Chapter 765： 2 hardest things in the world

Perhaps for Hollywood, the lighting entertainment animation company is relatively unfamiliar, and the only familiar one is Chris Mehler Dandley, the founder of the Blue Sky Studio, but this company can be acquired by Universal Pictures, and it must have its value. .

Ryan is quite familiar with this company, mainly from a previous life, because this is the producer of Universal Animation "Despicable Me".

Unfortunately, as early as several years ago, "Despicable Me" was resold by Ryan to DreamWorks Animation Studios just like "Kung Fu Panda". Although it was not like "Kung Fu Panda" which was about to be released, it also entered the end of production. segment.

In this summer file, Walt Disney has two animated feature films, "Tangled" belonging to the Disney Animation Department and "Kung Fu Panda" produced by DreamWorks Animation Studios. In June, this traditional animation strong file took the lead. "Tangled" is on the big screen in North America.

Like traditional Disney cartoons based on fairy tales and famous stories around the world, "Tangled" is adapted from "Lettuce Girl" in Grimm's fairy tales, but the difference is that it maintains the singing and dancing, cheerful and sweet foundation, The character of the heroine Rapunzel Le Pei in the film has undergone an earth-shaking change.

Just like what Ryan said in his speech in China, the biggest feature of Disney animation in the past, or the place that lags behind the times, is that there is always a female character waiting for a man to save her, and in this cartoon, although Princess Le Pei Still living on the high tower, but full of yearning for the outside world, and proactively went out, thus driving the hero to have to take risks with her.

Times have changed, and Disney animation films with female audiences and teenagers as the main consumer groups must also change. If "Four Eyes" solves the technical problems of Disney's animation department, then "Tangled" will Point out the direction for the future of Disney animation.

Since 2002, Ryan and John Lasseter have been pushing the creative staff of Disney's animation department to change their minds. "Four Eyes" is a technical experimental work. The "Tangled", which has been built for four years, is a successful experiment on creativity and theme adaptation, although there are still many flaws.

"Tangled" received $65.78 million in North America on the first three days of the week, which is a normal and qualified first week box office, and the film's ten-day box office of nearly 150 million U.S. dollars is enough to make the Disney Animation Department Matsuichi Tone.

At the same time, the media also spoke highly of the film.

""Tangled" is the best animated feature film of Disney animation after "The Lion King", and Disney animation that has been in decline for more than ten years has re-emerged."

"Although the results of the film are clear at a glance, the film interweaves the traditional storytelling with the modern sense of fashion."

"Yes. The film is Disney's consistent style, but it has a new interpretation of female characters, making Rapunzel more credible, sincere and beautiful as the story unfolds."

"After years of sinking, under the leadership of Ryan Jenkins and John Lasseter, Disney Animation finally ushered in a moment of re-emergence."

The former world animation hegemon gradually returned to the right track. With several heads of Disney's animation department accepting media interviews, the reform that Ryan tried hard to promote at the beginning was quickly reported by the media and known to the public. Some tabloids even used exaggerated headlines like "Ryan Jenkins Saved Disney Animation".

Compared with "Four Eyes" from Disney Animation, "Tangled" has achieved great commercial success, but it has also attracted a lot of criticism.

Among them are many hand-painted animators from the former Disney animation department. They believe that now Disney will only desperately cater to the audience and the market. And lost his traditional style.

Perhaps these words are not wrong. "Tangled" essentially deviates from the standard prince and princess Disney animation, but don't forget. Traditional Disney animations have declined or even are on the verge of death. If no reforms are made, how many people still remember the long-lost Disney animation feature films?

Moreover. Disney is not an art research department, but a standard commercial group. The reason why traditional Disney animation came out in the first place was simply to cater to the tastes of the market at that time.

If you only know how to stick to tradition, but don’t know how to adapt, and if you don’t know how to advance with the times, I am afraid that the whole world is still in the Middle Ages.

By the end of June, when the response of "Tang Fu" in the North American market gradually tended to be flat, "Kung Fu Panda" made its grand debut.

Just joined Disney’s DreamWorks Animation Studios, relying on Walt Disney’s entire media group as a platform, the promotion and marketing of the film has reached a peak that DreamWorks Animation Studios has never reached before. The film’s first week of theaters even reached nearly 4,200. Home.

Also with the help of Walt Disney's powerful advertising capabilities, DreamWorks Animation Studios also achieved the first real global simultaneous release.

