Why Working On Shrek Was Seen As A Punishment For Animators
By Daniel Kim
While it's hard to say that DreamWorks was right for initially disregarding "Shrek," at the time it might not have seemed like a bad business decision. "Toy Story," as CBR reported, had just come out a year before "Shrek" entered production, and people were only just beginning to see the potential of 3D CG animation. It makes sense that the company wouldn't prioritize the riskier CG movie when they had a traditional animated feature in the works, "Prince of Egypt."
"Prince of Egypt" pulled in nowhere near as much revenue as "Shrek," but before the box office returns came in, "Prince of Egypt" seemed like the safer, more traditional bet. There was already precedent for successful 2D animations from companies like Disney. Anything outside of that realm was inherently more risky, and if there's one thing Hollywood studios loathe, it's taking chances on bold ideas.
Obviously, that calculus changed soon after "Shrek" debuted, showing the world that "Toy Story" wasn't an enigma. As a result, DreamWorks hasn't produced another 2D animated film since 2003's "Sinbad." Meanwhile, the company would go on to make four more entries in the "Shrek" series.
There's gotta be a lesson here somewhere ...
