Netflix appears to be getting ambitious. How else do you explain their plans to release half a dozen animated movies a year by 2022?
Where did this come from, you might ask? Well, in a recent interview with Variety, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently outlined his intentions to have Netflix release “six animated features a year…on top of the very healthy slate of animated series”. Even Sarandos admits in the interview that no other major animation studio has ever kept to such a release schedule before.
Which is fair, because such a release schedule would result in the studio releasing an animated movie every 2 months. So for Netflix, who only recently started getting into animation just 2 years ago in 2018, to have such plans is bold indeed. But can they keep their promise here? Especially by 2022 like some sources from inside Netflix have reported via Cartoon Brew?
Netflix: Animation Assembly Line?
Well, if Netflix so chooses, they could work their existing animation studio to the bone to get this plan underway. It’d be the cheap way out, and would likely earn some lawsuits from their employees there, but they could do it. Of course, the quality of the animated movies in question would surely drop sharply, but hey, at least they’d have managed to release 6 animated films a year.
But again, that’d be the cheap way to fulfilling their plans. If Netflix actually wants to create animated movies that people want to watch, they’ll have work at it. In other words, they’ll have to spend money to make money. Netflix’s announcement of their bold animation plans might be the prelude to a major expansion of their animation studio. They’ll need to hire a lot more people and greatly expand their existing facilities. However, this could be a doable route for the now very large company.
Of course, Netflix could just go the middle route and release a mix of crappy and good animated movies a year. This is probably the route they’re going to end up taking. Regardless of whether they wanted to or not. But that’s just my opinion.
Conclusion
Netflix has some bold ambitions to release 6 animated movies a year, on top of their animated series, possibly by 2022 as someone(s) inside the company have reported. We have no idea if they’re going to keep to this promise, or even if we’ll like the result. But hey, it’s something to look forward to if you happen to have a Netflix account.
Source: Variety
