[ID: A meme edit of Laios from Dungeon Meshi telling Maomao from The Apothecary Diaries, "I ate raw kraken parasite and got sick." Maomao says, "Why the fuck did you do that?" but thinks, "Based based based..." End ID]
I remember when 2D faded out, the reason studios kept giving was "it's because 2D is a lot more expensive to produce". I was a child back then so I didn't think too much about it, assuming it was about the process itself, but as I grew up and learned more about art as an artist, and gained friends who were professional 3D artists themselves, I started to question it. Because 3D is very different from 2D, but it's definitely not easier or faster to make. Also, both European and Asian studios kept producing 2D animated movies
The answer was unions. The answer wasn't "this kind of art is cheaper because it's easier to make", it was "this kind of art is cheaper because these artists can't force us to pay them correctly"
Heyo! Animaton Industry Worker here! I'm here to provide even more context as to why this post sucks and why assumptions like this actually hurt us (Animation Workers) in the long run. (Also, all Animation (2D and 3D) *IS* unionized. That was a misinformed assumption added to this post that has no basis in reality and has been taken at face value.)
To spare your dashboards, it's all below the jump.
Anyway.
"The Day The Earth Blew Up" is a Warner Bros. Animation Studios film, which has very different production pipelines and business models compared to Disney or other animated films that you might be thinking of.
Additionally, $15 Million is actually.... pretty freaking cheap for a traditionally animated feature film, and I'm pretty sure that figure would have been a lot bigger IF THEY HAD INCLUDED MARKETING. Don't forget that marketing is a part of the budget! Remember the big movement on social media that encouraged people to go see it to make sure it sent a message to execs?
The Day The Earth Blew Up's Budget: $15 million
Total Box Office Returns: $15.1 million
Profit: $0.1 million
Verdit: Barely Broke Even. In Studio terms: a flop.
The last animated feature film from Warner Bros. Studios was "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim." Did you see that one? It was pretty good, actually. The animation and production for that film was outsourced to New Zealand, which probably offered tax breaks to the US company (ie: drove down costs for the studio).
(Fun Fact! Look up "The Hobbit Laws" in New Zealand! New and wonderful ways to undermine workers rights abroad! Hooray!)
War of the Rohirrim Budget: $30 million
Total Box Office Returns: $20.7 million
Losses: $9.3 million
Verdict: Flop
Now let's look at some Disney films! Remember, these figures aren't broken down for us, so we have to remember that MARKETING IS A PART OF THE BUDGET.
Elio Budget: $150-$200 million
Total Box Office Returns: $151 million
Losses: $0-9 million.
Verdict: Flop.
Inside Out 2 Budget: $200 million
Total Box Office Returns: $1.7 BILLION
Verdict: Success! Now do another one or you're fired!
The point I'm trying to make here is that: STUDIOS DO NOT LOOK AT MONEY THE SAME WAY WE DO. Fifteen million is pocket change and it's frankly a miracle a traditionally animated film was made with that kind of money. But if a movie does not make LITERAL BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, the cold, hard numbers dictate it is a failure. STUDIOS HAVE TO MAKE THAT KIND OF MONEY TO STAY IN BUSINESS. THEY ARE NOT IN IT FOR THE LOVE OF ART. Late Stage Capitalism has ruined everything, babyyyyyy! The numbers aren't real any more!
Please picture me saying this to you as gently as possible: if you don't have an accurate breakdown of where the budget goes and how entertainment is made, it's grossly misinformed to assume that you can make more movies on that same budget.
You cannot look at a big number that, to us, would be a life changing amount of money, and assume it has that same meaning to a mega-corporation that live and die on a completely different plane of existence from us. If you do not make the effort to understand the particulars of what it takes for a piece of art to exist, you are doing the entire artform and the artists who create it a disservice and contributing to the undermining of our rights in the entertainment economy.
When you understand how things work, you can:
petition and lobby for things like penalties for US companies who outsource their labor to international studios to avoid paying American union rates.
petition studios for longer on screen credits and streaming services to stop skipping them entirely.
overcome sticker shock and support independent animated pilots on crowdfunding platforms without the expectation of an entire season of fully animated 28 minute long episodes, because GOOD LORD how can you possibly do all of that on a just handful of millions???
completely revolutionize and support workers rights because you DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING AND GENUINE VALUE OF THE WORK! And then have wildly productive conversations with the workers in those industries in such a way that the glamour is stripped from studios who depend on their untouchable reputation to take advantage of uninformed newcomers to the industry!
Remember that Credits are there for a reason! The next time you watch your favorite movie or show, don't skip the credits! Look for the names of some new artists to become a fan of and directly support. They're the ones making art for arts sake!
izzy806
prguitarman
turnnoffyourmind
dailybridgerton
theartofmadeline
titsay
