The Worst CGI Kid Films In Recent Memory

[cuppajoe95]

Speaking of Tim Hill, does anyone think the upcoming Chipmunks sequel (obviously not directed by him) is going to bomb, narrowly avoid it or not? I have a feeling that the Star Wars movie playing in theaters around that time will take away a lot of its potential audience.

 

[D'Snowth]

Each of the Chipmunk movies does worse than the one before.

The first one did moderately well, mainly because it was the first major Chipmunk production we had gotten since Bagdasarian Productions regained control of the franchise after Universal almost ran it into the ground in the 90s, and it kind of resparked an interest in the franchise in general, and sort of reawakened the fandom after they fall into something of mild obscurity. The second movie wasn't as successful as the first, but it did well enough to bring the Chipettes back into the spotlight since they've been a major part of the fracnhise since the 80s, but it got mostly mixed reviews. The third tanked, even David Cross hated doing it, it's gotten mostly negative reviews.

At this point, a fourth one isn't even a question, mainly because that's the direction movies go in nowadays: they just keep going for more and more sequels. I know the actual Chipmunk fandom is really excited about the fourth one simply out of loyalty to the franchise, but I'm sure the general public is moaning, groaning, and belly-aching over this. My only concern is with the new ALVINNN!!! AND THE CHIPMUNKS series being on Nick now with completely different character designs, isnt this going to confuse kids into wondering why they look one way in one thing, and another in another?

At least they took a different route than what was rumored for years what the fourth movie was going to be about"Alvin and the Chipmunks . . . IN SPACE!

 

[cuppajoe95]

At least they took a different route than what was rumored for years what the fourth movie was going to be about"Alvin and the Chipmunks . . . IN SPACE!

Oh dear! Sounds like it would've been worse than Fly Me to The Moon 3D!

Not to mention that it sounds like many of those cheesy cartoons that were made back in the 70's, stuff like Casper the Friendly Ghost accompanying two Charlie's Angel-wannabes IN SPACE!, or the Partridge Family in the future or even the Happy Days characters travelling through time.

At least those had the excuse that hordes of concerned parents demanded that cartoons be devoid of violence or even conflict at the time, and even the people at Hanna-Barbera didn't like making these.

 

[Drtooth]

The first one did moderately well, mainly because it was the first major Chipmunk production we had gotten since Bagdasarian Productions regained control of the franchise after Universal almost ran it into the ground in the 90s, and it kind of resparked an interest in the franchise in general, and sort of reawakened the fandom after they fall into something of mild obscurity. The second movie wasn't as successful as the first, but it did well enough to bring the Chipettes back into the spotlight since they've been a major part of the fracnhise since the 80s, but it got mostly mixed reviews. The third tanked, even David Cross hated doing it, it's gotten mostly negative reviews.

The thing that annoys me about the second one is that it's release date took away potential viewership from Princess and the Frog (myself included, they don't care who buys tickets as long as tickets are being bought), and it really wasn't that good a movie. The first one was a pleasant surprise, and even Tim's crappy direction and poo eating fetish couldn't ruin it. Not that it wasn't without some problems, but overall it was a nice little tribute to the creator of the Chipmunks and a subversive snipe at the music business.

The second was half decent movie half really bad one, and shockingly the director was worse than Tim Hill, and the editing was terribly fast. I can't believe Alvin and the Chipmunks 1 was Tim's Magnum Opus (outside of Rocko and Spongebob).

Personally, I'm digging the new cartoon show and hope that it manages to overshadow the fourth film. 3-5 year olds aren't going to want to sit through Star Wars, so this movie has its place. Though I hope Good Dinosaur or Peanuts kicks it's butt even that late in the game.

 

[cuppajoe95]

Personally, I'm digging the new cartoon show and hope that it manages to overshadow the fourth film. 3-5 year olds aren't going to want to sit through Star Wars, so this movie has its place. Though I hope Good Dinosaur or Peanuts kicks it's butt even that late in the game.

As far as CGI reboots go, I don't really have a problem with the character designs for the newer Chipmunks cartoon. In fact, they look much better than they did in the films... to me, at least. I have yet to watch it, though.

 

[Drtooth]

Actually, I highly recommend the new Alvin and the Chipmunks series. It feels like it's just a CGI version of the early 90's version of the show, mainly due to Janice and Ross Jr. doing the whole thing. Only thing I'd say is a slight negative is some of the references are a might "We're still relevant," but nothing all too cringeworthy. Quite a well done show, and I love how the Chipmunks look here. Especially Simon and Theodore's hairstyles.

Anyway, while I can say something about the content of the movies, from a CGI technical standpoint, I don't see why the new Turtles (and by extention the Transformers) get so much hate about their designs when, frankly, the common hybrid animated movie, even good ones (which aren't many) look far cheaper and less realistic by being realistic. I never liked how Scooby, Garfield, or much for how the Chipmunks looked. Didn't care much for the Smurfs' human eyes (but I grew to not mind them as much). But the animals that have that odd "this is what they'd look like in real life" look are the worst and they look pretty cheap. While I can't say the turtles are the best looking things (though I've yet to see any comparisons to Michael Zulli's overly realistic turtles), there's a lot of skill and detail put into them... too much detail in fact. I really wish that kid's CGI hybrid movies had that much care in their designs instead of just shoving irises in their eyes.

 

[cuppajoe95]

Anyone else know about the Weinsteins pulling Underdogs from its US release a week before it was to be shown? Considering how Doogal turned out... do you think we might have been spared a horrible dub?

 

[mr3urious]

Anyone else know about the Weinsteins pulling Underdogs from its US release a week before it was to be shown? Considering how Doogal turned out... do you think we might have been spared a horrible dub?

If so, then good riddance to that.

 

[Drtooth]

Anyone else know about the Weinsteins pulling Underdogs from its US release a week before it was to be shown? Considering how Doogal turned out... do you think we might have been spared a horrible dub?

Those guys are horrible people. They love to hide behind their indie cred but they're worse than the big studios at executive meddling. Especially with animation. When it comes to what they do to their animated movies, it almost makes the idiotic decisions Jeffery Katzenburg made to the Black Friday Toy Story Reel look reasonable. Not saying that Hoodwinked Too could have been a great movie if they just let Corey Edwards make the film he wanted, but even he was pretty ticked off at their mishandling and edgying up the film. They also screwed the director of Escape from Planet Earth which caused a lawsuit that they had to quietly settle because one of their Oscar for Oscar's sake movies was nominated for a...you know. Heck, before they had their own studio and were part of Miramax, their job was to buy up foreign film rights to never release them. They're awful, idiotic people and I wish Hollywood would stop kissing their fat butts.

 

[mr3urious]

They also screwed the director of Escape from Planet Earth which caused a lawsuit that they had to quietly settle because one of their Oscar for Oscar's sake movies was nominated for a...you know.

I'm glad Rainmaker's coming back with a new ReBoot sequel series. There was a serious lack of closure from the original that I hope this new series will resolve.

Heck, before they had their own studio and were part of Miramax, their job was to buy up foreign film rights to never release them. They're awful, idiotic people and I wish Hollywood would stop kissing their fat butts.

Not to mention, they were very close to butchering Princess Mononoke along with other Ghibli movies until Hayao Miyazaki put his foot down, and there was also a rumor going around that Miyazaki even sent them a katana that read "no cuts". Fortunately, Disney came to the rescue to put those great films out there in a respectful manner.

The Zhang Yimou film Hero was also delayed for six times over a two-year period until Quentin Tarantino put it out there for America to see.