America's Heart & Soul

[Mr. Toad]

i would rather see this documentary than see Michael Moore's documentary movie out now.

Youre clearly in the minority.

The board seems really polarized by this and Faranheit. Am I the only one that wants to see both. In my mind, not being an American mind you, that both movies could be telling a great deal of truths.

[englishboy]

For the record, I'd like to point out that I've seen neither.

I may catch 9/11 on video, and if Hear & Soul were significantly shortened, placed in a themepark venue (such as omnivision, circlevision, etc.) I'd certainly love to see it as well.

[Disneykid]

You do realize, though, America's Heart and Soul will be in theaters far longer than 9/11, right? I'm not saying that as some sort of reason to believe that it'll do better than 9/11 because that's just ridiculous. 9/11 has gotten more publicity and more theater openings and was meant to be a more mainstream film. Disney never intended for Heart and Soul to be a big money maker; it was more of an arthouse type of project than anything and because of that, the film will surely do better by chugging along at a slow but constant rate. How curious that you seem to want to create a rivalry between the two when there is none.

[Christian]

I saw it yesterday and it was pretty good. Not spectacular but it was worth seeing and there was more than 10 people there when I saw. Maybe 15. I can't believe people would go "Oh, that looks like another Disney bomb. I wouldn't be caught dead seeing that. I would only go to movies that are projected to make a lot of money." Seeing Heart and Soul does not have to be an anti-Michael Moore thing but I already knew about all the stuff that Moore goes on about in his movie so why in the world would I pay money to see it? He's simply repeating liberal arguments that have been all over free media in the country for the last three years but I have found that people are very forgetful and think they need to pay money to go see a pseudo-documentary to stimulate their thinking on political topics when if they had half a brain they could have done that all for free by themselves. I guess it's supply and demand: if you tell people there's a demand for your product then some people are likely to believe you and pay you money even if they don't really need it or can get it for free.

Like somebody else here said, I don't think Disney was thinking America's Heart and Soul was going to be some big blockbuster so I don't know if it will ever seem like a big loss to them. The general public can't hack documentaries anyways, preferring only to see whatever they are being told is the next blockbuster. "Wow! Shrek 2 made a lot of money! I better go see it! I'm not going to go watch some dumb documentary about my country. I heard there were only like ten people in there watching it. I'd feel stupid if I walked out of there and my friends saw that I had been watching a documentary . . . unless of course it was Fahrenheit 9/11 because it's cool to say Bush has handled the terrorism problem wrong and it's cool to watch Michael Moore criticize him even though Michael Moore couldn't do any better and has probably actually made things harder for our troops overseas and he comes right out and says Americans are some of the dumbest people and that the people who died in the 9/11 attacks were just wimps and scaredy-cats. Watching utterly unproductive negativity is always cool."

Anyways, I'm stepping down from my soapbox, and saying that this Heart and Soul movie is pretty good. Not spectacular, but certainly worth seeing.

[reaganhockey]

I dont think I'll go. It doesn't really strick me as interesting. I mean , I have PLENTY of weird people around here and it just looks sort of boring. But i'm only 16 so maybe its an older people disney film hehehe my mum will probably love it.

[englishboy]

Currently this movie, on box office mojo, is ranked 146th out of 150 films released this year. And well, most of the other films under 100 are through distributors that the general public has never heard of.

[2099net]

Currently this movie, on box office mojo, is ranked 146th out of 150 films released this year. And well, most of the other films under 100 are through distributors that the general public has never heard of.

So what's your point? That it means the films rubbish? How many people went to see Jackass: The Movie? It doesn't make Jackass a cinematic classic. The Sun's the most popular newspaper in the UK, but it's nowhere near being the best newspaper (in fact, some would probably argue it isn't even a newspaper).

Disney made a film for (I would guess) little money. I'd be surprised if the production budget was over $10m. It will make its money back - either through theater admissions (as has been pointed out, documentaries have longer shelf life than fictional films) or through home video and television sales.

I don't understand people on this board. They complain when Disney make DTV sequels which do sell and make money, or they complain when Disney does something different and doesn't (immediately) make money.

What do you want? Animated fairytales all the time?

[Loomis]

I didn't want to chime in before because I was going to probably say something negative about the "over the top patriotism" in the trailer. Ib fact, it looks like it is not my sort of film at all (then again I'm not an American)

But judging from the comments over the last few weeks here, is it any surprise that this film "flopped" at the cinemas?

And as 2099 points out, financial success is no indication of worth.
Don't forget - Fantasia was a flop on its initial release!!!!

See, for me, a documentary has to have a strong point of view: like it or hate it, Fahrenheit 9/11 has one of those, and at the very least HAS divided the community and got them talking about politics or their views. This film looks carefully constructed as to not offend anyone (unless people who take exception to a tokenistic portrayal of American life).

At any rate, my point is that time and distance often make for a good film, not necessarily the box office takings.

[Maerj]

What do you want? Animated fairytales all the time?

Yes, you nailed it. That is EXACTLY what they want, animated fairytales featuring singing princesses. If it doesn't fit that mold, they will most likely not like it and will say that the magic is gone. Very good observation Netty-baby!

