The Worst CGI Kid Films In Recent Memory

[cuppajoe95]

Ehhh... I get that Mattel desperately wants a boy's toy line that isn't based on an existing property that they have to buy the rights to. Something they can own. While they do have Hot Wheels, they really don't have an action figure line.

Thing that bugs the heck out of me is that they pretty much fast tracked this thing into production while the new Masters of the Universe movie has been slowly getting traction for the past decade, maybe decade and a half. I'm sure they want it to be a quality film and all, but seriously... Max Steel wasn't exactly popular the last go around a couple years ago. To be fair, it was on Disney XD, a channel I'm usually bashing for it's inaccessibility that dooms the popularity of outside toy based shows. I'm guessing most kids didn't actually get to watch the new series, but the toy line went into deep discount. Parts of it even made it to Dollar Tree. Max Steel was barely a thing back in 2000, definitely wasn't a thing in 2012 or so (I can't even remember when that version came out, that's how little of an impact it made).

Indeed.

That, combined with the fact that it appears to be a cliche "origin story" movie, and I'm positive very few people will even know about it, let alone see it come the release date.

Well, apart from anyone going to watch it out of morbid curiosity if it turns out bad.

I could say it might end up the same way Jem and the Holograms turned out, but Max Steel is even less well-known than Jem.

 

[Drtooth]

I doubt it. Max Steel looks like they spent money on it.

Jem was the case of Hasbro wanting to make the movie more than anyone else and even then giving up. They couldn't sell a movie with the original concept nor could they sell a decent budget version of a modern concept. Not to mention the fact that out of all the properties Hasbro had since the 80's, Jem was one of the ones they didn't bother continuing or updating. No wonder none of the movie studios wanted to touch it.

I don't know what clout Mattel had to get a Max Steel movie made. That they at least had one step ahead and updated, just no one cared about the update.

 

[Flaky Pudding]

Open Season 2. I liked it when I was a little kid so I decided to watch it as a teenager and it doesn't hold up AT ALL!? The whole plot about Mr. Weenie was SO predictable and very ridiculous. I also didn't like Fifi, the villain dog who was easily the most boring character in the movie. It just bores me now.

 

[mr3urious]

The Swan Princess is out with its 6th movie, and apparently Odette and Derek adopted a daughter in the 5th installment who now stars in this movie. And why bother calling it a Swan Princess movie by this point? I can't imagine fans of the 1st movie being all too happy about this as Odette isn't a main character here, and kids unfamiliar with the original wouldn't care either way.

Just retire already, Richard Rich.

 

[cuppajoe95]

The Swan Princess is out with its 6th movie, and apparently Odette and Derek adopted a daughter in the 5th installment who now stars in this movie. And why bother calling it a Swan Princess movie by this point? I can't imagine fans of the 1st movie being all too happy about this as Odette isn't a main character here, and kids unfamiliar with the original wouldn't care either way.

Just retire already, Richard Rich.

Well... to be honest, I find what I know about Richard Rich's career kind of interesting, to say the least.

I mean, the guy is notable for directing animated films without having ever actually worked as an animator. In fact, I believe he worked his way up to a job as an assistant director from working in the mailroom at Disney.

I also can't help but assume that he only thinks of animation as entertainment for little kids and nothing else, seeing how he went from the well-received films The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron to stuff like The Swan Princess, The King and I and later the Alpha & Omega films with Christian children's animation and videos about famous people in between.

It's worth mentioning that it appears he no longer has a hand in the A&O sequels and that Splash! Entertainment took over production of them.

 

[mr3urious]

I also can't help but assume that he only thinks of animation as entertainment for little kids and nothing else, seeing how he went from the well-received films The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron to stuff like The Swan Princess, The King and I and later the Alpha & Omega films with Christian children's animation and videos about famous people in between.

Also, when he worked on the first two films you mentioned, he was only one of the directors. I'm convinced he had very little influence on their quality, like George Lucas on the original Star Wars trilogy.

