Mr. Blue Sky (Studios), Why'd You Leave So Young?

February 2021.

Early in the month, Blue Sky Studios was announced to be shutting down in April. This was a major blow to many, with its employees being left jobless, their final film's production being halted, and their fans were left heartbroken. (Not to say the employees weren't heartbroken, but you get what I mean.)

Disney (current owner of BSS thanks to their purchase of Fox) cited the [ONGOING WORLDWIDE EVENT THAT DOESN'T NEED RETREADING AND WILL DATE THIS ARTICLE IF MENTIONED BY NAME]'s impact on their business as the reason why they had to shutter it. Sad as it is to see talented people being put out of a job, the [WORLDWIDE EVENT THAT DOESN'T NEED RETREADING] is hurting the entertainment industry big time, and something had to give if the big corporations didn't want to cave in on themselves. I'm not defending Disney's actions during the pandemic (in fact, there are recent choices they've made that I have major gripes with), but they're doing what the execs think is best for business.

How do I feel about Blue Sky, though?

Well, if I were to be completely honest... they were no Pixar. Or DreamWorks. That's not saying Blue Sky made bad movies; far from it. It's just that I feel that their best films (which you'll hear me describe later on) were on par with DreamWorks's average (examples: Bee Movie or Abominable) or Pixar's above-average (examples: Monsters University or The Good Dinosaur).

This article is meant to be my retrospective on the studio, explaining what I liked (and what I didn't) about each of the movies (that I saw) from this little Connecticut studio that pushed through and was able to establish two franchises and about 7 different worlds. Let's say go!

ICE AGE- Franchise Meltdown

I'm aware that Blue Sky had a storied history prior to the first Ice Age film, but I don't want to do something akin to my Thomas retrospective and have a massive preamble that makes this article crazy long. All you need to know is that Chris Wedge and six other founders came together and bonded over their interest in computer animation, and their studio ended up in Fox's hands. Fun fact: some of their earliest work was the earliest CGI M&Ms commercials.

In 2000, Fox was disappointed with how their animation department was faring. Don Bluth's Titan A.E. was a financial flop and production disaster, and executives were uncertain of Blue Sky's future. Fortunately, Wedge came to the execs with a proposition- a script about the Ice Age and the animals native to that time period. This script struggled to get off the ground under Bluth's Fox Animation Studios, but Wedge and Blue Sky were able to make it sing. In 2002, Ice Age released.

The story's pretty simple. A mammoth named Manny, a sloth named Sid, and a Smilodon named Diego find themselves charged with taking care of a young baby separated from his tribe and protecting it from Diego's former pack... all while faced with the blistering cold of the Ice Age. Upon revisiting the first movie, I was surprised by certain plot points and moments that the following movies did their best to brush over so they could appeal to wider audiences. Humans, themes of loss... it was a bit deeper than what it'd eventually become.

Oh, and throughout the movie, there's a "saber-toothed squirrel" named Scrat. Compared to later films, Scrat is more subdued. He's still a shortsighted idiot, sure; it's just that the writers didn't rely on him to mobilize the plot. The film was a resounding success and a much-needed shot in the arm for Fox's animation department.

As any successful animated film released PTS2 (Post-Toy Story 2) would eventually get, a sequel came. Unlike the first one, THIS was one I actually saw as a kid. It focuses on Manny, Sid, and Diego's attempt at outrunning a flood that's threatening the post-Ice Age world. After being split up, Manny finds love in the form of Ellie (voiced by Queen Latifah) and Diego and Sid now have to put up with comic relief opossums Crash and Eddie. This one was roughly on par with the original, doing just as well with critics and doubling the financial reward of the first movie.

However, The Meltdown (the sequel) planted the seeds for the franchise's downfall. While Crash and Eddie have their moments in this installment and later films, they were the kind of comic relief that was bound to annoy parents after long exposure. That, and Scrat was responsible for the movie's primary conflict being resolved. Again, a sign of things to come.

I missed out on the third movie, but I definitely saw the fourth movie. To be honest, you wouldn't be missing much by jumping from the second one to the fourth one. All you need to know is that Manny and Ellie had a kid named Peaches and that there's a weasel voiced by Simon Pegg who's really fun and doesn't show up in the fourth movie. The fourth movie starts with Scrat causing the split of the continents by trying to find a spot to place his acorn, separating Manny from his family and leaving him with Sid, Diego, and Sid's grandmother (who's pretty fun).

