Question about the release of "The Lorax" in March 2012

[D'Snowth]

Whats with this sudden trend of making Dr Suess books into movies?

That's exactly what I was saying.

Sorta.



The Grinch was a power-house, mainly because it was Christmas: Christmas is VERY marketable after all, it's a major holiday, lots of cashflow from people buying things like presents, decorations, specials and such... it's like Lucy Van Pelt once said, "We ALL know that Christmas is a big commercial racket". The Cat in the Hat remake was funny (in my own opinion), but nobody liked it... then they did Horton, which was kind of random, but they did anyway, but really the only reason that one was successful was because of Jojo. Seriously, they could've done the movie on Jojo alone, and it would've been even more successful, lol.

But there's really only three things that Hollywood is cranking out right now: vulgar, low-brow spoof flicks; crappy remakes of once popular franchises; biopics about mundane people that nobody really cares about.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

hen they did Horton, which was kind of random, but they did anyway, but really the only reason that one was successful was because of Jojo. Seriously, they could've done the movie on Jojo alone, and it would've been even more successful, lol.

Its either a bunch of Jesse McCartney fans or a bunch of "Emo" people who can "relate" to him

I liked Horton, actually. Jim Carrey, who I absolutely hate as an actor, didnt even ruin it for me XD

 

[CensoredAlso]

Whats with this sudden trend of making Dr Suess books into movies?

I don't know but I wish they would stop. Grinch completely missed the point of the original book and Cat in the Hat was atrocious. I admit I didn't see Horton but it looked like the same old tired jokes that somehow pass for comedy nowadays.

Dr. Seuss' works were so unique and so creative and to keep bringing them down to this level is a travesty.

 

[D'Snowth]

Its either a bunch of Jesse McCartney fans or a bunch of "Emo" people who can "relate" to him

I honestly believe it's the latter, because I've noticed that all kinds of franchises and such actually draw in a surprising number of emo followings.

I liked Horton, actually. Jim Carrey, who I absolutely hate as an actor, didnt even ruin it for me XD

Funnily enough, there's like a curse with Jim Carrey: look at all these movies, such as Bewitched, Land of the Lost, and as it turns out, even Elf wanted him as the lead, but ended up stuck with Will Ferrell instead? And Will Ferrell DOES have a tendancy to ruin movies.

I don't know but I wish they would stop. Dr. Seuss' works were so unique and so creative and to keep bringing them down to this level is a travesty.

That's actually how I feel... if it was done RIGHT (like the animated specials of the 70s and 80s), it wouldn't be so bad, but that's not the case. Even with TCITH DVD, director Bo Welch mentioned on the commentary what a challenge it was making the movie because, "How are you going to turn a 200-word book into an hour-and-a-half movie?"

 

[Drtooth]

This has already been said so many times, heh, but remakes are just consistently bad, appeal to the lowest common denominator and take all the attention away from the originals which are ten times better than any remake can ever hope to be.

The problem lie in if someone actually DOES a good job, the bad ones outnumber them and everyone throws the new stuff out the window. One done right is rare, but some actually improve vaguely on the concept. Look at Scooby-Doo... without the movies, I mean... the show has been remade and resurrected dozens of times, most times keeping with the concept, some changing it, but always striving to make it Fresh. Batman's another great example. He's had several solo series over the years and a few team up series as well. Sometimes remade, sometimes similar to another version.

But movies based off of kid's books just... they've had a history of not working. Shrek was the only one that overcame the handycap, but it changed the story completely other than an ogre a talking donkey and a princess ogre (which was handled COMPLETELY different in the book). It made 4 movies and 3 TV specials, and it almost had many many more films behind it... thank goodness they knew when to quit. Now it's hardly a favorite movie, but I do really really like it for what it was.

I barely or rarely dignify others. Polar Express, a cute little book, turned into an ugly special effects crapstravaganza, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs turned into a gag, line, gag film with a TERRIBLE explanation of something that was best not explained.

The Cat in the Hat remake was funny (in my own opinion), but nobody liked it...

D'Snowth, you're the ONLY one that likes that movie. I read reviews that were so bad, they could have been seen as death threats. And I'm NOT kidding.

