The Smurf's Triumphant return!

[frogboy4]

COugh...

Uh... it WAS written by Bill Cosby so...

If nothing else, though the characters WERE based on his creations, he was the host and voice actor of some of the characters... he didn't write the show himself. So, I'm guessing the characters were much closer to the inspirations TO the characters on the show, not the characters from the show.

Now, I ALWAYS wanted to read the script that Forrest Whittaker did that Cosby and him got into a fight about.

But overall, I'll take well meaning but flawed over "CRAP! Our film license is about to expire! We have 3 months to write a script, let's pick the second one we can find, and we'll have the whole thing done with 2 months and 28 days to spare!" Speed Racer was a directing vanity job, but at least they got the character names and half the portrayals right.



There wasn't... but it was probably the second script they looked at when the clock was ticking and said "uh... okay." then gave second thoughts about it and dumped it on August when they know no one will see it, but they might just get an audience that's seen Kung Fu Panda and Cars several times already. I will say, at least they didn't go with the script where the Belgian girl who doesn't feel accepted (played by a cute blonde haired blue eyed girl who's good looking enough to land a Hollywood) cried them to life so they can help be their friends. But still a "GAWD, this show is campy! Let's make fun of everything! it's a paycheck to us!" script shows there's no thought, the release date shows there's no care, and I STILL want to know why Paramount's epic Smurf Trilogy got cancelled in favor of a qicky nostalgic cash grab that's not going to appeal to new generations or the actual kids that grew up with this.

You're right! I didn't realize Cosby wrote that steamy pile of cinematic crap. I've never taken him as the genius that others do. Fat Albert was always more of a niche program and Cosby's sitcom filled a void in American television at the right place and time. His film attempts have always been terrible. Remember "Lenard Part 6" or "Ghost Dad"?

To be honest, I thought Scooby Doo had some potential. The sequel kind of showed what they should have been doing, but even that was bungled. There was too much stunt casting and too many gimmicks. They should have just kept it a simple haunted house story (and hired a Fred who at leased appeared to have been a natural blond).

I also thought the CG Garfield design was spectacular. It had the appropriate balance of cartoon-to-cat ratio. He reportedly took up 40 million dollars of the budget, hence no cartoon Odie, so they got their money's worth. It's just the rest of the movie that bit.

The first Chipmunks was cute and ticked audiences at a time when there was a cinematic void. The script was terrible and some of the choices they made equally bad. The Squeakuel was nothing to write home about.

However, Speed Racer was an epic disaster on just about every level. One does not make a two and a half hour family film! And there wasn't enough story here for a ten minute piece anyway. There was so much potential wasted here, but it did look pretty.

I have no doubt that "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" totally scrapped the better, original source material, but I have to be honest. It was pretty good for a stand-alone film. I went in wanting to hate it and just couldn't do it. Maybe I would feel differently after reading the book.

The Smurfs' character designs are decent. I must admit that the one with the over-sized floppy hat tugs at my heartstrings. That's the intention and it works big time! I wonder how much time they will spend in the village. I have a sneaky feeling that Sony wants to make some CG Smurfs show. We'll see. This film could truly go either way box office wise.

 

[Drtooth]

You're right! I didn't realize Cosby wrote that steamy pile of cinematic crap. I've never taken him as the genius that others do. Fat Albert was always more of a niche program and Cosby's sitcom filled a void in American television at the right place and time. His film attempts have always been terrible. Remember "Lenard Part 6" or "Ghost Dad"?

Well, I think Bill was great when he was young and energetic, like in I Spy, rather than the cranky old man who has to turn everything into a soap box about how unfocused kids are. Still, I wonder what the heck was wrong with the script Forrest Whittaker did, and I also wonder why they didn't call back the original series writers (who REALLY made the show) to add in creative input.

However, Speed Racer was an epic disaster on just about every level. One does not make a two and a half hour family film! And there wasn't enough story here for a ten minute piece anyway. There was so much potential wasted here, but it did look pretty.

The problem with the movie (and I still enjoy it and give them credit) WAS that it was a vanity project. That explains the reliance on stunts, the awkward script, and especially the 2+ hour run time. it's one of those either ors... I give them credit for NOT making it a 90 minute, shut the kids up fart and toilet fest... and I give them credit for actually WATCHING the show (which is pathetic if you think about it)... but somehow, considering who made this... they made it after the third Matrix movie, the bane of fans. So it was when they were losing their touch and started making crap. But then again, they didn't turn the movie into a 90 minute joke about how stupid the cartoon was, or turned it into a in name only licensing thing.

