Disney Takes Muppet Script Through Pixar

[Fozzie Bear]

Good to see that they are putting their two cents in about the story-telling. I'm still really nervous about having a "human-lead," though. Why can't it be that the Muppets are the lead characters with human cameos like in the old days? I am really tired of the Muppets being secondary.

Still, it appears that the story planned is a good one--with lots of work in that direction. Also, it appears that Jason has planned to bring in long-lost characters we fans have adored for years--so, I am proud of that.

 

[JJandJanice]

I would be SHOCKED if we saw one before Christmas or early next year... but I've been wrong before, so who knows?

If memory serves me correctly, wasn't trailers shown a year in advance for Muppet Treasure Island. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I could of swore I saw something about that all before the movie was actually released in theaters.

Good to see that they are putting their two cents in about the story-telling. I'm still really nervous about having a "human-lead," though. Why can't it be that the Muppets are the lead characters with human cameos like in the old days? I am really tired of the Muppets being secondary.

I kind of hate to say this...But the Muppets were MUCH more popular in say 1979 with the Muppet movie than they are now. Jason Segal stock has risen pretty well over the years though, so it does make sense to make him the lead over the Muppets. LIke I said I do hate to say that, but in the end it does make sense.

Still as long as this gives the Muppets the spotlight once again in a more postive light and the movie itself is really good (which I honestly have NO DOUBT that it will be), than I'm cool with it. Plus as long as the Muppets are actually playing as themselves. Don't get me wrong I like Muppet Christmas Carol A LOT, Muppet Treasure Island was alright, and Muppets Wizard of Oz was...well...not the best, I would welcome the idea of Muppets not "acting as other chracters" but being the characters we loved in the first place.

 

[Drtooth]

If memory serves me correctly, wasn't trailers shown a year in advance for Muppet Treasure Island. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I could of swore I saw something about that all before the movie was actually released in theaters.

We don't even need a trailer. A Teaser would work fine. Someone said it best, in most cases, a movie will be advertised a year in advance without ANY footage of any kind as a teaser. Who can forget the Simpsons movie announcement that just had Homer wearing a Superman shirt? pixar films, someone stated, not only do they not show any footage, they make footage up just for advertising reasons. Like that The Incredibles teaser where he just had trouble putting on his belt. I'm sure something with Animal ripping the screen or something will work just as nicely as actual footage.

I kind of hate to say this...But the Muppets were MUCH more popular in say 1979 with the Muppet movie than they are now. Jason Segal stock has risen pretty well over the years though, so it does make sense to make him the lead over the Muppets. LIke I said I do hate to say that, but in the end it does make sense.

Still as long as this gives the Muppets the spotlight once again in a more postive light and the movie itself is really good (which I honestly have NO DOUBT that it will be), than I'm cool with it. Plus as long as the Muppets are actually playing as themselves. Don't get me wrong I like Muppet Christmas Carol A LOT, Muppet Treasure Island was alright, and Muppets Wizard of Oz was...well...not the best, I would welcome the idea of Muppets not "acting as other chracters" but being the characters we loved in the first place.

I agree... I'm a little mixed about the idea... but hey, if it works, it gets people in the seats, AND it gets the movie made (most importantly) I'm fine with it. These guys clearly have a passion, and they know what we want to see and what we don't, since we're basically on the same wavelength. I have been clamoring for an all Muppet movie for years, but we'll never get it... and even if we have a human lead, as long as it doesn't go full blown MCC on us (that is, the humans play 90% of the leads and key roles, leaving the muppets to play second and third fiddle to everyone in small sequences) I think it will be just fine.

 

[MelissaY1]

Yeah, here we go again...

Lets PLEASE try to be cautiously optimistic right now? PLEASE?

With all due respect Snowth, most people are not in the mood for pessimism right now. Its falling to deaf ears at this point.


Melissa-- I assure you, all of the recent animated films from Disney have been better. Ever since the corporate shake-up making Bob Iger CEO, and Lasseter chief creative officer at Disney Animation, quality has been given the front seat again. A well-written animated film is their top priority again...

Lasseter also has some creative input at Walt Disney Imagineering.


Getting back to the Muppet film, I have been wondering when we might see a teaser trailer for the film...

Initially I was thinking that there might be one in front of Tron Legacy. Though now I'm thinking that might be a bit early. Of course, we all know that film companies love to promote their films early on.

Any guesses?

Mupp, well I'll have to give some of the newer films a shot then. I know my sister has loved a lot of the new CGI films in recent years. I was most excited to hear about the Princess and the Frog, which I still have to rent yet.

 

[MelissaY1]

A lot of the post Lion King 2d stuff I had no interest in, until Tarzan hit. Perhaps it was the heavy anime influence, but it was really 2000 that was the magic year of 2d Disney. Both Fantasia 2000 and Emperor's New Groove wowed me so much, that I consider those some of my top favorite Disney animated films

To me though, some of the most amazing animation and visuals lies within the 60 year old Alice in Wonderland. I still can barely wrap my head around the animation in that one. Somehow, the animation went way down hill later on, with Sword in the Stone, and the 70's and 80's sparsely released Disney features.

Agreed. There's a few films in the 70s and 80s that are 2D animation that I liked but overall that "sketchy" style of animation I never cared for. I like Sword in the Stone though and Robin Hood.

Have to agree though Fantasia 2000 was excellent, much better than I thought it would be. Tarzan I thought had amazing animation but a lousy story. Haven't seen Emperor's New Groove yet.

OMG, Alice in Wonderland.....have you seen the re-release of the DVD they just came out with? I don't have the Blu-Ray disc but brought the regular DVD they just came out with over to my sister's house on a HD television and WOW. We were both bowled over as to how great it looked! And we've seen the film a gazillion times over in the past, but were amazed at how much they improved it for DVD.