While it's a bit unfortunate that the movie chose to retread the Sid/Manny/Diego dynamic, it shows Blue Sky's creativity and humor at its finest. One thing that I can always give kudos to in this 3D-dominated age is when animated films are able to get creative with their visuals (and Blue Sky did these quite well). Continental Drift was a good deal of fun, introducing a band of pirates and giving Diego a girlfriend. That, and it showed Peaches struggling to stand up to toxic friends. That's a plus in my book.

Alas, Collision Course (the final film) was subpar. Blue Sky had good intents with this film- it's visually stunning, and they had good reason to think that a fifth movie would work. However, it felt like the franchise finally jumped the shark. You'd think that'd've happened by the time they brought in dinosaurs (for the third movie), but CC felt like a mess of cluttered plot lines and nonsensical plot turns. Oh, and Scrat causes the Big Bang. Yes, really. He went from amusing comic relief to chaotic agent of destruction that the writers could use to mosey along the plot.

Critics and audiences weren't kind to the final movie, causing Fox to put the Ice Age franchise (ironically) on ice. Interestingly, it seems like Blue Sky (and Chris Wedge in particular) weren't happy with how far the franchise had strayed from its roots, either. I don't have an exact source for this, but I recall that Wedge said that he wanted to bring back the humans from the first movie and use them in a meaningful capacity again.

I feel as if the Ice Age series was a mixed bag. Movies 1-2 and the fourth one were good fun, with the first one providing emotional depth unseen in later installments. I've no opinion on movie 3, but I feel as if Collision Course was to the series what Rise of Skywalker was to Star Wars. Both had their good moments, but struggled to find a consistent theme amidst the mess that had been made out of prior installments.

ROBOTS AND epic- Unspeakable Joyce

William Joyce may not be a name you recognize, but he's been attached to many movies from the last 20 years. His books and ideas inspired DreamWorks's Rise of the Guardians, Disney's Meet the Robinsons, and Fox's own Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Most of his work tends to be perceived as underrated, having accumulated cult followings composed of those from my generation (and maybe even their parents)...

... and the two movies he worked on for Blue Sky could also be considered underrated.

2005's Robots was born out of a failed attempt to adapt Joyce's book Santa Calls. The result was a rollicking thrill ride through a whimsical world of robots that triples as a critique of planned obsolescence and a celebration of creativity. I'm very fond of this movie, and it's not just because of nostalgia. From a surprisingly nuanced celebrity cast (most of whom provide quality performances), humor tied to clever visuals (the main character's father is a dishwasher at the local diner- literally), and downright IMPRESSIVE worldbuilding for a solo movie. I'm serious; this is one of my favorite Blue Sky films!

Robots was placed between the first and second Ice Age films, and was a moderate success. Joyce and Blue Sky reunited to make epic in 2013, a loose adaptation of Joyce's The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. Unlike Robots, this was a far less successful film in terms of both financial figures and critical reception.

Where Robots soared in the worldbuilding, casting, and story departments, I don't recall much of epic other than a feeling of disappointment. The world felt derivative of Avatar (the blue people one, not the critically acclaimed Nickelodeon one) and FernGully*, the cast was loaded with then-popular celebrities, and the story felt generic despite having the potential to be something more. Even back in 2013, I felt that this was below average for Blue Sky.

Oh, sure, the movie was well-made and the cast gave good performances, but 2013 was just a rough year for theatrical animation, and epic only contributed to that roughness. I know people who liked it (and I'll admit, the movie's got its charm), but had it not released so close to Avatar (again, blue people, not Nick), I'm willing to bet it'd have done better.

*Ironically, Strange Magic (the first Lucasfilm project released under Disney's ownership), bears a remarkable amount of similarities to FernGully and epic. I don't know if this came out of past-his-prime George Lucas struggling to find inspiration for his so-called "Star Wars for girls", but it's an interesting factoid.

THE PEANUTS MOVIE and HORTON- Good Grief, These are Faithful Adaptations!

In the aftermath of the disastrous 2003 Cat in the Hat adaptation, Dr. Seuss's widow Audrey Geisel swore off any future live-action adaptations of her husband's work. As Blue Sky was preparing to release Robots, they began pushing for the rights to one of Seuss's works. And that book was Horton Hears a Who.

Under the guidance of future director Steve Martino, the world of Horton was lovingly brought to life and modestly updated. The pitch shown to Audrey left her pleasantly surprised, and she agreed to grant the license to Blue Sky. Come 2008, and the Jim Carrey and Steve Carell-led adaptation was unleashed upon the world.