Now Dragonball... I refuse to watch that. Even illegally made Korean and Hong Kong films managed to get things right... the Hong Kong one had a rousing performance by Master Roshi. Evolution was an unholy hybrid between Dragon Ball (the GOOD show) and DBZ (the less funny, more convoluted, action based series) subtracting any element that made DB fun, entertaining, or interesting in any way. I mean, they had the AUDACITY to make Goku a teenager who went to school. NO! Gohan's the one that was forced to go to school by Chi Chi (Goku's wife, Gohan's mother) who was afraid that fighting would turn her kid into a J.D. And Chow Yun Fat got the Roshi role ALL bleeding wrong, even though he made reference to Dr. Slump (another Akira Toriyama work) in one of his early Chinese films

I'm sorry that bit got off on a rant there, but I'm a big fan of Toriyama's work, and I find the fact the US audiences only know the overdramatic action DBZ show a crying shame.

I have no doubt that "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" totally scrapped the better, original source material, but I have to be honest. It was pretty good for a stand-alone film. I went in wanting to hate it and just couldn't do it. Maybe I would feel differently after reading the book.

I saw like a good 10 minutes at Blockbuster, I TRIED to give it a chane, but all I saw was... "OMG! Funny giant food falling on us! Let's make funny jokes about it!" and "I'm the hero! I'm going to save the day with a short gag I did earlier in the movie because NO ONE ever did that before." Maybe I'm too close to the book. But the charm was that it was an unexplained phenomenon (Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo) that one day got out of hand. Saying "Scientist did it" was cheap. They might as well have said "Aliens did it" or "A Wacky Wizard did it."

The Smurfs' character designs are decent. I must admit that the one with the over-sized floppy hat tugs at my heartstrings. That's the intention and it works big time! I wonder how much time they will spend in the village. I have a sneaky feeling that Sony wants to make some CG Smurfs show. We'll see. This film could truly go either way box office wise.

For that theory to work, people would want to make TV shows anymore. Nah... they clearly just tossed out something last minute before the license expired (The Watchmen lawsuit made everyone cautious... that's the ONLY reason a Dragonball movie was made, 10 years after the popularity waned), and they dumped it in a month no one would see it when they realized how sucky it turned out. The designs don't so much bug me (though do they HAVE to be that far off of Peyo's design? Paramount's wasn't) as the fact they turned this into a bad cliche ridden snickerfest, treating it as backhanded, ironic 80's nostalgia when they lost ALL potential to pay respects to the original origin and make the Belgians proud. I hear the live action Asterix movies are terrible (they do well, but the last one got a European Razzie), but at LEAST they stay in the time frame of the Roman Empire.

GOD, I cannot wait for the TinTin movie.

 

[Yorick]

You're right! I didn't realize Cosby wrote that steamy pile of cinematic crap. I've never taken him as the genius that others do. Fat Albert was always more of a niche program and Cosby's sitcom filled a void in American television at the right place and time. His film attempts have always been terrible. Remember "Lenard Part 6" or "Ghost Dad"?

Aww, I like Ghost Dad! Or at least I did. Haven't seen it isince it was new.

As for the Fat Albert script though:
If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me, but can't a script change a lot after it's first written (and yet the folks who edit it don't get their names on it) while the original author gets all the credit or blame? So maybe Bill wrote a great script.

 

[Yorick]

Well, I think Bill was great when he was young and energetic, like in I Spy, rather than the cranky old man who has to turn everything into a soap box about how unfocused kids are.

I thought the Cos would be loved here at Muppet Central
I love Bill Cosby, period. I don't think he's lost his touch, and I think his plan for Fat Albert the show in general should be praised - and how wonderful it turned out with Lou S and the rest of the Filmation team!

 

[CensoredAlso]

he didn't write the show himself. So, I'm guessing the characters were much closer to the inspirations TO the characters on the show, not the characters from the show.

rather than the cranky old man who has to turn everything into a soap box about how unfocused kids are

A few Fat Albert fans at the time did express concern that Cosby was so focused on setting good examples for kids that he ended up making the Fat Albert characters more goody goody in the film than they really had been in the actual TV series.

 

[frogboy4]

Aww, I like Ghost Dad! Or at least I did. Haven't seen it isince it was new.

