Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for a different animation adventure, and this time, I wanted to talk about something that I had been wanting to for a very long time, and you can treat it as a sort of a follow-up to my previous essay about non-mainstream animation.
As some might have noticed from my previous reviews, whether on this blog or on my other social media sites and movie review sites like Letterboxd and Instagram, I covered a lot of animated movies. However, one sub-genre of theatrical animation I covered extensively is what I would like to call “Foreign CG Animated Movies”. What are they?
In layman’s terms, these are animated movies produced mostly or entirely using computer-generated (CG) animation, and are produced by one or a few animation studios, mostly outside of the United States. These are loads and loads of these movies from across the world ever since CG animation exploded in around the mid to late 2000s, and yet, a majority of them fail to be as popular as mainstream giants these days. More worrying, however, is that most of the animation community like to hate these movies, to a point where they are considered a sore thumb of the industry.
I had previously considered it to be a hinderance to the industry in the past, but now that I had explored a wide variety of such movies for the past few years, I realised that there are a few foreign CG animated movies I genuinely enjoyed and that not all foreign CG animated movies are automatically bad.
There are reasons why this sort of hate is justified, but at the same time, there are reasons why these foreign CG animated movies are important in the industry, so today, I will break down three reasons why most foreign CG animated movies fell short in terms of overall quality, and three reasons why they are still important for the animation industry to thrive. For each reason, I will also talk about one or more of such foreign CG animated movie that illustrate the issues.
With that said, let’s get on with this special adventure, shall we?
Why (Most) Foreign CG Animated Movies Are Not Great
We first need to discuss the reasons why foreign CG animated movies are generally not great or even ridiculed, and there are three main reasons:
Lack of Resources (And Money)
One main reason why most foreign CG animated movies are not great comes down to the number of resources given for these movies. Unlike a majority of mainstream animation studios backed by massive funding thanks to the corporations owning them, a grand majority of independent animation studios that made those movies have significantly less resources to work on, whether it is the manpower, the funding or good animation software needed to produce a competent movie. In fact, the only major source of funding for these studios are funding from their origin countries’ funding or tax credits, which helps in reducing the amount of cost needed.
The lack of resources hampers the quality of these movies as a result, whether it is a lack of creativity in the writing (more about that later) or poorer animation quality. There are cases where some independent animation studios can work around on such low budgets to produce their animated movies, but these require smart sacrifices and experience to execute that properly, and that is a rarity across the studios. Hence, almost every foreign CG animated movie would sacrifice one element of their movie so that they can afford to finish their movies.
One example is one of the better foreign CG animated movies, and that is Seal Team, a South African animated movie produced by Triggerfish Studios. What Seal Team excels in is the writing, which is very rare in foreign CG animated movies. The writing and pacing make this movie so exciting with its action sequences and comedy, but also hits hard with its emotional moments.
With that said, a big issue for me has to be the animation. Sure, the animation style is colourful and there is some great variation with its art style, but one issue I noticed has to be a few moments where the action felt slightly choppy and I felt the team at Triggerfish could not afford to utilise additional animation frames to make the animation sequences smoother. With a slightly larger budget, the animators would have been able to smoothen the animation even more. Still, for only their third animated movie and their first animated movie in a while, Triggerfish had produced a shockingly fun and entertaining animated movie for foreign CG animated movie standards.
Lower Writing Quality
The second reason foreign CG animated movies are generally not great is something I talked about numerous times with those movies, and that has to be the lower writing quality. In fact, writing has been a bigger issue for a lot of the recent animated movies, even for some of the mainstream ones.
Part of the reason why I have issues with animated movies in general has to be how generic and similar a lot of the plots in these animated movies offer. In fact, I may go out and say that they tend to be pretty formulae, which is why one common complaint about those movies tend to be on the similar line of how generic these movies feel. It also did not help that the execution of the writing in those elements can sometimes be worse than the generic concept itself.
