Arts Monster Cars
In an effort to explain why the Disney/Pixar animated film Cars only made millions of dollars instead of a gazillion dollars, the Box Office Guru writes:
One reason Cars did not surge higher may have been that the marketplace has suffered through a glut of computer animated films this year. Not long ago, the arrival of a digital toon was an event as it only happened once or twice a year. Nowadays with weaker entries like Doogal and The Wild hitting theaters, and more studios jumping into the game, the novelty has worn thin. Over the Hedge and Ice Age have been satisfying families over the past two months grossing a stellar $322M combined. Also not helping matters was the film’s lengthy 116-minute running time which is considerably longer than the typical 90-minute length that most young kids are used to sitting through.
The length? Too much competition? Creative exhaustion? How about this guru: A whole lot of us are no mood to celebrate—to laugh at, to laugh with—the very machines that have turned Iraq into a death factory. Disney should have stuck with cute toys and lovable animals—cars can never be anything but political.
Cars guzzle gas and fuck over air quality, plus they are dangerous: Pixar's movie is dedicated to Joe Ranft, who co-directed, but I wonder if the dedication will mention he was killed in a car accident.
I didn't see it it yet, but the trailers make it look like cheap pandering to the NASCAR belt, designed with lines of Happy Meal toys already in mind.