DreamWorks Animation released the first trailer for its forthcoming caveman picture The Croods, written and directed by Chris Sanders. And it's pretty much the last thing I needed to see after a long day. Share my pain—
It seems that The Croods will basically be Brave with Neanderthals instead of Scots, and one heck of a homely Merida. Just look at that shot of Ugly Merida climbing the cliff—DreamWorks, what are you doing?
The Croods clubs theatres on March 22.
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47 comments:
Are you kidding me? It thematically looks nothing like Brave. This is gonna be sweet.
Redheaded daughter of boorish clan leader disobeys parental orders, climbs sunlit cliff, puts family in danger.
This looks like its going to be nothing like Brave. Sure, there's the rebellious daughter, but tons of movies have done that before. I'm really excited for this movie, looks amazing.
Mike, you spoke my mind, exactly what I thought when watching the trailer. Looks ugly, boring/repetitive premise (Brave? Ice Age 1?), bland voice. Didn't get me interested in the least.
Guess you didn't see How To Train Your Dragon, 2 years before Brave was released... Go compare those two films stylistically.
Well, yeah. The focus on the plot is actually on the father though. If anything, it's just Hotel Transylvania set in the stone age. I mean, we have a rebellious teenage daughter, tons of creatures based off of fictional and real life things, and a father who doesn't want his life to change or his daughter to grow up. This trailer doesn't show the character that introduces fire or anything. I'm fairly meh at the moment. The premise is boring, the animation on the characters looks very off, and the voice acting sounds dull. However, I'm adoring the design of this Croodatious period, it looks to have amazingly lush colours and unique creature designs. Also, I love Chris Sanders. I really love Chris Sanders. So, I'm fairly torn.
Beautifully said Mike: ugly characters, boring and repetitive story, etc. To answer your question, Dreamworks is doing what they have always been known for.. making shitty movies!
Ugly Merida, indeed. Her looks are not appealing. If you're going to have a cave girl as your main character, the least you can do is make her attractive or at least bearable to watch.
Besides, I'm starting to notice a similar style between Rise of the Guardians and this. Some kind of faux-wonderousness kinda thing. Pretentious I'd say. I don't like it. And last but not least, what's with the title design?! It doesn't fit the overall mood of the trailer or characters AT ALL.
On the brightside, one can say at least Dreamworks is trying new things.. maybe... except they keep copying Pixar.
Eh, not going to make a judgement call on a teaser trailer of all things but yeah, it's running far too close to other films but getting them either wrong or making them worse.
Oh and really guys, the female lead isn't your idea of pretty? That's your notion of critical assessment?
Oh and Mike and Alex, you're both really going to go out against it because the lead female isn't your idea of pretty? I mean, is that really something you're using to beat the film with of all things? The movie might be terrible for all the reasons we can assume it'll be bad, the relative attractiveness of the lead shouldn't one of those reasons.
The opening of the trailer was almost a parody of the "Rebellious Child" Trope - it's on the nose to the point of sarcasm. The dad's Caution over Curiosity theme might be closer to Nemo than Brave.
It looks more like an adventure film than Brave.
Personally, I like the long, stout arms and stocky leg design. At least it's something different, and the animation is nice and graceful.
Here's to something that'll make another truckload of cash, and keep people gainfully employed.
Yeah, because everyone knows that only pretty girls should be in movies, am i rite, guys?
I don't get the Brave comparison at all. I'd say its closer to Tangled more than Brave in that they never let her out of the cave. But even that appears to be a small part of the premise. They probably get out in the first 10 mins.
What I'm finding more disappointing is the lack of that Chris Sanders look. I was hoping to see his signature look in 3D. The closest we've gotten to that were the initial tests for American Dog/Bolt. Here we only get a bit of that in the creatures, not the humans themselves. Still I'll give it a chance.
There's a difference between pretty and appealing, guys. You can have an "ugly" character that is still appealing. and these characters just aren't in our opinion.
At least Dreamworks are releasing an original film next year, which can't be said for pixar...