As for the Fat Albert script though:
If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me, but can't a script change a lot after it's first written (and yet the folks who edit it don't get their names on it) while the original author gets all the credit or blame? So maybe Bill wrote a great script.

I thought the Cos would be loved here at Muppet Central
I love Bill Cosby, period. I don't think he's lost his touch, and I think his plan for Fat Albert the show in general should be praised - and how wonderful it turned out with Lou S and the rest of the Filmation team!

I guess this is a case of completely different tastes so I won't belabor my distaste for Bill's film projects too much.

I was Cosby fan in the 80's, but I do think he lost touch. Most artists grow and evolve over time with at least some connection to present times. He didn't. Jim Henson always seemed wary of that trap and tried to keep both current and timeless. Don't get me wrong. Cos is and always will be a funny guy. There are just so many funnier and more relevant ones today. It also must be said that I don't laugh as hard at the old Cosby episodes like I did as a kid. This is not true for the Muppet Show or much of the other entertainment I watched in the 80's era.

I do have a longstanding theory of Muppet fans. We are diverse, but not all of us are the religious/family entertainment set. A lot of us are irreverent and would sooner wait in line at the DMV or finally get that tooth drilled than watch a Cobsy project. (raises hand)

 

[CensoredAlso]

I think The Cosby Show has stood the test of time, one of the few shows from back then that doesn't feel too dated, at least for me. Fat Albert remains, I think, a very inspirational work for children. But the movie attempt had almost nothing to do with the show, and not in a good way. The characters in the cartoon were kids who tried to do the right thing but occasionally made mistakes and had to learn a lesson. The characters in the movie were already perfect, in fact a little too perfect!

 

[Drtooth]

Fat Albert was an important show. Not only in terms of what it was, but what it's done. And The fact that it came out of the stinkiest cesspool in animation history, the 1970's (prove me wrong. Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan... there! I won the argument) was amazing. The show talked about STD's for crying out loud! And pornography. Not in a heavy handed bullcrappy way, either.

But let's get credit where it's due. That was all because of the amazing team of writers, educational content advisers (GOOD ones... like 1970's, 80's Sesame Street ones), and of course, Lou. Now, i know Filmation has a lot of detractors and all, and I can agree with them to an extent... but they did some great work... some stupid stuff here and there, but some great stuff overall. Still, I find Bravestarr to be their masterpiece kid's show. They weren't working on a hundred things at once at the time, and focused most of their energy on it. But that's getting on off something else.

There is NO record of it anywhere, the wiki article glazes over it completely, but there was a HUGE fight between Forrest Whittiker and Bill Cosby over the movie, leading to Cosby making the thing himself. And goody goody ("How I HATE those Goody Goodies, how they make my stomach turn!" had to) as they portrayed them in the movie, at least they didn't completely go off premise of the TV show. They were there to talk to kids with problems... that's what the show was... watered down, but what the concept was. Plus, I do like how they rationalized everything as being some divine intervention in care of the main girl's grandfather who WAS Fat Albert.

To get back on subject, the gold standard of AWFUL goes to Underdog. they took what was fun and wacky about the show and turned it into yet another talking dog, butt sniff movie. The creator derided it, everyone's favorite animation writer Paul Dini blasted it... it flopped, and the character went down with the movie. Why they decided to take a fully upright anthro cartoon character and make him a wisecracking dog was... I can't even explain it. it's not creative, it's not clever, it's not needed. And it was another "just a check" movie for Jason Lee (check out the Chipmunk thread for more info).

 

[CensoredAlso]

Plus, I do like how they rationalized everything as being some divine intervention in care of the main girl's grandfather who WAS Fat Albert.

That was probably the one thing I felt they really did get right.

 

[Drtooth]

Saw some TV spots...

yeah...

I totally, completely, and utterly regret not titling this thread "Smurfs get garbage butt pile of dog dookie movie for morons."

Lessee... uh... forced voice actor jokes, numerous references to them being blue... there is nothing... NOTHING that will appeal to me. The look of the characters is grotesque, the jokes are stale stand bys from every bad children's movie made in the last 20 years... and the bleeding characters don't keep saying blue every 2 seconds. That's like, if they were Caucasian characters, they'd keep referring to everything as white!

I want to see Europe make their own Smurf film the way it was supposed to be made. I hear the live action Asterix films are utter garbage (they do well, thought) but at least they stay in their own time line.

That said, bring on the Tintin movie. I don't care if it's MoCap... they can't look any uglier than humanized Smurfs.

How the smurf did we get from this:

to this: