To the British, Wallace And Gromit are national treasures right up there with June Sarpong and Pat Butcher – but, as Dreamworks Animation recently found out, the rest of the world couldn't give a stuff about Aardman's slaphead cheese-lover or his dog.
It's been announced today that Dreamworks Animation is prematurely putting an end to the five-picture deal it had signed with Wallace And Gromit creators Aardman because nobody wanted to go and see any of the films the companies made together and Dreamworks ended up taking huge write-downs on the Aardman movies. Although the end of the Dreamworks/ Aardman deal marks a sad day for Wallace And Gromit fans, at least would-be animators can take something from the news – whatever you do, never ever make a film about a rat falling down a toilet and then let Shane Ritchie do the voices in it.
This time last year it looked like Wallace And Gromit were taking over the world. Thanks to Aardman's partnership with Shrek studio Dreamworks Wallace And Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, made it to the top of the US weekend box office and managed to totally spook out an entire island of idiots. It seemed as if Wallace And Gromit creators Aardman Animation were hell-bent on conquering the planet.
But fast forward to now and things aren't looking that rosy at all. Despite pumping out three films with Aardman – Wallace And Gromit, Chicken Run and Flushed Away – Dreamworks has decided that it would much rather trample on Wallace And Gromit in public than risk seeing through its five-picture deal with Aardman, thanks to the uncanny money-losing ability of films about leather-wearing rats titting about in a filth-encrusted toilet, as MSNBC reports:
Although Flushed Away took in almost $170m at the global box office, Katherine Styponias, a media analyst with Prudential Equity Group, estimated in a research note that the company lost $120m on the film. "We do not expect Flushed [Away] to be a profit contributor for the duration of its life cycle," she said… "I am proud of the work we have created together and also greatly admire Aardman's passion and expertise for stop motion filmmaking and brilliant storytelling," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks chief executive. "While I will always be a fan and an admirer of Aardman's work, our different business goals no longer support each other."
So what now for Dreamworks and Aardman? Well, we're almost certain that Dreamworks are going to keep pushing out ever-worse Shrek movies and merchandise out until the end of the world, including the much-anticipated sequel to Shrek In The Swamp Karaoke Dance Party, and Aardman? Aardman will no doubt be keen to move on from Flushed Away and show that it is capable of making animated movies that the whole family can enjoy with its next movie, provisionally about the wacky adventures of a family of tapeworm burrowing through an overweight man's fecal matter.
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remi says
Flushed away failed because it stank of American money. Aardman are always better when they explore the more loony corners of British culture (vegetable-growing contests etc) A Hugh Jackman rat in a toilet is just too much of a compromise