The Three Musketeers-Theatrical Release?

[Prince Adam]

Over at animated-news.com, there's been talk of someone pushing The Three Musketeers to be a theatrical release, but Eisner has put a stop to the notion claiming that the mouse doesn't have enough appeal, and neither does 2-D animation.

This makes me hate him more.

They also have some more information and screencaps on "Twice Upon a Christmas".

[AwallaceUNC]

If this is true, it frustrates me as well. I don't see this being a box office smash, by any means. With proper marketing, however, it could do fairly well.

-Aaron

[Jack]

Well, financially concerned, I can see where Eisner is coming from. It may not be worth it to go through the expense of putting it in theaters, as it most likely wouldn't do much more than $40 Million, and perhaps would fare around $20 Million (I say this from looking at past examples of the cheaper projects released to theaters, ie Piglet's Big Movie, Jungle Book 2, etc). There's already going to be a huge profit from the DVD/VHS sales, so there might not be much of a reason to have it as a theatrical release instead.

But his idea that traditional animation (see my signature) and/or Mickey Mouse (along with Donald & Goofy) lack enough appeal is absurd. I'm sure if those characters were in an animated classic-type project with a bigger budget and good-enough marketing boost, their movie would fare very well.

[Captain Hook]

This makes me more determined to buy it.

[JaYDiSNeY]

i love cg animation but i dont believe in the death of 2D animation....i think with all this new cg stuff 2D just needs 2 go on a break for a while and then be resurrected by disney with something amazing

[karlsen]

This is just a typical Eisner thing to say. 2D is dead if he wants it to be, but the fans want it so there is no need to declear it dead.

I am no expert on the American market, but I do think that releasing this one theatrical is a bad idea. I bet they would make a lot more if they don't.

[MickeyMousePal]

The Three Musketeers not good enough to make a threatical relase.
That makes me mad if it was in the theatre it would do better in sales of DVD and VHS.
I saw the preview it looks good enough for me to get a theatre relase.

[AwallaceUNC]

That was beautifully, stated, Jack. My thoughts exactly.

Jay, I agree with you. Hand-drawn animation has gone through dry spells before. And while I don't think the figurehead of animation had ever declared it dead before, it did suffer periods in which it seemed to be falling to the wayside. However, a renaissance usually comes along (i.e. Little Mermaid) to revive traditional animation for a whole new audience in a big way. It's nearing 20 years since TLM was released, and the 70s and 80s certainly weren't know for their glorious animation outputs. I expect to see another renaissance within the next ten years or so. In the meantime, I don't think it's dead, and that's one of my biggest beefs with Eisner.

-Aaron

[JEANYLASER]

I think that mickey and his pals will be a hit in disney movie. i think the three musketeers will be the top ten in video and dvd.

[Grunches]

I think it would do ok in the theaters but I think it would do better just comming to DVD.

[slash]

I hate to be agreeing with Eisner, but I think I'm with him on his decision in keeping the Three Mousketteers out of theatres. Disney should only release the most special of its animation to theatres as full length features. While this sounds like a great DVD to own, releasing it in theatres will have a cheapening effect on other releases such as Home on the Range and Brother Bear.
Regarding the death of 2D animated classics, I also am partially with him on this. I don't agree with him that Disney shouldn't make any more cartoons but I definately think it is the end of frame-by-frame, hand sketched on paper animation. I think Disney needs to adopt the next generation of technology when making cartoons. While keeping the overall look the same, computers will allow animators to create much more detailed objects and much smoother animation. Also, because the animators don't have to constantly draw the same objects and figures, it will allow them to put a lot more eye candy and detail into the picture. It will allow Disney to continue to make cartoons that look like Treasure Planet and Brother Bear (not Toy Store or Finding Nemo) but at a fraction of the cost with much smoother animation and much better detail.

[Yuki]

And to think just yesterday I vowed to never agree with Eisner...

But putting the Three Mousketteers to theaters sounds a little risky, and at the point where Disney is right now, I don't know if it's a risk they should take.
As for 2D animation, sure, I love Computer Graphics just as much as the next guy, but 2D animation has to stay! There is just something about 2D animation that is just...classic, I guess you would call it. For the people who want to see 2D go, can you imagine the other Disney movies with computer graphics? Bambi, Dumbo, Little Mermaid, Black Cauldron, Aladdin?
For me, I just couldn't imagine certain Disney movies with computer graphics. Computer graphics should definatly be used for some movies out there, but not all, and I hope that somehow Eisner is talked out of the idea to get rid of 2D.

[slash]

As for 2D animation, sure, I love Computer Graphics just as much as the next guy, but 2D animation has to stay! There is just something about 2D animation that is just...classic, I guess you would call it. For the people who want to see 2D go, can you imagine the other Disney movies with computer graphics? Bambi, Dumbo, Little Mermaid, Black Cauldron, Aladdin?

But what I'm saying is that they shouldn't look so different from Bambi, Dumbo, Little Mermaid, etc. They should look exactly like they do, but with much smoother animation, much better details, and be much cheaper to produce.

[Prince Adam]

It's not the fact that he's not putting it in theatres (he probably shouldn't), but it's what he said about Mickey and hand-drawn animation. Whose fault is it that they don't have enough appeal.

He has (or had) a lot of power, why doesn't he do something about that?

And if it hadn't been so close to a release date, it would have been nice to see Mickey in his first full-length theatrical role.

[Uncle Remus]

i think that the Three Musketeers movie should not be released in theatres after looking at the results from movies like The Jungle Book 2, Return to Neverland, and Disney's Teacher Pet. it is better for it to be just a regular DTV movie.

[AwallaceUNC]

It's not the fact that he's not putting it in theatres (he probably shouldn't), but it's what he said about Mickey and hand-drawn animation. Whose fault is it that they don't have enough appeal.

Exactly!! It was probably a good decision, but it came as a result of bad reasoning and an overall attitude that we're all (well, most) sick of.

-Aaron

[2099net]

Much as we may not like it, Eisner is right about Mickey. Mickey never was and never will be a "star" of a major motion picture. He's always been a "bit player" - even when he got top billing.

[Prince Adam]

Much as we may not like it, Eisner is right about Mickey. Mickey never was and never will be a "star" of a major motion picture. He's always been a "bit player" - even when he got top billing.

So by your logic, Pete is even less of a "star" than Mickey.

Sorry-I had to.

[2099net]

Well, Mickey is a "star", but not a movie star. But I don't think he would encourage people to go to a theater to see him.

As for Pete, we all know true talent is overlooked in favour of simply pretty-boys. It's just the way of the world.

[AwallaceUNC]

Was Runaway Brain a movie, or just a featurette? I remember it coming out, but never saw it.

-Aaron