The Contra Costa Times recently published an opinion piece on computer animated featuers.  The story starts off with slap across Pixar's face.

Something strange happens while you're watching Pixar's new computer-animated feature "Cars": A distinct sense of boredom settles in. For the first time ever with one of the famed studio's films, you can't shake the feeling that you've seen all of this a million times before. 

The article continues on with more opinion from the most crowded year of animated films in history.  You can read the entire story here .

Before the year is out, we'll see at least four more computer-animated features, including next month's "Monster House" as well as "The Ant Bully" (starring the voices of Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage), "The Barnyard" (Kevin James and Courteney Cox) and "Open Season" (Ashton Kutcher and Martin Lawrence). Watching a movie like "Cars," though, it's hard not to wonder if the end is a lot closer than anyone realizes.

Comments (14)

Hooray! : a guest Awesome. Glad to hear the official word is out! I just quit my job and I'm applying at Wal-mart this very minute for a greeter position. Thanks Costa Times! June 19, 2006 >:( : a guest Hmm,.. I wonder why StiComs are still around then. June 19, 2006 ... : a guest What's wrong with speaking the truth? How many of the latest CG features can you say are actually memorable films. Producing mediocre films just to pay the rent, is that really meaningful? June 19, 2006 ... : a guest I've never heard of the Costa Times...what does that say about journalism...is it going to die. In a years time no one will have to read a boring article anymore. June 19, 2006 it's one thing... : Kyle Mohr It's obvious there will be a slow in production, as that is the only way it can go at this point. But preaching doom and gloom doesn't really help anything. Everything has its ups and downs. June 19, 2006 He's got a point though... : DJ Nicke If Pixar do let their stories become formulaic then they are doomed. I just think he's jumped the gun and wanted to be the first out the gate to say this. Cars is by no means a flop, but it could be seen as slightly formulaic. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, but Pixar is one studio you hope will always be raising the bar. Whether or not they did with this film is up to each of us. June 20, 2006 He's pulling a Chicken Little! : a guest What film(CG or otherwise)isn't formulaic these days? Not to mention, as soon as a studio comes out with something new that brakes the mold, they get beaten down for being "different." But that's just my two cents... June 20, 2006 this is just silly...................... : a guest well, this is just silly, animated features have always been family movies with over-cleaned-up story, mostly boring animated features in the states have always been collections of gags, "what else to animate if not a gag...?"... was and still is the general trend in animation I think Cars, as a production, but its animation most of all, is fabulous, and it has quality written all over it. the story is simple, yes, and so is the story of Bambi June 21, 2006 it's not silly... : a guest simply because a few (semi-)formulaic animated films a year isn't bad, it's enjoyable. But now, on average, there's over 1 every month. It's time for animation to move forward. There's nothing wrong with the family film, but if there are gonna be this many, it's time we start exploring new genres, new boundaries and new visual styles. June 23, 2006 investors : a guest tell that to whoever is funding these projects. They aren't going to switch when they can continue to milk the current crop of style. If you got ahold of $50-$100 million, would you seriously risk that on a style that may not cause you to break even? I know I wouldnt want to be the one gambling that money. June 23, 2006 Is that CG's fault? : a guest CG is just a medium to tell a story. If you find the story to be forumulaic, is that the medium's fault? Come on! It's a bit extreme to consider this as a downward trend for computer animation. June 24, 2006 Contra Costa Times what about Pixar`s competition? : a guest Like Pixar is the only company that makes 3d features... if you take Dreamworks, they make always worse 3d movies than Pixar and no one is worried because of that. They just make lot of money. The question is, what will moneyguys do if 3d gag comedies with furry animals will earn less. They will stop financing 3d features at all or change the genre (finaly!). But as long as making 3d movie is so expensive and takes so long time to make, they will probably stick to any kind family movies. June 24, 2006 ... : pixelwks The film industry has been able to tolerate lousy live action films for many years. I see no reason why lousy CG films can't also exist. The cream will rise to the top and the junk will be forgotten. I for one have stopped going to the CG films that look dreadful or uninspired, just like I dont go to similar live action films. July 3, 2006 lousy films : Jakub true. as cg film industry is growing bigger we also get worse films produced. but that only means that it starts to get stronger and we have something like different levels of quality, which at times of Toy Story 1 or AntZ was impossible. Also creating cg feature is science and now there are more people who can do it effectively. even bad cg films mean getting more experienced animators and TDs. September 18, 2006

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