I just read a post on John K's blog (the dude created Ren and Stimpy!). He just got a chance to pitch an idea for Dreamworks. One may think, "Gee, the guy who made one of the most awesome tv characters in the history of animation is going to pitch a movie idea to a major company; this is gonna be awesome!"

.... WRONG! Here's his response (and the link which has pictures to go along: [link])

As soon as he started pitching his ideas to Dreamworks (check out his pics in the link above, they're awesome!), they responded, "We don't like to look at characters right away. We don't want to be swayed by interesting or funny characters. The way we create stories here is to think of an 'arena' first."

WTF is an arena you ask? As the execs put it, "We think of an environment or setting that we think would make a good story - like say, trees, or maybe underwater. Then we research it to see what kind of animals live in that environment and if they are funny. You know like, once we've decided water would be a funny place for a story, then we start thinking about what kind of characters would populate that "arena", like let's say "fish". Yes fish would fit nicely into the underwater arena. Or maybe crabs. If we are really feeling wild and wacky, we might put a crazy jellyfish or something in there. Or 2 to make it twice as funny."

What's next? They say, "Then when you figure out out what sorts of animals could thrive in that arena, you think of what movie stars would fit those species. Some kind of animal that Robin Williams could play!" Gee, that explains A LOT about Dreamworks.

But wait, they added, "Well of course John's the character guy. We don't wanna dictate to you what kind of character or which actor to use- you bring us your ideas!... Maybe we could do Casablanca as a cartoon! - but don't let us influence you! We want to hear YOUR ideas!"

Hmmmmm.... mixed messages anyone?

That was John's response in a nutshell, but I highly suggest reading his entire post to get the full effect: [link]

Basically, they call in one of the greatest, living cartoonists to pitch an idea, deny any of his original ideas, force him into their way of thinking, but tell him not to be "dictated" by them

I wish I was making this up, but sadly, according to John, it's real. Sad to think this is some (thank god not ALL) major animation companies mindsets: focusing on formulaic story ideas and celebrity tie-ins. Just more reasons why I don't wanna work for mainstream animation companies (or at least, not at Dreamworks...)

One more thing. Pixar vs. Dreamworks FIGHT!: [link]