With many in the entertainment industry questioning whether Disney's live-action remake of Moana can be a hit, University of Baltimore Associate Prof. of English and Communication Kyle Meikle, author of The Live-Action Animated Film and a noted scholar on media franchises and industries, literary adaptation, animation, and genre films, is looking at the larger picture.
Dr. Meikle tells the BBC that the new version of Moana is an indicator that filmmakers are struggling with how to manage the game-changing technology that is now available to them—and the film-going public is increasingly dissatisfied with their choices.
"It seems like audiences are growing restless with sloppy-looking CGI [computer-generated imagery] as a half-measure," Meikle says. "Films should either fully commit to computer animation, as in Toy Story 5 or Minions & Monsters, or go practical with their effects."
Meikle notes that many of this year's most commercially successful films have featured "practical effects," e.g., the use of stunt doubles, camera tricks, explosives and so on, rather than computer-generated visual effects.
"This summer, practical effects have ruled: Backrooms, Obsession—heck, even The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Michael [have limited digital trickery]. And now I'm seeing Christopher Nolan talking up The Odyssey's practical effects in the press," he says. "Compare that with Supergirl's reception, or audiences' distaste for the dismal, half-CGI Masters of the Universe."
Read the article on the BBC's website.
Learn more about Prof. Kyle Meikle and UBalt's Klein Family Center of Communications Design.