MonkeyFunk
10-03-2006, 05:14 AM
From NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/media/03animation.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1159877178-GJvWHCQ3VjOkWrkRVj7BcA) (use BugMeNot (http://www.bugmenot.com/) to read the whole thing):
DreamWorks recently had a creative tussle with a partner, Aardman Animation, the British producer of two movies released by DreamWorks, “Wallace and Gromit” and the coming “Flushed Away.” While “Wallace and Gromit” was critically acclaimed, American audiences did not like it and the movie brought in only $56 million at the domestic box office.
Aardman executives chafed at the creative control DreamWorks tried to exert, particularly with “Flushed Away,” according to people apprised of the situation who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the relationship.
As a result, the two companies have decided to split and Aardman is expected to begin looking for a new distributor in the United States, said the people. Aardman executives did not return phone calls seeking comment. A DreamWorks spokesman said the studio had no immediate plans to make movies with Aardman after “Flushed Away.”
DreamWorks recently had a creative tussle with a partner, Aardman Animation, the British producer of two movies released by DreamWorks, “Wallace and Gromit” and the coming “Flushed Away.” While “Wallace and Gromit” was critically acclaimed, American audiences did not like it and the movie brought in only $56 million at the domestic box office.
Aardman executives chafed at the creative control DreamWorks tried to exert, particularly with “Flushed Away,” according to people apprised of the situation who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the relationship.
As a result, the two companies have decided to split and Aardman is expected to begin looking for a new distributor in the United States, said the people. Aardman executives did not return phone calls seeking comment. A DreamWorks spokesman said the studio had no immediate plans to make movies with Aardman after “Flushed Away.”