The behind-the-scenes production of this film is such an independent film company-Big Idea. Since the establishment of 1993, Gaojian Company has established its main business orientation focusing on home audio and video. At the same time, Gaojian Company also came up with a whimsical idea, which is to humanize vegetables and use these vegetable villains to make animated films. This seemingly absurd idea at that time became the company's main fist product in the future, and this film is one of Gaojian's vegetable series.
Since 1993 came out, these clumsy and lovely vegetarians have been warmly welcomed not only by children, but also by many adults. Those cartoon images with short hands and feet, fast running, low jumping and exaggerated expressions are really attractive. So far, this series of DVD products has sold 40 million copies. In addition to film and television products, other peripheral fields about vegetable villains also came into being. So far, the vegetable villain has sold 26 image use licenses. As an independent film company, Gao Jian initially sold his DVD only through Christian retail stores, and it was not until 1998 that they were able to enter a big market like Wal-Mart. In 2002, the vegetable series "The Adventure of Vegetable Baby" was lucky enough to get the favor of the distribution company and was shown in the national cinemas. A total of * * * created a box office of $25 million, and the first week's box office reached $6.5 million, which was an incredible success for independent films.
However, the company is facing the existing success, but there are various problems in its operation. Due to heavy debts, the company is becoming more and more difficult. Finally, in 2004, Gaojian Company declared bankruptcy and was acquired by classic media, another home entertainment company. In 2007, classic media was annexed by British "Entertainment Rights" company. Therefore, the company that made this film no longer exists, and its development process has become a classic case in the history of independent label industry.
The title of this movie is easily reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean, but this movie is definitely not a follow-up movie. As early as 2002, before the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean ended, Phil Visco of Gaojian Company, the creator of Vegetable Series, finished the script of the film. But then the company went bankrupt because of various problems, and then there was a takeover storm all the way. Therefore, the film was delayed until the end of 2005, and then the new owner changed hands, which led to the delay of the film until now.
But a five-year delay is not a bad thing for the film itself. At least, the producers have more time to perfect the details of the film, and after absorbing the strengths of the three companies, the vegetable series has become more mature. Although the initial production team of Gaojian Company has experienced many twists and turns, no matter who the owner is, they have never left the vegetable series. This also makes the animation keep relatively consistent in style ... 1993, CG animation is not so widely used, and the technology is a bit rough. A group of stories interpreted by various vegetables came onto the animation stage at the same time. The protagonists included Larry, a stupid cucumber, and Bob and Larry's tomato friends who were too serious. Since then, this legendary story, which is closely related to vegetables, has always caught children's eyes and allowed parents to enjoy the rare joy in children's works. Most importantly, its clever and distinctive sense of humor has attracted a large number of college students' fans.
Undoubtedly, these vegetable roles have their own meanings and lessons, such as forgiveness, integrity and gratitude-all things that are good for you. This animation series, which usually goes directly to the home theater, has been shown for 27 episodes so far and has become the most valuable and valuable treasure in the world. Not only loved by children, but also trusted by parents.
In 2002, these lovely vegetables were finally put on the big screen. A baby vegetable adventure made more fans know these distinctive vegetable characters. While gaining great acclaim, it has also become the greatest vegetable-related movie in history ... Now, six years ago, the original behind-the-scenes people made great efforts, and the idle pirates came into being. This is a film made entirely by CG. The most popular "Vegetable World" comes from Big Idea Production Company, and the protagonists are still Larry the cucumber, Mr. Rand and Palmer Eliot the grape, and sedgwick and George in the film. They became three unlucky people trying to prove their value in this world. They want to be heroes ... after all, it's not difficult, is it? The film is a fresh interpretation of the concept of heroism, and the three baby plants will prove it with their special skills.
All the stories related to Vegetable World originated from Big Idea Production Company. Phil Visher, one of its founders, created two vegetable characters-Larry the cucumber and Bob the tomato. Then, with the help of his friend Mike Navoloki, he developed one complete story after another around these two characters. When it came to this "Idle Pirates", Vesche conceived an original script for it as usual, and then Narochi revised and polished it and personally took the important position of director. Kurt Heinecke, the royal composer of Big Idea Production Company, is still the main producer behind the scenes. He also wrote original music for his first film in 2002. As for Starz Animation Company, it has gathered a group of talents in the same industry and is responsible for all computer digital technologies. As Narochi, the director and producer of the film, said, "We hope that the series of stories related to' Vegetable World' can become one of the important educational resources for parents, and we strive to make everyone who hears the stories get some meaningful experiences and lessons from them. Sometimes, we may tell a story related to the Bible, sometimes it is taken from a classic literary masterpiece, and what's more, we will make it a satirical imitation story of modern popular culture. 1989, in the spare bedroom of an apartment in Chicago, the animator Phil Vische was immersed in some mechanical work and began to sketch the image and characteristics of a group of sweets. These characters have no arms, legs, hair and clothes ... Vische not only wants to give them vitality, but also uses them to make up stories for almost half an hour. At this moment, his light suddenly flashed-higher, thinner ... perfect!
