Weinstein rolls with Fraggle Rock movie

[Davina]

heh.. i got the first smurf dvd from netflix last week.. my younger 2 step daughters (11 and 16) didn't know about them, but they had heard about the movie (due to NPH whom they adore..) so I figured they had to be taught..
the 16 yr old refused to watch them.. the 11 year old suffered through 1 episode and had to leave the room... my 2 and a half year old grand daughter though, loved them and she watched the whole disk...
all of them have been indoctrinated with FR though, so we want something that will live up to our collective expectations.. talking 3 generations here now...

 

[Drtooth]

Off topic completely, but the problem WITH the Smurfs is that Americans (I'm American, of course... but I like to give a European angle on this) have the stigma that Smurfs are some dumb 1980's cartoon and fad and they're lumped in with other cutesy preschool or girly shows like the Care Bears and Rainbow Brite (ew... consider that ew that I actually used to watch both when I was 4). In Europe, the Smurfs are (I'm guessing, the German PVC's have always been in production) basically old comic staples... right up there with TinTin, Asterix, Lucky Luke and ones even I didn't hear of. Back in the 80's when we had the cartoon (which we only got because the daughter of a network head had a Smurf doll, presumably from Europe) and we had the "Smurfs and the Magic Flute" movie, that thing was almost a decade old! And it wasn't even the FIRST Smurf movie.

I wish more people would drop the nostalgic light they see in the show and realise that it's a LOT older than people realize. If they had THAT in mind, maybe the movie wouldn't be so... stupid looking.

 

[Redsonga]

I really don't think nostalgia is a bad thing in this case. At least if the makers of the movie had some actual nostalgic love for the setting of the cartoon we would get a movie that doesn't need to interact with our world and tell body gag jokes to feel like it has to justify its being .
The same thing with Ranbow Brite or any of those shows remakes are nearly always better with feeling of love for what came before rather than a feeling of being ashamed or 'why did I ever watch this?'. That least, growing from a feeling of actually liking a show you can better see the core elements that make up why it was a draw to you and keep them. Too much the other way and it does become 'Oh, this was just a silly little cartoon about a girl and rainbows' or 'this was just a show about little blue people' or 'this was just a show about underground singing puppets'.
Even if our US roots with the Smurfs are *only* a 'silly cartoon' it would be nice if someone remembered the draw to that 'silly cartoon' was that they lived long ago in a fantasy world in the middle ages with all sorts of animals and magic. The setting in many ways made what would normally be silly magical, and I think, nostalgia or not, that is what many remakes forget...
But what would I know, I actually liked some cartoons turned real movies others seem to hate as well :3

 

[Drtooth]

Something I've started to grow to hate is nostalgia. The term is so icky! It's almost as bad as "edgy." it's become a corporate buzzword. That's the stigma of having to make the movie the mess it is. The nostalgia fad is so phony. People who are too young to know or care what's on a t-shirt they're wearing, 20 somethings who "Sid from toy Story-ed" their Ninja Turtles when they were in their moody jerk teens who bought the 10 dollar + remake figures... and of course, endless 1980's cartoon references on Family Guy (who started it), Robot Chicken and the Johnny come lately College humor website. not to mention terrible movies.

The only way this crap matters to our focus group is when we buy t-shirts and shotglasses. To me, everything I've ever watched and treasured matters, be it something from the 1980's or something I just watched on Youtube because I don't have cable. I never thought of the Muppets as nostalgia, because they were always around someway or form. Same with TMNT. Batman isn't "nostalgia" he's omnipresent. He's been on Tv almost consistantly since the 60's, be it his own cartoon or as a member of the Super Friends or Justice League.

We need to move from that "I grew up with that" stigmata. All of us have to. If something's important to the way you grew up or thought, it's a part of you. Not a T-shirt, not a joke about them being potheads... it's a part of you. Then, and only then, you'll never just grow out of it until it becomes popular again.

 

[beakerfan76]

I agree with Dr. Tooth. In my eyes, the Muppets are as alive and well as they were in the 70's. Sure, I love nostalgia as much as the next guy (In fact I have a collection of shirts going, with a Fraggle addition coming soon), but when it's used to make a half baked, contrived film that veers away from the heart of the original series (Like what Weinstein wants to do, apparently), then it's a wasted effort.

I for one am a bit cynical about the new Smurfs film, judging by previews on IMDB, so it could be another film that just uses nostalgia as a launch point and says "Hey, it's a Smurf/Fraggle/whatever film! We're reviving an 80's franchise with an edge! Aren't we awesome? We'll add all sorts of pop culture jokes that wouldn't fly in the source material, not to mention a plot that has no business being associated with the source material!"

As for the Fraggle Rock movie, if Cory can convince Weinstein to go along with his script, then I can honestly say I look forward to seeing it. Fraggle Rock is too good to let corporate execs who probably never saw the show ruin it for the worse. I for one will look at the glass half full and believe we'll get the movie we hope for, a film that actually stays true to the material.