I have faith in Sanders. How to train your Dragon was lovely and Lilo and Stitch is fantastic.
If you took your head out of Pixar's ass for a second, maybe you could entertain the idea that MAYBE an animated movie with a female protagonist (although I'm not sure this is the case) is not automatically a Brave copy. Dreamworks already had a female lead years before Pixar did, in 2009's Monsters vs Aliens.
I'm sure your deep analysis of the movie based on a 2-minute trailer must be spot-on. Just like Brave is How to Train Your Dragon with Scots instead of Vikings, right?
Also, sorry that girl in The Croods doesn't live up to your wonderful ideal of feminine beauty. Shame on Dreamworks for thinking they could design a girl character that's "not pretty" by our society's standards, thank god there are people like you out there ready to put them in their place!
Hopefully this will be a good movie and a box office hit, if only to prove you wrong.
*Agrees with Nini - who are these chauvinist idiots?? Chris Sanders is a storytelling genius, most of these bad comments are superficial observations based on a TEASER...lets leave the judgements until the release-shall we?
*snort*
Ugly Merida? Merida looked way worse than this new character.
And at least the Croods actually has an interesting plot. It isn't just about the girl.
You gotta admit, this is eye candy.
1. Amen, Mike.
2. How to Train Your Dragon was a rip-off of the Iron Giant.
3. This movie looks like a mix of Brave and with a stretch Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
I guess we'll see how the movie is. I really hope that it's good. But the way that dreamworks is going to be pumping movies out in the next 4 year I feel like they'll definitely be some quality sacrificed for quantity. But I don't think this movie will be brave with Neanderthals. Either way I'm not going to let the trailer decide my opinion on the movie. I guess don't knock it till you try it.
come on, there are nothing like Brave. just Tarzan leaves Tangled to Avatar.
While I agree that DreamWorks seems to churn out sub-par movies, I'm hesitant to judge a book by its cover. The visuals do look very stunning. However, at the end of the day it's all about story, and it always will be. That's why I have enjoyed Pixar so much. You can have truly crappy visuals, but if the story is good, if it truly tugs at the heart, gets under your skin, then the film has done its job, in my opinion.
How could they have copied Brave when The Croods has been in production for years
To people's accusations about this film being derivative of Brave, Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Tangled, etc. Yes, it's true, this film doesn't look original in the slightest. However, it is playing on really tired cliches that have become a staple in American animated movies. I don't think it's the problem of the writers ripping off one particular story, but revisiting the SAME themes in the SAME way.
To think, this started as an Aardman/Dreamworks collaboration project. I wonder if it would have been better if it was Aardman. Then again, I feel like their going a little downhill. Pirates! Band of Misfits was a fun movie, but aside from a couple great moments, it lacked the wit Wallace and Gromit, or Creature Comforts.
But Mike, to be fair to this film, it looks more boring than awful. I think you're confusing tired with incompetent.
Ugly and not appealing in any way besides the bright colors (we've seend bright 3-D colors before, you have to be 4 years old to get excited again...)
Nice, they are Flinstones 3D + Ice Age
Lemme correct mike for the feminists here.
The main character isn't ugly, she's just bland. From a perspective of an animator, this is bad. If they wanted to make the character "ugly", they could have done so. She isn't ugly, she isn't beutiful, not even between. Just bland.
It should be called The Crudes... And I'm not surprised, it's dreamworks. With the exception of HTTYD and Sherk 1 and 2 that were creative and funny, dreamworks sucks.
Oh my...
Let me say though that I'm always if a movie ends up being truly entertaining, is memorable, and successful.
Even this one.
Ignoring all the comparisons, this movie just looks boring. I wasn't intriqued or amused in the slightest during that trailer.
It´s brave + Avatar.
Well. It´s the same story. But Brave for me wasn´t that good neither.
Boring stories like forever...
(i´m a big pixar fan, let you know)
Big Screen Animation: Where intelligent critical analysis goes to die.
Still getting kickbacks from the lamp, Mike?
