A commentary from Dave White was published on MSNBC.COM regarding the many animated feature films that have similar stories and characters.

Dear Hollywood, Why are you so lame? Why don’t you have a single original idea left in your collective head? Why do you hate audiences? Why do you continue to crank out by-the-numbers animated films that hold ticket-buying families and animation fans in contempt while trying to sell them tie-in merchandise at the same time?

Why do “Madagascar” and “The Wild” and “Open Season” and “Flushed Away” all have the same plot? How many domesticated menageries of circle-of-life-defying zoo pals actually find themselves tossed into the wilderness on a regular basis, learning the true meaning of family and home in the process?

Why did you make me sit through “Barnyard,” a movie where a bull with a milk-heavy udder played a guitar and sang Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down?” And why was I expected to take that scene seriously for even one second? Why did that lactating bull’s pals have a rave in the barn, dancing to techno and getting fake-drunk on milk and honey? Was it his milk they were drinking? And why did my four-year-old and nine-year-old nieces willingly walk out of that movie with their mother, unconcerned with how it all ended?

The story doesn't offer much of anything new, however it has its interesting points.   You can read the entire story here.  

Comments (5)

I Hear Dat : Josh Does this guy really think those who are actually making these movies listen? When the upcoming animated movies bomb they'll just blame it on the public become used to CG. November 2, 2006 ... : Kyle Yeah, if talking animal movies are ruining his life, he should get a more interesting life. November 2, 2006 talkingshop : slapshot Hollywood should try talking toys instead. Talking robots might work. Talking haunted houses? Talking Trolls?? Talking Cars? Talking Monsters??? Talking humans? November 2, 2006 Whatevah : Bobbo The problem is not in the use of animals, but the stories themselves. With so many people getting into the game, there are bound to be crap coming out. November 2, 2006 ... : Josh The trouble is that what works in a business sense (taking an existing product, tweaking it a bit and then selling it under a different name) doesn't work in a creative world especially in entertainment. People don't want to see the same thing again and again, that's not entertaining, that's boring. November 4, 2006

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