 

[Redsonga]

I guess I see nostalgia as something different. To me, it's not so much the love of something that has died that you remember as it is something alive as long as you remember it and still love it as much as you ever to did. Basically, to me it is just another word for love and a warm feeling and maybe caring too much *lol*
Really, as far as the t-shirts go, I see nothing wrong with getting them and wearing them if you grew up with whatever it is and it is a part of you, the same with buying and collecting old toys...
I mean unless their feelings for a series are 'I grew up with this, wasn't it stupid? Let's poke it with a stick!', then well I don't see why they would want to be a fan at all :\.
I think what is feeding the bad things labeled as loving nostalgia that are really just stand ins for making un-funny jokes is the fact that so little older series are ever been shown on tv anymore, and so everything is made and marketed to long ago dusty memories or totally rewriting them into mocking memories if the viewer was old enough but can't remember more than the characters .
Maybe if older shows were actually shown again people could reclaim their own good or bad opinions without being told what to feel...*sigh*
But that is just my own two cents...I know that there is no real chance of that happening, which is why I have such a large DVD collection I share with everyone :3

 

[Drtooth]

I for one am a bit cynical about the new Smurfs film, judging by previews on IMDB, so it could be another film that just uses nostalgia as a launch point and says "Hey, it's a Smurf/Fraggle/whatever film! We're reviving an 80's franchise with an edge! Aren't we awesome? We'll add all sorts of pop culture jokes that wouldn't fly in the source material, not to mention a plot that has no business being associated with the source material!"

I'll combine it with this quote:

I guess I see nostalgia as something different. To me, it's not so much the love of something that has died that you remember as it is something alive as long as you remember it and still love it as much as you ever to did. Basically, to me it is just another word for love and a warm feeling and maybe caring too much *lol*
Really, as far as the t-shirts go, I see nothing wrong with getting them and wearing them if you grew up with whatever it is and it is a part of you, the same with buying and collecting old toys...
I mean unless their feelings for a series are 'I grew up with this, wasn't it stupid? Let's poke it with a stick!', then well I don't see why they would want to be a fan at all :\.
I think what is feeding the bad things labeled as loving nostalgia that are really just stand ins for making un-funny jokes is the fact that so little older series are ever been shown on tv anymore, and so everything is made and marketed to long ago dusty memories or totally rewriting them into mocking memories if the viewer was old enough but can't remember more than the characters

Here's my thoughts. To me, nostalgia is code for shows you grew out of that you strangely feel compelled to like again because of fond memories. For people who had all the Transformers and TMNT and then burned them to the ground when you got into your Beavis and Butthead phase in Jr. High. Or sold... or something. I just came to the realisation that I'm unable to become nostalgic for any show because I was always attached to them. I never grew out of TMNT, I never ever ever grew out of Darkwing Duck, and when Animaniacs first came out I was wearing the shirts, and I was almost in high school. I always wear cartoon t-shirts, and never stopped. I spend a small fortune getting a full set of anything at Kohls... and had I the money, I'd buy the Hot Topic stuff of new shows and old. When people say "remember X series" chances are I saw it sometime that week! I buy anything with a cartoon character I like past or present on it, and I always will.

The Muppets? That's very important to me. I was looking as forward to MFS as I was Star Wars episode one. The Muppets are much much more than "oh, I remember that." It's a way of life... it's a philosophy. Jim Henson is one of the people I admire most...scratch that... is the person I admire most. And I'm sure a lot of us all feel the same way. I agree with what he wanted... the show going on. And that's exactly the mindset this movie needs. it's not a Fraggle Rock remake, it's the FR movie we never were able to get. Same thing about the Muppet movie. it isn't, "oh I remember seeing such and such when I was five." I saw it last week. I see it as a glorious return to the big screen.

I hope this doesn't come off anyother way than the way I intend. But we all have to think, what shows shaped us? What gave us our dreams? What shows are part of us, and what shows did we actually grow out of? And what shows do we watch now shape us even as we get older? Half the stuff I'm getting into now is still shaping what I see in myself. there is a difference between "oh, I had every Ninja Turtle there was" and "the show got me to like the comics, which got me to appreciate the movies better, which got me into other comics. And they're a major influence in my work." To sum it up Inspector Gadget (my favorite cartoon, especially when I was a small child), Kinnikuman (something I got into during college) and even Phineas and Ferb (something I just got into last week) are all different levels of important to me. Buying toys and t-shirts is something I do naturally, as a kid and as an adult. Nothing really changed in that area.

 

[Redsonga]

I never left anything behind ether, I never really felt the need. I guess I felt, like each thing I loved, even the silly things, had something I could carry with me always and rewatch because it always was speaking to that same part of me.
I thought nostalgia was the name you gave that warm feeling that is always with you each time you watch something. Not a 'remember when' so much as a sort of 'remember now, and don't forget'....
I guess I was wrong....

Sorry, I got all Mokey about things

 

[Mupp]

As long as the Smurf movie has been mentioned I just have to say that I am so upset that this film is being made.
More than likely it will be a bad film that tired to hard to modernize things.
Millions of dollars wasted.

 

[beakerfan76]

The one nostalgic thing I just rediscovered about a month ago was ironically Fraggle Rock. Sure, the Muppets are timeless, but FR was something I haven't seen since I was maybe 5. Everything else I've loved my entire life.

I don't consider the FR movie a remake, but instead a revival. What with the recent resurgence of Fraggle things (The Manhattan Toy stuff, Dr. Doozer, ect.) the movie should be the icing on the cake. Only time will tell if it captures the spirit of the original series.