$120 Million for a 90-minute cartoon with no A-List voices?
I fully understand that animation is a time-consuming task, but "Sausage Party" cost, what, $20 million and it looked just fine on the big screen.
In the case of Sausage Party it seems there was a controversy over its animators not getting properly compensated, hence the unusually low budget. As for animated films in general, I don't know all the details but they have pretty much always been expensive to make.
"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"
Animation is expensive. If you want something better looking than Sasuage Party you need a big budget.
shareBut SP looked just fine. And even if I wanted something twice as good, wouldn't that be $40 mil? How can it be $120 Mil?
shareThis topic comes up a lot. DW typically takes between two to four years to make a film. Their 3D is amazing - not sure if that's a factor or not. Most people point to the cost of rendering the film as being one of the more expensive pieces.
If you're interested, here's a fifteen minute video by Dreamworks that gives a general idea of what goes into one of these movies.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0tQRJ4qKs
The question I have is how does a studio make a film as cheaply as Sausage Party? Was it all due to forcing artists to work extra hours without pay? How does Illumination keep their costs down? Is it quality (the quality of their animation pales compared to Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks).
1. It cost more to put animation on the screen, than it would be to do the same with real actors. Not the cost of paying the actors, but to just portray animation, instead of real life. Real life is really there, with animation, everything has to be created. The average cost of putting any kind of animation on screen, can be over $1.000.00 per second.
2. A lot of these movies, any big budget movie, spends a HUGE amount of money on advertising. Every time you see a tv spot for a movie, or a movie trailer in the previews for another movie, the studio is paying big bucks for that. It's kind of a hidden expense. This is why movies usually have to make 30 to 40 percent more than their budget, just to break even.
3. Of course paying the actors, and EVERYBODY who is associated with the movie. With big budget movies, you have a lot of people behind the scenes. Production costs can be huge. Add to that some well known, to big name actors, producers, and directors, and you have a lot of your money spent before anybody even shows up to the set.
It's crazy....
The question I have is how does a studio make a film as cheaply as Sausage Party? Was it all due to forcing artists to work extra hours without pay? How does Illumination keep their costs down? Is it quality (the quality of their animation pales compared to Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks).
That makes sense. The animation does look simpler and the environment doesn't seem as rich either. Although, people told me that the animal's fur in Sing was nicely articulated. I can't comment because I haven't seen it.
share120 million for a cartoon is too much, period. Better ways to spend money. And animation has become so assembly-line with the CGI revolution, I bet the actual "animation" part cost under 20 mill. The big chuck of the budget goes for bloated producer fees, advertising fees, lawyer fees, and voice talent fees. Movies are an industry after all, and they figured out long ago how to pad a budget to line everyone's pockets.
shareI don't think it's too much for a cartoon, if the revenue is worth it. It doesn't matter what kind of movie it is as long as it performs well- and this one is doing great so far. I mean, Finding Dory cost 200million too, and had a 1b box office- I think it was money well spent, regardless of the genre.
Just my opinion, though.
You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Firstly, it's not a cartoon. And secondly - assembly line? Not at all! Animation is very costly to produce and requires a lot of talent as well. Wow! Can't believe what you said! Did you even WATCH it? You go and try to make something that beautiful. *Shakes head*
shareIt was a pretty amazing looking movie.
shareDoes that include advertising budget?
shareDifferent People, Different Companies, Different Project, Different Deals, Different Budget, Different Issues = Different Costs.
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