 

[RedPiggy]

Haven't seen Emperor's New Groove yet.

Personally, I thought it was an absolute hoot. It's kind of in the spirit of Aladdin, in that it's not going for the "serious" tone of, say, Beauty and the Beast. It's definitely irreverent. However, I still get tickled over "Pull the lever" every time I think of it, LOL.

 

[MelissaY1]

Im guessing you like Miyazaki? His stuff, like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle has some of the most amazing hand painted animation Ive seen

Just recently got into his stuff a bit. I saw Spirited Away on cable a few years back and was blown away by the story and the animation and I am not traditionally an anime fan. But I thought Spirited Away was so wonderful, after seeing it I went online the next day and bought the DVD.

Now that I have Netflix I want to check out more of his animated films.

 

[Drtooth]

On the Subject of CGI

I, like most people, am tired of the constant whining about how CGI is over powering the market. Here's the facts.

What people seem to forget are the wave of forgettable, lame, and over all tedious 2-D animated movies we've had in the 90's-00's. Sure, I agree smaller, less talented companies are blanketing the market... but they did the same in the 90's with 2-D animated films as well. And a lot of really bad films sadly came out of Don Bluth studios at that period as well. I dare anyone to sit through Thumbellina. That was BRUTAL. Not to mention that Dreamworks was trying to jump on the "We wanna be Disney, even though we not so secretly hate them" bandwagon YEARS before they even had a CGI studio. Again, I mentioned Sinbad. I'm not going to list any movies out of sensitivity... but there were a lot of hit or miss flops in that era. I kinda dug Anastasia to an extent, though... And let's not forget the Filmation sequels of Disney movies... thank Frog they only managed to make 2 before going under.

As for Disney themselves... DOY! Of course they were focusing on CGI films for a while... you see what their last 2 2-D films were like? I mean, I dug Brother Bear, and it did better on Native American legend than Pocahontas (stay tuned on that). But Home on the Range was a Mindsmoo. What the heck was that supposed to be about? I liked the design, and the fact the villain was a villain because no one liked his Yodelling... but it felt.... I was confused and a little scared, I gotta say. I almost want to say I liked it when I saw it, but I can't even tell. Other than the fact I believe they were rushing Princess and the Frog to DVD and I think Rapunzel looks like a big pile of Happily Ne'ver After, I think they're trying to turn the corner. Imagine how bad things if Eisner were still there and Pixar wasn't bought up... Toy Story 3 would have made us cry alright, but not for the same warm hearted feelings the one we all just saw did... shudder... never EVER look it up. Never ever learn what might have been. It's horrifying.

But if you simply must... http://pixar.wikia.com/Toy_Story_3#Development Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm about to barf already!

As promised.... I will never be able to rest safely in my shell until I expose to the world what an overrated, preachy, revisionary, unwatchable, dullsville, borderline torturous movie Pocahontas was. Really... the WORST film they ever made period. Say what you will about them changing the ending to Hunchback... say what you must about the unfortunate coincidental "borrowing" from old animes (Lion King from Kimba the White Lion, Atlantis:The Lost Empire from Secret of the Blue Waters)... even as far as Cheapquels go, I'd rather see Jungle Book 2 8 more times than watch it once again. Pocahontas was their WORST film ever, and if it wasn't such a full field, it would easily contest for one of the worst animated films ever. Even the irony of Mel Gibson being the highly racially accepting character isn't funny enough to save it. Nor the laugh out loud hypocracy of the message of "There's more to life than things of value... now go to the Disney store and buy plush Raccoons and Pug Dogs and have some delicious Pocahontas Ice Cream with Sweetarts in it." Yuck! Bleecch! Gag! Groan!

 

[Mupp]

I, like most people, am tired of the constant whining about how CGI is over powering the market....

...As for Disney themselves... DOY! Of course they were focusing on CGI films for a while... you see what their last 2 2-D films were like? I mean, I dug Brother Bear, and it did better on Native American legend than Pocahontas (stay tuned on that). But Home on the Range was a Mindsmoo. What the heck was that supposed to be about? I liked the design, and the fact the villain was a villain because no one liked his Yodelling... but it felt.... I was confused and a little scared, I gotta say. I almost want to say I liked it when I saw it, but I can't even tell. Other than the fact I believe they were rushing Princess and the Frog to DVD and I think Rapunzel looks like a big pile of Happily Ne'ver After, I think they're trying to turn the corner. Imagine how bad things if Eisner were still there and Pixar wasn't bought up... Toy Story 3 would have made us cry alright, but not for the same warm hearted feelings the one we all just saw did... shudder... never EVER look it up. Never ever learn what might have been. It's horrifying.

Oh, I know all about the plot that Disney had in mind for Toy Story 3 without Pixar's involvement. Yeah, it would have been bad.
Pixar's vision for Toy Story 3 is so much better, and makes more sense. It was the only logical way to go after Toy Story 2.
It would not have been right to have the toys go on another zany adventure to save one of their own.

And honestly, I know how you feel about Tangled. Now, I am interested in giving the film a chance, but I am REALLY getting sick and tired of fairy tales, period. And perhaps the general public is getting weary of them as well.

 

[Drtooth]

And honestly, I know how you feel about Tangled. Now, I am interested in giving the film a chance, but I am REALLY getting sick and tired of fairy tales, period. And perhaps the general public is getting weary of them as well.

I don't mind if they did actual fairy tale movies... it's the never ending and increasingly annoying parade of "Fairy Tales with a 'Tude" (read Shrek wannabes). If I want to watch a fractured fairy tale, I'll watch the REAL Fractured Fairy Tales. At least the Jay Ward team knew how to satirize a fairy tale.