements that can not be found in that older movie. It is definitely engaging and makes the audience pay close attention to what is happening, especially since there is a joke about every 3 seconds. The only things that I kinda disliked, which is the reason to why I never was crazy about the old bugs bunny cartoons, was the fact that there is nonstop action and pandemonium that never gives the viewer a second to think about what is going on and this kind of makes me feel rushed through the cartoon and not fully sure of what is going on. Overall I enjoyed the cartoon and thought it was funny.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the music? It's pretty non-stop and, in my opinion, too loud. I think it's grating. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I feel that the entire story is just a series of moments from the original Casablanca with Bugs Bunny plugged into the gags. There's no real cohesion to the whole thing. No through story. Just a list of barely funny moments strung together like Christmas lights.
Anyone with me on this? Anyone?
Ya that is definitely part of the non-stop annoyance. It kind of hurts your head and since every time bugs or any other character does something there is a load burst of music that accompanies their action and it definitely gets annoying after awhile and make every action kinda of over dramatic and it bugs me, no pun intended, unless you like that.
ReplyDelete1)Of several movies that come to mind include The Emperor's New Groove. The arena is basically a reckless collection of many Incan or close to it. All it seemed to be was take an ancient civilization and focus on the ruler as being "wacky" and rude have a bad person do something to him to put him on a hero's quest and have him learn his lesson. In this case the bad person just turned him into a Llama (familiar with Incan culture).
ReplyDeleteOverall I found Emperor's fun and enjoyable but it still feels like a standard arena cartoon so engrained with theatrical films of the last 20 years or so.
2)I thought Carrotblanca was funny and a clever homage and parody to a classic film.
I feel like Road Runner cartoons might have been set up as an arena first, rather than the characters. If any of you have noticed that all the cartoons have the same setting (time, place, etc.). That is personally why i feel like that it had the 'arena' making to it.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it was a pretty funny cartoon.It had most of the basis of the real movie that it was based upon (Casablanca). As Mr. Cowlin said in class yesterday that when the parody is closest to the 'real thing' it makes it even more funny and believable. The only thing that I could think of that would make it a little bit more funnier would be that it is in black and white. Then, the whole cartoon would be as closest to replicating the real movie. As a whole I enjoyed the whole cartoon.
Owen Moynihan
ReplyDeleteFor movies that do the arena mode of thinking most of the ones I thought of have been said, Finding Nemo, Bugs Life, ect. To be fair though if Toy Story did that it was still a great movie where the characters were very rich and alive, I felt.
The Casablanca Bugs Bunny I thought was pretty good though I have not seen the original so I did not get the parody jokes. Still funny.
The 'Carrotblanca' cartoon was great. It was extremely funny especially because it was mocking the dramatic, serious movie Casablanca in an original way. First off, by replacing 'Casa' with 'Carrot' you immediately know that it's going to be an enjoyable cartoon with the cartoon characters that everyone loves. There was this one part where Bugs Bunny is reading the emotional letter and it seems like a tragic, serious scene as you see the tears begin to hit the letter, but suddenly you realize it's just rain...and THEN it switches and it's actually Daffy pressing the water fountain. Another mocking scene is when the Kitty starts crying in front of Bugs (and you know how men don't like to see girls cry...) so he literally turns into a sucker. I can't think of any other cartoon films that could play around with a serious movie like the Looney Toons did. It's not meant to 'toteach you something', it's just supposed to make you laugh.
ReplyDeleteAs to the "arena" question: Way too many movies do this now. And that's why cartoons, especially digital cartoons, could never overpower the classics like Popeye or Looney Toons. They focus too much on the moral story and the setting. The setting is always too basic, with basic characters that are the voice of some huge celebrity. For example, Happy Feet. It's located in the bare continent of Antarctica...Snow, water and penguins that look exactly alike. And guess what? Nicole Kidman, oscar-winning actress, is the voice of one of these clone penguins. Not only does she talk, but she also sings! Oh, and did I mention Robin Williams plays a mexican penguin? Classic. It's never about the character anymore, it's always about the actor behind the cartoon character. What's great about cartoons like Looney Toons is that the cartoon character becomes the icon. Everyone knows who Bugs Bunny is. They are familiar with his characteristics, how he always carries around a carrot, and his funny voice. I don't even know who the voice of Bugs Bunny is but that doesn't matter in cartoons like those. It's all about a character that you can either connect with, or laugh at.
