First, in the news, DreamWorks Animation has announced several dates through 2018. Most notably are sequels to some of their most famous properties. The Croods 2 (November 3, 2017), Madagascar 4 (May 18, 2018) and Puss in Boots 2: 9 Lives and 40 Thieves (November 2, 2018) were all confirmed. The fourth Madagascar and second Croods are both expected, considering the previous entries were both successful. The Puss in Boots sequel is not as expected, as the first film was only a moderate success in comparison to the other two.
Sequels seem to be the bread and butter now of this animation studio. In addition to these and the just-released How To Train Your Dragon 2, they have spin-off The Penguins of Madagascar (November 26), a third Dragon (June 16, 2017), and Kung Fu Panda 3 (December 23, 2015) all on the calendar as well. What's missing? A MegaMind sequel, of course! ;)
That doesn't mean the studio is abandoning original films. They have a handful of them coming as well. 2015 will bring Home (March 26) and B.O.O. Bureau of Otherworldly Operations (June 5). 2016 will bring Boss Baby (March 18) and an adaptation of the Troll dolls (November 4). Rest of the litter includes a Captain Underpants book adaptation (January 13, 2017), a Bollywood-style musical from Enchanted director and lyricist Kevin Lima and Stephen Schwartz (March 10, 2017), and an unknown titled Larrkins (February 16, 2018).
So basically, DreamWorks' strategy is there will be a sequel for every two original films (with the exception of 2018). That's hard to keep up with, especially considering how intense production limits are when you have three a year (which started in 2010 with the original How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek Forever After and MegaMind). The animation market just keeps getting more and more crowded.
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I will now turn my attention to their now-current release, How To Train Your Dragon 2, which has created quite a stir since its premiere last month. After premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, director Dean DuBlois confirmed that Gobber (voiced by late-night host Craig Ferguson) would be coming out as gay in the movie. Its a risky move, especially for a family movie. It also raises my eyebrows and my concerns for the franchise as a whole.
For one, the whole "correctness and tolerance" agenda promoting here is pretty ridiculous. A character that never even acted "gay" or "effeminate" at all in the TV show or in the first movie, is being turned into something different this time around (sounds ridiculous, right?). The lone line in the film that suggests this problem ("that's why I never married. That and one other reason") is extremely subtle according to most websites. Plus, it wasn't really deliberate (Ferguson ad-libbed half of the line). But one has to wonder how that will affect the third movie? Will even more difficult-to-handle and digest themes make their way into children's movies as we keep going forward? Those answers will be revealed in time.
Chris Sanders, who directed the first movie (as well as one of my all-time favorites, Lilo and Stitch), left to stick with The Croods franchise. DuBlois, who is reportedly gay, metaphorically points to a reason here as to why that door was left open for something controversial to sneak its' way in. Its quite a shame, especially considering how good the first movie was. The first Dragon was a movie I watched more often than probably most other movies I had seen and then bought later on.
But, we do have to remember this isn't the first time an animated film has had this issue. Frozen had a lot of (unnecessary) controversy over whether or not it had a politically correct view. And Enchanted wasn't without a couple of similar "winks" either. DreamWorks Animation's first franchise, the Shrek movies, have been criticized by many for their innuendo and risk'e themes.
For goodness sakes though, its just one line. And a line that probably wouldn't have caused a stir had DuBlois kept his mouth shut. Its not stopping me from seeing the movie. At worst, it will make me concerned about the third movie. (Adam R. Holz for Christian/family movie review site Plugged in said something similar yesterday in his review of the movie. You can read it here: http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/how-to-train-your-dragon-2.aspx )
But, its not that I'm happy with it either. Filmmakers should know better than to put something like this in a family movie.
Look out for my review of How To Train Your Dragon 2 in the next couple of weeks.
