Introduction
Hello fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for a very quick adventure and if I were to be honest, I was not planning to write this essay, as I was planning to release a movie review about a Chinese anthology animated movie that is worth watching today. However, after the news dropped, I must change my plans and go for a detour to talk about it (and also contemplate the news just like how BoJack Horseman deals with a tragedy), because this is much more important. Don’t worry, I have completed and touched up the review, so it will be out next week.
Today, I need to talk about what Netflix is planning to do on the feature animation side (although this applies to their animated shows and series too) and share my overall thoughts about it. I will share two reasons Netflix is doing this and two reasons it is a bad idea. I will also share some suggestions Netflix can take such that their new plans go well, although to be fair, Netflix is not the type of company that listens to constructive feedback, if any, at all.
With that said, let us get into what Netflix plans to do for their feature animation side.
Netflix’s Future Plans for Feature Animation (and also the Animated Shows Side)
Just a couple of days ago, Netflix’s animation unit, Netflix Animation, has just announced via Variety that Netflix will be restructuring their animation division by decreasing its co-production output and focusing more on acquiring third-party animated movies.
In addition, it has announced that it will be shelving two animated movies that were in pre-production: Escape from Beverly Hills and Tunga. Not much was known about those two movies, so I cannot make an opinion about it. Those cancellations are on top on the cancellation of Kalus director Sergio Pablos’s upcoming movie Ember early this year, although Netflix allowed him to produce the movie himself via Sergio Pablos Animation Studios (the same studio that produced Klaus) and ship the movie to elsewhere.
Most importantly, however, are the layoffs of the animation staff, as the restructuring will result in an unknown number of layoffs within Netflix Animation. This is despite them winning their first ever for Oscar for Best Animated Feature via Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio this year, topping their viewership figures with The Sea Beast last year, and even finding success with the likes of Nimona and The Monkey King this year (although the latter is a huge disappointment in my opinion).
When I saw the news on my morning commute to work, I was shocked that I have to stop and read through the article for myself on the train, because for a long time, Netflix has been my go-to for animated movies which has been such a stronghold for Netflix since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. It was so shocking that I decided to write out this essay to let out my thoughts on this article.
So, with that said, let me discuss why Netflix is doing such a significant restructuring first before discussing why this is not a good idea for the most part:
Why Netflix Animation is Restructuring
Reason 1: Cost Effectiveness
The first and perhaps the most important reason behind the restructuring goes into the cost of acquiring animated movies as opposed to producing animated movies in-house.
As most animation geeks would know, the animation medium is pretty expensive and require loads of resources to produce one suitable for release. You need to purchase licences to use animation software, you need to hire crew members to work on the animation and writing, you need to hire voice actors to provide the voices for the characters and you need to pay marketing and distribution fees to market your movie and hire a distributor to bring in the movie into theatres or streaming websites.
However, with just acquisition of third-party animated movies from other studios, Netflix would only need to pay royalties and licencing fees to acquire the movie and showcase it on their platform. As such, the cost of acquiring animated movies is way lower than producing an animated movie.
In fact, back when Netflix was still in its infancy, acquiring animated movies was the norm for them, starting off with a lesser known animated movie called Sahara in 2017, Netflix’s first ever licenced “original” animated movie. From there, they built their ground up picking up rights to showcase other animated movies, but it was only in 2019 when they took off with their first ever Netflix co-produced animated movie, Klaus, which exploded in popularity upon its release. Since then, Netflix co-produced their animated movies in-house and with other animation studios such as Animal Logic and Reel FX, while also picking up other animated movies for their platform.
However, with Netflix now focusing on two to three original and co-produced animated movies in the near future with the rest being acquired by Netflix, it will hopefully bring the cost down which is well-needed given Netflix has been burning money with their various bad decisions as of late.
Reason 2: Showcase of Indie Animation
The second reason behind Netflix’s acquisition strategy would also be related to something Netflix has previously done before: showcasing animated movies from lesser-known animation studios that deserve to be seen.
In the past, one other exciting reason when it comes to Netflix was their willingness to take risks and bring in great indie animated movies from across the world, no matter how obscure it may be. This was at the time when Netflix is still the dominant streaming service and they have funds to co-produce and acquire animated movies. This resulted in Netflix bringing in indie and foreign animated movies that would otherwise not get released in theatres, even outside of North America where this is common.
I mean, the number of excellent animated movies from non-major animation studios in the past are plentiful, from I Lost My Body, to Bombay Rose, The Summit of the Gods, Apollo 10 ½, My Father’s Dragon and so on. Even if the majority of these movies do not usually reach the top 10 because of their sheer obscurity, it did excite the animation crowd simply because Netflix was willing to give these movies a chance.
