Thursday, August 06, 2009

Sequels! Remakes!

Now with pine-wood scented Add On..

Unlike the stated position of Mr. Disney and others about sequels and remakes ("Arrgh!" ... "We hate 'em! ... "No way!") I have no problem with the idea of new wine in old chalices.

For instance, I prefer this remake ...

To this original* ...

...Even though I enjoy both ...

And brother Zach Oat draws up a list of animated films ripe for remake.

The Rescuers (1977)

Secret-agent guinea pigs? Don't make us laugh. The original rodent secret agents were Miss Bianca and Bernard, retrieval specialists with the Rescue Aid Society, who can be summoned by a message in a bottle, work with albatrosses and dragonflies, and are licensed to operate on foreign soil, if The Rescuers Down Under is any indication. Plus, there are still plenty of books left to adapt.

So, remakes and sequels? Let's put the pedal to the metal and go for it. I know that I won't rest until I see a newer cgi version of A Man Called Flintstone in a multiplex near you. And I can, even now, see the Snow White sequel in my mind's eye:

Doc has an Uzi on his hip and a murderous glint in his eyes as he plunges downslope to rescue Ms. White from her Serbian captors. "Cover me, Bashful! I'm going in!"

I have every confidence these films will come to pass ... in retina-detaching 3-D.

Add On: Seattlepi wonders aloud why Pixar doesn't start a different franchise:

... The Incredibles: Out of all the memorable characters in the Pixar stable, you'd think this superheroic family would be the most ripe for another adventure. Pixar proved with Toy Story 2 that they have the ability to deepen their characters and continue their stories without selling out. What's stopping them on this one? ...

* The multi-million dollar Robin Hood epic from 1922 was entitled (no kidding): "Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood" ... and copyrighted that way. One of the only times in history when a Major Motion Picture had the star's name embedded in the title. (Of course, the star put up the dough to get it made, so why not?) And the flick is still under copyright, eighty-seven years later.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How many "3 Little Pigs" shorts were there? 4? "The Big Bad Wolf", "Three Little Wolves", and "The Practical Pig."

So much for Walt not caring for sequels.

Fun with Mr. Future said...

I've read that it was actually the experience of releasing those sequels to The Three Little Pigs and the failure to be able to make lightening strike twice that formed Walt's bias against sequels ... I believe his way of summing it up was : "You can't top Pigs with Pigs".

Site Meter