Recasts for Fraggle Rock movie

[Princeton]

Did you see the Ben Folds music video? Dave was there. He even had Uncle Matt speak in the opening.

I did see that video, which further added to my confusion: Uncle Matt sounded nothing like Dave.

Remember The Land Before Time and All Dogs Go To Heaven? Judith Barsi, the little girl who voiced Ducky and Anne Marie, was murdered by her father before both movies came out, yet neither one was dedicated to her memory. That's just wrong.

First of all, those two movies were directed by Don Bluth, who has proven time and again to be a heartless tyrant without an ounce of the humanity that the Henson Company possesses. So that's kind of an 'apples and oranges' thing. Also, the song that plays over the end credits of "All Dogs..." was dedicated to Judith's memory (not sure if that's actually written in the credits, but it's been documented).

 

[Beige Fraggle]

First of all, those two movies were directed by Don Bluth, who has proven time and again to be a heartless tyrant without an ounce of the humanity that the Henson Company possesses.

I don't know anything about Don Bluth other than that he directed some movies I loved as a child. What about him exactly made him a heartless tyrant?

 

[theSHE124]

I heard that the animated films Bluth did were rather fierce and dark compare to Disney films. I'm no expert on this side of the history, but I'll ask a friend for more info.

 

[Princeton]

I don't know anything about Don Bluth other than that he directed some movies I loved as a child. What about him exactly made him a heartless tyrant?

Bluth used to work for Disney from 1958 to 1979 and was sick of the ay the company was being run, as well as the quality of the films being made around that time. So he started his own animation studio and took a lot of the Disney animators with him. His goal was to find the happy medium between the gooey sweetness of Disney and the dark adult world of Ralph Bakshi and I would say for the most part Bluth succeeded... as far as the 1980's were concerned. The 90's were a different story. Some of his films (such as Anastasia and Thumbalina) were blatant ripoffs of what Disney was doing at the time, only not as good (although I do love the songs from both films). So it's a bit hypocritical for Bluth to be so adamant about making films so radically different from Disney and than copying Disney movies once the company became successful.

 

[CensoredAlso]

His goal was to find the happy medium between the gooey sweetness of Disney and the dark adult world of Ralph Bakshi

I think that describes his '80s films very well.

So it's a bit hypocritical for Bluth to be so adamant about making films so radically different from Disney and than copying Disney movies once the company became successful.

Well I guess you have to think of the times. In the '80s Disney hadn't made its huge cinematic comeback yet with their princess films, so there was room (in fact a need!) for alternative animation. But in the '90s Disney suddenly owned the animated feature film once again and I'm sure everyone was feeling the pressure. Audiences were basically saying "Yeah we're OK with gooey sweetness" and if other companies didn't adapt they would fail. It's a shame but that's how cutthroat the business can be.

 

[Drtooth]

Well I guess you have to think of the times. In the '80s Disney hadn't made its huge cinematic comeback yet and so there was room for alternative animation. But in the '90s Disney suddenly owned the animated feature film once again and I'm sure everyone was feeling the pressure.

I'm sure there was studio pressure as well to make competing Princess films. Thumbelina was ghastly terrible, and I only was dragged to that because I have a sister who was young at the time, and by my own desire to see "I'M Mad." It's really a shame WB screwed the Animaniacs movie and dumped them to DVD because they didn't want to spend money on advertising... otherwise, that was their only theatrical appearance. And don't get me started on the what could have been cameo of the Warners in Looney Tunes Back in Action.

But Anastasia was alright, I guess... it was slightly Darker than the Disney princess movies, but to this day, you'll find someone that swears it was a Disney film.

But that point was stated exactly. Disney didn't find the princess niche for some time, making very experimental films like Great Mouse Detective... that gave Don more freedom to do movies about Jewish immigrant mice and dinosaurs and stuff like that. Not to mention the video arcade games.

 

[CensoredAlso]

But Anastasia was alright, I guess... it was slightly Darker than the Disney princess movies, but to this day, you'll find someone that swears it was a Disney film.

Anastasia just annoys me with its blatant disregard for historical accuracy, lol.

But that point was stated exactly. Disney didn't find the princess niche for some time, making very experimental films like Great Mouse Detective... that gave Don more freedom to do movies about Jewish immigrant mice and dinosaurs and stuff like that. Not to mention the video arcade games.

Thanks, exactly. So I guess we should be thankful he even got that brief window of a chance so we could have these films today.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I'm sure there was studio pressure as well to make competing Princess films.

Actually that reminds me; I had something of a revelation the other day. I was watching some of the 89/90's Disney princess movies with a friend and kept saying "fast forward to the next song" without really thinking about it. And I realized that for me at least, the songs definitely hold up, but I don't care about the rest of the story the way I used to. I guess they're just too childish. The big exception being Mulan, that movie is genius, hehe.

In contrast, Don Bluth's 80s films still have a lot of intriguing concepts that would still get me thinking even as an adult.

 

[Drtooth]

This is getting wildly off topic, but...

Actually that reminds me; I had something of a revelation the other day. I was watching some of the 89/90's Disney princess movies with a friend and kept saying "fast forward to the next song" without really thinking about it. And I realized that for me at least, the songs definitely hold up, but I don't care about the rest of the story the way I used to. I guess they're just too childish. The big exception being Mulan, that movie is genius, hehe.

The princess movies work on formula, which Animaniacs covered (I don't even need to repost that clip, you know what it is). The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Pocahontas are the same basic story essentially (though it's most obvious with Pocahontas, since there's no singing crabs or teapots to distract you). Aladdin is kinda a princess movie, but mostly told from the perspective of the hero... it's just Jasmine gets a lot of screen time and backstory. While Meg doesn't count as a princess, Hercules is more of what Aladdin was sort of doing, with the girl character coming in much later. Mulan is a subversion, as the movie does deal with the concepts of the girl being sick of her lot in life, but it doesn't have any real romantic elements until the end where it's kinda squeezed in. Plus, said "princess" (I don't see why Mulan is considered one) is the action hero of her own movie, going as far as making the other action men wear dresses to sneak into the bad guy's fortress.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Plus, said "princess" (I don't see why Mulan is considered one) is the action hero of her own movie, going as far as making the other action men wear dresses to sneak into the bad guy's fortress.

And I still remember the entire theater went nuts during that scene, lol. The movie is so funny because it's all so true.

But yeah feel free to go back on topic, lol.