Soon after, when his wife Lisa Vischer took a look at the spare bedroom at home, she accidentally said, "Do you know? If the children really fall in love with your lovely candy character, their mothers will hate you to death, and maybe they will rush into our house and accuse you of letting their children eat candy and eat cavities. " So, Phil Wescher's thought came to a sharp turn-why not turn something harmful to children into something beneficial? For example, vegetables, especially a cucumber, with a persimmon, sound like two stupid words. In this way, a series of stories with a sense of joy made by computers were born. Then, Bob the tomato and Larry the cucumber rushed all the way from the kitchen to the animation world that Visher loved and the entertainment area of lively and lovely children.
In the annual representative and distribution map of animation history, Toy Story, which represents a turning point of CG animation, seems to be six years later, so at that time, you still expected to make computer-generated characters have artistic appearance and beauty? That's almost a pipe dream. However, Phil Witcher still tried to create one thrilling and wonderful story after another. Finally, they all became members of the "Vegetable World" series. Later, he cooperated with his wife and good friend Mike Narochi, and the three of them jointly opened up this series of cartoons, in which they showed very distinctive and vivid storytelling methods, cute characters and stupid songs, and even ridiculed themselves as G-class "Python" series, but only for small audiences.
Phil Wiescher voiced Bob the tomato, Mike Narochi voiced Larry the cucumber, and Lisa Wiescher voiced the lovely asparagus ... At this time, another person with extremely low salary joined their production team, that is, Kurt Hejnak, a master of church music. With the arrival of Hejnak, he not only maintained a low capital investment, but even paid for it himself. He shares an office with Weischers and Narochi, which is a bit cold all the year round, and works day and night-this is the embryonic form of Big Idea production company.
At that time, VCR became the main broadcast form of home theater, and the way of making the series of stories of Vegetable World directly into video tapes became the most valuable way of family entertainment. 1993, Big Idea produced the first edition of "plant world" vcr-"where is god when I am afraid? (Vegetarian Story: Where is God when I am afraid? ), sold 50,000 sets in the first year; In the second year, this figure tripled to 6.5438+0.5 million sets; In the third year, 700,000 sets were sold for the first time ... Phil Weischer recalled: "At that time, we thought, well, we might have sold to the limit, but that number was beyond our imagination." In the fourth year, Big Idea finally sold 2 million sets.
American retailers realize that no matter what beliefs parents have, they seem to like to borrow these stories related to the "vegetable world" to educate their children, so they keep filling their shelves as much as possible ... Phil Wescher proudly said: "These dogmas in the stories are actually the basic components of western civilization. The most important thing is that parents and children like the unique humorous way of' vegetables'. "
This cultural environment continued in an increasingly large way, which led to Bob and Larry's TV debut on 1998. 1999, these two characters also joined the Thanksgiving Day Parade ... In April 2006, First Lady laura bush even invited them to participate in the Easter Egg Roll at the White House.
In August of 200 1 2000, the story Lyle the Good Viking, the first episode of Vegetable World 15, came out, which was the first animation in the series to enter the home theater and the market at the same time. It sold 70,000 sets on the first day and became the best-selling home theater product in history. Even the "World Animation Celebration" awarded the "Best Home Theater Product Award" to the kind pirate Lyle.
June 2002, 5438+ 10 was the first experience of Big Idea production company. The Adventure of Vegetable Baby earned $25 million at the domestic box office, which was recognized by all audiences. It remained at the top of the national box office list 10 for three weeks in a row and was nominated for the prestigious Anne Award. In June+February, 5438, the first broadcast version of Vegetable World, The Star of Christmas, premiered on PBS, and the game version of The Mystery of Vegetable Island created by Big Idea also landed on the game platform.
The well-known high-quality animation works such as "Vegetable World" quickly attracted a large number of partners, and the creative team of Big Idea production company is also growing. By September, 2006, Vegetable World had developed into a TV program regularly broadcast by national television. Big Idea has authorized at least 40 partners around the world to sell products related to Vegetable World, with an annual income of tens of millions.
Counting by fingers, it has been nearly 65,438+09 years since Phil Weischer killed time in his spare bedroom to create the image of a fruitcake. Big Idea production company has also changed from the original three-person family workshop to a large animation studio with a brand-new adventure plan about Bob and Larry. New TV series and DVD are also ready to go, plus the movie "Nothing" which symbolizes the "good start" in 2008.