‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Producer’s Insensitive Comments on Demoralized Animators Blow up in Their Face
Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has, by all accounts, established itself as the movie to beat in the realm of both animated films and comic book adaptations, and we highly doubt anyone will come close until its sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse, comes calling. Indeed, from the action sequences to the emotional beats to the stellar voice work and everything in between, the Spider-Verse trilogy’s sophomore project has won the hearts of millions.
But at what cost?
Following recent revelations regarding the working conditions for Across the Spider-Verse‘s animators, the world seems to have caught wind of one comment in particular — namely from producer Amy Pascal — to point their shame rays at, and rightly so.
Indeed, when some of the most important members of your team voice their displeasure for being unfairly overworked, a problem that has infamously plagued the VFX side of Hollywood for some time now, it’s not the best look to treat such concerns with bold-faced apathy, and Twitter is all too happy to let Pascal know that.
One of the artists interviewed in the aforementioned Vulture article disclosed frustrations beyond the gargantuan number of hours worked, noting how Phil Lord’s allegedly haphazard plotting and revisions resulted in many of those hours going to waste, which is an abhorrently disrespectful move considering how laborious of a process animation is.
“Like, okay, yeah, it’s easy to make a movie if you just say, ‘Don’t plan anything.’ You tell the artists, ‘Come up with stuff. Create the footage and then I’ll decide which direction to go.’ It’s easier to do it that way. But it’s very destructive and time consuming. The hardest thing on the animators has not been working 11 hours a day, 70 hours a week. It’s been the wasted work and the frustration of putting in that many hours just to see it changed or thrown away. You work like nuts on a shot and then in a review, suddenly they’re like, ‘Oh, you didn’t get the latest edit? That’s not how it is anymore.’”
I say this as someone who absolutely adores the Spider-Verse films and regards them as pillars in the realm of animation, comic book adaptations, and films in general; no matter how long we’d have to wait for it, delay Beyond the Spider-Verse if it means the working conditions of the animators will allow them to thrive the way they deserve to. The wait for Across the Spider-Verse was more than worth it, and I have no doubt the same would be true for Beyond the Spider-Verse if its release date got pushed by a couple of years. Artists deserve better.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters.
About the author
Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has, by all accounts, established itself as the movie to beat in the realm of both animated films and comic book adaptations, and we highly doubt anyone will come close until its sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse, comes calling. Indeed, from the action sequences to the emotional beats to the stellar voice work and everything in between, the Spider-Verse trilogy’s sophomore project has won the hearts of millions.
But at what cost?
Following recent revelations regarding the working conditions for Across the Spider-Verse‘s animators, the world seems to have caught wind of one comment in particular — namely from producer Amy Pascal — to point their shame rays at, and rightly so.
Indeed, when some of the most important members of your team voice their displeasure for being unfairly overworked, a problem that has infamously plagued the VFX side of Hollywood for some time now, it’s not the best look to treat such concerns with bold-faced apathy, and Twitter is all too happy to let Pascal know that.
One of the artists interviewed in the aforementioned Vulture article disclosed frustrations beyond the gargantuan number of hours worked, noting how Phil Lord’s allegedly haphazard plotting and revisions resulted in many of those hours going to waste, which is an abhorrently disrespectful move considering how laborious of a process animation is.
“Like, okay, yeah, it’s easy to make a movie if you just say, ‘Don’t plan anything.’ You tell the artists, ‘Come up with stuff. Create the footage and then I’ll decide which direction to go.’ It’s easier to do it that way. But it’s very destructive and time consuming. The hardest thing on the animators has not been working 11 hours a day, 70 hours a week. It’s been the wasted work and the frustration of putting in that many hours just to see it changed or thrown away. You work like nuts on a shot and then in a review, suddenly they’re like, ‘Oh, you didn’t get the latest edit? That’s not how it is anymore.’”
I say this as someone who absolutely adores the Spider-Verse films and regards them as pillars in the realm of animation, comic book adaptations, and films in general; no matter how long we’d have to wait for it, delay Beyond the Spider-Verse if it means the working conditions of the animators will allow them to thrive the way they deserve to. The wait for Across the Spider-Verse was more than worth it, and I have no doubt the same would be true for Beyond the Spider-Verse if its release date got pushed by a couple of years. Artists deserve better.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters.
About the author
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