What Disney Needs to do....

[frogboy4]

You're right Heralde. Eventually it's a good story that wins audiences. It's not the monitor, how many lines-per-inch, computer wizardry or hip-factor. Stories and characters that reach a viewer - that's what entertainment is ultimately about.

Now, I wouldn't turn down a nice HiDef flatscreen!

 

[Drtooth]

That's the problem. We were watching Channel DDD so long (by we, I mean TV viewers in general), we forgot that we need actual shows and not just hyped up reality contest nonsense. but that's what unfortunately makes money. When someone comes up with something new and unexpected... to put it as Fry said, "Clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected stuff makes them scared."

I want you to know, I'm using cartoon examples, because...well... not recently... but most cartoon shows actually have to have all these great brillaint references to things that just go over your head, until one day you find it out, and just cannot stop laughing. I call it the Bullwinkle factor. But "Adult" shows are moronic, formulaic and just plain.... I don't even know what to call it.

"Just for Laughs" showed us how dumbed down a TV show can get. It's basically Peekaboo for Adults. None of it even garnered laughs... even is funnier.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I want you to know, I'm using cartoon examples, because...well... not recently... but most cartoon shows actually have to have all these great brillaint references to things that just go over your head, until one day you find it out, and just cannot stop laughing. I call it the Bullwinkle factor. But "Adult" shows are moronic, formulaic and just plain.... I don't even know what to call it.

Yes, people ask me why I still watch kid's shows sometimes. Well because they're so much better than most of the adult shows! For that reason, they have layers, and we can get all the jokes as adults. I have found a few modern cartoons that still manage to do this, thank goodness.

 

[Drtooth]

I have found a few modern cartoons that still manage to do this, thank goodness.

One of my favorites (and I derided this one a lot before I actually saw it) is Jimmy Neutron.. only because they have a very sneaky science reference in it. Goddard the dog is named after a scientist that discovered rocket fuel. Another episodes features a salesman robot called the "Loman 3000."

Then the same company turns around and comes up with junk like Backyardigans and Wonderpets.... sad.

The probelm is people settled into this stupor of accepting these terrible TV shows. Granted, there are well crafted things like Heroes and My name is Earl. Things that require a brain to watch. But then it's just slagged down with copies of stuff, the same old crap, and just nothing that good. Cartoons and regular shows, this is the worst season I've seen for TV in years.

I almost can't blame Disney for having to put the spotlight on the Muppets by putting them in inferior shows (even though 2 of them they own).

 

[Winslow Leach]

In the '50s everyone was obsessed with brand new TECHICOLOR. Meanwhile the movies were nothing, just throwaways (of course that was also because of the Communist witch hunt getting rid of half the artists, but that's another story!).

Not to be nitpicky, lol, but Technicolor really took off in the 1930s (although there are silent films from the 'teens and twenties that used a primitive form of what would eventually become Technicolor).

The big movie crazes of the 1950s were Cinemascope (widescreen pictures) and 3-D. Both of these were in response to the ever-growing television boom, in which motion picture studios and exhibitors were very concerned that people would rather stay home and get their entertainment for free, rather than go out to the movies. Cinemascope promised larger-than-life images with a cast of thousands, and 3-D had the images on screen seemingly coming right at you.

While some early Cinemascope movies are forgotten today, I think 3-D movies suffered much more over time. As you say, Heralde, most of these movies were throwaways, and are sort of annoying when viewed today (without the benefit of 3-D), when you see images constantly being hurled at the screen. There are probably only a handful of 3-D films that stand out today, because they were made with extra creativity, and don't overdo it with gimmicky, obvious tricks.

House of Wax, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Phantom of the Rue Morgue (an interesting adaptation of Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue") can still be enjoyed. Probably the highest-profile filmmaker to attempt 3D was Alfred Hitchcock, whose Dial M for Murder utilized the gimmick, but very subtely, and only when absolutely necessary (the attempted murder of Grace Kelly and a pair of vicious-looking scissors is probably the most 3-D-like scene). But a great majority of 3-D films were cheaply made and shot quickly. They are mostly forgotten today. There were even a couple of Shemp-era Three Stooges shorts made for 3-D.

But yeah, I agree that the obsession with new technology is causing a creative slump.

 

[CensoredAlso]

That is true, Technicolor did exist in the '30s, good point. I guess I was thinking of 1950s movies like Singing in the Rain, where they were really trying to show off the saturation of color.

I definitely think there were some good '50s movies, don't get me wrong. But there are quite a few that just don't hold up for being too corny and silly (and not just 3Ds in my opinion, though they didn't hold up either lol).

 

[Winslow Leach]

That is true, Technicolor did exist in the '30s, good point. I guess I was thinking of 1950s movies like Singing in the Rain, where they were really trying to show off the saturation of color.

I definitely think there were some good '50s movies, don't get me wrong. But there are quite a few that just don't hold up for being too corny and silly (and not just 3Ds in my opinion, though they didn't hold up either lol).

Well, that's another good point. Films such as Singin' in the Rain, An American in Paris, The Band Wagon, etc. offered bright, candy-colored images, complete with lavish numbers to contrast with the home viewer's flickering black and white televisions.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I remember reading that in several textbooks, that '50s movies also suffered because of a new invention called Television. Why would people want to leave their houses? Hehe

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I agrees with about Muppet Babies. My brother was watching an episode the other day and he was just like who was thins written for and who exactly was it wrying to target. No one in particular was the answer he came up with. It's clear that they we're just trying to entertain themselves and did what they found funny. Besides the rules that said you had to have so much educational content. That kind of flew out the window with other show like Garfield and it was just pure funny!

 

[dwayne1115]

If you want good movies from days gone by watch some of the old Marx's Brother's movies they are real good.

Now Disney and the Muppets can and will work it just takes time.