Hello friends, I hope you are having a good day so far. I just wanted to let you know about an important anniversary happening this year. Sony Pictures Animation is celebrating 10 years in the biz. Last night the missus and I stopped by the studio for the first film in a series that they will be showing over the next few weeks. It was hosted by the producer, writers and animation director.
Sony began producing animated features with Open Season. The idea for the film was originally started by the comic strip In the Bleachers. The writers had a collection of strips and they pitched a story to Sony in where the forest animals turned the tables on the hunters. The studio greenlit the film and gave them about three years to turn it into a reality. That initial film was moderately successful and actually spawned two sequels.
Sony then began looking for new directors and ideas for films. The surfing penguin film Surf's Up followed, as did their first CGI / live action hybrid the Smurfs.
The studio was doing well with licensed characters like the Smurfs as well as adaptations from books like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. They were eager to try out new things and partnered with the stop motion animation studio Aardman (Wallace and Gromit) to produce The Pirates! Band of Misfits.
It's hard to believe the volume of work the studio has produced over a short timeline. Arthur Christmas and the future Popeye film, directed by Gennedy Tartakovsky being polar opposites (no pun intended) as far as storytelling and animation styles.
It's great to see how the studio uses isn't afraid to take on new ideas and foster the creativity of their animators. Too many other studios will only work on licensed features while others are locked into a spiral of "sequelitis." Sony Animation has a good track record of trying out original ideas as much as existing IP.
I can only imagine what great ideas are being cooked up. At the end of the film series Sony will be showcasing their next feature to the public for free.
Hotel Transylvania will be screened for families and I hope to have mine there for the show. When the location and information for tickets are revealed I'll be sure to let my So Cal friends know. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!
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