Overrated Movies

[D'Snowth]

Haven't seen the sequels though I've heard they are massive improvements over the first one.

I would argue the same could be said with Shrek... partly. I think of the series, the second was the best one on all aspects: character interplay, storyflow, humor, etc. The third was okay, but it was really only good strictly for the laughs... I can't say much for the story itself, but it's definitely a laughfest, that's for sure. The fourth... eh, it felt tired, and it makes you thankful that DreamWorks didn't go ahead with their original plan to go on to do a sixth or eigth movie.

As for the penguins, I felt the short starring them that was shown in theaters before the Wallace & Gromit movie was decent but I haven't seen a single episode of the TV show.

I think they did a few shorts... I can't remember the specific movie, but I seem to recall seeing a DreamWorks movie around the holidays one time where they showed a Christmas-themed short with the penguins. Maybe it was Bee Movie, that came out around Thanksgiving or so.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

I think they did a few shorts... I can't remember the specific movie, but I seem to recall seeing a DreamWorks movie around the holidays one time where they showed a Christmas-themed short with the penguins. Maybe it was Bee Movie, that came out around Thanksgiving or so.

That was the short that was shown before the Wallace and Gromit movie. A Christmas short before a movie that was coming out the first weekend of October the year it came out. DreamWorks wasn't really consistent those days, were they? That's the only time DreamWorks has ever attached a short to a movie nationwide. I do know there's going to be a new Rocky and Bullwinkle short before the Peabody and Sherman movie next year, so that number will soon be 2.

 

[Drtooth]

Now then... the Madagascar movies on the other hand... I really don't see the appeal in those... and now they've got a third one out, and the penguins from those movies got their own TV show that's way too specifically entitled The Penguins of Madagascar (that'd be like if Play With Me Sesame was called Ernie and Bert and Grover and Prairie Dawn from Sesame Street). Even though I don't like Happy Feet either, somehow I think giving The Amigos their own show would be ten times better than The Penguins of Madagascar.

I tend to think Madagascar is much less of an overrated franchise than Shrek. I like Shrek, but even I agree it's overrated. If anything else, Madagascar isn't as smugly full of itself as Shrek films are. There's something about the Madagascar films I can't quite grasp that I freaking love... but I like the Penguins show most of all.

But their most underrated films are Megamind and Monsters Vs. Aliens. If Nick didn't pick up the pilot to the MVA cartoon series, that would have been the last we saw of them. Bee Movie is only good if you like Jerry Seinfeld's comedy. I do, and I enjoyed it.

But I think they've solidly improved since SharkTale.

That was the short that was shown before the Wallace and Gromit movie. A Christmas short before a movie that was coming out the first weekend of October the year it came out. DreamWorks wasn't really consistent those days, were they? That's the only time DreamWorks has ever attached a short to a movie nationwide. I do know there's going to be a new Rocky and Bullwinkle short before the Peabody and Sherman movie next year, so that number will soon be 2.

I really hope the Peabody and Sherman film is good. George of the Jungle was sadly the best of the Jay Ward cartoon films. Rocky and Bullwinkle would have been better without executive meddling and that lame Mary Sue character... Dudley Do-Right sucked.

 

[D'Snowth]

I agree that being a fan of Jerry Seinfeld will either make or break Bee Movie for you, but then again, I've heard of Seinfeld fans still not liking the movie either. Personally, I think it and How to Train Your Dragon are the best non-Shrek DreamWorks movies so far (I really don't count the Wallace and Gromit movie, as it's really an Aardman movie more than anything).

 

[Drtooth]

Well, not fans of the show Seinfeld, I mean fans of his actual stand up. The movie played out like one of his routines about bees, but made into a longer story. The thing about Honey being in a Bear shaped Jar especially.

 

[D'Snowth]

Yeah, I knew where you were coming from.

That's kind of like the point of Rover Dangerfield too: it's basically a stand-up routine about Rodney Dangerfield's life as a dog. I know a lot of people (well, mostly Nostalgia Critic obviously) don't like it, but I don't mind it at all, mainly because it's one of those movies from my childhood... like the Tom and Jerry Movie *Ducks out of shooting range*

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Yeah, I knew where you were coming from.

That's kind of like the point of Rover Dangerfield too: it's basically a stand-up routine about Rodney Dangerfield's life as a dog. I know a lot of people (well, mostly Nostalgia Critic obviously) don't like it, but I don't mind it at all, mainly because it's one of those movies from my childhood... like the Tom and Jerry Movie *Ducks out of shooting range*

Rover Dangerfield was at least well-intentioned and has some decent animation but beyond that... um...

 

[D'Snowth]

And another interesting thing about it was it's lengthily production schedule... I forget all the petty details, but I believe they started production on the movie in the mid 80s, but it wasn't completed or distributed to theaters into 1991, which explains why it has a slightly older look to it than it really is (because most animated features by that time started relying on a lot of primitive computer animation for certain things, which this movie pretty much lacked for the most part, with maybe some small exceptions here and there).

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

And another interesting thing about it was it's lengthily production schedule... I forget all the petty details, but I believe they started production on the movie in the mid 80s, but it wasn't completed or distributed to theaters into 1991, which explains why it has a slightly older look to it than it really is (because most animated features by that time started relying on a lot of primitive computer animation for certain things, which this movie pretty much lacked for the most part, with maybe some small exceptions here and there).

It didn't even get a theatrical release! It was supposed to but it went right to video due to the fact Warner Brothers decided they didn't want it.

 

[D'Snowth]

It didn't even get a theatrical release! It was supposed to but it went right to video due to the fact Warner Brothers decided they didn't want it.

Oh yeah, my bad, I got my facts mixed up. ><

Ironically, that was kind of a similar case with <i>The Brave Little Toaster</i> (which like <i>Rover Dangerfield</i>, was a Hyperion film): Disney originally had the rights to the movie, but they didn't think it would be a success for them, so they dropped out of the project, afterwards, Hyperion went ahead and made it as a Sundance-esque independent film, and then once they saw how big a hit it turned out to be after all, Disney bought back the rights again so they could distribute it on home video and such.

And don't even get me started on the confusion of it's two direct-to-video sequels... "Goes to Mars" was released in 1998, and "To the Rescue" was released in 1999, however, the events of "To the Rescue" (Rob and Kris being in college and dating) took place before "Goes to Mars" (Rob and Kris being married and having a baby, while Rob now has his own veterinary practice)... as it turns out, "To the Rescue" WAS released before "Goes to Mars", in 1997 to be exact... in all other countries BUT the U.S., where for some reason, it's release was delayed two years, and didn't come out until "Goes to Mars" was already released in 1998.