One good example is the very unknown 2021 Netherlands-Peru collaboration of Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon. Most have never heard of this movie, but this movie was released in theatres in Singapore and produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. While I appreciate the effort made into the movie, one big issue I noticed was the derivative and unfocused writing, which impacted the overall quality of the movie. Sure, there are certain elements in the animation that I really like, especially its colouring, but given its measly US$10 million budget, the low budget clearly shows in the lack of quality writing. It is such a shame, because there were a few bright spots in this otherwise disappointing movie.
Lack of Proper Experience
Finally, the third reason is that most animation studios lack the experience in producing animated movies, especially if they are just starting to produce their own movies. Making an animated movie, let alone many, is a laborious process that takes years to even complete, never mind perfecting it. From pitching, to funding, to pre-production, storyboarding, rigging, producing, post-producing, marketing and releasing. Producing an animated movie is very tedious, and takes years to perfect just one part of the animation process.
This is why I am less cynical towards the foreign and non-mainstream animated movies, so that I can stay respectful to the art form while providing my feedback and suggestions on how the studios involved can improve on their craft for future movies. Sure, there are a few animation studios that continuously produce terrible animated movies, but most of the foreign animation studios are proper animation studios that are clearly trying to find their footing in an already crowded industry. Plus, even some of the most experienced animation studios stumble on their first hurdle.
Two foreign animation studios that did not get the best of starts are China’s Light Chaser Animation Studios and Belgium’s nWave Studios. I had talked about those two studios extensively, whether on the blog with their movies or on Letterboxd, and they did not get the best of starts with Guardian Brothers and Fly Me to the Moon, respectively. In fact, some reckon that their worst movies are their first attempts at producing animation, and it was clear that both movies are not that great.
With that said, both movies also had their bright spots that would be apparent in their later movies: Guardian Brothers showcase a shocking level of realism in their movies and inspiration from Chinese mythology and culture, which would be evident in some of Light Chaser’s more successful movies, such as White Snake, New Gods: Nezha Reborn and more recently, their 2023 magnum opus of Chang An. Fly Me to the Moon, on the other hand, showcase the level of absurdity in both the writing and in the animation that are prominent in nWave’s more successful movies, such as The Son of Bigfoot and Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness. In fact, the studio’s next movie. The Inseparables, is coming out very soon in certain countries, and you can check out the trailer here if you are curious.
Why We Still Need Foreign CG Animated Movies
Now that I discuss on why most foreign CG animated movies are not great at all, and the animation community have a justified level of hatred towards these movies, I still feel they are still vital in the current and future state of animation, especially given the current WGA and SAG strikes. Sure, The Animation Guild is currently not on strike, but it is still important for the non-mainstream and foreign animation industries to continue to thrive, and for three good reasons:
Firestarter for Aspiring Animators, Writers and Directors
Firstly, these foreign CG animated movies are essential in providing a platform for aspiring animators, writers and directors passionate about the craft. Not all animation crew members start off in the big mainstream animation studios such as Pixar, Illumination Entertainment, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Animation and so on. Instead, some began their animation careers in smaller, more indie animation studios whether in North America or in international territories. Sure, these studios do not provide much because of the lack of name recognition, but they do provide an opportunity for aspirants to improve their craft while at the same time building up their portfolio for future prospects. Be it storyboards, character sheets, scripts or animation sequences, starting off in a relatively less known animation studio is not a terrible thing.
While there are numerous examples to choose from, one prominent director who is taking into their own hands when it comes to innovating animation is Chinese director Sun Haipeng. You might have never heard of him, but you might have heard of a certain movie that I covered last year that he directed in, I Am What I Am. This is only his second animated movie (his debut feature, Kung Food, was not so well received compared to I Am What I Am), but already, despite being screwed by the lack of global distribution, this movie has so much heart and energy, complete with some of the most exciting animation sequences and visuals of the year, that the global animation community had taken notice of his visionary animation style.
In fact, it has just been announced that he will be taking charge of another movie that is part of his own “China Teenage Odyssey” series, of which I Am What I Am is part of the series set in the present, with the next one, “The Pursuit of Sunlight” taking place in the future. In addition, I Am What I Am will have a sequel. We shall wait and see what he has in store for his next movie!
