The Croods

[James]

Yep, as I said in my first sentence: "I know they're playing off the current TV show with this tagline".

But honestly, c'mon! You can't have a movie about people from the "stone-age" and call them the first "modern family" without The Flintstones "modern stone-age family" reference coming to mind. It seems to me like someone from DW should have caught that and said it wasn't worth it. Especially when they already have a reputation for copying.

And on a second note, comparing your movie to a somewhat popular currently airing TV show? Really? Maybe aim a little higher marketing department!

[James]

Now that I'm on a roll, let me pile on a bit!

If you're going to make a prehistoric movie can we think of two animal sidekicks other than a sloth and a sabertooth tiger?

And was I the only one who saw that first trailer (with the girl climbing the mountain) and thought of this:

croodsbvrave.jpg (109.88 KiB) Viewed 12582 times

Ok, I'm just trying to get a rise out of the diehard DreamWorks fans now! Until proven otherwise, a Chris Sanders film gets the benefit of the doubt!

[EricJ]

And was I the only one who saw that first trailer (with the girl climbing the mountain) and thought of this:

croodsbvrave.jpg

MORE than a little bit, yeah. (Let's see, the father's telling warning stories of a saber-toothed bear?)

And on a second note, comparing your movie to a somewhat popular currently airing TV show? Really? Maybe aim a little higher marketing department!

Well, that's just it: Ever since Shrek, DW's put all its money in "Humor ADULTS can enjoy along with their kids! (tm)", which they interpreted as meaning, they don't want to stay too far away from shallow cynical yuppie TV sitcoms for too long, and prefer that audiences approach their comedies from that isolated context. Makes it easier for them to understand.

[ShyViolet]

I'm not saying that DW has never copied things in the past but I think these comparisons are streching things a bit. Lots of movies have had sunset/cliff perspectives, just like lots of films have had superheros in them: (Incredibles/Monsters vs Aliens.) The sun rising or setting over a cliff has been in many films, both animated and live action. As to a young girl climbing a cliff, well, does this mean no other movie should ever be allowed to show this particular image?

As to DreamWorks' humor, they've definitely grown past their signature wise-cracking "adult/child" paradigm and reached new heights of storytelling and characterization. I really doubt that Croods will have a Shrek-like feel to it, or, for that matter, a sitcom, animated or not.

[ShyViolet]

Really sad about DW's layoffs. I think Croods will do a lot better and help them out of a tough spot.

[Macaluso]

I'm not saying that DW has never copied things in the past but I think these comparisons are streching things a bit. Lots of movies have had sunset/cliff perspectives, just like lots of films have had superheros in them: (Incredibles/Monsters vs Aliens.) The sun rising or setting over a cliff has been in many films, both animated and live action. As to a young girl climbing a cliff, well, does this mean no other movie should ever be allowed to show this particular image?

The movie itself is probably nothing like Brave, but it's clear they chose that particular scene and the way it looked for the trailers because of Brave.

[Switchblade Sister]

Just got back from a free screening of Dreamworks cartoon the Croods. It's pretty lame all around. Weak story, weaker characters, and all around lack of appeal in the direction design and execution. Very amateurish and stilted in it's dialogue it really tries too hard to be "hip" and "cool," but is a decade behind the times. Reading that the same writer/director of Croods wrote the terrible quest for camelot and worse racing stripes, it's no wonder. It's hardly The Flinstones, but the difference is Croods is make for small children. Funny thing is it tries to make up for lack of story with lots of loud sound but that only scared kids who wanted to leave the cinema.
I didn't care much for rise of the guardians, but it was better than this.

[Ben]

Ouch!

[EricJ]

Quest for Camelot? Double ouch! (And throw in Space Chimps, while you're at it.)

Chris Sanders is still co-credited, but more in the sense of Brave, where the Big name director started the project, sent it in the wrong direction, and the studio brought in the cheaper-experienced mainstream guy to "fix" it, but it was too late.

[Dacey]

And your source for this statement is...?

I've read many, many great things about Croods (better reviews than I ever read for Brave, as a matter of fact), which looks like pure Sanders in terms of tone and comedy. If it's not as good as his previous work, so what? It still looks like a solid film.

[EricJ]

And your source for this statement is...?

This was back in the early stage, when a few ANV folks were nosing around the Animation Guild blogspot, and the general buzz among the working folk there was that solo Sanders couldn't direct piss into a bucket without Dean DeBlois. Delays and early footage tended to bear out that comment, leading to the idea that a co-director would be appointed.
Not the best co-director choice they could've made, but could've been worse without.

[ShyViolet]

But Sanders has done amazing things on his own as well: the "I just Can't Wait to be King" sequence in LK as well as the final battle between Simba and Scar. Until I see Croods I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

[EricJ]

But Sanders has done amazing things on his own as well: the "I just Can't Wait to be King" sequence in LK as well as the final battle between Simba and Scar. Until I see Croods I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Caught the making-of featurette on Netflix, and the impression I get is the same as I got from Lilo and Dragons: Sanders can draw big, toothy grinning creatures, but he can't tell stories. He's more at home with Stitch and Toothless than he is with an emotionally involving protagonist.

(They were interviewing both directors in the featurette, and while DiMicco was going on his funny little descriptions of how the humor's all about the "modern family back then", Sanders seems to be looking at him with this patiently skeptical look of "Yeah, you would think that, wouldn't you?")

[Dacey]

*sneezes badly*

Sorry. I'm allergic to hogwash.

Seriously, saying that Sanders wasn't crucial to getting Dragon and especially Lilo & Stitch--his passion project!--made as good as they were is just silly.

[ShyViolet]

In addition to directing Sanders also writes and illustrates a long running comic strip on his website. I think he's a capable storyteller.