The Dreamworks Animation Exhibition
It seemed like a no-brainer. Take my movie and drawing obsessed five year old to the Dreamworks Animation Exhibition currently on display at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. An international exhibition, Melbourne is the first stop as it tours the globe. It was supposed to be the highlight of his first school holidays. For those of you without a movie obsessed child, Dreamworks Studios have produced some of the most successful animated children’s movies of recent times – for example the Shrek and Madagascar franchises. Now getting to the exhibition was no mean feat – it meant catching a train into the city with my newborn baby, three year old as well as aforementioned movie obsessed five year old. Similarly the exhibition was not cheap – a family pass costs $50. What a disappointment then to find ourselves leaving the exhibition after only 45 minutes – with both child and parent unanimously agreeing the outing was a flop.
The Dreamworks Animation Exhibition is a fine exhibition – informative and interesting, just not for young children. The problem of course is that Dreamworks movies are targeted towards young children, and the exhibition is therefore marketed to them. The reason it is not suited to young kids is the lack of opportunity for interaction. What interactive exhibits there were tended to be dominated by adults without children (of which there were many at the exhibition). My own little kids had trouble getting a look in.
While my three year old emphatically stated that he did enjoy the exhibition, this is because he enjoyed watching snippets of Dreamworks movies on screens around the exhibit. Let’s face it, he can do that at home.
There are plenty of beautiful stills, and models that contributed to the various movies. There are also informative displays that shed light on the Dreamworks animated production process. For children old enough to read at a high level (written aspects of the displays were not in simple terms easily understandable for even literate young kids), interested in movies and drawing the exhibition is worthwhile. My advice – give it a miss if you have kids under nine.
The Dreamworks Animation Exhibition
