Why did this NEED to be made?

[dmoss]

Heck, I think it looks like a cute movie; one that will teach children about the basics of the classic story, and will enchant a little, too. Plus, it will make kids wonder if maybe the gnomes really do come to life when no one is looking.

 

[Drtooth]

Heck, I think it looks like a cute movie; one that will teach children about the basics of the classic story, and will enchant a little, too. Plus, it will make kids wonder if maybe the gnomes really do come to life when no one is looking.

Are you serious?

I'm sorry, the plain icky factor and quirky for quirkiness sake, not to mention that we're getting an extremely watered down version of a classic (that everyone else has done before... even Super Mario) just doesn't seem "cute" at all. I really don't feel like going on and on about it, but this is basically the cultural low point of kid's movies... right down their with live action farting talking wisecracking dogs. I think children and their parents deserve a little better than that.


Of course, if you want a cute version of a classic story retelling with new characters taking place in a common era with the music of a famous pop artist, go rent Oliver and Company. They managed to do it RIGHT.

 

[Nick22]

Are you serious?

I'm sorry, the plain icky factor and quirky for quirkiness sake, not to mention that we're getting an extremely watered down version of a classic (that everyone else has done before... even Super Mario) just doesn't seem "cute" at all. I really don't feel like going on and on about it, but this is basically the cultural low point of kid's movies... right down their with live action farting talking wisecracking dogs. I think children and their parents deserve a little better than that.


Of course, if you want a cute version of a classic story retelling with new characters taking place in a common era with the music of a famous pop artist, go rent Oliver and Company. They managed to do it RIGHT.

haha. dude, you needa chill. let people have their own opinions. seriously, no ones gives a **** that you don't like the fact that this movie is being made. no one. we let you voice yer opinion, let other people voice their's without being criticized.

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah... why would ANYONE want the animation opinion of an animation student who's seen animation form all over the freaking world from all freaking time about an animated movie?

Now, I'll just sit back and listen to everyone else whine about their stupid little problems and nod my head in support and agreement.

 

[Nick22]

i'm just saying that you needa chill. let other people have their own opinions. if they like the idea of this movie, let them like it. sure, you can put in yer input, but you don't needa be rude about it.

and i'm sorry that i didn't know you were an animation student. my bad, i forgot to stalk you today

 

[Drtooth]

and i'm sorry that i didn't know you were an animation student. my bad, i forgot to stalk you today

Yes... I've seen stuff that I could be a real snob about and say it's the highest form of entertainment...nay, art. Ever hear of Jan Svankmajer? That was some heavy stuff. But I like Super Mario Bros Super Show too. I just can't say a nice word about this film because I KNOW what animation has gone through in the past 10 years alone. And it's not pretty stuff. Saturday Mornings, I seen wizzled up into a fog of cheap infomercials.

The fact of the matter is, THIS is what American animation is now... CGI kiddy films. And again, Pixar is the master of the medium. And yet, they're doing so much for 2-D it's almost ironic. Day and Night was one of the most beautiful pieces of animation I've seen in years... I almost cried seeing how beautifully a symbiotic relationship of CGI and Traditional animation. Dreamwork's has also matured... even the last Shrek film was devoid of Fart jokes. As Wallace Shawn said in Princess Bride "INCONCIEVABLE!" And their movies continue to get better and better (might skip Madagascar 3, though). But all the other studios produce stuff that's hit or miss. And it's mostly miss. And the over saturation of CGI films reflects poorly on studios and artists that use it to really tell a magic story... not to mention the yutzs that feel that we should ONLY have CGI and never again see puppetry (which is what brought this all up, actually).

But mark my words, no matter what the medium a bad story is STILL a bad story. Bad jokes are still bad jokes be they absolutely beautifully animated or look like Clutch Cargo. So yeah, forgive me if I'm a little offended by something that has levels of yuck I'd spend years listing. Least of which, stealing a classic play and passing it off as quirky. There are much better Shakespearean mash ups. I highly recommend the episodes of Arthur "Never Never Never" (a very deep analogy to King Lear) and "MacFrensky" (less deep, but just as meaningful MacBeth parody). And you learn lessons form them too.

Again, I don't want to stomp on anyone's opinions so much as guide them away so they can save the 10 bucks for something better, not to mention stop as many people from seeing this as possible. The more people who see this, the more the movie studios will make more films like it...

