DVDizzy Forum

I love The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, but a new Pooh film doesn't seem like a very exciting 2D follow up to The Princess And The Frog.

Neal, I just realised you're the Neal Patten whose comments I read so often on Cartoon Brew!

This is weird ... in a good way.

I was just about to post here saying that a user on CB is indicating that there may be more 2D projects down the line after King of the Elves. Looks like I don't need to.

Reading through the article again. I think I kinda get it. I mean, Disney needs to release familair products to keep selling merchandise. They've now gone several years on the new regime without sequels. The only bright light each year is Pixar's summer offering.

Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Tinkerbell, The Princess and the Frog, Rapunzel and the new Pooh movie will inject huge amounts of cash into the company. Money they lost when they stopped making DTV's. I guess in the end this is a good thing if they keep the animators busy and open the door for riskier projects like Newt and King of the Elves. I guess we should just be happy that these sequels are produced by feature animation and will be of a higher quality. They will keep franchises alive and healthy and not piss all over the company's legacy at the same time.

Julian - "so often"?

I've only commented at CB four or five times.

Perhaps that's what you mean by "so often".

Well ... yeah, I guess. It's just that when I realised you are "Neal Patten", I associated "Neal Patten" with numerous posts on CB. Something in mind told me I'd seen that name crop up over and over and over in the comments section.

Ah, whatever.

By the way - regarding that post-King of the Elves hand-drawn film - is it simply rumoured (in that we might eventually find out there was no such film in the works) or has it been "unintentionally" confirmed (in that we can pretty much safely bet Disney will eventually officially claim they've got another 2D film in the works, possibly helmed by Chris Buck)?

Hmm, wish I could sniff out the said posts. Perhaps I have a clone - or -an impostor!

Well, a Disney exec said they already had another 2D film in the works. Now, this could be Pooh, but in the context she said it, it sounded like after KotE. I'd have to track down the quote again. It took me a long time to find it the first time. It was in an interview.

I can see if from both sides. I too was wishing PatF would usher in that new renaissance, but I guess any 2-D is good news at least it shows they're making some effort at bringing it back it back to stay. It would have been great if PatF would have been followed by another blockbuster, (well providing it does well, I'm not labeling it a blockbuster yet, too difficult to gamble on that one seeing as there is all the unneeded but ever present controversy.)

What I mean is, It'd would be great to have seen something a little less.. generic come out as a follow-up. Like back in the days when there was so much anticipation of the release of a new Disney film, that its the spectacle of the season. Little Mermaid, BatB, Aladdin, Lion King, every year those films came out and reinforced and built on the standards of quality. I suppose Disney is unsure about how their re-entry in to traditional 2-D will pan out. If it means building an audience with something like pooh to get a few people in the theaters, I guess its actually a good thing. I'd much rather this than see them abandon 2-D completely regardless of how PatF does.

It could also be that this film was intended for after KotE, but was moved to 2011.

I'm still trying to understand the intentions behind releasing this in 2011. I mean it's going up against Cars 2 in the Spring, and The Bear and the Bow is coming that fall. Was John feeling bad that it was an entire Pixar year and/or wanted to keep 2D in peoples mind by not making them wait another 2 years? Are they hoping that they'll be able to nail the audience all over the board in spring 2011. I mean with Pooh aiming at mothers and toddlers, and Cars 2 most likely aiming at fathers, 6+, and teens Disney could take over theaters that spring.

Does history repeat itself?

First "Renaissance":

The Great Mouse Detective – Start of the return. Last film of a dark age.
Oliver & Company – Dog film. Feel-good Disney.
The Little Mermaid – First classic princess film in a long time.
The Rescuers Down Under – A step back, a good sequel that got thrown into the beginning of a renaissance. Felt misplaced.
Beauty and the Beast – Another wonderful princess film.
Aladdin
The Lion King

This time around:

Meet the Robinsons – Start of the return. On the tail-end of a darker age. Lots more heart than recent efforts.
BOLT – Dog film. Feel-good Disney.
The Princess and the Frog – First classic princess film in a long time.
Rapunzel – Another wonderful princess film.
Untitled Winnie the Pooh Project – A step back, a good sequel that got thrown into the beginning of a renaissance. Felt misplaced.
King of the Elves

I wrote to Disney myself and got some absolutely BREAKING news for you about this project!

