ScribbleKing

Does every animated movie really need a Bad Guy?

(Warning, this column contains a few small spoilers about Ratatouille, so if you haven't seen that movie, you might want to stop reading now) Sometimes, when you watch movies, the weirdest questions pop up. You might wonder why Donald Duck is wearing a shirt and a hat, but not pants, but sometimes the questions go a little deeper. Like this new one that struck me: Does every animated movie really need a Bad Guy/Woman/Creature? Of course, they are more or less common practice in animated movies, ever since Disney put that horrible witch in their debut animated feature Snow White, and many kids have been scared witless by the many baddies in later Disney movies. It's almost a rite of passage, it seems. The first time you go see a movie in theaters, which is mostly an animated movie, there is a bad guy that gives you nightmares. I guess I was lucky that my first animated movie in the cinema was The Aristocats, which had a baddy that was more clumsy than scary, but I can remember plenty of little girls and boys clinging to their mothers, and becoming really silent, during the final battle between Ariel and Ursula in the showing of The Little Mermaid where I first saw that picture.

Evil bad guys are more or less Disney's trademark, and most of the other animation studios have been more than happy to follow this model and come up with their own evil wizards/dragons/goblins and whatnot. And of course, these bad guys give the movie an extra edge, an extra reason to root for the good guy, and a satisfying climax at the end of a movie, when the bad guy is disposed of, never to be seen again (or at least not until the Direct to DVD sequel).

Continue reading "Does every animated movie really need a Bad Guy?" »

(Warning, this column contains a few small spoilers about Ratatouille, so if you haven't seen that movie, you might want to stop reading now) Sometimes, when you watch movies, the weirdest questions pop up. You might wonder why Donald Duck is wearing a shirt and a hat, but not pants, but sometimes the questions go a little deeper. Like this new one that struck me: Does every animated movie really need a Bad Guy/Woman/Creature? Of course, they are more or less common practice in animated movies, ever since Disney put that horrible witch in their debut animated feature Snow White, and many kids have been scared witless by the many baddies in later Disney movies. It's almost a rite of passage, it seems. The first time you go see a movie in theaters, which is mostly an animated movie, there is a bad guy that gives you nightmares. I guess I was lucky that my first animated movie in the cinema was The Aristocats, which had a baddy that was more clumsy than scary, but I can remember plenty of little girls and boys clinging to their mothers, and becoming really silent, during the final battle between Ariel and Ursula in the showing of The Little Mermaid where I first saw that picture.

Evil bad guys are more or less Disney's trademark, and most of the other animation studios have been more than happy to follow this model and come up with their own evil wizards/dragons/goblins and whatnot. And of course, these bad guys give the movie an extra edge, an extra reason to root for the good guy, and a satisfying climax at the end of a movie, when the bad guy is disposed of, never to be seen again (or at least not until the Direct to DVD sequel).

Scribblings: How successful is Meet The Robinsons going to be?

At the end of this week, Disney is going to release Meet The Robinsons in the US. It's the latest Disney animated movie, and if word is to be believed, the last digitally animated movie to be made by Disney Feature Animation. So while this movie is an expensive piece of animation, it's also relatively risk free for Disney when it comes to a public relations standpoint. After all, when it's a flop, DIsney can say something along the lines of: "This is why we are leaving the digital animation to Pixar, and we are going back to traditional animation!" But chances are Meet The Robinsons isn't going to flop at all, and might actually be a pretty nice success for the studio.

So, who is going to win the Oscars this year?

Ah, Oscar predictions. Always fun to do, always an embarrassment because I'm absolutely horrible at them. If you're an Oscar nominee and you see your name as one of my picks, then leave your tuxedo in the cupboard and stay at home, because your chance to win has just gotten a whole lot smaller. Still, I'll give it another shot, sticking to the more important categories that I can actually make a real decision about without just closing my eyes and picking one from the list by pointing at it. Here we go!

Are this year's threequels something to get excited about?

If you look at the schedule for this year's blockbuster movies, you will see that there are many threequels on their way to cinemas. There's Ocean's Eleven 3. Spider-man 3. Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Bourne 3. Shrek 3. Rush Hour 3. Your gut reflex is to get excited. After all, threequels are only made when the first two movies in a series have been wildly successful, and chances are that you will have loved the first two movies in the series (or at least the first one). However, your second reflex is probably to say something along the lines of: "Wait, the second one also sucked, so why should I be interested in number three?" Still, it's too easy to just dismiss threequels like that, or at least until we've done some research into the subject. Are threequels a blessing for fans, or just a way to make more money?