Aside from a gratuitous anime reference, the movie is a faithful expansion upon the original book, recounting the story of elephant Horton's quest to protect the microscopic city of the Whos from a sour kangaroo, monkeys, and a vulture. Compared to prior theatrical Seussian adaptations, Horton was remarkably subdued. No tragic backstory for the kangaroo or Seinfeld-lite innuendos were to be found.

The movie was a success, with many critics and audiences being impressed at Martino's faithful translation of Seuss's original work. Some say that lightning can't be captured in a bottle twice, but with 2015's The Peanuts Movie, he did just that. Part of that could be attributed to Charles Schulz's family overseeing production of the film, but still.

The Peanuts Movie, to me, is the best of the movies in Blue Sky's library. Robots is the best of their original work, sure, but this is a rare breed of animated excellence. The visuals are innovative yet intrinsically Schulzian, the kids are well-voiced and accurately written, and save for some pop music added solely for the sake of giving the movie a hit single, it's timeless. Heck, they even got Trombone Shorty to return solely to provide new wah-wah "vocals" for the adults!

Some Peanuts purists may feel as if showing the Little Red-Haired Girl (object of Charlie Brown's unrequited love) on screen and giving Charlie Brown a semi-happy ending are blasphemy against the original themes of the comic, but those things are minor in the grand scheme of things. Besides, we still get the football gag and Snoopy's WW1 flying ace persona, so it works out in the end. All I can say is that if you haven't seen The Peanuts Movie, PLEASE DO. It's a perfect movie for kids and families, and it does what Spider-Verse would be praised for three years prior.

Both Peanuts and Horton showcase the loyalty to source material that Blue Sky exercised in their adaptations. They stood out visually in an era when the animation industry was pushing for realism, and their timelessness (save for the aforementioned anime reference in Horton and the Meghan Trainor song in Peanuts) only adds to their quality. And considering what Blue Sky's final film would've been, I can only imagine their faithfulness to the source material that inspired it.

RIO- Birds are the Words

Compared to Ice Age, Rio was far less successful. The first movie was a surprising success (bolstered by its usage of 3D), while the sequel suffered from being released a few years too later. I've got a fondness for both movies, and I feel that both were fun romps.

The original Rio is a bird-centric musical set in Rio de Janeiro about neurotic blue sphinx macaw Blu, his intended mate Jewel, and a motley crew of critters as they attempt to escape the talons of pretty bird-hating cockatoo Nigel. As mentioned, this movie was fun. The lush jungles and cities are given proper flourishing, the music is peppy and uses the cast's vocal range to the best of its ability, and the cast is able to carry their roles well enough.

However, the 2014 sequel suffers from an unfocused plot and less impressive music. Trappings of romantic comedies (like a father who disapproves of the guy who his daughter hooked up with and a jealous rival who dislikes our male lead) plague this installment, but Nigel and his supposedly poisonous frog sidekick Gabi salvage it. The duo provide a manic yet oddly sweet aura in the scenes they share, and their story thread of wanting revenge on Blu and Jewel (for Nigel's humiliation during the prior film's climax) and developing a star-crossed romance is more interesting than the one that Blu and Jewel are actually part of.

That being said, Rio 2 isn't without its merits. I've already mentioned Nigel and Gabi were a highlight, but some of the music is alright at best and the aerial bird soccer match was an impressive scene. Unfortunately, this wound up being the final film in the series due to Blue Sky being shuttered. Bummer.

It's really a shame what happened with the Rio movies. They were sweet family films, but the second one was plagued with story problems and a mistimed release. Maybe if epic and Rio 2 were swapped in terms of release dates, I'd bet that the ill-timed sequel could've done better.

FERDINAND- Fox's Finale

At the moment I'm writing this, I've yet to see Blue Sky's final film Spies in Disguise. it's not available on Disney Plus at the moment, but I've heard good things about this Will Smith/Tom Holland vehicle. One of the most interesting things I've heard about the movie is that Audi designed a concept car solely for Will Smith's character.

What I have seen, though, is the last Blue Sky movie released prior to the Disney buyout and the very movie that inspired me to write out this retrospective. Which movie am I referring to? I'm talking about Ferdinand, Blue Sky's adaptation of the 1936 children's book written by Munro Leaf.

The movie centers on Ferdinand, a peace-loving bull (voiced by John Cena) who finds himself challenged by a world (and other bulls) that expect him to surrender to societal expectations and fight. After a misunderstanding that leads to him being mistaken for a raging beast, Ferd works to find a way back to the little girl who he loves while also earning his bull buddies' respect and freedom.

