Whoa, Singapore's got a feature-length animation coming out THIS MONTH??
Oh boy am I out of the loop on this one! Cubix International, a local film company, has completed their (and Singapore's) first feature-length animated movie, Zodiac- The Race Begins, and it's releasing at the end of this month (nicely timed to coincide with the Chinese New Year break). The movie's about the titular Zodiac Race which would decide the order of precedence of the 12 animals in the calendar. Getting this movie out is a nice accomplishment for Cubix, though the quality of the CGI-work, from the looks of the official site, is pretty bad!
Compared to this, Egg Story's work on Kung Fu Gecko looks brilliant. Not surprising as Kung Fu Gecko's visuals are top-quality even by Hollywood standards. But we won't see Kung Fu Gecko for a long time as it's slated for a 2008 release. Curiously enough, 2008's the same year in which Dreamworks will release it's own similarly-monikered animated movie- "Kung Fu Panda." Gee, Is there an animal Kung Fu craze going on in the animation community or something?
Oh but back to Zodiac. Well, despite looking kinda crappy, the movie's been pre-sold to over 22 countries based on a 10-minute trailer. That's impressive! Not so impressive is the fact that they made it with the help of the MDA. Not that there's anything wrong with that, per say, I just don't see how the animation industry can grow creatively (as opposed to commercially) if the government has to be backing up industry players all the way. Creativity flourishes under pressure and these guys certainly aren't under any. So I'd be very surprised if "Zodiac- The Race Begins" turns out to be anything but humourous, mildly entertaining and completely forgettable.
And who can blame Singapore for making such a movie? Dreamworks (with Shark Tale) and Disney (with Chicken Little, a movie SO forgettable I couldn't tell my sister the plotline not half an hour after I saw it. It's VANISHED from my mind) have set the precedent- you can make a totally vapid animated movie and people will line up to throw money at you. Still, all isn't lost. If there's justice in this world, everyone'll go watch Wallace & Gromit, a truely excellent animated movie in every single way, instead of this one. I'm not even going to give it the benefit of doubt. I smell money all over this production. Nobody made this movie because they love animation or wanted to tell a good story- they wanted to make a good "Intellectual Property" and then make money off merchandising and licensing. So I'm waiting til 2008 to see a GOOD (or at least pretty- last year's trailer didn't fully convince me on the story but hey, it's only the 1st trailer and the movie's 2 years down the pipeline...) animated movie come out of Singapore.
2 comments:
It's not a matter of creatively that makes MDA supports this movie all the way. MDA just wants to let people know that Singapore can make so called animated full length movie. Since they are making Singapore a media hub, it's kinda acting as a show off for MDA and Singapore.
Hey dude, just chanced upon your blog while I was surfing the net. It's sure great to find a fellow blogger who takes an interest on the animation industry too! Well, just like to share with you my opinion on Zodiac. About the fact that Zodiac was sold to over 22 countries, actually it's really not a difficult feat. There'll always be demand for films that are inexpensive and can be showed at time slots on TV for children's programme. If you noticed, the countries that have bought the Zodiac movie like China and thailand etc, their own CG industry is not really considered developed yet, so their expectation of a good CG movie is still not as high as say in a country like the United States. So the real litmus test for a cg film is to be able to break into the US market. If a CG animated film can do that, then it really is something to boast about. :)
Anyway, not to belittle the effort put in by Cubix, it is indeed commendable for their efforts to finish the film. But the mindset in which they have set out to make the film is what worries me. If you have gone to the Making of Zodiac's talk you may have noticed that the philosophy behind how they make the film didn't seem quite right. The team appears not giving the due respect to the creative process involve in making a film. If they don't change this mentality then I think the next 5 to 7 movies they claimed that they would be making for the next 5 years may run the risk of having the same standards as Zodiac. Just sharing my thoughts. :)
Btw, you've missed out another movie that is coming out from Spore by 2008, besides Kungfu Gecko. The other movie is "Sing to the Dawn". Here're more details about the movie: http://www.rsi.sg/english/undertones/view/20051228131531/1/.html
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