Although this animated feature film has aroused heated discussions in the media after its global release, the voices of criticism and praise are very loud, especially some Chinese-language media, which regard "Kung Fu Panda" as the victory of Kung Fu and Chinese culture to conquer Hollywood, but the reality Up?

For Hollywood, this is just another "Mulan", DreamWorks Animation Studio just borrowed some Chinese elements, the film exudes a typical Hollywood flavor from beginning to end.

Especially in the eyes of a Hollywood producer like Ryan, all Chinese elements in the film are connected by the core values ​​of American culture, and values ​​are the deepest part of the culture, which dominate people’s beliefs. , Attitudes, opinions and actions have become a guide for people’s actions.

It can be said that no matter how exquisite the Chinese elements of the film "Kung Fu Panda" are, it is still a concrete manifestation of the cultural values ​​of the producer, that is, the cultural values ​​of the United States.

The cultural concepts of the producer, that is, mainstream American culture such as the American Dream, self-confidence, independent struggle, personal heroism, and the concept of equality for all, have been well implemented from beginning to end.

It’s like Disney’s cartoon "Aladdin" does not belong to the Middle East, "The Lion King" does not belong to Africa, "The Little Mermaid" does not belong to Denmark, and "Kung Fu Panda" does not belong to the Chinese world. It is a standard Hollywood manufacturing and wealth collection tool. It is like other North American movies that incorporate foreign cultures, but simply or even crudely borrows foreign elements.

As for the reason, it is even simpler. These exotic styles can attract North American audiences. One of the biggest selling points of foreign films in North America is the exotic style.

Therefore, "Kung Fu Panda" was very successful in North America, and received more than 140 million US dollars in two weeks. By the time of "Kung Fu Panda 2," Ryan's memory seemed to have suffered a significant decline in the North American box office.

Although there are many reasons for this, speaking of it, when watching the first part, the North American audience will find the exotic atmosphere very attractive, and when it comes to watching the second part, the same exotic elements will certainly no longer be as attractive as before. force.

In fact, to put it plainly, "Kung Fu Panda" only tells a very simple story, which incorporates some Chinese elements, such as kung fu and Buddhist meditation, etc., to be precise, mixing the half-knowledge of Chinese culture and typical American ideas. The mixed product is not much different from other Hollywood cartoons.

"Hollywood has conquered us with superb film skills and excellent picture effects, not the Chinese elements in it."

When coming out of London Heathrow Airport, Nicole bought a few newspapers as a pastime on the road. The words in one of the Chinese newspapers kept a clear head in the hustle and bustle of the Chinese culture conquering Hollywood in the Chinese world.

The two came to England to attend a concert to commemorate Diana convened by Prince William and Prince Harry. They got into the car that came to meet them and rushed directly to the booked hotel.

""Kung Fu Panda" is definitely going to be a sequel?" Nicole's gaze returned from the car window.

"Of course." Ryan closed the newspaper in his hand, "I don't want to talk about other aspects of income, just the right to reorganize, I can get 10% of the box office share from it. If it is replaced with milk powder, it will be enough for Sandy to drink. I'm grown up."

"Yeah, Ryan Jenkins' works easily conquered the world once again."

Tyler, who was sitting across from them, moved away from the newspaper in front of them and shrugged at the two of them, "This is written in The Sun."

"What else..." She simply read a short paragraph, "...In the film and the surrounding industries, is there anything Ryan Jenkins can't do?"

"Oh, Ryan." Taylor deliberately changed his tone, "They seem to regard you as the **** of the film industry."

"Remember, my dear."

Ryan said to Taylor seriously Our success does not mean how strong we are, but we are more market-conscious than others and respect the market and audience more. "

"I understand." Taylor nodded solemnly.

"Our success is not easy."

Only Nicole knew how hard Ryan had worked since the day he met.

"There are two hardest things in the world." Ryan stretched out a finger, "How to put other people's money into his pocket is one of them."

"What about the other one?" Taylor asked with curious blue eyes.

"How to put our thoughts into other people's heads."

Nicole and Tyler both laughed. After the laughter, Tyler said again, "We control so many media, isn’t it just to achieve these two things? And in "Argo" and "Spartan Three Hundred Warriors" In the whirlpool of public opinion that appeared in "Transformers" and "Transformers", we are all guiding the thoughts and public opinion trends of the American public, and we are also very successful." (To be continued...) ()