As we know, Animation is hard. So many attempts at creating Animated works have failed. Most notably, Food Fight. But, if you peruse your Netflix Instant… you might find yourself asking… where did all these movies come from? They don’t look awful. Are they all knockoffs?
No.
Tad The Lost Explorer
Tad is actually from Spain, it’s an original theatrical release there. Don’t worry, it’s been redubbed with Ariel Winter and Cheech Marin, but it was actually quite successful in Spain. It made 51M in worldwide box office, without ever being released theatrically in America. It was nominated for five Goyas (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscar), and won three. It won Best Animated Film, Best Screenplay-Adapted, and Best New Director. Could you imagine an animated film winning Adapted Screenplay here?
A Turtle’s Tale
This franchise hails from Belgium, co-produced by Studio Canal out of France. It was redubbed with voices from Melanie Griffith, Anthony Anderson, and Dominic Cooper among others. It’s apparently about global warming, and teaching kids that we are destroying the ocean.
Khumba
Khumba might look like a Madagascar knockoff, but it’s actually a South African release that did moderately well overseas. It’s actually not a Straight-To-Video release here. It was ditched into two theatres, and made about a thousand dollars in theatres. Likely, it was a contractual agreement. Box Office Mojo reports that it has earned 11M worldwide.
Zambezia
Also a South African production. Not a direct rip off of Rio. It wasn’t as big of a hit in Hungary, only getting 10M.
Open Range 2
OK. So this is an American production, and it went straight-to-video here. However, it went theatrical in Iceland, Russia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The Tinkerbell movies have seen theatrical releases too… in other countries. The most recent Tinkerbell film, The Pirate Fairy, was released theatrically in 39 countries, and has made over 50M so far worldwide.
Speaking Of…
Did you know that Escape From Planet Earth is still in theatres… in Austria?
Belgium was the lucky country that got Step Up All In this weekend, where it went #1. Don’t freak out. They also have Khumba.
Brazil is a hot country for unique releases, like Khumba, and this weeks hot new release, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
Bulgaria has the horrible looking new Tarzan film that is both motion capture and computer animation. And it looks awful.
Chile has the South Korean animated film Dino Time. It’s only made about 4M worldwide, so nothing to get excited about. They also have The Haunting In Connecticut 2 (now on Netflix), which has made a little over 4M worldwide.
China just saw the release of The Company You Keep. Of course, it’s really hard to get released in China, so it is understandable that it took this long.
Colombia has something awful looking called The Games Maker, which stars Joseph Fiennes and the kid who is about to be Bruce Wayne in Gotham. This hasn’t been doing well, and only has about 2M in worldwide grosses.
Germany has a cute looking animated film called The House Of Magic, which comes from Belgium, and has made of 35M worldwide so far. Not bad. They also still have Escape From Planet Earth.
The people of Greece like a completely different type of film. Their top two movies are Fading Gigolo and The Railway Man. They also have The Homesman in advance of its US opening. The Tommy Lee Jones/Hilary Swank movie has been getting some awards buzz.
Italy opened And So It Goes to #1. They also have the brazilian hit Foosball, which has done well worldwide, as well as last years flop The Big Wedding. Oh, and they also have Synecdoche New York. You remember that film. It came out in 2008? There was apparently a big legal battle fight that kept this from being released in Italy, for six years.
Mexico is always a fun country to pay attention to. They have some of the aforementioned films, like The Games Maker and The Haunting In Connecticut 2, but they also have Justin and the Knights Of Valour, a spanish release featuring the voices of Antonio Banderas and Freddie Highmore.
