tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post1472420033061574480..comments2023-11-03T11:37:13.579-04:00Comments on Something Old, Nothing New: Robert Zemeckis, Evil Destroyer of MemoriesJaime J. Weinmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-56702444577218170462009-06-02T13:47:32.139-04:002009-06-02T13:47:32.139-04:00Not every original film needs a sequel. Some are b...<I>Not every original film needs a sequel. Some are better off as one hit wonders.</I>Quite right. Robert Altman apparently wanted to do an HBO miniseries sequel to "Nashville" in the Eighties, but I'm glad he resisted. I'm grateful we've been spared "Son of Repo Man" or "Animal House: The Next Generation" or "This is Spinal Tap Part II"...ajmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13290036970774359522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-2918612075258485422009-05-11T23:36:00.000-04:002009-05-11T23:36:00.000-04:00"John"
Given the attitude towards 2-D cartoons rig..."John"<br />Given the attitude towards 2-D cartoons right now.."<br /><br /><br />Well, except for half-assed ones with Elvis imitating gnashing teeth named Hawaiian transplants named Stitch. Or fugly looking critters named:<br />Phineas and Ferb<br />Powerpuff Girls<br />Angelica Pickles<br />Hey Arnold<br />etc etc etc [thank you, Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II]<br /><br />Signed,<br />PokeyYour Pony Pal Pokey, Toonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-56923027496673059222009-05-11T23:27:00.000-04:002009-05-11T23:27:00.000-04:00I have to agree with Yowp and,maybe some others th...I have to agree with Yowp and,maybe some others though I did see it in 1988 and enjoyed it, it has not held up for me much at all. And we all know...Jessica Rabbit ain't bad, she is just drawn that way [gimme Jessica SIMPSON anyday.]<br /><br />[1988 was also the era Gumby-my master and frined-lost his charm due to new, proto Barney like synthesiser music, and the old stock cues were redone. But that, my friends, is another type of animation.<br /><br />Roger soon garnered all sorts of annoying followups, even one from Disney itself, "Bonkers!" and Warners "Tiny Toon Adventures" and its ilk were CLEARLY "Roger"-inspired [Sorry Jaime, as I know you like the Spielgberg era WB's..]<br /><br />Only a few episodes of the Wb shows were of any worth..Walter Lantz felt the same way but in a strange way felt glad the Roger Rabbit movie WAS made, to show that animation could still be viable [this was, after all, still the era of the Care Bears. Real Jerome Kerns of animation, right? Not. I though so...]] Maurice Noble didn't like Roger - the movie or the half brained hare--either.<br /><br />Signed,<br />PokeyYour Pony Pal Pokey, Toonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-37453759189447389172009-05-02T19:05:00.000-04:002009-05-02T19:05:00.000-04:00It was never explained WHAT once well known cartoo...<I>It was never explained WHAT once well known cartoon character the Christopher Lloyd villain was suppposed to be.</I>I always assumed he was supposed to be an original character -- all the cartoon characters who actually figured in the plot were new ones.Jaime J. Weinmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-47734905903522899742009-05-02T17:58:00.000-04:002009-05-02T17:58:00.000-04:00It's been, what, 21 years since the original Roger...It's been, what, 21 years since the original Roger Rabbit, nearly a whole generation that had since experienced a renaissance for animation thru the 1990's. Everything that helped define the first film--kicking off the Disney Renaissance, being the first mainstream adult cartoon in years, bridging old school animators (and old school characters) into the new era, and the famous side-by-side appearance of Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny--has long since set sail. How could even the original director possibly live up to that vast legacy?<br /><br />Not every original film needs a sequel. Some are better off as one hit wonders.Yeldarb86https://www.blogger.com/profile/10131603833394294520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-12634406596892110392009-05-02T13:54:00.000-04:002009-05-02T13:54:00.000-04:00It was never explained WHAT once well known cartoo...It was never explained WHAT once well known cartoon character the Christopher Lloyd villain was suppposed to be. They reveal the character's high, screeching voice near the end but nothing else. All of the other 'toons' surely knew who this character was, yet none spilled the beans.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-56218464507191157712009-05-02T01:11:00.000-04:002009-05-02T01:11:00.000-04:00Maybe I'm in the minority. I did not like Roger Ra...Maybe I'm in the minority. I did not like <I>Roger Rabbit</I>. Period. The cartoon characters I loved as a child were gratuitously tossed in for star value and had no relevance to the plot. Roger was so completely unlikeable, I felt like yelling something at the screen to get him to shut up. None of the other characters were much better.<br /><A HREF="http://yowpyowp.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">Yowp</A>Yowphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09264605351878574044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-42246514276376413042009-05-01T01:59:00.000-04:002009-05-01T01:59:00.000-04:00If you did a script with something like that, you'...If you did a script with something like that, you'd have to set something up like the evil TV production company somehow stealing Jessica away to work in limited animation (some sort of made-for-TV Toon Town) and away from the theatrical work. Contrasting a low budget Jessica Rabbit with the real fully animated original would be something even 18-24 year old males today could figure out.J Leenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-37997801474664273382009-04-30T22:20:00.000-04:002009-04-30T22:20:00.000-04:00An attempt was made early in "Back in Action" to c...An attempt was made early in "Back in Action" to contrast the limited animation of Hanna-Barbera characters against fuller animation of the LT characters, set in a live action WB commissary. They didn't get the HB animation right - it appeared to stick and jerk in ways that actual HB stuff didn't. This one scene probably cost over a billion dollars. I'm not sure that in 2009 the 18-24 demo would appreciate such a 2D inside joke, even if someone competent pulled it off.Whithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07308880186307909986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-78730212901829217832009-04-30T20:48:00.000-04:002009-04-30T20:48:00.000-04:00I'd rather remember him for this.I'd rather remember him for <A HREF="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ztpz_enf-used-cars_sexy" REL="nofollow">this.