awallaceunc wrote:I think this sounds like a very weak plotline. Like I say, I'll try my best to keep an open mind.
-Aaron
It sounds a weak plotline because the reporter is letting his prejudice show through in the comment, and
nothing about the plot is actually revealed.
What would a similar write up for The Lion King be? "After his father dies, young Simba runs away from all his responsibilities, and grows up enjoying a childish care free and worry free life." Sounds weak doesn't it?
Paka does raise some good points about suitability, but nobody knows how the issues are going to be handled. Disney has always made lots of films, animated and live-action, which feature "death of loved ones" and there's a reason for that - every child has, at some point in their life, a high anxiety and worry about their parents dying. It's a natural phase in the development of a child, usually initiated by the child's first encounter with death - sometimes on film, sometimes a family member or family friend. Films like this speak to children, they speak to adults. They speak to everyone. Films like this can, if done correctly, help children come to terms with their own emotions and worries. While I will admit, there does seem to be a trend for 'pop psychology' over entertainment in a lot of modern movies, Bambi 2 could still be a very good movie.
I would say it is traditional animation as one of the animators is "famed Disney animator Andreas Deja", just as I predicted before, after news of the CGI tests failing was first made known. It also signals to me that Disney are serious about improving the quality of their sequels (which I refuse to call cheapquels).
I don't really see any difference between Bambi 2 (which looks like some care and attention is going to be spent over it visually) and TV series like Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers and Talespin, etc. These took well known Disney characters and altered them (quite dramatically - especially in the Talespin example). The same, to a lesser extent can be said about the TV Hercules, Little Mermaid and Aladdin cartoons. Yet, people here
want these released on DVD. Some crave them. Why? Why is it OK to turn Chip n' Dale into 'International Rescue Troubleshooters', fighting the criminal empire of Fat Cat (or whatever) or Baloo into a plane pilot and Shere Kharn into a besuited business man, but it's so much wronger to make a mid-quel to Bambi? For all the complaints about Jungle Book 2 (and I'm no fan) is was nothing compared to how Talespin "ruined" (or to be charitable, "reimagined") the same characters.
As for sequels, remakes and "reimaginings", you know, I'm not too enthusiastic about Van Helsing. It may not, techincally be a "cheapquel" (what with being one of the most expensive movies ever made and all that) but to me, interlectually, it's cheaper than most Disney sequels (and I don't count the compilations as sequels). Money doesn't mean the film will be better. It doesn't mean the story and script will be better. It doesn't really mean the animation will be that much better - the last few DTVs have been full animation.
The odd thing is, most people on this board support Van Helsing, but it's doing more to destroy the legacy and the integrity of it's characters, and the characters of the original novels, then any Disney sequel has. I'll most likely see it even if it is only when the DVD comes out, and I'll probably change my mind (after all, it's supposed to be nothing more than a fun action-adventure movie, and it probably does that very well) - I'm willing to change my mind.
Most people here seem to have already made their mind up about the Disney sequels and aren't willing to change their minds, or worse refuse to see them. You cannot have a valid opinion on something you haven't seen.