Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Trouble for Flushed Away?

Many of us were surprised when Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit opened poorly and went on to only $56 million in North America. After all, Chicken Run had done well, Wallace & Gromit had a definite (if small) following over here, it got fantastic reviews, and most of us in animation eagerly anticipated the film. It also did well overseas ($128 million in theater grosses), and it's now the Oscar front-runner. Yet, as we all know, it didn't click with American viewers. My first reaction when it opened weakly was that DreamWorks marketing had scuttled it with an underwhelming ad campaign. I didn't see many ads on TV, and the ones I did see emphasized the penguin short more than W&G. The film and filmmakers/voices didn't have that omnipresence that we've seen with other major animation releases. Where was the marketing? Later, I considered that maybe the marketers knew something I didn't -- that however wonderful this film is, it wasn't going to connect with the broad cross-section of American filmgoers. Did the marketers see signs of this in test screenings and surveys and conclude that a massively expensive ad campaign wouldn't be cost effective? Well, I got a little glimpse that that might have been the case this weekend. During my Sunday brunch ritual at Cindy's in Eagle Rock (i.e., read the entire Sunday Times while noshing on the French Toast Sandwich), I couldn't help eavesdropping on a large, loud group beside me. There were obviously big movie fans, and were eagerly giving reviews of their latest Netflix viewings. The youngest (about 13) sang the praises of Shark Tale. She'd obviously seen it a bunch of times. Like I said, she was the youngest. Then two twenty-somethings had this exchange: "Oh, yeah, and I saw Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was stupid." "Is that the animated one, with clay or something?" "Yeah, and it's sooo stupid! So stupid. Don't see it." "Why?" "It's just stupid. I can't even tell you, it's so stupid." "But why is it stupid?" "Okay, first, the dog doesn't even talk. Then, when the other characters talk, they've got those stupid English accents and you can't even understand what they're talking about. And . . .uh . . . it's just stupid! Don't waste your time. Don't see it." Believe it or not, that's pretty close to verbatim. Now, they weren't Rhodes scholars. They even stiffed their waiter on the tip when their bill was slightly bigger than expected. But still, they clearly loved movies, and W&G got a strong thumbs down. Much as I hate to say it, I'm not sure this gang was all that atypical. I'm not sure what all that means for the very British Flushed Away, but I don't think it's good.

5 comments:

Osgood McSonogram said...

Please find the identities of these buttdumplings so that I may find them and bludgeon them with a Nerf anything.

Kevin Koch said...

Fortunately for the sanctity of my Sundays, I don't think that crew will cross my path again. And believe me, you would need more than Nerf weapons to bring down even the smallest of that bunch.

Hey, you have a cool blog. Thanks for linking to us.

Osgood McSonogram said...

Thanks, but your blog is cooler! One of my "daily reads" you can call it. And Nerf won't do, huh? Guess I'll have to graduate to Shrinky-dinks....

Anonymous said...

IMHO W&G is one of those things where people either get it & love it, or don't get it at all and can't stand it(like your new buds there, lol). "Flushed" is british, alright, but much less so than the very idiosyncratic world of Wallace, with his very regional accent and love of obscure cheeses. Just on the face of it I'd think that it'll be perceived as an action/comedy first, UK-flavored film second.

But ohhhh, how infuriating to hear that brain trust rambling on. Talk about spoiling your meal!

Anonymous said...

Looks like Jim Hill has just gotten around to stealing your idea, Kevin. Look here.

You aren't one of those unnamed "studio execs" he's talking about, are you? ;)

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