Weinstein rolls with Fraggle Rock movie

[Drtooth]

To me REAL edgy has nothing to do with being mean, in your face subversive or adult. In fact, since the late 90's when everything had to be "exxxxtreme", not being edgy is edgy.

Real edge is when a piece can work on dual layers at the same time. Think of how many Henson or other children's movies and or shows that now looking back in your older years, you go "oh wow...there's a whole other subtext going on there". I picked up on that even in some of what Gordon says in the pilot episode of Sesame Street. Social justice issues, existentialism, etc. The fact you'd have Fraggles as sweet and innocent and nurturing as they are just plopped in the modern real world...to me that stark juxtaposition IS edgy.

Exactly. I just hate how they use that term. Edgy means putting jaded, unfunny jokes in for fat old dad who was forced to a kiddy movie wghen he wanted to see the action movie so he could pretend to be the action hero grabbing the hot spy girls, and not a worker drone married to an increasingly haggy genderless blob in a Pooh sweater. Sort of like how they make a movie with an all white cast speak to "the ethnics" by putting in obsolete, family friendly rap music that no one in real life really listens to.

I saw that Smurf trailer....the use of replacing "smurf" for four letter swear words...ugh. Real classy!

Was anyone expecting anything else? The teaser looked EXACTLY like every kiddy movie teaser that ruins a classic franchise I've ever seen. This is what "edgy" does. You got a bunch of Smurfs in New York blinged out, with one with a totally forced Latino comic as one of the voices. Whole Smurfing movie is a piece of Smurf if you ask me. Belgium is gonna HATE us!

 

[ZeppoAndFriends]

I could not possibly express my hate for this revelation without resorting to swear words (and I REALLY hate swearing).

I stand behind Cory Edwards and his plans for an 'edge' free Rock. The Weinsteins can take a hike! If they fire him I WILL be swearing!

 

[Drtooth]

I'm to the point where I'm gonna say, we shouldn't even get worked up. This movie is hanging by a quantum singularity now. And if any side is serious of making this thing, they have to actually sit down, discuss what they can't and can't do, discuss what the heck is wrong with the script (Smurf movie!), and draw up plans to start FILMING something.

Henson's doing it's darndest to get the brand out, Corey must've wrote this script more times than anyone could without going insane, all the hold up is with a close to bankrupt film company that wants to be just as smothering as Disney was that made them split in the first place. I want their option to run out and for Henson to go to Lionsgate. Any chance this movie could get made lies with someone that isn't Weinstine. if they wanted a fake sense of "edge" in this movie, they could have gone to an ACTUAL production company.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I think anyone would agree that Fraggle Rock doesn't need to be edgy to get the adult audience in. Those who loved Fraggle Rock ARE the adult audience, and we want to take our kids to see something wonderful. It could maintain exactly the same sense of wonderment and illusion that it did on TV and now on DVD all these years and still be wonderful.

I'm tired of things always having to be edgy or 3D. Just give good entertianment with good story lines and you'll have an audience.

 

[Luke]

I think anyone would agree that Fraggle Rock doesn't need to be edgy to get the adult audience in. Those who loved Fraggle Rock ARE the adult audience, and we want to take our kids to see something wonderful. It could maintain exactly the same sense of wonderment and illusion that it did on TV and now on DVD all these years and still be wonderful.

I agree totally, if they are marketing this "retro" then no need to change the actual foundations of the Fraggles. Though i do think they might be doing the right thing expanding the Fraggles outside of the Rock if indeed they arent using the Gorgs much (which i think was mentioned .. its been a while since i read the interviews). I can understand why they are trying to bring in some funky indy bands, thats fits in with the whole retro and fashion/pop culture avenues they been exploring already.

Tho if they still have plans to expand the fraggle brand into pre-school (with the Doozers CGI and everything) i can see that being a reason for a few tweaks to keep the plot quite simple.

 

[Drtooth]

I agree totally, if they are marketing this "retro" then no need to change the actual foundations of the Fraggles. Though i do think they might be doing the right thing expanding the Fraggles outside of the Rock if indeed they arent using the Gorgs much (which i think was mentioned .. its been a while since i read the interviews). I can understand why they are trying to bring in some funky indy bands, thats fits in with the whole retro and fashion/pop culture avenues they been exploring already.

That's what Corey wanted to do and had no problem with. To paraphrase whoever it was in the video clip in his blog (From The Pixar Story) Edgy is code word for jaded nasty jokes made for the adult audience who's kids drag them to see it. Exactly what the horrid Smurfs movie will be like. Over used outdated music, lame pop culture references (i.e. requoting old movie lines out of context), and poop and farts by the score. And the occassional sex gag. Basically everything that flied during 2003, but is dated, unfunny, and archaic now. Even Shrek 4 seemed to want to steer clear of a lot of the stuff from it's previous movies.

In other words, Shark Tale.

Corey put his foot down over multiple issues. At one point someone wanted a robot sidekick in the movie.

 

[Luke]

Corey put his foot down over multiple issues. At one point someone wanted a robot sidekick in the movie.

Wow that's bad. Go Corey!