I know the director, producer, writers, and story artist.

Visit my animation news blog below, the breaking news is in red print!

http://alwaysanimated.blogspot.com/2009 ... r-too.html

Very cool!!! Thanks for asking them and posting that, Neal!!! That's just great news all around! Still we'll have to wait to see if Lumpy will be in it or not. I like Lumpy, but I won't be sad if he's not in the film...so, this will be a direct sequel to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and, canon-speaking, Pooh's Grand Adventure, The Tigger Movie, and Piglet's Big Movie, and the Heffalump films, don't count, canon-speaking?

Well, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the only 'animated classic' as it is the only one that was made by (what is now) Walt Disney Animation Studios. The rest are DTVs as they were made by DisneyToon.

I bet this will be a direct sequel to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and will ignore all the other films, not contradict them in continuity, but not follow them. A sequel to Many Adventures, but a prequel to the DTVs (what we call an interquel).

I WILL be sad if there's no Lumpy!

But it's a direct sequel to TMAoWtP, so Lumpy probably won't be in it. Although Disney does love selling Lumpy plushes...so you never know.

We really don't know what it is, my previous post was just conjecture. It could follow the DTVs, we never know.

Well, good news there. A handdrawn Pooh movie made by Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Now that I've thought about it, it's actually kind of exciting. I hope they go back to the spitit of the books. I think this will be great.

Wow this is kinda really exciting news! I'm hoping for a direct sequel to The Many Adventures in the same style. If it turns out that way I will be ecstatic!

Fantastic news, Neal! I'm one of the few people out there who genuinely loves Meet the Robinsons, so it excites me that Steve Anderson's co-directing. Say what you will about that film's story structure or humor, but you can't deny that it had some real heart to it. I'm expecting a similarly emotional core to his Pooh film.

I, personally, am going to look at this film not just as a sequel, but as a third installment. People say this will be a direct sequel to Many Adventures, but they're forgetting that Pooh's Grand Adventure WAS a direct sequel. The opening sequence of that film is a modified version of Many Adventures' final scene. So I will consider this new one to take place after the events of Grand Adventure. As long as the story people play their cards right, they should be able to create something that fits comfortably in the Pooh saga no matter where you place it.

Thanks again, Neal!

No problem, Disneykid! And I, too, equally love Robinsons! I saw it in the theater and thought it was hilarious but also really could feel the warmth of emotion. My classmates loved it too, enough so we made "Little Wonders" our prom song and then played it at our Graduation two weeks ago, as well!

I bought "The Art of Meet the Robinsons" for $2.00 at the Disney Store. I couldn't believe they were selling a brand new book for so low.

Anderson had said either in an interview or on the special features of the MtR DVD that he was preparing a new proposal for Lasseter. I doubt it was this film, but, I was angry that there was no more news on his proposal. In my anti-Lasseter pessimism, I convinced myself that after the changes Lasseter had to force into MtR, he wasn't going to trust Anderson to do another film. I guess I was wrong. I am glad for it. I am also no longer anti-Lasseter, seeing "BOLT" helped changed my perspective on some of his actions.

So first, Pooh - one of my favorite Disney franchises, and then Anderson - director of the wonderful Meet the Robinsons - this film should be amazing! Just two short years away!

Oh - and Grand Adventure was one of the few Pooh DTVs I didn't like so much. Not that I hate it, but it ranks low for me. I prefer Piglet's Big Movie or Pooh's Heffalump Movie.

I hope the current voice actors for winnie-the-pooh try to adjust their voices to original. It shouldn't be too hard, seeing how talented they are.

I'm sure we're all a bit iffy about the approach that Disney is using to bring back 2D animation but I suppose they're only doing what they know should sell well. Princesses and Pooh. They give Disney most of its dough so its only natural that Disney start off Renaissance #3 or #4 or #whatever with something guaranteed to sell. I think TPatF will sell for the most obvious of reasons that it would be a waste to go into.

The idea of a new Pooh film in the WDFA canon sounds a bit iffy but does make sense from a business standpoint. I am curious to see how the film is gonna stand up against the approach taken with Pooh on the tv show and DTVs.

Once Disney feels more safe and confident, I'm sure we'll see more unique future titles in the WDFA canon. We're going to eventually tire of Fairy Tales so I hope Disney finds some more interesting stories to tell.