I think Carrotblanca was quite original even though it is very closely related to Casablanca. Also I thought that this was very funny and entertaining and that it could have actually been made into a movie because it felt as if it could have gone on for hours not to mention it has our entire list of Looney tunes characters that we all love to watch. What made this very interesting I think was the spy feeling to it. The only movies that come to my mind that used the arena mode is Finding Nemo, and Toy Story I think these are some of the best examples.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Stark
ReplyDeleteIt thought carrotblanca was halarious, i loved every minute of it. It had the Looney Tunes feeling. Also it wasnt one of those dumb cartoons you have these days where they're trying to teach you a lesson. It was all about the humor and fun. The characters sounded like the originals and they put all the looney tunes humor in it that we all know about.
For the aerna question, there have been alot of cartoon movie faliures that have come out using that idea. The one that comes to mind is probably Bugs Life. It was a typical movie about bugs living in the grassy plains. But the main focus of the movie was probably having all those stars in one movie and not so much story. I thought there were some funny parts in the movie. They chose a great cast but thats not what movies are suppose to be about. The story could have been alot stronger than it was.
carrotblanca was awsome and really funny. I think Shrek is a entertaining movie but i have heard peope say "oh mike myers is in that film we should go see that" its not a bad thing but i think people today go see movies because of who is in them instead of what the movie is about.
ReplyDelete1) Some movies that I can think of off the top of my head that follow the "arena" method are both Bambi and Wall-E. Although both these movies are regarded as great and classic films they utilize the "arena" method. For Bambi, the creators obviously just thought of the woods then popped some deer and other wildlife in there accompanied by voices. For Wall-E, even though I believe it was a pretty interesting setting, they could've just thought oh! a junkyard or a rundown city at first, then developed it more and more to relate it to the destruction of nature in the future. So both of these films, I believe, follow the ever so apparent pattern of the "arena" method.
ReplyDelete2)I though Carrotblanca was just a mediocre cartoon, as you have mentioned before, the music is playing constantly and distracts you from the dialog some of the time. The jokes, to me, just weren't all that funny. They were just basic and dry. So overall I think that carrotblanca was just a mediocre and basic looney toons cartoon that didn't wow, entertain, or make the audience laugh constantly like most others do.
1) The animated movies I thought of were Kung Fu Panda and Happy Feet. I found both movies very cute and funny, but it's really clear that they used the arena method to create it. In Kung Fu Panda, they chose China for the setting; and then they added famous actors like Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, etc. And then they finally chose the characters and the story. Same with Happy Feet, they chose Antartica for the location, and then they chose famous actors like Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood, etc. And then they developed the characters for the penguins. I think the arena method is not a bad way to create a cartoon film, but it seems wrong to have the characters of the film come second; it's annoying that the celebrity voices that play the characters are more important. Companies try to endorse the celebrity rather than the character. There is a connection to a lot of the films out these days, the film endorses the celebrity's name more than the actual film. Going back to a previous blog entry, the poster of "The Day the Earth Stood Still", it is just a huge picture of Keanu Reeves, rather than about the film. Cartoons seem to try to draw viewers in with the celebrity voicing the characters rather than the characters themselves.
ReplyDelete2) I thought Carrotblanca was funny because like Sylvia said, one moment would be really serious and then it would turn into a silly moment. It toys with your emotions a lot. But I liked it because the animators turned this serious, classic film into a cartoon for kids. A lot of the the ideas of the actual film stayed the same, but it was also changed to be entertaining for kids. Like we learned during animation week: these bugs bunny cartoons have alot of themes that adults would understand more, but it's still funny that children can understand. So I liked it alot because no matter what age you are, you could find some amusement in watching it.
I can't think of any movies that nobody's listed thus far, so I'm going to go with a cartoon. Part of me wants to say that you also see the whole "arena" ordeal in Spongebob! I won't doubt the creativity of people, but I think the odds of somebody coming up with "let's make a cartoon about a talking SPONGE!" is pretty slim. The whole show fits together too nicely. Granted, there aren't any celebrity voice-overs, but still the whole theme is definitely visible.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Carrotblanca goes, it threw me into a fit of nostalgia. I completely adore it! Even 12 years later after seeing cartoons of the 21st century, this one still completely captures my attention and heart. You really cannot go wrong with a Looney Tunes cartoon. Hands-down it's an original idea, and an original idea played out to its full potential at that.
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