Posted on 11/17/2004 1:47:55 PM PST by Andyman
Hollywood — The eight major Hollywood studios have filed suit against CGI animation company Pixar for its consistent record of quality movies. The complaint alleges that with its sixth consecutive profitable and critically acclaimed film in “The Incredibles,” Pixar is overturning a decades-long public relations campaign waged by Hollywood studios to convince the public that it’s impossible to consistently make high quality films. “If Pixar doesn’t get with the program, we’re going to have to fundamentally change the way we do business,” groused Paramount chairwoman Sherry Lansing, whose studio hasn’t produced a hit film in several years. “I repeat my recommendation to Steve Jobs that he pay John Travolta and Halle Berry $20 million each to provide voices for an effects-laden remake of ‘The Fox and the Hound.’”
Plaintiffs in the suit are Paramount, Universal, MGM, Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., Dreamworks, and Sony Pictures. All eight studios have worked together since 1980 in a sophisticated PR effort to make all Americans believe that it’s inevitable most films will be poor to mediocre. The campaign has included payoffs to critics, training for film school professors, and talking points distributed to corporate spokespeople. Because of the successful campaign, executives have successfully built a system in which they spend tens of millions of dollars each year on development and end up producing as many critically and commercially successful films as a monkey throwing darts at a board would, according to scientific studies.
Asked for comment, a Pixar spokesperson said he believes the suit was motivated by studio executives’ indignation that Pixar and Apple CEO Steve Jobs refused to send them each a free iPod Photo.
According to the studios’ talking points, it’s impossible to consistently make more than 50% of films be high quality, with an average hit to miss ratio of 1:2. But with its six profitable and acclaimed films, Pixar is beginning to make many Americans questions why it actually seems possible to consistently make successful films.
“Those guys are ruining it for everybody,” said Warner Bros. president Alan Horn. “We can’t possibly be expected to stay in business when we’re up against a studio that doesn’t have dozens of unqualified young executives with little or no background or interest in film meddling in the creative process of all their movies.”
“It just goes to show what I’ve always said,” added Universal Chairwoman Stacy Snider. “It should be illegal for companies outside of Los Angeles to produce motion pictures.”
The complaint asks that a court award the eight studios $1 billion in damages or compel Pixar to hire 118 unqualified development executives, option the rights to 38 scripts and books it has no intention of turning into films, and immediately greenlight sequels to “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo” with $100 million-plus budgets and hire directors whose only experience is in music videos to oversee them.
If it's not a joke, then it's even funnier. LOL!!
If Pixar keeps this up they will be forced to hire Michael Bay
Too dam funny!!
It is believable...it's funny, but believable.
Well since the RIAA and now the MPAA have been suing their customer base, it was only a matter of time before they started suing each other.
The quality of Hong Kong films greatly improved in the late 1980s peaking shortly before the 1997 handover to the Chinese Communist government.
Disney, Turner, and others know this. They bought up massive catalogs of titles and don't release them. Those that they do release they edit so as to reduce their greatness.
Anyone who has seen an HK Jackie Chan film know how superior they are in humor, action, and stuntwork to the American produced product. And how racist is it that any film starring a Chinese actor has to pair him with or play him off of an American actor/actress who is already established?
I have a region free DVD player so I can see original edits of films from around the world and see them years before they would reach these shores (if ever).
Some smaller US companies have wised up and are releasing some of recent foreign films straight to video over here. I like this because it means Netflix is more likely to stock them so I don't have to buy a film just to see it.
Anyone know a US company renting "region 2" (Japan/Europe), "region 3" (Hong Kong), "region 4" (Australia) films by mail?
ping to me
"Well since the RIAA and now the MPAA have been suing their customer base, it was only a matter of time before they started suing each other."
True, they are suing their customer base. Trying to forecefully hold on to their outdated dinosaur of a business model.
And more people than ever are downloading music and movies now, I would imagine some of that is largely due to the behaviour of these groups towards their own fan base.
Bones
Ixar should do a computer animated version of Watership Down.
Would't that be great? The original was a poor version of one of my favorite books.
Pixar rocks.
Personally, I don't download, I just buy Anime OSTs and J-Pop instead of domestic CDs and instead of buy movies (unless they are high quality, Jackson's LotR for example or very cheap like the $6.00 DVD bin at Walmart), I just buy anime.
hahahaha and a ping so I can show this to Mr. Melbell later!
We saw the incredibles this past weekend and I just absolutely loved it! Well made, well written, and HILARIOUS!
Pixar is my friend.
If you haven't tried them yet, you can buy a set of Studio Ghibli films by Miyazaki on eBay. Like Grave of the Fireflies, Totoro, and 9 others. Very cool.
I prefer comedies and science fiction.
By the way, have you seen the new anime parody cartoon series Megas XLR, it is the funniest series I have ever seen, I laugh to the point of tears nearly everytime I see new episode of it.
Yeah, but those are almost certainly unlicensed, Hong Kong bootlegs. Miyazaki's too good to rip off like that.
I am seriously looking forward to the next Miyazaki - "Howl's Moving Castle", an adaption of a book I love... does he have a standing deal with an American studio to distribute, or can I hope to find an unlicensed fansub shortly after Japanese release? The one problem I have with my anime addiction is the movies. They never get fansubbed, and they take forever to get over here.
"The Incredibles" is the best I have ever seen!
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