This is why I am slightly hopeful that Netflix would do it again because giving indie animated movies a platform to thrive would hopefully reduce North America’s stigmatisation of non-mainstream animated movies which is unfortunately a recurring issue even in 2023 (see my essay on non-mainstream animated studios to understand why).
However, even with some positives behind Netflix Animation’s restructuring, I would argue that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, so with that said, let me get through two big reasons on why this restructuring plan is NOT a good idea.
Why The Restructuring is Not a Good Idea
Reason 1: Quality Control Issues
A big reason why I feel this is not a good idea would be the lack of any quality control with the animated movies Netflix planned to acquire.
One big disadvantage with acquiring animated movies is that Netflix cannot control the overall quality of animated movies since they are not in charge of these licenced animated movies. As a result, the quality of these movies will vary massively and there is a risk that Netflix would pick up an animated movie that is terrible and does a disservice to it at the end of the day. In fact, even before this restructuring, Netflix has picked up some terrible animated movies and labelled it as Netflix Originals, thus further damaging Netflix’s reputation. Sure, most of Netflix’s acquired animated movies are pretty decent, with a handful of them not good, a few of those movies are, shall I say nicely, bad.
Remember Marmaduke and The Soccer Football Movie from last year? Yeah, those two examples, yeesh. While I will not go deep into these two movies again (both because I do not want to remember it and I fear for the health of you the audience if I describe those two movies again), I will say that the fact that Netflix picked those two animated movies up to showcase on their platform is already proof to showcase this advantage.
And no, I decided not to use footage of those two movies in this essay, and instead opt for another Netflix acquired animated movie that is a guilty pleasure of mine, Extinct, just because.
Reason 2: Loss of Animation Talent
Perhaps the second and the most important reason why Netflix Animation’s restructuring plan is not a good idea goes to why Netflix Animation has been thriving in the first place: its talent.
Since 2022, in response to disappointing performances for some of Netflix’s original animated movies and series, whether co-produced or licenced, Netflix has been laying off some of its animation staff by batches, which has resulted in the devastation on the animation side, be it physically or morally. This is because for quite some time, Netflix has been some sort of utopia for animators and animation crew to showcase their work since Netflix used to be more daring with their originals, be it live-action or animation.
However, because of Netflix’s cost-cutting measures in response to falling subscriber counts, such as anti-password sharing measures, cutting budgets on its productions resulting in loss of quality of their shows and movies and most devastating of all, the talent. In order words, Netflix has and will betray the animators that joined the company on the belief that they can show off their animation to the world, which the restructuring will further exasperate.
As a result, not only will this result in the loss of talent, but it will also make it more difficult for Netflix to attract top talent as these animators would consider going elsewhere to produce the animated series or movie of their dreams, whether in other studios or through their own.
How Netflix Could Have Done This Better
While Netflix do not usually listen to the feedback of its subscribers, which is their main audience in the first place, I do wish Netflix listen to its stakeholders, be it the remaining employees at Netflix Animation and their subscribers.
If Netflix Animation decides to go ahead with the restructuring anyway, here is what I hope they will do:
- Don’t interfere with the animation process. For the remaining series and movies Netflix had not cancelled yet, they need to pump their brakes and trust the animation team in producing those animated series and movies well.
- Pay the animation crew members well. Obviously, providing them with sufficient salaries and benefits is one way for them to be motivated to complete the series and movies that would be of quality.
- Market them well. Netflix has been very terrible with marketing their shows and movies in general, so in order to attract subscribers to those animated shows and movies, they should finally invest in their marketing team to market those shows and movies more than usual, not just the potential award winners.
- Quality. Control. This is very important for Netflix when it comes to monitoring the quality of both the original shows and movies and their acquired ones. For the original shows and movies, Netflix should watch the series and movies together with the animation crew and provide well-needed feedback for the animation crew to touch up on the shortcomings before releasing them. For acquiring the next animated movies from other animation studios, Netflix needs to do their research and due diligence, and pick out ones that are of quality and would entice their subscribers, and not rotten apples like Marmaduke.
Conclusion
My goodness me. Netflix has been taking a lot of Ls recently, but in terms of the animation division, this is a very big L in my books. While there is justification behind their restructuring, it is still a major loss for Netflix Animation, and I hope Netflix rectify their restructuring plans, although knowing Netflix, they probably would not. Still, at least we, as in the animators employed by Netflix, the Netflix subscribers and the animation community need to try to convince Netflix to halt or change their restructuring for the better.
Thank you so much for this unexpected essay. With that out of the way, we will now return to our regular scheduling and review a Chinese anthology animated movie that I am very excited to talk about. See you next week for a very special animated movie adventure, and until then, k thanks bye!
