now you see it…

   Once upon a time, in a land seemingly long, long ago, it was the dawn of the Obama Administration and, post the euphoric hangover (if you were so inclined) it was dawning on America that we were financially screwed. Indeed, the creative’s on Wall & Broad Streets had so eviscerated us that the whole world was or would soon also be ill.
   And a blogger in Burbank, an animator for more than two decades in the Accounting industry (of all things) cites the financial devastation through a post (Imagi - Let's be realistic. Wednesday, January 28, 2009 http://cganimation.blogspot.com/search/label/business) about the Hong Kong based animation company Imagi (of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame). It appears that the main project Imagi was working on and / or the company as a whole was about to sink.
   Well, the project that missed out on funding, and then bridge funding as well, turned out to be Astro Boy. Released October, 23 2009, with a sizable stable of name recognition voices and Academy Award nominations in storyboarding and writing, it nonetheless lost about $40. million.

   Why? It’s widely speculated that the marketing was virtually non-existent coupled with questionable quality of management. The company is morphing. If they ever animate again they’ll almost assuredly farm the work into mainland China, instead of paying the higher Hong Kong wage. Too many critical errors at too critical a time.