Ideas/Commentary

Why Were Artists Snubbed From Blue Sky’s New Scrat Short?

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Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe, the new Ice Age franchise short in front of The Peanuts Movie, is sharp, funny, and well-animated. So far, so good. But then there’s the credits.

Rather than credit the artists who actually made the film, Fox and Blue Sky decided that they’d include a single title card letting audiences know that the producers were pleased with everybody’s work. It reads: “The Producers wish to thank the many talented artists at Blue Sky Studios for making this film possible.”

It’s not the first time Blue Sky has done this. Scrat’s Continental Crack-up, parts one and two, also has the same non-credit for the studio’s artists.

Industry artists in animation work hard — and they don’t get much in return. One of the few rewards for artists who work hard on an animated project is the satisfaction of being credited for their work, and the simplest way that the producers could have thanked the “many talented artists” was to acknowledge them as human beings rather than some collective art-making blob. It’s telling that the producers saw it fit to not only wedge their own names into the credits, but also the names of all the production managers.

So, here’s today’s takeaway for aspiring producers: You’re not actually thanking artists if you delete their names from the credits.

PS: If you have the full artist credits for Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe, send them to us and we’ll publish it here on Cartoon Brew.

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