Now, i have to shamefully admit, I LIKED the Grinch movie... not so much for Jim Carrey (though I liked him at the time). They at least had a half hour special to go on with that one (I'm sure they ignored the special for the other 3 films)... plus, I have to admit, the Grinch's back story and intentions for stealing Christmas were at least good (where as the book/special he was just annoyed, in this version he felt the holiday celebrations were hypocritical for the citizens that outcast him).

Horton's a product of being a Blue Sky movie. Now, I've said this everytime I brought up Blue Sky... somehow they can make a good looking movie with a good plot... but it seems like they get halfway through the writing phase before they make the film. Like all their movies need one or two more rewrites to make the film complete. Horton was one of those movies. There were some good concepts in the film, Steve Carell, Carol Burrnet, and even the Narrator carried the film... but Jim?

I liked Horton, actually. Jim Carrey, who I absolutely hate as an actor, didnt even ruin it for me XD

I dunno why they even got him other than the name. Steve has a recognizable voice, Carol has a recognizable voice, Will Arnet and Amy Pohler... Jim? They could've got Matt Frewer for a fraction of the cost. However, I DID like the stylistic references to the Grinch (a character who couldn't be in the film, due to movie licensing reasons... he WAS in the Chuck Jones special) as this is Whoville... and I liked some of the concepts... but the "anime" thing where he was a ninja? There was no point in that (even though the 2-D animation looked BETTER than the CGI)... plus, Katie seems to be in the WRONG movie.

 

[D'Snowth]

D'Snowth, you're the ONLY one that likes that movie.

I get that feeling with a lot of things, Drtooth... that's basically why I created "The Am I the Only One Thread" in the first place.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Yeah I mean I think they recognized that people enjoy nit picking and good naturedly ridiculing TV shows they enjoyed as a kid.

The first Scooby Doo movie did that occasionally and it did work. But more often then not the plot got in the way, lol.

For the record, not everyone likes that. This is the primary reason I don't like "The Brady Bunch" or "Scooby-Doo" movies at all. (I will say "Scooby-Doo 2" is slightly better because of the classic villians in there- but it's still pretty horrible. The two TV-movies are way better for my tastes.)
By the way, heralde- is your signature quoting what I think it's quoting? Because I'm thinking it's a line from one of Stephen Geyer's original songs on "The Greatest American Hero"- one of my favorite superhero shows and one of my favorite songs on that show! Awesome!

 

[Drtooth]

I get that feeling with a lot of things, Drtooth... that's basically why I created "The Am I the Only One Thread" in the first place.

Dude... I almost thought of buying a bootlegged version of that movie out of SPITE! That way I could complain about it more accurately and NOT contribute to anyone's paycheck in that one. Almost did the same for a certain CGI film I can't stop complaining about.

For the record, not everyone likes that. This is the primary reason I don't like "The Brady Bunch" or "Scooby-Doo" movies at all. (I will say "Scooby-Doo 2" is slightly better because of the classic villians in there- but it's still pretty horrible. The two TV-movies are way better for my tastes.)

Personally, I hate the Brady Bunch completely... Scooby-Doo is filled with so much camp, but people made those jokes years before then. Though I did like the guy who played Shaggy (and ironically, he currently plays him)... plus the girl that played Velma was VERY attractive. Seriously... Daphne who? other than that ugly butch voice she had in the mid-70's, I always thought Velma was the better of the two.

 

[D'Snowth]

Dude... I almost thought of buying a bootlegged version of that movie out of SPITE! That way I could complain about it more accurately and NOT contribute to anyone's paycheck in that one. Almost did the same for a certain CGI film I can't stop complaining about.

Note to self: don't produce anything that Drtooth's gonna hate.

 

[CensoredAlso]

By the way, heralde- is your signature quoting what I think it's quoting? Because I'm thinking it's a line from one of Stephen Geyer's original songs on "The Greatest American Hero"- one of my favorite superhero shows and one of my favorite songs on that show! Awesome!

LOLOL, I didn't think anyone was going to get that, thank you so much, lol.

Yeah I only recently started watching episodes actually, but I really enjoy the show. I'm not that much of a comic book hero person, but Greatest American Hero works for me because it is so tongue in cheek and yet also somehow manages to take itself seriously.

That's actually another retro product that is supposedly going to get a remake at some point. Now I don't know why, but part of me is actually kind of excited about the idea, but then I feel hesitant again because of the "remake" label, lol. I guess it would really come down to the writing and who they would pick to be the lead.