Dreamworks Stock Falls
And they are scratching their heads unable to understand why. They are attempting to blame this on soft DVD sales, but the truth is the quality of their work over the last several years has.. blown chunks!
I saw Shrek. That was a great flick, I enjoyed watching it on cable. It never drew me to a theater. Shrek 2 came around, it didn’t draw me to the theater either. When I caught it on cable, I was disappointed in what I saw. Shrek 2 really blew. Sharktale.. Nemo redone with worse animation and less consideration for the animals that were going to get shoved into aquariums by unthinking parents who just want to make their kids happy. Less than impressed. Madagascar? Um.. my kids are getting a little old for cartoon flicks, and the trailers for Madagascar were horrible. I had no intent of ever going to see that film from the moment I saw the first trailer. Now it’s possible that the trailers did the movie an injustice, and that the movie is a great film.
But now we get down to the real question, why didn’t I buy these films on DVD?
Quite frankly, because I had better things to buy. Harry Potter, Star Wars, Spiderman and The Incredibles. Why on earth would I buy Shrek 2, when I can spend my twenty bucks on those films? Can anyone come up with a solid argument for skipping Harry Potter or The Incredibles in favor of Shrek? I certainly couldn’t.
Worst of all for Dreamworks. My kids never asked to see any of these films in the theater. They never asked to see them on DVD. When they came on cable I turned them on for the kids. Guess what they did?
They shut Shrek2 off to play Ratchet and Clank Going Commando on the PS2.
And therein lies the rub. The PS2 is a much more adequate form of entertainment than most films being plyed into the general public. I’d rather play Sly Cooper or Final Fantasy, where I can get some real story and beautiful animation and be in on the action than watch Shrek dance around, fart and belch.
Dreamworks made the wrong call, and rather than blame it on poor judgment, they’re going to blame it on soft dvd sales. Has anyone stopped to realize that the video game industry makes more money in a year than the motion picture industry? They haven’t even bothered to stop and think that perhaps they are losing their audience to Ratchet and Clank.
July 11, 2005 10:44 pm 
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By Dave Justus, July 12, 2005 @ 7:28 am
Actually I thought Shrek 2 was very good. At least as good as the first one.
While I agree that Harry Potter and the Incredibles are both better movies, I have seen some of the crap animation you buy and you have no excuse for not buying Shrek 2.
By Random Gemini, July 12, 2005 @ 11:01 am
Not cool. First of all you’d be referring to Twin Spica… which I have not actually purchased, as it’s not licensed for the US market. And if it did get licensed, I wouldn’t buy it. So saying that I buy crap animation is unfair. I think that any anime fan will agree that my anime collection is filled with well-drawn things that involve people that aren’t green, and don’t dance around, fart, and wipe their boogers on the inside of my television screen.
Also.. I disagree. I thought Shrek 2 sucked.
By Random Gemini, July 12, 2005 @ 11:14 am
Oh… also Dave. I specifically avoided including my anime here, because collecting anime is a hobby that I feel is separate and apart from movie going. Just like.. I wouldn’t lump reef-keeping into going to the public aquarium to see if their tanks are pretty.
By Dave Justus, July 12, 2005 @ 12:41 pm
Since we were talking about the purchase of DVDs I certainly think Anime applies.
Most of what you have bought is decent. Some is crap though.
And Shrek 2 was cool. You just have an anti-ogre bias!
By Random Gemini, July 13, 2005 @ 11:28 am
If we’re just talking about the purchase of DVD’s and anime applies, then the DVD market shouldn’t be going soft because Angel and I buy enough to feed several starving families in Africa. *chuckle*