Smokin' Aces: The process of making a movie poster

'Smokin' Joe Carnahan, director of upcoming action-fest Smokin' Aces, gives the readers of his weblog a very interesting insight in the marketing process that accompanies making a big Hollywood movie, in particular the making of the poster. Apparently, Carnahan is not so pleased with the final poster of the movie, and has decided to show his fans some of the other designs that were made and considered, only to be dropped later on for various reasons. Looking at these posters, it makes you wonder why the movie bosses didn't go with these instead of with the official poster they have now, which, even though it ain't bad, is pretty unremarkable.

Preview: Smokin' Aces

Normally, January is a movie month to not be real excited about. Traditionally, it's the month where studios dump the movies that were not big enough for the holiday season, or not good enough for awards season, which is why we end up watching stuff like Happily N'ever After and Code Name: The Cleaner. Every now and then, though, a good movie does get released in January, though it's rare that they are as highly anticipated as Smokin' Aces, the new movie by Narc-director Joe Carnahan.

Why American Dog might become the best animated movie in years

With all those different animated movies coming out nowadays, it's getting to be increasingly difficult keeping them apart. Most of them are either of the 'cute animals fight human evil' type, or try to spoof fairy tales for the umpteenth time, so you'd almost say it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a movie that stands out. Disney will unleash a movie like that in 2008. Yes, it features animals, but they're not singing with high pitched voices or trying to get rid of hunters. No, this is American Dog, created and directed by Chris Sanders, the man behind the most original animated movie of the last ten years, Lilo and Stitch, and here you will read why it's going to be the animated movie to watch.

Continue reading "Why American Dog might become the best animated movie in years" »

With all those different animated movies coming out nowadays, it's getting to be increasingly difficult keeping them apart. Most of them are either of the 'cute animals fight human evil' type, or try to spoof fairy tales for the umpteenth time, so you'd almost say it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a movie that stands out. Disney will unleash a movie like that in 2008. Yes, it features animals, but they're not singing with high pitched voices or trying to get rid of hunters. No, this is American Dog, created and directed by Chris Sanders, the man behind the most original animated movie of the last ten years, Lilo and Stitch, and here you will read why it's going to be the animated movie to watch.

Bring back the real action heroes!

What happened to the real action heroes? Where are people like Steven Seagal, Jean Claude van Damme and Sylvester Stallone? Sure, they are all still making movies, but why do I have to go to a DVD-store in order to be able to watch these flicks, and why can't I catch them in cinemas? Where did things go wrong for the tough guys who packed theaters back in the 90's, and who seemed to be in a new action spectacular every other week?

Continue reading "Bring back the real action heroes!" over at The Last Action Heroes »

What happened to the real action heroes? Where are people like Steven Seagal, Jean Claude van Damme and Sylvester Stallone? Sure, they are all still making movies, but why do I have to go to a DVD-store in order to be able to watch these flicks, and why can't I catch them in cinemas? Where did things go wrong for the tough guys who packed theaters back in the 90's, and who seemed to be in a new action spectacular every other week?

What is Eragon?

You've probably heard about this movie. Maybe you read the book it's based on, or maybe you saw the trailer, or played the videogame. But in case you haven't, and you have no idea what this epic, expensive blockbuster is all about, here's the information you need.

Continue reading over at the Eragon blog...

What do those box office numbers really mean?

Every weekend, life in Hollywood more or less freezes. Sure, people go on living, but everybody is waiting to hear the new box office numbers. Which big new movie is a smash hit? And which one tanked? All over the world even the regular newspaper mention the latest box office numbers, frequently telling us that this or that movie has broken a certain record. But what do those figures really mean? And are there really records being broken, or is it all marketing hoopla?

Continue reading "What do those box office numbers really mean?" over at The Hollywood Machine»

Every weekend, life in Hollywood more or less freezes. Sure, people go on living, but everybody is waiting to hear the new box office numbers. Which big new movie is a smash hit? And which one tanked? All over the world even the regular newspaper mention the latest box office numbers, frequently telling us that this or that movie has broken a certain record. But what do those figures really mean? And are there really records being broken, or is it all marketing hoopla?