Zoetifex Blog

One of the most common questions/comments I get is "Look at all of the great animation shorts out there. Why aren't those companies doing more and what makes you think you can?" Wow, there's a lot in that but I can answer that with one simple, hyphenated word: short-sightedness. These companies spend so much time working on a beautiful piece of animation that they either lose sight of the big picture, or they are just incapable of achieving the goal. And that is to create great characters with an interesting story-line that can hold people's attention for 90 minutes. I get sent links to dozens of great animation work like The Lady and the Reaper or Pigeon: Impossible (which has the potential to be more) and The Passenger which took the guy 8 years to develop. Now, I give Chris Jones all the credit in the world for his dedication. But why not spend that time developing great characters and a captivating story-line that can be turned into a wonderful movie. Or, why not do what Stateless films did with A.D., a soon to be made animated zombie movie. They poured their resources into making a trailer for a movie that hasn't been produced yet. It's wonderfully done and shows the potential for what the movie could be like. They get it - but then again, these are film makers and not an animation company.

Now, I'm not saying that there is no place in this world for animated shorts. They win awards and they can be very entertaining. But as long as that is all that a company is interested in doing, then that is all they will ever be. I also really enjoy these animated shorts and hope that these independents don't stop making them. They are wonderful pieces of animation and most of them are very entertaining. In some cases, they lead to bigger and better jobs for the animators themselves, so they are not without just cause. And a lot of these animation houses are just fine with that. They are getting awards and notoriety. But zoetifex Studios has it's sights set a bit higher. We intend to not only do award winning animation, but to entertain the masses in the theaters as well as TV and other venues. It's a pretty high goal - sure. But when you ask me what the difference is between us and them - my response is: We are looking at the "Big Picture"!

Cheers!