Disney's Motion Capture Animation

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,717
Reaction score
6,710
By the way, I predict some lack-luster results for Tron. For some reason I'm not feeling it. I'll still see it and hope to like it.
Tron wasn't exactly a big hit in the 80's... it just garnered a cult following. I'm sure it could do SOMETHING with all the buzz it got... Harry Potter and Narnia may hinder it... but it couldn't possibly be any worse at the box office than the original one. That said, I'm trying VERY hard to shake any feelings I have to wanna see Yogi Bear, though, to be honest, at least the characters look and sound sorta like they should, unlike a certain super hero dog.

But it just seems to happen with directors... they're all bright eyed and energetic and work past any handicaps of the technology of the day only to fool themselves when their older that's what they wanted when it comes out. The only thing I'd like Tim Burton to do is revisit Beetlejuice with stop motion puppets. Other than that, he just has a goth/emo fan base that would see anything of his because it's goth and emo... though, I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth... the way Disney treated Nightmare Before Christmas, without the goth poser fan base, it would have been completely forgotten.

On the bright side, now if Zermeckis WANTS to do Roger Rabbit 2, he might just have to revisit the old cel animation techniques that made the film visually stunning.
 

Sgt Floyd

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
27,870
Reaction score
2,540
while the Nightmare Before Christmas has his name slapped on it, Tim Burton didnt direct it. He just came up with the idea and fleshed out the characters. For some reason, they gave him producer credit, though to my knowledge he didnt work on the actual film. The three major stop motion productions he was credited for (Nightmare, Coraline, and James and the Giant Peach) have all been directed by Henry Selick. The only stop motion thing he directed was Corpse Bride. Everything else has been Live-Action. (this isnt including his short films).

All those goth/emo people who claim that Burton is their hero or whatever probably couldnt tell you any other movies he directed other than Edward Scissorhands...(which was a terrible movie by the way) and probably incorrectly Nightmare.

Yes, I'm a huge Nightmare fan...sue me.
 

frogboy4

Inactive Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2002
Messages
10,080
Reaction score
358
while the Nightmare Before Christmas has his name slapped on it, Tim Burton didnt direct it. He just came up with the idea and fleshed out the characters. For some reason, they gave him producer credit, though to my knowledge he didnt work on the actual film. The three major stop motion productions he was credited for (Nightmare, Coraline, and James and the Giant Peach) have all been directed by Henry Selick. The only stop motion thing he directed was Corpse Bride. Everything else has been Live-Action. (this isnt including his short films).

All those goth/emo people who claim that Burton is their hero or whatever probably couldnt tell you any other movies he directed other than Edward Scissorhands...(which was a terrible movie by the way) and probably incorrectly Nightmare.

Yes, I'm a huge Nightmare fan...sue me.
I love Nightmare and Scissorhands too. I tapped into that innocent and misunderstood place Edward came from. I guess either you either connect with it or you don't, but it fared well for a niche film and is still fondly remembered 20 years later. But I knew several people who didn't care for it, but I've never heard anything that harsh. That's cool. There are a lot of popular films I can't stand (Forest Gump, Titanic, Saving Private Ryan). I respect that.

I enjoy Burton's art and visual sense, but I also agree with you that he accepts of his credit from the hard work of others. Watch the Batman DVD with the commentary and he'll have you believing that he was the first to integrate a studio logo into the film credit sequence. Um...I guess he didn't see Raiders of the Lost Ark or any of the Indiana Jones pictures! He also discarded a lot of Batman's history on a whim and boasted that he'd never read a comic book! He also takes credit for some of the film's developments that were actually cannon. He's an artist. Epic narcissism is expected and was warranted when his films were better. I still enjoy many of the things he brings to the table and his idea to bring the Addams Family back to movie screens via stop-motion animation. It'll be pretty. Story wise...I just don't know. I have a feeling that Nightmare would have turned out a lot more like Corpse Bride if not for Selick. Comparing Coraline to Corpse contrasts their styles greatly and it's easier to decipher the credit for Nightmare should weigh heavily in Selick's favor.

Anyway...long rant. Sorry about that. /rant

I really would love to see more stop motion, traditional animation and practical effects. The over-saturation of digital media has blurred the line between film and television and robbed the movies of much magic. I think everything has a place, CG and motion capture are both being used like a gauche restaurant patron over-salts his food before tasting it. Just my observation.

Tron wasn't exactly a big hit in the 80's... it just garnered a cult following. I'm sure it could do SOMETHING with all the buzz it got... Harry Potter and Narnia may hinder it... but it couldn't possibly be any worse at the box office than the original one. That said, I'm trying VERY hard to shake any feelings I have to wanna see Yogi Bear, though, to be honest, at least the characters look and sound sorta like they should, unlike a certain super hero dog.

But it just seems to happen with directors... they're all bright eyed and energetic and work past any handicaps of the technology of the day only to fool themselves when their older that's what they wanted when it comes out. The only thing I'd like Tim Burton to do is revisit Beetlejuice with stop motion puppets. Other than that, he just has a goth/emo fan base that would see anything of his because it's goth and emo... though, I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth... the way Disney treated Nightmare Before Christmas, without the goth poser fan base, it would have been completely forgotten.

On the bright side, now if Zermeckis WANTS to do Roger Rabbit 2, he might just have to revisit the old cel animation techniques that made the film visually stunning.
BeetleJuice with puppets! Love that!

Zemekis needs to traditionally animate Roger, but I understand the use for GC props instead of the fantastic puppetry they used in the first. I hope he goes hand drawn with only the ink and paint in the computer.
 

rurulesunc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
96
Reaction score
3
Ah no offense taken at all. I know that no offense was meant by any of the comments in the thread. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and Im not saying that I dont agree with a lot of what is being said here. :smile:

Also - just one point of clarification that really doesnt make a difference to anything - but IMD actually didnt create Polar Express. Zemeckis directed, but the visual effects work was done by Sony Imageworks on that one. IMD was created for Christmas Carol.
 
Top