</A>Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443425643665474645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-3094452340595990932009-04-30T20:47:00.000-04:002009-04-30T20:47:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443425643665474645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-18792084644382999842009-04-30T18:59:00.000-04:002009-04-30T18:59:00.000-04:00Zemeckis' roll-down-hill started when he unleashed...<I>Zemeckis' roll-down-hill started when he unleashed Forrest Gump to movie audiences and cleaned up at the Oscars with it. He then wanted to make "serious" films and any hope of recapturing the magic of his early, unpretentious vehicles--I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Used Cars, etc.--was lost.</I>In other words, he became a real-life Sullivan. <br /><br />If Zemeckis hadn't been so insistent on control, "Roger Rabbit" could have been a solid franchise, given how incredibly popular that film was. Other directors might have given the Toontown characters some added texture that was lacking the first time around. <br /><br />But doing a sequel <I>now,</I> when your target audience has likely never heard of Roger Rabbit? Too late, brother, too late. (Though I like the concept of the Hanna-Barbera TV toons invading the turf of the old 'toons.)VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-72052103538543706952009-04-30T17:20:00.000-04:002009-04-30T17:20:00.000-04:00Zemeckis at this point might do about as good a "R...Zemeckis at this point might do about as good a "Roger Rabbit" sequel as George Miller, if he's gonna use mo-cap. Zemeckis met his sharkjump of no return with "Death Becomes Her" - it's been downhill ever since.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-52490182785441776482009-04-30T16:08:00.000-04:002009-04-30T16:08:00.000-04:00Zemeckis' roll-down-hill started when he unleashed...Zemeckis' roll-down-hill started when he unleashed <B>Forrest Gump</B> to movie audiences and cleaned up at the Oscars with it. He then wanted to make "serious" films and any hope of recapturing the magic of his early, unpretentious vehicles--<B>I Wanna Hold Your Hand</B>, <B>Used Cars</B>, etc.--was lost.Ivan G Shreve Jrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04067177808320053382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-21561563947100388002009-04-30T15:05:00.000-04:002009-04-30T15:05:00.000-04:00(Just to clarify -- That's 10-11 years in the futu...(Just to clarify -- That's 10-11 years in the future from the first Roger Rabbit, which would set the sequel in 1959-60).Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-12184444959815062972009-04-30T15:04:00.000-04:002009-04-30T15:04:00.000-04:00You actually could make a sequel, if say you put t...You actually could make a sequel, if say you put the characters 10-11 years in the future and made TV production line cartoons as the new enemy of Toon Town instead of Judge Doom (which you'd hope would meet Zemeckis' quotent for soullessness just by itself). <br /><br />Given the attitude towards 2-D cartoons right now, I would think the suits in charge wouldn't green-light a sequel in the first place, but given their cluelessness about animation in general, I could very easily see them OK a movie where you have 2-D full animation characters being threatened by a 2-D limited animation industry, and then doing all the characters in CGI.Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-68326903021680126302009-04-30T15:02:00.000-04:002009-04-30T15:02:00.000-04:00"but the story didn't require that kind of charm, ..."but the story didn't require that kind of charm, so it was fine."<br /><br />Then the whole film is half assed.Ricardo Cantoralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00518171797365794688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-76647773708440521932009-04-30T14:59:00.000-04:002009-04-30T14:59:00.000-04:00The film contained none of the charm of those 40's...<I>The film contained none of the charm of those 40's cartoons and it didn't feel like anyone who understood cartoons was in charge.</I>True, but it didn't matter; it was a <I>film noir</I> about a semi-racial divide between humans and cartoon characters. I doubt Zemeckis could have recaptured the charm of the '40s cartoons if he'd wanted to (though he and his team were right to take it away from the Disney people and insist on a traditional written script), but the story didn't require that kind of charm, so it was fine.Jaime J. Weinmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-33838452773055473092009-04-30T14:57:00.000-04:002009-04-30T14:57:00.000-04:00Zemeckis hasn't made a good film since Cast Away a...Zemeckis hasn't made a good film since Cast Away and like you said, he has been doing these ugly mo- cap films. As for Roger Rabbit, it's only fine film on a technical level. The film contained none of the charm of those 40's cartoons and it didn't feel like anyone who understood cartoons was in charge. I heard they have wanted to do a sequel to RR for years but thankfully, it looks like it'll never happen.Ricardo Cantoralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00518171797365794688noreply@blogger.com