Why did this NEED to be made?

[frogboy4]

I'm passing on "Legend of the Guardians" too. For some reason the trailer just makes me uncomfortable and angry, but this is the same company that gave us Happy Feet. I didn't like that aimless picture either. I kind of feel the film demonstrates the uncanny valley for owls. Maybe that's it. I'm just glad Zach Snyder is moving on from cartoons to comics.

 

[Drtooth]

I just got a thing about owls. I could never take that movie seriously. I don't wanna go into it, because it's a long strand of inside jokes that started with a Flintstones episode... you know, the one with The Bedrock Twitch... I'd crack up too many times. Even the word owl makes me guffaw.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

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'm surprised you hate Sony that much. Granted, Open Season is apparently far from spectacular (haven't seen that one either) but I didn't think Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was bad at all. Granted, the humor at points got too quirky and absurd for it's own good, but it was still a fun animated movie, not as good as the other "Fab 5" animated movies of 2009 but I'd put it just below them. And The ChubbChubbs!, the short that got Sony starting to go into feature animation, is also a guilty pleasure of mine. Nowhere near Pixar quality, but very funny for a parody. If you really don't want to, you don't even have to acknowledge this, Drtooth. But it's just my stance on Sony.

Again, I will say Gnomeo and Juliet looks exceptionally lame (who even made this movie? It's clearly not WDFA or Pixar). But I'll reserve true judgment until the reviews come out in January, but I'm not setting my expectations too high.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Double post!

I just got a thing about owls. I could never take that movie seriously. I don't wanna go into it, because it's a long strand of inside jokes that started with a Flintstones episode... you know, the one with The Bedrock Twitch... I'd crack up too many times. Even the word owl makes me guffaw.

I actually liked the concept of making a book series about owls in a CG epic. The thing I appreciate about Zach Snyder is that the movies he makes, while adaptations, seem to be things that are distinctly his own style. It seems Snyder took his distinct style here a bit too far into the serious territory. That's not to say Watchmen wasn't serious, even the most Watchmen illiterate person can tell by the commercials that the film and graphic novel go deep into serious territory. Everyone else I know balked at taking a movie about owls seriously and I think that's what really killed that movie.

 

[Mupp]

Again, I hope releasing this via Touchstone doesn't sour Disney and Lasseter's relationship. That's got me worried most of all.

I don't think it will.

John Lasseter is only chief creative officer at Disney Animation Studios.
Disney Animation didn't make this film, so its not like their reputation is at stake.

Now, I doubt that anyone went over his head. That would not be wise. But its not like he had any control in this matter anyway. (Though I admit that I'm not sure how these things work on the executive food chain.)

BTW, I know what you mean. Pixar Animation (and now Disney Animation since Lasseter took over) have been struggling to bring animation back into the realm of respectability, and then another studio goes and makes a film like "Space Chimps".

 

[Oscarfan]

BTW, I know what you mean. Pixar Animation (and now Disney Animation since Lasseter took over) have been struggling to bring animation back into the realm of respectability, and then another studio goes and makes a film like "Space Chimps".

How on Earth (no pun intended) did that movie even deserve a direct-to-video sequel?

 

[Drtooth]

I don't think it will.

John Lasseter is only chief creative officer at Disney Animation Studios.
Disney Animation didn't make this film, so its not like their reputation is at stake.

Now, I doubt that anyone went over his head. That would not be wise. But its not like he had any control in this matter anyway. (Though I admit that I'm not sure how these things work on the executive food chain.)

What a RELIEF! So, I'm coming to understand that Disney pretty much got stuck having to release this for some reason, under their Touchstone label... correct?

[/quote]BTW, I know what you mean. Pixar Animation (and now Disney Animation since Lasseter took over) have been struggling to bring animation back into the realm of respectability, and then another studio goes and makes a film like "Space Chimps".[/QUOTE]

All I'm trying to say. Animation is an art, and the art community doesn't see it that way (you can puke on a canvas and call it Jesus and phonies will say it's the greatest act of self expression... but get them to watch a freaking Dr. Slump episode...). And I blame stuff like this. These little off brand films just... they're almost as bad as the Ratatoing films they sell so near sighted old grannies think they're giving their grandkids the real thing... at 5 bucks while it's still in theaters.

I'm surprised you hate Sony that much. Granted, Open Season is apparently far from spectacular (haven't seen that one either) but I didn't think Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was bad at all. Granted, the humor at points got too quirky and absurd for it's own good, but it was still a fun animated movie, not as good as the other "Fab 5" animated movies of 2009 but I'd put it just below them. And The ChubbChubbs! the short that got Sony starting to go into feature animation, is also a guilty pleasure of mine. Nowhere near Pixar quality, but very funny for a parody. If you really don't want to, you don't even have to acknowledge this, Drtooth. But it's just my stance on Sony.

Chubchubs was pretty good, I must say... but what I saw of both Open Season (I hate Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher- outside of That 70's Show of course*) and Cloudy was mortifying. Surfs up seems like "Everybody's doing a Penguin Movie! Let's do one too!" Somehow, I find it the equivalent of Shark Tale (shudder shudder). That said, I saw like 15 or so minutes of Cloudy in a Blockbuster... the climactic scene and it made me just want to get out of the store as quickly as possible... then came the scene where he clearly uses one of his failed inventions to save the day. That cliche (to quote a certain Looney Tunes character) made me VERY angry. i didn't like them massacring a classic kid's book, ruining the fact it was an unexplained phenomenon with a socially awkward scientist who wants approval from his father. No offense, but I want MAD science (why I liked Igor so much, actually...)

As for the Owls... it's a long standing inside joke that started, again, with a scene from the Flintstones episode... Rock Roll was miming that he ate something he was allergic to (pickled Dodo bird eggs), leading Fred to say "You ate something that begins with 'O'... with wings... You ate an owl..." Visualize someone eating an owl. Then some other stuff I don't wanna get into.

Owl is a VERY funny word. Try saying it over and over... it loses all meaning. Trust me.

 

[Mupp]

What a RELIEF! So, I'm coming to understand that Disney pretty much got stuck having to release this for some reason, under their Touchstone label... correct?

Yes. That's my understanding.

According to Wikipedia, Starz Animation produced Gomeno and Juliet. (Confirmed on their official website)

Here is some info about them and some of their other productions;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starz_Animation

 

[Drtooth]

Shudder... most of their stuff seems icky. Though, Heckboy, Veggietales don't sound terrible... I never got to see Chop Socky Chooks (I like the small vehicles I got dirt cheap at T.J. Maxx, though)... but they gave the world Space Chimps, so... shudder shudder... yeah... How do they keep getting work?

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

How do they keep getting work?

Well, freelancers gotta go somewhere.