 

[cuppajoe95]

Also, when he worked on the first two films you mentioned, he was only one of the directors. I'm convinced he had very little influence on their quality, like George Lucas on the original Star Wars trilogy.

I see.

Also, I can't help but wonder if perhaps he's the antithesis to Don Bluth.

 

[Drtooth]

The Swan Princess is out with its 6th movie, and apparently Odette and Derek adopted a daughter in the 5th installment who now stars in this movie. And why bother calling it a Swan Princess movie by this point? I can't imagine fans of the 1st movie being all too happy about this as Odette isn't a main character here, and kids unfamiliar with the original wouldn't care either way.

I find it just a total mindscrew that Swan Princess came out of nowhere to get so many DTVs. I find the original to be one of the third party Disney Wannabe movies that came out in the 90's that would instantly be forgettable had it not been for 90's kids being nostalgic for it. Heck, even the endless parade of Land Before Time sequels that somehow didn't dawn on them to do a TV series instead for a decade make more sense than this.

But seeing the trailer, "what is the point" indeed. I get the whole girls shouldn't have to be princesses thing. I get the pseudo-feminism here and how its used to ultimately sell girls the same girly toys that this movie is supposed to counter. But it just feels like a crappy DTV pirate movie script that couldn't sell that they had to shove into a franchise to get produced. Nothing more I can say, except at least it looks better animated than Norm of the North did.

Though I still have to wonder. Did anyone actually like the Swan Princess? It's just one of those soooo trying to be Disney films without any of the substance or talent that made them memorable that those who complain about how there are too many CGI films seem to forget dominated in the 90's.

 

[cuppajoe95]

I find it just a total mindscrew that Swan Princess came out of nowhere to get so many DTVs. I find the original to be one of the third party Disney Wannabe movies that came out in the 90's that would instantly be forgettable had it not been for 90's kids being nostalgic for it. Heck, even the endless parade of Land Before Time sequels that somehow didn't dawn on them to do a TV series instead for a decade make more sense than this.

But seeing the trailer, "what is the point" indeed. I get the whole girls shouldn't have to be princesses thing. I get the pseudo-feminism here and how its used to ultimately sell girls the same girly toys that this movie is supposed to counter. But it just feels like a crappy DTV pirate movie script that couldn't sell that they had to shove into a franchise to get produced. Nothing more I can say, except at least it looks better animated than Norm of the North did.

Though I still have to wonder. Did anyone actually like the Swan Princess? It's just one of those soooo trying to be Disney films without any of the substance or talent that made them memorable that those who complain about how there are too many CGI films seem to forget dominated in the 90's.

I know, right?

Oh, and according to the TV Tropes for Richard Rich, he apparently keeps making Swan Princess sequels because "he just loves writing stories about Odette and Derek".

Oh, and apparently he's not fond of the third Swan Princess movie for some reason (oh yeah, and there were actually a couple sequels to that film made in the 90's).

Agreeing with a statement in the previous comment (and yes, I'm bringing it up again), at least when Universal made DTV sequels back in the 90's and 2000's (not just The Land Before Time, but also An American Tail and Balto), they cited commercial success for those films (it's worth mentioning that even though the latter was buried in a crowded holiday season with Toy Story and Jumanji on top, it sold well enough on video to convince them to make sequels).

The Swan Princess... not even close. A part of me wonders how Rich even managed to get even one sequel, let alone five, made seeing how the original was a box office bomb.

 

[Mr Snrub]

On the subject of Open Season 2, can we just mention this wonderful piece of cinema

You know, random song endings were everywhere during this time period. I can't fault them for doing that. But, for the love of god, if you're gonna have your characters sing the song, don't make them terrible at singing. Why is Elliot so horrible? Joel McHale isn't a great singer, but his song or two in Community were decent. Is his singing a plot point I'm blocking out? The only competent singer in this scene is the girl deer who is voiced by Jane Krakowski, who has been in quite a few musicals. With that in mind, I feel like this was just an excuse to make her sing. And, as many internet reviewers point out, Elliot's awful singing being acknowledged doesn't make it okay.