For my money, I think The Croods looks fantastic and I think judging the entire movie based on a two-and-a-half-minute trailer is juvenile and showcases your ignorance.
Do the rest of us a favor; go listen to your limited edition Toy Story 3 score while staring up at your signed Toy Story 3 poster. Heaven knows you've earned it with all of the Pixar butt-kissing you've had to do over the years.
Nice to know that Big Screen Animation still presents the same open-minded attitude that The Pixar Blog did. Cartoon Brew you ain't, sir, and Cartoon Brew you will never be if you keep approaching animation the way you do.
Best of luck NOT working in the animation industry.
DreamWorks has always had ripoffs
Shark Tale - Findign Nemo
Bee Movie - A Bug's Life
Monsters vs. Aliens - Monsters, Inc.
Megamind - The Incredibles
So, with this one, ripping off Brave was a natural for them.
It doesn't matter whether the girl looks "pretty" or not. Her design is simply lackluster, period. In fact, most of the design in this whole thing seems lackluster. The concept has been done to death, there's nothing outstanding or fascinating about the characters, the trailer presents no real conflict of interest, and the voice acting doesn't fit at all. I think Sanders is very overrated, and the trailer only exposes that.
This looks nothing like Brave! The trailer looks to be only giving us the first 15 minutes of the movie. The adventure is clearly going to be focused on that colorful land outside the cave, not the rebellious daughter's mission to get outside.
Actually, this looks like a retelling of Plato's "The Cave" so far. A literal retelling in set-up, too, since this family actually lives in a cave.
It's going to be a film about a whole family who goes on an adventure. A little bit like the Incredibles? Perhaps the Land Before Time series? Even Up, in that it's exploring this rainforest-looking environment.
Also -- real good of you to say this movie is going to be bad because our lead female is "homely". Yup. All women have to be drop-dead gorgeous in order to be interesting. Maybe this is why women are the minority in animation; they have to deal with misogynists who value them only because of their appearance.
Anon @ October 5, 2012 1:37 PM
While I am not anticipating The Croods, I'm afraid I'll have to agree with you about the Big Screen Animation Blog. I really need to switch my readership...
Very good trailer, more action and more colorful than Brave. (oh and your blog is not even credible when you're so pro-pixar).
Well, it looks like the film is more family-centered, rather than a rebellious girl story, and the scene were apparently in different context. For Merida, climbing was her hobby, shown briefly in montage. In this trailer, she is exploring the world outside the cave.
Also,I think it is quite biased to tackle the film because she is not beautiful. It rather looks more natural that she is not gorgeous. In fact, she is good-looking compared to other members of the family.
The only problem I have with this film is the voice acting, but overall, I think it's going to be nice film. I am not very fond of Dreamworks, but I think this is going way too far.
Dear almost every other commenter here and Mike, You all are mean pricks to mike. If you hate the blog so much go read Twilight or something, if you don't like it don't read it but don't insult the people who do or the author.
Sorry about all this mike, While I dont agree with you about everything you said in this post I agree with the gist of it. And the people just didnt understand what you mesnt by ugly. You meant ugly as in animtion right?
Scincerely, Isaac
This movie looks bad. Sure, the characters aren't supermodels, but I seriously don't give a crap about how the characters look. The animation and scenery is nice and all, but when it comes down to it: Story > Appearance. This movie's concept is just blah. Bad writing, just cliche and not special.
Wow. You guys really hate Brave and women who aren't "pretty" :/
I came on this site for animation discussion, not for misogyny and bashing....
Well as a woman I have to agree with Mike- the main character is not an appealing design- 'ugly' is a quick way to express that. I don't think that's misogynistic at all- an unappealing, bland male character that is unpleasant to look at is also a bad thing. It has nothing to do with sexism.
guys go see the trailer 2 its good and stop saying she s ugly
Well, I just saw the movie with my kids, and I am able to pick something good from every movie I've taken them to...except for this one. It was annoying from start to finish. Completely uninspired repetitive stupidity on all levels. Even the voice casting was bad, and I'm a fan of Nick Cage.
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