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[towels]

Originally posted by FOZZI3B3AR
Lukie,

Didn't think about that; besides, when I met Rivkin out at MFest, he DID say that whoever ends up with the JHC would be a company that allowed them the most freedom to do what they wanted to do (paraphrased, of course).

Of course, whoever ends up with the JHC will really be a company that will give Em.tv the most money...but it's a nice thought. (I have a hard time believing Rivkin would have veto powers over this type of sale...

Bean,

Lilo and Stitch...are you SURE it isn't a story taken from somewhere else and it's a pure ORIGINAL film? That's what I'm yakking 'bout, something that THEY create themselves and not take from a legend or story from somewhere else. Kind of the same complaints we have heard with the Muppets doing MTI or MCC. At any rate, at least their songs are original and not 70's funk, huh?

FOZ

Actually, a lot of the Disney classics are not truly "original"- Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Jungle Book, etc. all came from outside sources. I don't really have a problem with that...it's the robbing from themselves that bugs me...the whole "sequel/remake-mania".
I can just imagine some Disney exec saying, "What if Herbie the Love Bug was a Muppet?"

 

[Jessie]

Sorry to jump in and argue some more, but Lion King was an orginal movie, not based upon any classic or such and I think it was one of the best. Please give Disney some credit...

Even though Cinderella IV makes me want to vomit...

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Lion King. Hamlet. The comparisons were made during the time I worked at the Disney Store here in Memphis, and nobody from Disney ever said anything different. It was still LOOSLEY based, but my fussing was indeed about all the sequel junk and the fact that they have a ton of really cool characters in Mickey and Co. and never use them and should.

FOZ

 

[Jessie]

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

I still stand by Disney. Afterall, my dream in life is to be Tinker Bell when I gorw up...

 

[frogboy4]

There was a large debate at the time of Lion King's release that the story was based on Kimba the White Lion. Now I love the Lion King, but it definitely has Hamlet at the very least. I will reiterate that nothing is created in a vacuum. Saying that the writers had outside influences is not an insult - such a practice is expected. If such stories had no influences they'd likely appear really flat.

I will site Roger Rabbit as an example. It was based on a novel by Gary Wolf, but if you've read it - there really isn't much taken from the book. Disney and Amblin took a concept and made it their own. That's a wonderful thing - the movie is much better too!

Just my 1/2 cent.

 

[radionate]

I just don't know about the Hamlet comparisons. Yeah I see it to a point, but thats streching it in my opinion.

As for originality, everything borrows from something else anymore. I don't think you could come up with any story line, and not have some similarities to another script. Its what you do to distinguish it from the others that matters.

I agree with Jamie. The first Roger Rabbit Book (Who Censored Roger Rabbit), is so far different from the movie. The characters aren't even animated, rather they are photographed for the comic page of the newspaper, etc. It's a good book, and I love it, but far different from the movie. As is 101 Dalmations, The Little Mermaid (if you remember she dies in the end), Cinderella (she originally had gold slippers), etc etc etc. Its these little touches that make all the difference in the world, and I think that Disney (at times), is the master of this (although John Lasseter at Pixar could give them a run for their money if he ever indepedently produces films).

Where was I going with this message?

 

[beaker]

jessie(lion king related)

>>>Sorry to jump in and argue some more, but Lion King was an orginal movie, not based upon any classic or such and I think it was one of the best. Please give Disney some credit...<<<

Sorry to inform ya, but the Lion King(while one of the greatest Disney animated films of all time, and I still want to see the live show) is a absolute direct ripoff of the late great Japanese manga/anime artist Osamu Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion(I think there might have even been some litigation of some sort) There's even shirts with the cub from lion king looking in a mirow with kimba that says 'The Lyin' King'.

So whoever posted the above is absolutely correct, virtually every Disney classic animated film is based upon a previous story,a nd not off original ideas from the Diz


///beaker///

 

[beaker]

forgoboy:

Oops, didnt see you already referenced the Kimba the White Lion thing. I will say Kimba the White Lion isnt the only anime Disney ripped off for a theatrical release...a lot of anime fans would say the Japanese animation classic Nadiesco was ripped off into what would become 'Atlantis the lost empire'.

As for the Disney thing, I will say that Henson cannot continue like it has been in recent years...just able to trudge along, it needs big muscle and clout...there's good in any of the buyouts along as they are out of the emtv fiasco.

However, everyone expects the big Diz to be the ones...just like people assum the Lakers will win the nba title every year and that brainless action comedies will destroy at the box office.
So while I have really enjoyed Disney's limited partnership over the years, a lot would agree they are not a preferred choice.

 

[frogboy4]

I feel that's why Atlantis tanked. The animators took a style without doing adequate research and the film fell flat. I still haven't seen it, but the previews never thrilled me nor did the write-ups. Just an observation, though. Peole know I'm not a big anime fan. It's not for everybody.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Hiya,

I'm not large into anime, even if my best friend does a comic book in manga style.

I think the point at one time was missed. I'm not bothered by the fact that Disney takes from story books and creates good movies, and it isn't that I don't realize that every story, whether based solely or not, is still inspired by another story (see prior post somewhere when I said some of my comic strips happen when I'm reading a book of Peanuts strips). You take it and build off it if that's what you're reading, and there's also another problem that comes into play here:

Similarities. Very close to the time Schulz died, I did a whole strip (at www.rock103.com/crew/funnypages titled "How Does Snoop Do It?") about Buford trying to get to the top of Snoopy's Dog House. Soon after he died, a nationally syndicated cartoonist did the same strip. Did he rip me off, or is this a case of 2 great...or low down...minds thinking alike? I dunno; same thing goes for books, movies, and anything else, so I wasn't knocking that fact.

My problem with Disney (I liked Atlantis, by the way) is that they DO NOT use their OWN characters for diddly squat. When I see a new Mickey Mouse cartoon or MOVIE, THEN I'll give in to liking them some, but I have lost respect for Disney for some reason. They just forget about the things they own and keep running off on tangents doing other things instead of focusing on what folks already know and love.

That's my fear if they were to get the JHC; "Hey, We got the MUPPETS!!" When they get them, sure they'll do lots of big things at first, and as time goes along...it's like the kid with a cowboy hat on Christmas day...he has it and is a cowboy for about a month and then he forgets about it all.

One thing I think folks are forgetting about JHC, and I hear lots of grout about how they need more muscle behind them or that they don't do so well...considering their current conditions, with all the corporate mush they have ended up in for all the time they've been there, they've still constantly produced and kept out there and kept working hard and harder along the way and not let down any. Kudos to them for that, methinx.

But this is all just my own opinion, and opinions are like onions...sometimes, they make ya just wanna cry.

FOZ