 

[frogboy4]

The trailer portays a film that has little technical production value other than the voice talent attached to it. The character design and humor are generally substandard for a theatrical release, but to each their own taste. Hoodwinked wasn't the best quality animated picture, but the character design was dynamic and the humor was certainly there. It's movies like this that plant the idea that animation is a children's medium. Kids do need their own movies too, but the value is in making them smart enough to appeal to anyone. This one attempts to accomlish that through movie star voice casting.

I wouldn't fault anyone for liking this film. I too have my own guilty pleasures (Hudson Hawk, Who's That Girl, Shoot 'Em Up). And who knows, it could have a few funny scenes in it. It just doesn't inspire me and I'll see almost anything...really...I'm willing to see about 90% of what's out there. The Gnome flick doesn't fall in that wide margin.

 

[Drtooth]

The trailer portays a film that has little technical production value other than the voice talent attached to it. The character design and humor are generally substandard for a theatrical release, but to each their own taste. Hoodwinked wasn't the best quality animated picture, but the character design was dynamic and the humor was certainly there. It's movies like this that plant the idea that animation is a children's medium. Kids do need their own movies too, but the value is in making them smart enough to appeal to anyone. This one attempts to accomlish that through movie star voice casting.

I'm gonna come out and say this. I wanna see MORE films that use smaller talents or even an all voice actor voice cast... That's why I liked TMNT. All the turtles were voice actors, sure, Splinter was voiced by a movie actor (Mako... that's his name, right? I should know), but a movie actor who was actually in a few television cartoons as well (He narrated the end theme to Dexter's Lab and was the villain in Samurai Jack)... and Sarah Michelle Gellar (as April), Lawrence Fishbern (sp?) as a Narrator that only had a small introductory speach, and Patrick Stewart as Max Winters. Not big names... and they didn't even advertise them as being in the movie until Blades of Glory came out and they needed to get more people in theaters to see the film.

That said, if Disney was so determined to make a film about ornamental creatures who have a secret life of their own, They could have done much, much better

Come on. Not one person here wouldn't want to see THAT. I would, and I barely followed the show when it was on.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

I'll just state my opinions on this movie and then get out of dodge.

I'll admit, the trailer makes this film looks like a ridiculous travesty. The fact that Disney's releasing it under Touchstone (which has only had one fully-animated feature released under their name, which was intended to and has since been taken under the Disney name) is enough proof for me that they are really trying to distance themselves from this movie that they got stuck with after Miramax went under. But then again, this film could surprise. I thought Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon both looked like disasters but those two ended up being two of the best animated movies of the last five years. While I haven't seen Surf's Up, the trailers made it look awful too but from what I've heard it's a great film. It looks like this November's Tangled is heading in that same direction. So for all know Gnomeo and Juliet could end up a fun little film, or we'll end up with another Legend of the Guardians (a film that I thought looked incredible, but considering the reviews it got I'm going to stay far away from it... ).

 

[Drtooth]

That brings up a good point too,...though it'll be a cold dark day before I recognize ANYTHING Sony did. I disliked Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs until I saw some of it... then I outright HATED it and everyone involved. I've seen trailers of films that are outright terrible and not indicative of the movies themselves (Hated the Matrix trailer, kept me from seeing the movie for the longest time... when I finally saw it, I hoped WB fired the guy who made that trailer for making the film look terrible when it wasn't). it could have merit, but so far, I don't see anything remotely enjoyable or anything with the potential of being better than it was presented.

I still get "Based on a play by William Shakespeare" as "we can't come up with an original story" and "with music by Elton John" as "we're not even going to BOTHER with original music." It seems like taking a loose story and basing a small series of unfunny gags around it to me. It goes to prove there's a right way and a wrong way of doing things. Again, I present Oliver and Company.

Now, there was a movie that took a classic story (Oliver Twist), set it in modern era, changed the relationships (turning the band of thieving kids into dogs and a cat), had a celebrity voice cast (among others, Bette Middler, Cheech Marin...) but managed to ran with it and make it work fine. And this was before Little Mermaid turned the studio around. Not Oscar gold, but a very good film. Even watched it years ago, tried very hard to look at it subjectively instead of nostalgically and felt it to be well done.

That said, there is NO call to make that Frog rival Jar Jar Binks in the annoying department. is she supposed to be Juliette's nurse maid or whatever?