We Need to Talk About The "Zendaya Is Meechee" Meme
Okay, this might sound like a weird topic to discuss for a blog post. But, hear me out.
As of right now, the song posted by social media personality Gabriel Gundacker has 5.58 million views. The song lists off some of the actors in the film, such as Danny Devito, Common, Gina Rodriguez, and Lebron James. Although the video is quite comedic, it also shows how marketing for animated films is different. With animation, they tend to advertise if a big named actor is going to be playing a pivotal role in the film in order to gain more box office revenue. It's something you would see in a film like Smallfoot. You can also see this example with Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Although not yet released, the film boasts some big cast members, such as Hailee Steinfeld, Nicolas Cage, John Mulaney, and even Academy-Award winning actor Mahershala Ali. Spider-Man is clearly one of the biggest superheroes at the moment, and fans are eagerly waiting for his venture into animation. But still, they get together this cast of household names in order to profit off of the movie.
This begs me to ask the question- is animation too commercialized on in our entertainment? And is this the thing that separates commercialized and independent animation? And why is the song so catchy?
Let me know what you think.
As of right now, the song posted by social media personality Gabriel Gundacker has 5.58 million views. The song lists off some of the actors in the film, such as Danny Devito, Common, Gina Rodriguez, and Lebron James. Although the video is quite comedic, it also shows how marketing for animated films is different. With animation, they tend to advertise if a big named actor is going to be playing a pivotal role in the film in order to gain more box office revenue. It's something you would see in a film like Smallfoot. You can also see this example with Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Although not yet released, the film boasts some big cast members, such as Hailee Steinfeld, Nicolas Cage, John Mulaney, and even Academy-Award winning actor Mahershala Ali. Spider-Man is clearly one of the biggest superheroes at the moment, and fans are eagerly waiting for his venture into animation. But still, they get together this cast of household names in order to profit off of the movie.
This begs me to ask the question- is animation too commercialized on in our entertainment? And is this the thing that separates commercialized and independent animation? And why is the song so catchy?
Let me know what you think.
Hi Miranda,
ReplyDeleteIf I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying that you take issue with the fact that animated films boast more about the cast than the actual animation itself, correct? If this is the case, I'd have to say that I agree with you...partially. Films like Smallfoot, the Grinch, and Trolls are all clear corporate cash-grabs hoping to leech money out of kids with pretty colors and catchy sound tracks. Smallfoot clearly isn't anyone's dream project, which is why they stuff big name actors into it. Otherwise, why would anyone see it? However, with Into the Spiderverse, as far as I know, none of the trailers highlight the cast. I had to look up who played Spiderham because it sounded so much like John Mulaney. Movies like Into the Spiderverse, Coraline, and Paranorman DO rely more on their animation to draw viewers in, and it's clear that a lot more passion went into these films. Any movie that's proud of its own animation will display that in its trailers, whereas the animated films that focus more on the star-studded cast rather than the plot or animation is clearly only in it for the money.
A part of me wishes it wasn't like this, you know? I wish studios relied on making more good animated films. Don't get me wrong, I love animation- but I don't think its potential has been fully realized. I do believe it has become a "clear corporate cash-grab" (nice consonance, by the way) but I also believe that there are a few exceptions to this rule. It's why I refuse to see the Despicable Me films- if I want to go out and watch good animation and pay nine bucks, I'll definitely do it. I thought Smallfoot was cute, but it didn't compare to Incredibles 2 for me.
DeleteI think it's probably more of a marketing thing/a product of the star system than anything else. Since animation does rely so heavily on voice acting, and often draws a lot upon the voice actor's performance within the final character animation itself, I think it's kind of the allure of seeing an actor you're familiar with as an animated character. Like, I wanna see Zendaya as Meechee. I love Zendaya. So I think it's probably more of a thing where independent animation can't afford these high profile talents, and commercial/mainstream animation can, so they use it to their advantage in a heavily competitive market. Independent animation is also focused less on competition and financial success so they don't have to lean as heavily on marketing in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI think it works incredibly well, but sometimes it can be a little bit too much! I also wanted to see Zendaya as Meechee lol.
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