I feel as if this would place third in my ranking of Blue Sky's film. It's a visually impressive film (with the same stylization used in the Ice Age films applied to Ferd and the other bulls), the additions and updates made to the story don't feel too intrusive, the humor is good-natured, and the themes of gentleness and kindness are well-shown through its main character and his impact on the world around him.

It has many of Blue Sky's trappings- star-studded cast, toony visuals, pop-culture references, and innuendos for the adult audiences- but this movie felt the most like it'd be mistaken for a good Pixar movie or a great DreamWorks film. (Considering it was nominated for 2017's Best Animated Picture, I'm convinced it managed to trick the Academy) I personally feel that if this was Blue Sky's final film, it'd've been a good send-off. Unfortunately, it was going up against The Last Jedi when it released, so it suffered in terms of box office returns.

And that's a darn shame when you consider how Spies in Disguise turned out.

Despite positive reviews, SiD failed to break even. Combined with the hemorrhaging of funds induced by the pandemic, Disney was left with the choice of either leaving Blue Sky open and losing more money or shuttering it and cutting their losses. As you know by this point, they chose the latter.

While I feel for those who lost their jobs thanks to Blue Sky being shut down, the most tragic part of the whole thing is that the studio's final film was never finished. I've seen former employees talking about how much hard work went into the film, and I believe that they gave their all from how it sounds. But what was their last movie?

NIMONA- Over and Unfinished

For those unaware, Nimona was going to be Blue Sky's final film. What a tortured movie this one is- it got shuffled around release date-wise constantly as a result of the pandemic, and even when it had a set release date for 2022, its production was halted. The movie was an adaptation of Noelle Stevenson's webcomic and senior thesis of the same name about an impulsive and violent shapeshifter who joins up with a so-called villain to expose the moral bankruptcy of the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. Nimona's not my sort of thing, but the comic does have its fans.

Blue Sky gained the rights to the comic in 2015, and went to work adapting the comic. Much like with their previous works, it seemed like the studio was going to make a faithful adaptation and honor the source material. I don't know how parents groups would react to the movie's themes (especially after Disney acquired Fox and with them Blue Sky), and I still won't know given that the Mouse House shut production down.

While I have very strong feelings about Noelle due to how she reimagined She-Ra for Netflix and DreamWorks (I'm just going to say it's not my thing and leave it at that), I pity her and those who worked on Nimona at Blue Sky. From what I've heard, the movie was only a fourth away from being finished and would've been "unlike anything in the animated world" at the time it was made. No matter how you feel about Blue Sky, Noelle, or her work, it's sad to see a studio- nay, a coalescence of creative voices- have their work tossed aside because of financial troubles.

CONCLUSION

In summation, Blue Sky deserved better. Granted, they weren't as big a name as Pixar, DreamWorks, Illumination, or even Warner Animation Group (the last of whom was created specifically to challenge Pixar), but I feel as if they brought what all creative folk want to bring to the table that is the entertainment industry. It's something people of all backgrounds can identify with and understand...

... the chance to be heard.

Between being based in Connecticut instead of on the West Coast, taking a leisurely approach to releasing and producing films, and the faithfulness to source material they adapted, Blue Sky had a lot going for them in the 19 years they've been in the public eye. It's sad to see them go so young (the company was founded in 1987 and they spent the next 15 years honing their craft), but the memories we have of their films remain.

My generation (Generation Z) grew and changed as this studio did. In a sense, I feel as if Blue Sky's closure is bittersweet. Many lost their jobs and Nimona may never see the light of day in theaters or have a chance on streaming... but at the same time, this is the chance to start anew. For those employees, they could see a need at a studio looking for enterprising animators and fill that need.

To everyone who worked at Blue Sky, thank you. You've worked hard and crafted films that many love and many were inspired by. It may seem unfortunate that the place you've found a community in is going to be gone by April... but your hard work lives on, and God may have something better planned for you later on in life. I don't know if anyone from Blue Sky will ever read this, but...

Take care, alright? You've been given the gift of creativity, and you wouldn't want to waste it.

For us, those who loved and were inspired by these movies... it's our turn. We can tell the stories we want to tell, craft the characters who've been dancing around our heads and need an outlet to become real, and sing the songs that've only been words prior to us finding the proper accompaniment. I know it sounds corny, but...

... the (Blue) sky's the limit for the lovers, the dreamers, me and you. God bless, everyone.