Animation Is No Longer King
Pop quiz, hotshot: name the last film from Disney animation, not including Pixar titles, which opened to #1 during the summer?
Did you say Dinosaur? Well, it turns out you were right – if you really did pick that without searching online. That animated adventure took the top spot in May 2000. Ever since, most of the studio’s summer tentpoles have been from Pixar Animation. After The Good Dinosaur was delayed to November 2015, 2014 became the first year since 2005 without a film from the animation behemoth opening in May or June. That left a big gap to fill for family entertainment; unfortunately, 2014 did not give kids much to be excited about.
Animated films usually are a big boon during the summer, as kids are out of school and eager to sit in an air-conditioned theater, hoping for 90 minutes or so of goofy, fun entertainment. However, the cartoons were a mostly tepid bunch. Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return – a film I doubt many of you remember – flopped in early May, while Planes: Fire and Rescue did not have enough fire (ahem) to rescue (ahem) an empty marketplace for family films.
However, the biggest indicator that animation in the summer does not have the longevity it used to was How to Train Your Dragon 2. I dare you to find any box office prognosticator who did not think this film would be among the top few highest grossers of the summer. (It will likely finish tenth of all summer films in North America.)
It seemed to have everything: a beloved predecessor, a rousing story with high stakes, good reviews and a lack of options for families in the month of June. Even with a strong overseas take, How to Train Your Dragon 2 will likely end up with under $180 million state-side, a good $40 million below part one. Hopefully, the failure of animated titles to rile up kids and their parents this summer is a mere hiccup, but this season could indicate that kids would rather opt for the other, appealing, CGI-infested blockbusters.