[Christian]

I don't understand people on this board. They complain when Disney make DTV sequels which do sell and make money, or they complain when Disney does something different and doesn't (immediately) make money.

It is also funny how you incessantly hear people of accusing Disney of doing stuff just to make money and then they will say, "Disney is a bunch of losers for making a film like America's Heart and Soul that isn't making very much money." Maybe we need to parade America's Heart and Soul as an example of how Disney did something just for the art and not for the money.

[englishboy]

Let me clarify:

I am tired of Disney making movies that accomplish at least one of the following, if not both:

(1) lack artistry and vision
(2) fail at the box office


I'd much rather have artisty over money. But I understand the necessity of both. Someone explained to me how this movie, described as "not bad" and "mediocre," was an example of true "artistry and vision" or succeded at the box office? Is anyone really going to go to bat for this film as one that kick them in the ***? Better yet, could someone give me a recap of the most recent Disney flick to spin out artistry, vision, or significant financial success. I think you'd have to go back to 2003 to find a reasonable selection. (I'm not sure Disney has broken the 70m mark yet this year, to say nothing of the 100m mark.)

[Christian]

America's Heart and Soul is a documentary. Keep that it mind. I really didn't expect it to show me much more than vignettes of different people who live in America or to kick me in the *** (the movie itself doesn't claim it will kick you in the ***). And it did what it claimed it would do . . . so it succeeded and on top of that it was actually a little bit more eye-opening than I thought it would be so it succeeded even more. But keep in mind that it is still a documentary and was not trying to be some mind-blowing, razzle-dazzle, special-effects laden, in-your-face entertainment fest so I can't say it was the greatest, most mind-blowing film I ever experienced but it WAS worth seeing. There is NOTHING that changes that fact. I sense that for most people unless they hear somebody tell them that a movie was the greatest thing they'd ever seen then they will not bother seeing it. If you've got yourself convinced that Disney is trying to tell you that America's Heart and Soul is some action-packed thriller that you should see in place of Spiderman 2 then you need to re-train your brain. And if you say, "Well, I know they're not trying to tell me it's a replacement for Spiderman 2 yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah . . . but it hasn't made too much money so that's proof I shouldn't see it . . . " then you still need to retrain your brain. And if, in the unlikely event that I've actually convinced somebody to see it and you come back and say, "It was kind of boring . . . " it will be because somehow you've got yourself worked up into all sorts of unrealistic and inapplicable expectations for the film that the film doesn't even claim for itself. It's about the lives of ordinary people like you and me so there IS a little bit of mundanity to it but it still opened my eyes to things I didn't know about at all or wasn't completely aware of before.

[Disneykid]

Let me clarify:

I am tired of Disney making movies that accomplish at least one of the following, if not both:

(1) lack artistry and vision
(2) fail at the box office


I'd much rather have artisty over money. But I understand the necessity of both. Someone explained to me how this movie, described as "not bad" and "mediocre," was an example of true "artistry and vision" or succeded at the box office? Is anyone really going to go to bat for this film as one that kick them in the ***? Better yet, could someone give me a recap of the most recent Disney flick to spin out artistry, vision, or significant financial success. I think you'd have to go back to 2003 to find a reasonable selection. (I'm not sure Disney has broken the 70m mark yet this year, to say nothing of the 100m mark.)

Well, the thing that's bugging me about all this is that you've been criticizing Heart and Soul and King Arthur without actually having seeing them. As for Disney films and their artistry/vision, in the end it's all relative. I'm sure there are many people here who'd say they loved Home on the Range, The Alamo, or Ella Enchanted (I can't comment on this as I haven't seen them). I know you say you put artistry over money personally, but it just comes across like you don't as you're constantly noting how badly Disney films are at the box office and attribute their failure as a problem with the films themselves.

[englishboy]

DK,

I already edited the original statement so that now it makes sense.

[Disneykid]

I edited mine, too.

[Loomis]

Found a link (from Michael Moore's website, but the article is from the Guardian (UK):

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/fea ... 15,00.html

"First Disney dropped Michael Moore's anti-Bush blockbuster Fahrenheit 9/11. Now it's got a huge patriotic flop on its hands. Dan Glaister finds out what went wrong"

I also found it interesting that the film was "Inspired by the success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, a strategy was set to bring the film to the heartlands."

[disneyfella]

first there is a delay in the getting of the cover art, and now when you click on the link it says there is a january 1, 2010 release date at Amazon(much like the mythical So Dear To My Heart dvd). what is going on with this title. i was pretty excited for this dvd, and now what?

[MickeyMousePal]

2010 What's up with that?

To long for me!!!

Disney what's going on??
Does this have to do with Michael Eisner?

[STASHONE]

perhaps it has to do with the fact that this movie was a colossal flop and the likelihood of more than 10 people buying the dvd is slim to none?

[2099net]

perhaps it has to do with the fact that this movie was a colossal flop and the likelihood of more than 10 people buying the dvd is slim to none?

Yes. But by 2010 all ten will be dead, and nobody will buy the DVD!