Fraggles just isnt the right brand to go messing with - sure people remember it and i think a lot of people would go and see it for the retro attraction but i dont think taking it edgy would give it any more of a boost and i dont think its strong enough to be a big box office thing anyway. It's more niche.

I can see the point of doing it with Smurfs altho i'm sure fans of the show will hate it. They are obviously taking the approach of stickin a few celebrities in, creating the smurf "world" and putting in some adult jokes and marketing the heck out of it. I can see that bringing in a lot more money for them rather than just doing a traditional smurfs movie, especially as like Fraggle, kids havent really been exposed to the brand that much.

 

[Drtooth]

I've said it before, but Smurfs is the victim of the popularity of the Chipmunks movies, which frankly, was a fluke. The first one was decent, the second was so so. That's not a gold standard to want to achieve.

I have been opposed to the bringing of the characters into the bland boring mundane common era from the first draft of the script. And of course, they have to add in the obvious jaded jokes, the "Wow, our time is sure different than this, so let's get completely awestruck by everything as if that gag has NEVER been done before" cliche, poop, farts, racial jokes, pop music from up to 5 years ago at the latest, references to BETTER films, references to over used lines from those films, obvious pop music at points bludgeoning us with unfunny musical puns, phoney fake moral to make us look good.... the whole magilla of overused trash in kid's movies.

There was NO excuse to take the Smurfs out of the fantasy Medieval setting. None. There's plenty of magic and adventure in the concept that would keep kids enthralled. This seems to be one of the hundreds of films designed to alienate the fan base (read, willful paying customers) while trying to get a younger group too young to know or care what the thing is. The movie is turning into a big budget version of Underdog. And we ALL know how well that franchise killing trainwreck did. I wish they'd shut the production down, cut their losses, and get the same people from Paramount who planned THAT version to redo this version.

They want to do this to the Fraggles. Weinstine's just too afraid that they'll go completely under, and frankly, if they make a clumsy pop culture boom Fraggle Rock movie with an all white cast with Hip Hop music from 10 years ago to pull in ethnic viewers with a bunch of mechanical morals supporting the family, NO ONE is going to want to sit through it.

 

[Luke]

I have been opposed to the bringing of the characters into the bland boring mundane common era from the first draft of the script. And of course, they have to add in the obvious jaded jokes, the "Wow, our time is sure different than this, so let's get completely awestruck by everything as if that gag has NEVER been done before" cliche, poop, farts, racial jokes, pop music from up to 5 years ago at the latest, references to BETTER films, references to over used lines from those films, obvious pop music at points bludgeoning us with unfunny musical puns, phoney fake moral to make us look good.... the whole magilla of overused trash in kid's movies.

I can see your point, and i also get the Chipmunks connection (and i never understood why that did so well as i thought it was awful and wrong choice of franchise to revive) but i can kinda see why they are doing this with Smurfs. The whole world and brand seems to fit a live action/cgi family movie and i'm interested to see what they do. I'm thinking Flintstones more than Chipmunks and it shows that they do have some regard for the original as they got Jonathan Winters. I'm interested in seeing what they do with this - it has great potential as long as they don't go too far down the roads you mentioned. The movie industry is all about money obviously, i can't see a traditional animated smurf movie as having done megabucks, and this one will attract adults just as much as kids.

 

[Drtooth]

I give them credit for not being married to the lame "lonely girl cries them to life" point from one of the original drafts... but I don't see why a Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy movie featuring CGI Smurfs, and a real livde action setting and cast wouldn't do any better than "Cartoon comes to reality and doesn't know what a DVD is" which is one of the major concepts of the Bullwinkle movie people had problems with.

Lest we forget, It's not just Gargamel and the Smurfs... there's Mother Nature, Father Time, Johan and Pewitt, and a bunch of others I forget. Not to mention actual village residents. There's a LOT of fantasy in the original concept to make a Medieval movie out of.

But what we're NOT hearing, but getting a sense of, is the tone they'll no doubt take. The turning every monument blue thing in the teaser? Irrelevant pop music? it's gonna look like everything else and be a bigger flop than if they actually went the route Paramount was planning. They're just going to boil the characters down to "They're blue and say 'Smurf' a lot." Could you imagine a TMNT movie where they all talk like Michelangelo and eat Pizzas instead of fighting crime, because the writers can only work with what they've seen on T-Shirts?

The August release date speaks volumes about their lack of confidence in the film. It doesn't matter if they go the right way or the horribly wrong Underdog way. This movie was doomed to fail and kill the franchise from the start. They bought up the license and clearly said (a year before the release date) "Holt Crap! We have to actually get someone to WRITE this!" All I can say there. And knowing that it's the SAME people who did the Scooby-Doo movies, they're going to spend 90 minutes making fun of the series, and not paying any homage to the fact that it is indeed a LOT older than the general public (in this country, anyway) thinks.

There are several predictions I can make.

1) The movie will have "I'm Blue" in the soundtrack somewhere as a lame attempt at being funny.

2) George Lopez as Grouchy Smurf... during the obvious talk show press junket he's going to use the term "angry Latino Smurf" in every interview.

3) The original fans who actually still have fond memories will dodge this film like a runaway train, and that's pretty much the only group that would drag their kids to it.

I wish that they'd at LEAST translate some of the old Belgian comics so we ould get something out of it.