Okay, this is gonna be a bit of a long one, but it really breaks my heart personally. Okay. Here it goes.Back in 2012, Dreamworks Animation released a little film called, Rise of the Guardians. At that time, it was their most beautiful animated film. It had a good cast of characters, a decent plot and main character, Fantastic visuals, and gorgeous animation. It may have been flawed, but it was decent.So, Why did it bomb at the box office?Well, one thing is that at the time, it was against films like Skyfall and...Ugh, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2. Those films were far ahead of Guardians, making less than another film released by Dreamworks not to long ago, Puss in Boots. It was also released during Thanksgiving, which is also a risky move to pull when releasing films.The marketing wasn't all that great either, pushing the target audience to parents and kids. This left little marketing to adults. The trailers also made people confused on what the plot was, and what exactly the main villain of the film was doing that was so evil. It didn't show as much comedy in the trailers as well. Also, the film's quality wasn't passed on by word-of-mouth, and that can help a lot. The saddest part of all of this is that because of the poor box office performance, over 350 DreamWorks employees had to be laid off.The reason I bring this all up is because of the same fate with Dreamworks Animation's most recent flop, How Train Your Dragon 2. This is mostly because of releasing it around the same time as Transformers 4, and 22 Jump Street.They had to lay off an estimated 40-50 employees because of Dragon 2's poor performance as well. One of these few employees happens to be a good internet friend of mine. They are older than me. I'll leave them anonymous, though. Now, they were very frustrated and saddened by this news because, 1. they barley received notice beforehand, and 2. They are stumped on why most people in the US won't give any kind of serious animation a chance. I hate seeing them out of a job at the moment...

 

Anyways, that's my little rant.What do you guys think about this? Also, how did you like either Rise of the Guardians or How Train Your Dragon 2?Just curious... 

Edited July 18, 201411 yr by Hargleblargleboo

Holy crap, someone finally noticed this. 

Dreamworks marketed the film with cheap holiday gimmik trailers and awesome tv spots, didn't take it seriously, and gave no mention of its source material, the novels of William Joyce, at anytime. 

And the trailers seemed geared to making the film look like a fairy tale, not the power struggle of good and evil.

 

And every HTTYD 2 trailer is obsessed with glamour shots of Hiccup, over done shots of him riding Toothless, and nonsense not even in the film. 

 

As for me liking ROTG...errrhhm..

HTTYD was good, love Riders of Berk, But OMG, WHAT THE HECK DREAMWORKS!! 

HTTYD 2 looks cheap, doesn't follow the tv show, and continues ignoring its source novels.

And the often used cliche of " Dead parent is really alive " is getting older than God. 

 

Rant over, bye bye. 

Well advertising HTTYD2 as "better than Frozen" was a turn off for me,regardless of my opinions on Frozen comparing one movie to another is a turn off to me,I can imagine it gave the same feeling towards other people,so you can blame advertising for a part of HTTYD2's failure.I still wanted to see it though cause I recently saw the first one and loved it,but I just didnt have the money to go out.

Plus even though  the sequel is probably amazing,I didnt need one,it was fine the way it was,so I wasnt really that motivated to watch it that badly,so yeah.

Plus it is a matter of timing I think,people have gotten used to the season schedule kind of thing where summer is all the action flicks,fall is horror flicks,and winter for animations.I do think its all a matter of timing,and they decided to put it in a time where people tend not to be in the mood for it.

And to the person above me,I doubt ANYBODY who watched the first movie actually knew it was based on the novel,and I doubt many people havent watched/cared about the series,so i doubt thats a reason for its downfall.

It sucks that people had to lose their jobs cause of it though,especially for something that Im sure was pretty great too.

Edited July 18, 201411 yr by lostmemory123

Well advertising HTTYD2 as "better than Frozen" was a turn off for me,regardless of my opinions on Frozen comparing one movie to another is a turn off to me,I can imagine it gave the same feeling towards other people,so you can blame advertising for a part of HTTYD2's failure.I still wanted to see it though cause I recently saw the first one and loved it,but I just didnt have the money to go out.

Plus even though  the sequel is probably amazing,I didnt need one,it was fine the way it was,so I wasnt really that motivated to watch it that badly,so yeah.

Plus it is a matter of timing I think,people have gotten used to the season schedule kind of thing where summer is all the action flicks,fall is horror flicks,and winter for animations.I do think its all a matter of timing,and they decided to put it in a time where people tend not to be in the mood for it.

And to the person above me,I doubt ANYBODY who watched the first movie actually knew it was based on the novel,and I doubt many people havent watched/cared about the series,so i doubt thats a reason for its downfall.

It sucks that people had to lose their jobs cause of it though,especially for something that Im sure was pretty great too.

They said "Better than Frozen"? 

Really?

Like when Child's play 2 said " Better Than Halloween"?

Compairing your movie to other movies from rival companies is just...

assy. 

And the novel was kinda a bestseller for two years....

And the show won a ton of awards....

Just sayin'.

Edited July 18, 201411 yr by Jack Frost

Not all animation films bomb- Frozen got millions on the hype train in America, so you just need Disney to back you instead of Dream Works to increase your chances 17% right off the bat

I had no idea that those two movies did poorly in the box office. Well, I can't say on how well HTTYD2 and ROTG were promoted, as I didn't really pay attention to how, but I did see both films in theaters. I loved both of them ESPECIALLY ROTG, I loved the plot, and what I especially liked was the similarities between Jack and Pitch. How Jack could sympathize with Pitch even though he was chosen to be a Guardian. ROTG is probably my favorite animated movie. Dragon 2 I liked as well, I just wished that the trailers didn't include Hiccup's mother, it ruined what could have been a good shock factor.

 

I didn't know Rise of the Guardians was based off novels, I would like to read them.

They said "Better than Frozen"? 

Really?

Like when Child's play 2 said " Better Than Halloween"?

Compairing your movie to other movies from rival companies is just...

assy. 

And the novel was kinda a bestseller for two years....

And the show won a ton of awards....

Just sayin'.

Yeah,and music artists constantly win grammys,you think people take those awards seriously?

Apologies,but on a more serious note when I hear fans of the series,talk about this franchise,they just never bring the show or the novels up,which isnt suprising in the novels case since adaptations are a means of bringing this story to a wider audience,as for the show,it just isnt given much attention,regardless of the awards.

Thats just my observations though,heck not even opinion really,Im just making logical assumptions from what Ive seen.

Yeah,and music artists constantly win grammys,you think people take those awards seriously?

Apologies,but on a more serious note when I hear fans of the series,talk about this franchise,they just never bring the show or the novels up,which isnt suprising in the novels case since adaptations are a means of bringing this story to a wider audience,as for the show,it just isnt given much attention,regardless of the awards.

Thats just my observations though,heck not even opinion really,Im just making logical assumptions from what Ive seen.

Adaption? OMG, like Hell: HHTYD the novel has nothing to do with the films...at all. NOTHING. 

And the show only really did well because it had a later time slot, so older viewers saw it. 

These are just my views: not looking to start a war on this. 

Adaption? OMG, like Hell: HHTYD the novel has nothing to do with the films...at all. NOTHING. 

And the show only really did well because it had a later time slot, so older viewers saw it. 

These are just my views: not looking to start a war on this. 

Hey,thats why films say its BASED ON the story,and not try to say THIS IS THE STORY,so yeah.

And Im not arguin about it either,I dont have an opinion to argue with.

Hey,thats why films say its BASED ON the story,and not try to say THIS IS THE STORY,so yeah.

And Im not arguin about it either,I dont have an opinion to argue with.

I mean...literal opposites. 

"Based on"

" Uses same names while telling a 100% original story "

Same thing. 

I mean...literal opposites. 

"Based on"

" Uses same names while telling a 100% original story "

Same thing. 

Well "loosely based on" than?

Well "loosely based on" than?

Yes. " VERY loosely. " 

Ohhhh I love this movie it's a very good movie! I loved the Easter bunny he was funny!

Edited July 18, 201411 yr by Ratchet

Wow. I'm liking what you all have to say! Glad I'm not the only one who is worried about this mess! They were both good films, ya' know? It's just I hate it when the majority of moviegoers only see animation as comedy or just for kids. Not for everybody. In other countries it's not so much the same.

 

In some parts of Europe for example, they take serious animation, well, seriously. And they seem more open-minded about it. The same goes for some Asian countries as well. Take Japan for example. When American animated films are promoted there, they try to showcase as much of the characters and the emotional heart of the films other than just focusing on the comedy 85% of the time. They still show some comedy, but not as much as the US trailers usually do.

 

Let take two recent examples. The Frozen and Big Hero 6 trailers.

 

 

Here is the US trailer for Frozen.

 

 

 

Now, Here is the Japanese trailer for Frozen.

 

 

 

Hmm. Odd.

 

 

Okay. Now here is the US trailer for the upcoming Big Hero 6.

 

 

 

Here's the Japanese trailer for Big Hero 6. (WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ovwVljAs8

 

 

 

Hmm. Also odd.

 

What do you guys think about that? Do you think the general US audience only goes to Disney flicks for the comedy, or something more?

Wow. I'm liking what you all have to say! Glad I'm not the only one who is worried about this mess! They were both good films, ya' know? It's just I hate it when the majority of moviegoers only see animation as comedy or just for kids. Not for everybody. In other countries it's not so much the same.

 

In some parts of Europe for example, they take serious animation, well, seriously. And they seem more open-minded about it. The same goes for some Asian countries as well. Take Japan for example. When American animated films are promoted there, they try to showcase as much of the characters and the emotional heart of the films other than just focusing on the comedy 85% of the time. They still show some comedy, but not as much as the US trailers usually do.

 

Let take two recent examples. The Frozen and Big Hero 6 trailers.

 

 

Here is the US trailer for Frozen.

 

 

 

Now, Here is the Japanese trailer for Frozen.

 

 

 

Hmm. Odd.

 

 

Okay. Now here is the US trailer for the upcoming Big Hero 6.

 

 

 

Here's the Japanese trailer for Big Hero 6. (WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ovwVljAs8

 

 

 

Hmm. Also odd.

 

What do you guys think about that? Do you think the general US audience only goes to Disney flicks for the comedy, or something more?

The Japanese trailer of Frozen makes Elsa out as a villain. 

My dad says he wants to see HTTYD 2. But he has to see the first one. He likes to call HTTYD "Dragon Trainers" . Don't judge.

The Japanese trailer of Frozen makes Elsa out as a villain. 

From the looks of it, yes. I'd help a lot if we knew what they were saying though.

From the looks of it, yes. I'd help a lot if we knew what they were saying though.

From what very little Japanese I know, some of it is that scene " That's no snow storm...it's my sister.." Over a different scene. 

From what very little Japanese I know, some of it is that scene " That's no snow storm...it's my sister.." Over a different scene. 

I add I think they said " Bitch " For no reason, but I know VERY, very little Japanese, so don't hold me to that. 

Edited July 18, 201411 yr by Jack Frost

My problems with the Dream Works films:

 

Penguins of Madagascar makes you wonder were Alex and his friends currently are (back in New York where they belong?)

 

How to Train Your Dragon 2 needed some graphic/gorey violence to atone for the Viking settings and that a sight of blood or a charred out section of Stiock the Vast would have made his death scene even more traumatic.

 

Rise of the Guardians had one too many plot holes, flaws and unanswered questions like the origins of Jack Frost's hoodie or how he carried Sophie home from the Warren, not to mention that he deserves a voice actor like Roxas' (Jesse McCartney) or someone other than Justin Bieber to maximize and accelerate his youthful voice and emotions.

 

Mr. Peabody and Sherman, on the other hand, had overlooked a few things about theories of time travel and apparently ignores the consequences of reverse engineering and the large woman's marriage to the Viking general that was shown in the ending montage.

This may be years old, but I had to say it.

Iscreamer1.

Jack Frost was voiced by Chris Pine, NOT Justin Bieber.