Nickelodeon/Paramount Animation President Ramsey Naito Walks Back CEO’s Comments On Moving Away From Original Feature Animation
Nickelodeon and Paramount are in damage control mode after comments from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins had many in the animation industry lashing out this week.
On Wednesday, Variety published an extensive profile on the executive in which he said that the studio will be moving away from original animated features to focus on existing, proven library properties.
One day after the Robbins profile was published, Variety put out a new interview with Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation president Ramsey Naito in which she walked back Robbins’ comments and said that the studio currently has several original productions in development.
The original Robbins profile is more than 4,000 words long and covers a wide range of topics, but there was one specific passage that went viral shortly after the piece was published. Speaking about his studio’s animation ambitions going forward, Robbins explained, “We’re not going to release an expensive original animated movie and just pray people will come.”
Asked to expand on on Robbins’ comments a day later, Naito told Variety:
We are absolutely committed to making original animated films and are in development on a handful of projects. Brian and I believe we are nothing without fresh voices, faces, and narratives and it’s our responsibility to add new perspectives, modern characters, and vernacular to our culture of storytelling. Originals speak authentically to today’s audience, must be handled with care, and make their own mark in our legacy library… and hopefully, stand the test of time. That said, we’re not a one-size-fits-all kind of studio and our budgets are designed to support the scope of our storytelling.
Naito didn’t give any specific examples of original animation being worked on at Nick or Paramount, but that’s probably to be expected if the projects are still in development. Studios tend to very carefully choreograph when and how new titles are announced, and an interview like this one hardly seems like the best launching point for a new title.
Given the backlash to the original Robbins profile, it’s little surprise that Paramount wanted to set the record straight and add more context to his comments. Within hours of the profile being published, thousands – including some of the biggest names in the modern animation industry – took to social media to share their takes on Paramount’s plan.
Chris Miller explained why abandoning original animation is a bad idea. He later softened his stance on the specific Robbins quote, which he says reads differently in the context of the larger piece, but Miller’s original point remains a good one.
This is an ignorant attitude. No studio head would say they wouldn’t make an original drama, or action movie ,or biopic, or comedy, or wouldn’t have made Avatar. To suggest animation alone needs to be IP is absurd.
Guillermo del Toro chose brevity to express his reaction to the quote, simply posting:
Dear Lord –
Shannon Tindle responded with language that executives may be more inclined to hear, alluding to the amount of money that can be made with original animation.
Toy Story, The Incredibles, Inside Out, Frozen, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, etc. were all original films that generated millions upon release and continue to make BILLIONS in merchandise.
