A-list celebrity voices in cartoons and children's movies don't guarantee sucess. Remember how, back in the old days, studios like Disney wouldn't have to rely on celebrities to do voices for their animated films? They would just hire someone who would do the best job in bringing life to that character, not who would best bring in audiences. I don't think anyone famous did voices on Snow White or The Little Mermaid, yet these films did spectacularly well without them. On the other hand, Charlotte's Web so far fails to meet box office and critics' expectations, regardless of its A-list cast.
I actually don't mind having celebrity voices in animated films, provided they meet two conditions. One is that they should actually fit that character. I can't think of anyone else who could have done Mufasa's voice in The Lion King other than James Earl Jones. The second condition is that marketing of the film shouldn't focus on the celebrity voices, but on the film itself. I was aghast when I first saw the Charlotte's Web poster and saw the names of the eight or so celebs who provide the animals' voices. Kids don't care that Oprah is the voice of the goose! Kids only care about being entertained.
Sometimes, "better late than never" doesn't work. If you produce one of the most famous and beloved television animated series of all time, don't wait until it's no longer successful to put it on the big screen. Yes, I'm talking about the upcoming Simpsons movie. I love The Simpsons. I've been a huge fan since I was a kid. I can recite from memory whole scenes from various "Treehouse of Horror" episodes. But I stopped watching several years ago. Why? Because the series has gone downhill. I tried watching a few episodes couple of years back, but they were so awful and disappointing. Sadly, the writers have just run out of ideas. I don't know what the movie's plot is, but I can't imagine it's anything vastly different from the series. This is confirmed so far by what I've seen in the trailers. Oh, whoopee — Homer does something stupid and hurts himself again. Yawn. Jeez, this movie should have come out ten years ago. I know I'm counting my chickens before they're hatched, but I just have a bad feeling about this movie.
Article comments
1 - steandric
nonsense! naomi watts and nicole kidman are childhood friends long before hollywood. they knew and got along with each other since teenage. naomi had never been in nicole's shadow. you snobbish people made it up in order to up-play the stardom of nicole kidman. of course nicole was luckier than her pal because she met tom cruise. and naomi had had to wait until david lynch cast her in mulholland drive. the ring was a follow-up which further confirmed that she was not just a good actress but was also bankable.
2 - Kaonashi
Steandric- We "snobbish people" did not make anything up. Yes, I know that Nicole and Naomi are old friends. It's hard not to compare the two because of this, and since they're both Australian actresses.
Yes, Nicole became more well-known because she was married to Tom, but she started becoming really big only after she divorced him. As for Naomi, she's a fine actress, but she's still relatively new and doesn't have Nicole's star power. But it seems that Naomi is doing well, with films like The Painted Veil.
3 - El Bicho
I agree about The Simpsons pathetic state, but it's not because the writers have run out of ideas. It's because the writers aren't in the same league as their previous counterparts.
While I also agree that a movie from a game isn't a good idea, focusing on theatrical receipts is the wrong way to look at it. Most of a movie's money is now made in DVD sales.
4 - Kaonashi
El Bicho- You definitely have a point about The Simpsons. Many of the original, brilliant writers had left, and their replacements just aren't as good.
You also have a point about basing a movie's success solely on box office numbers. At the same time however, I still think that most movies based on video games range from somewhat tolerable to downright horrid.
5 - Eric Berlin
Great lessons Kaonashi, can't disagree with a single one!