DVDizzy Forum

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 2:00 am**

Found this amusing MSN article at another forum - I think I applies quite well to Disney's cheapquels, as well as the theatrical releases the article mentions.

I especially agree with these two DON'Ts -

Don't: Simply remake the first film
The obvious rule, however, also seem to be the most forgettable. Few things are worse than the nagging feeling you get when, halfway through a "Part 2" or a "Son of..." movie when you think: Haven't I seen this before? Because chances are you have, and it was when you saw the first movie!!! Nothing is more grating than a sequel that does little more than reprise the original's greatest hits. The most original thing about the sequel to the classic parody "Airplane!" was its goof on the endless "Airport" series of the '70s it sent up, calling itself "Airplane II: The Sequel!" The inspiration, and the laughs, however, ended there as a symptom commonly known as "sequelitis" kicked in and it merely repeated all of the first film's gags one more time. The list for these offenders goes on for miles, as what's become a common mantra for Hollywood is repeated all too often: If you simply remake it, they will come. More often than not, however, after the first weekend's bad word-of-mouth starts spreading, no one will come at all.

Don't: Forget that you have to know when to say "when"
The greed of some Hollywood honchos can often outweigh their desire for putting out top quality product (I know, it's shocking), which can lead to what can be considered an ambidextrous farming trick: Milking a cash cow and beating a dead horse at the same time. It's this type of thinking that's led some franchises to keep going when they'd run out of things to say a long time ago and keep adding installments long past their sales date. How else to explain the fact that there are seven "Police Academy" movies and a whooping eight "Ernest" feature films, or that the word "prequel" has been introduced into the lexicon? And seriously, just because Part 3 is in 3-D, don't think any of us are being fooled. Just because a movie is successful doesn't require by law that a sequel, or trilogy, or never-ending round of every possible variation under the sun ("Rocky V"? "Jason X"? The soon-to-be-unleashed "Alien Vs. Predator"?!? Enough already!!!) be foisted upon an unsuspecting public. There's nothing worse than seeing your favorite movie heroes and villains get trotted out one more time just so some slick Beverly Hills player can make a buck. Sometimes, once or twice is more than enough.

This summer will be pretty interesting, seeing as we're gonna be hit with another slew of sequels, remakes, and recycled formulas. Can't wait.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 9:42 am**

Speed 2 isn't so bad! (Actually, I didn't see it.)

But seriously, who couldn't go for another Ernest movie or three? (Actually, some of them weren't so great.)

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 9:57 am**

i guess a sequel only works if there are things that you can resolve from the original that seem unresolved. That's impossible with a Disney film because everything is resolved in the end of the first film.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 10:04 am**

Really?

Let's take Snow White as an example.

What happened to the Dwarfs after Snow White? What happened to the Kingdom when the Queen died? Was there a king? What about Snow White - if she marries the Prince, who will rule the kingdom? Was the Queen killed (We never saw the body!)?

I'm not saying that they should have a Snow White II, but not everything was "resolved". Infact there's a big ugly unresolved mess when it comes to ruling the kingdom.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 11:31 am**

2099net wrote:Really?

Let's take Snow White as an example.

What happened to the Dwarfs after Snow White? What happened to the Kingdom when the Queen died? Was there a king? What about Snow White - if she marries the Prince, who will rule the kingdom? Was the Queen killed (We never saw the body!)?

I'm not saying that they should have a Snow White II, but not everything was "resolved". Infact there's a big ugly unresolved mess when it comes to ruling the kingdom.

With the evil queen dead, they all live happily ever after. It's implied.

Has anyone ever seen Happily Ever After? I thought it was a rather decent sequel of sorts for the Snow White story.

Escapay

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 11:52 am**

Most sequels are great but, others can be really cheap.
I agree Speed 2 was a great sequel to bad Keanu Reeves didn't return it could have done better at the box office.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 1:57 pm**

Escapay wrote: Has anyone ever seen Happily Ever After? I thought it was a rather decent sequel of sorts for the Snow White story.

Escapay

Yeah, I have, but not since it first came out (I was young). I remember it pretty well, though, and remember really enjoying it.

-Aaron

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 2:25 pm**

I still have my copy of "Hapily Ever After" from when I was young. I remember really liking it at the time, but saw it a few years ago when my little brother was into it, and my appreciation for it dropped a lot. However, they at least had a brand new storyline, but I didn't like the seven Dwarfettes, and the voice acting isn't very good.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 4:23 pm**

Personally, I found viewing Happily Ever After to be a horrific experience.

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 5:06 pm**

I really liked it.

We are talking about the Drew Barrymore movie right?

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 6:53 pm**

JimmyJackJunior wrote:I really liked it.

