In our interview with Ken Viselmann, creator of The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure and Teletubbies, Viselmann took a stance against the current state of children’s movies, calling it “revolting” because of the lack of children appropriate content. While I can agree with his no nonsense argument, since it is admirable how he chooses not to conform his art to meet conventional needs, his film’s decidedly limited appeal may be the reason it performed so badly.
According to The Huffington Post, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure earned $448,000 dollars through a scarce 2,160 theaters making it the “lowest wide release of all time” as it averaged only $200 or so dollars per theater. The Ooogieloves will do better once the DVD releases. Since Viselmann argued the content of the film encourages raucous activity, parents are likelier to allow their children to comply if they are in the comfort of their own home.
While Viselmann may have bemoaned the current state of children’s films, he has to remember that children don’t pay for these things, adults do. The reason Pixar and the animated Dreamworks pictures do so well is because there is no sense of segregation between the ages. They want everyone, from children to geezers like myself, to enjoy their work. If you limit your audience and say that your film is strictly for children, no one but children are going to want to see it. All of this segregation and advertising geared toward only children meshed then together causing Ooogieloves, and it’s greater goal of changing the children’s film landscape, to be swiftly ignored. It’s a shame.
[via Huffington Post]