Global Audience Appeal
The second reason why foreign CG animated movies are important goes down to its surprising appeal. What foreign CG animated movies aim to cover is to showcase animation from certain countries, even if their animation scene is not as large or as recognisable as other, more established countries, including North America. In fact, most of these movies are meant for the domestic audience, rather than the mainstream audience from North America, which is why these foreign CG animated movies appeal to the more international audience who do not mind the quality of these movies.
It also helps that these movies help to fill up the gaps in between dry spells of mainstream animated movies, which is why it is common that these movies occupy the less popular months of the year, such as in January and in off-peak months where there are fewer holidays. As such, these movies provide an option for the family audience to head down to the cinemas or provide some alternatives for them too. While occurrences of them being box office success or being cult classics are very rare, there are these occurrences.
In fact, one foreign CG animated movie went on to be a shocking box office success this year, and that is Mummies, a Spanish animated movie that I covered in January this year. In my review, I mentioned that even though this was a technically bad animated movie, it became a recent guilty pleasure due to how much I was enjoying myself with numerous bizarrely entertaining moments throughout the runtime. Yes, I might have turned my brain off knowing what to expect, but it managed to reach over $50 million globally, and almost none of that came from the domestic North American audience. Yes, it earned $50 million from the international box office alone, which is very unprecedented, and it will get a sequel, which I am morbidly curious about.
In addition, some of the animators that worked on Mummies also previously worked for LightBox Animation Studios, and their first movie, 2012’s Tad the Lost Explorer, which cost only US$8 million but went on to earn back four times its budget, not to mention this becoming a trilogy? Or maybe how about arguably nWave’s most popular and successful animated movie with 2022’s Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness, which dominate theatrical screenings in Europe and Asia, as well as Netflix in other countries?
I know, that is hard to believe, but while such instances are exceptions and not the norm, it is possible for foreign CG animated movies to have a massive global appeal, even if they were meant for a domestic audience in the first place. For me, these foreign CG animated movies do a good job at the one thing they were supposed to do: entertain the family audience throughout their runtime, and most of the time, they do the job.
Bright Spots in Foreign CG Animated Movies
The final reason why we still need foreign CG animated movies goes down to the discovery of finding a few good foreign CG animated movies out there. Even if the success rate for those movies is very rare, every once in a while, there comes a foreign CG animated movie that turns out to be way better than expected, and at some point, being able to compete with the mainstream giants. This is especially true as the foreign CG technology has been steadily improving throughout its existence, which resulted in the steady improvement in the quality of such movies.
With that said, one foreign CG animated movie that is not only a shining star in this niche category of animated movie but is one of the best non-mainstream animated movies in recent years, and that is the 2019 New Zealand-Chinese animated movie, Mosley. Despite being produced for almost 20 years and made on a relatively low US$19 million budget, director Kirby Atkins and his team stretch the budget to its absolute limits and making sure no stone was left unturned, resulting in a movie full of brilliant writing moments, almost Pixar-grade animation, a cast of interesting and well-realised characters and a musical score that is to the point and complementary of the movie’s various moments. Mosley is one of the best foreign CG animated movies out there and showcases that it is possible to produce a well-rounded animated movie with such a tight budget.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is true that foreign CG animated movies are not great for the most part for various reasons, whether it is the lack of resources needed to produce a proper animated movie, an overall lower quality of writing and lack of experience in producing an animated movie. At the same time, these foreign CG animated movies are vital because they provide a boost for aspiring animators, writers, and directors in the industry, they can be appealing to cinemagoers from across the world, and they can be pleasant surprises with their overall quality.
If you ask me, while it is true that these foreign CG animated movies still suffer from stigmatisation, especially from the majority of the North American audience, once you start to accept and embrace the foreign CG animation industry, you will begin to realise how interesting the non-mainstream and foreign CG animation industry is.
I hope you enjoy this essay that I had been wanting to do for some time. Now, I will be taking a break from this blog because I am preparing for an upcoming examination in the beginning of September. However, once I clear the exam, we will return to more animation adventures from around the world. I will see you on the next adventure, and until then, k thanks bye!