We are talking about the Drew Barrymore movie right?

no drew barrymore isnt in Happy Ever After...Drew Barrymore is in Ever After...Happily Ever After is a cartoon about the continuing story of the prince and snow white with snow white voiced by Fame's Irene Cara

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 7:03 pm**

2099net wrote:Really?

Let's take Snow White as an example.

What happened to the Dwarfs after Snow White? What happened to the Kingdom when the Queen died? Was there a king? What about Snow White - if she marries the Prince, who will rule the kingdom? Was the Queen killed (We never saw the body!)?

I'm not saying that they should have a Snow White II, but not everything was "resolved". Infact there's a big ugly unresolved mess when it comes to ruling the kingdom.

D'OH!! They Lived Happily Ever After!!

Just kidding! I could not resist!

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 7:45 pm**

I don't know, some sequels with the same rehashed story are fun to see to remind you of the first!!! But seriously, I think that Snow White was fine as a stand alone film. No offense 2099!

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:41 pm**

By the way, there was a Snow White sequel released in comic book form. I don't remember the story very well, but I remember the Queen survived but could not return to her old state of beauty because the huntsman destroyed her castle (!!!)

Posted: **Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:50 pm**

Captain Hook wrote:I don't know, some sequels with the same rehashed story are fun to see to remind you of the first!!!

If I want to be reminded of the first, I'll watch the first again. A good sequel should give us more of what we loved from the first one while taking the story to the next level and taking the characters deeper.

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2004 4:53 pm**

Joe Carioca wrote:By the way, there was a Snow White sequel released in comic book form. I don't remember the story very well, but I remember the Queen survived but could not return to her old state of beauty because the huntsman destroyed her castle (!!!)

Was this a Disney comic book? If so, is it still available? I know Disney had a long comic strip series of the whole story of SNow White when the movie premiered. We had a book at our school library with probably all the early Disney comic strips!

It was in the reference section, but now it seems to have disappeared. You can't borrow books from the reference section so it probably magically disappeared

. I only got to read the first part where Snow White dances with "Prince Buckethead" or something like that...

Posted: **Fri Apr 02, 2004 7:35 pm**

Kram Nebuer wrote:
Joe Carioca wrote:By the way, there was a Snow White sequel released in comic book form. I don't remember the story very well, but I remember the Queen survived but could not return to her old state of beauty because the huntsman destroyed her castle (!!!)
Was this a Disney comic book? If so, is it still available? I know Disney had a long comic strip series of the whole story of SNow White when the movie premiered. We had a book at our school library with probably all the early Disney comic strips! It was in the reference section, but now it seems to have disappeared. You can't borrow books from the reference section so it probably magically disappeared . I only got to read the first part where Snow White dances with "Prince Buckethead" or something like that...

I had this version of "Snow White". There are some shots of it on the DVD, and I had the version which was released here in the 80s (but it was a republishing from the 1937 comic book). I remember all the liberties taken with the story, like the prince being put in chains and all.

But this sequel I'm talking about was a "real" sequel. I don't remember how it was called, but it was clearly advertised as something like "the story of Snow White continues"

Posted: **Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:57 am**

Joe Carioca wrote:
But this sequel I'm talking about was a "real" sequel. I don't remember how it was called, but it was clearly advertised as something like "the story of Snow White continues"

There were lots of comic book sequels and prequels to Snow White. The prequels delt with the dwarfs, while the sequels had the Queen (in crone form) returning to the cottage to try and rid of Snow White. She used the mirror, an enchanted diamond, and even set up a "Bad Deeds Club" (a sort of pre-House of Villians consisting of Pete, The Big Bad Wolf, Gladstone Gander...).
There were also a few books in the "Wonderful World of Reading" series that described how Snow White and the Prince lived in his castle, kept the Magic Mirror in the attic, and visited the Dwarfs every spring.

Posted: **Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:19 pm**

Joe Carioca wrote:By the way, there was a Snow White sequel released in comic book form. I don't remember the story very well, but I remember the Queen survived but could not return to her old state of beauty because the huntsman destroyed her castle (!!!)

Wow, that sounds like a very interesting storyline. I wouldn't mind seeing this.

-Aaron

Posted: **Thu Apr 15, 2004 6:41 pm**

Jake Lipson wrote:If I want to be reminded of the first, I'll watch the first again. A good sequel should give us more of what we loved from the first one while taking the story to the next level and taking the characters deeper.

Well, I really liked Return to Neverland and it had a rather stolen plot from the first, and I also liked The Jungle Book 2. I know, being so anti-sequels, I really shouldn't like these, but I just do!

DVDizzy Forum

MSN article: Movie sequel DOs and DON'Ts...

MSN article: Movie sequel DOs and DON'Ts...