‘Transformers One,’ ‘The Smurfs Movie’ Makers on Expanding Franchises: You Have to Show Audiences ‘Something They Don’t Know They Want to See’

When taking on established animated franchises, you can’t just “listen to nostalgia,” according to Jeff Rowe, director of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.” “That’s when things get stale,” he said during Variety’s “Innovation and Inspiration in Global Animation” panel at Annecy Animation Festival, moderated by international editor Elsa Keslassy. Rowe was joined by “Transformers […]