Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[pheneix]

Maybe you already have answered this and if so just refer me to the post. But why even greenlight the film if you want to set the movie up to fail? Because it failed Disney now has to take a beating from the media, has to write it off, the stock may be impacted, etc. How do they benefit from doing that? Wouldn't it have been easier to just cancel it during preproduction? (Which at one or two points they actually did to cut the budget)

They don't benefit from green lighting guaranteed failures. Disney is making every excuse they can about why this movie failed and for certain egos around the Studio making this whole fiasco look like it was "intended this way" or was a "bonafide hit job" is a nice way to set someone else up for the fall.

Spirit is relaying 100% accurate information with his friend advising him about the IP issues, but its a total bullsh!t excuse for anyone at Disney to trot out. If this movie grossed $115mm+ on opening weekend no one would have given a damn about the IP license. At all.

 

[HMF]

Simple. The Bruckheimer, Verbinski, Depp trimumvirate. They get pushed down a peg and the next time Disney or any other compant negotiates with them all of the billions they've made will be regarded as old news.

Do you think this will help the Royce Matthew Pirates Lawsuit?

 

[WDW1974]

I really do want to get back to my thread, but someone started a refillable mug thread and those are like catnip to the Spirit ... truly one of the signs of why this species ain't all we think it is.

But those threads just get me ...baby ... I can't help myself. They are such trainwrecks. But I shall be back later to see if anyone wants to argue with me about The Lone Ranger or WDW's (and O-Town's) weak summer thus far. Now, pour me a Coke (stolen, please) and let's get ready to rumble ...

 

[HMF]

Can't wait to hear. While we're waiting, anyone want to comment on the newest extension of the Disney PrincessTM(R)(C)SM brand?

I wish to God this was fake. This fall, DCP is launching Disney Princess Palace Pets. Top row L - R: Ariel's kitty Treasure, Rapunzel's pony Blondie, Snow's bunny Berry. Bottom row L - R: Cinderella's puppy Pumpkin, Belle's puppy Teacup and Aurora's kitty Beauty. Not pictured is Mulan's panda, Blossom.

I can't even.

The Brand Lowering agenda continues to sink to previously unimaginable levels.

 

[crispy]

I really do want to get back to my thread, but someone started a refillable mug thread and those are like catnip to the Spirit ... truly one of the signs of why this species ain't all we think it is.

But those threads just get me ...baby ... I can't help myself. They are such trainwrecks. But I shall be back later to see if anyone wants to argue with me about The Lone Ranger or WDW's (and O-Town's) weak summer thus far. Now, pour me a Coke (stolen, please) and let's get ready to rumble ...

I really don't have anything to argue because I haven't seen the LR and the low crowds during peak season is making me laugh, but I feel a bit stab-by today and like I could kill someone with my bare hands today so I welcome a good rumble. SO BRING IT ON!!!! Well, not necessarily you, but someone (looking at you Tim_4).

 

[HMF]

Does it suck? Yes, but once again it's Disney not caring about how it portrays its own movies in marketing as long as the stuff sells, regardless of how irrelevant or degrading it is. And then they wonder why they can't maket PatF, Rapunzel (renamed Tangled at the last minute in English speaking countries), The Snow Queen (now Frozen) to broader audiences or sell Sleeping Beauty video units to families with only boys. Short-term greed always wins with Disney.

I cannot say enough how much I hate the fact that Disney has been turning itself from a premier Entertainment brand for a wide, wide audience to the kiddiefied image-stigmatized monstrosity it's turning into. I truly fear that some day those of us who grew up loving the Classic Disney and being Disney Fans are going to be stigmatized like adults who watch television shows designed for a 3-year old audience. This is the image the Disney name will sink to if something drastic is not done. Now we can't have films called Rapunzel because it would be toxic branding. How long before the Disney name itself becomes toxic what will happen then? Will the Company become ABC-ESPN Holdings Inc. or something like that because that is the route they are going.

 

[JenniferS]

The whole refillable mug RFID chip that is being rolled out is weird to say the least, but with all the "abuse" that mug system has, it's totally understandable. And if you think about it, if you buy 3 bottles of coke its about 12 bucks anyway, so to get a mug is somewhat of a deal.

When I told my kids about this, they said: No big deal. Buy one mug and use it to refill three from our last trip.
This took them all of five seconds to come up with. Imagine the ideas real scammers can conjure once they put their minds to it.

 

[AngryEyes]

I cannot say enough how much I hate the fact that Disney has been turning itself from a premier Entertainment brand for a wide, wide audience to the kiddiefied image-stigmatized monstrosity it's turning into. I truly fear that some day those of us who grew up loving the Classic Disney and being Disney Fans are going to be stigmatized like adults who watch television shows designed for a 3-year old audience. This is the image the Disney name will sink to if something drastic is not done.

But when they make a movie with off-screen heart-eating, people complain about it. What's a corporation to do? (TLR was a very good movie, btw. The whole family loved it.)

 

[COProgressFan]

I totally forgot how much I miss the original Illumination ROE pre show loop, with "they were dancing barefoot". So much better then the Epcot dance party loop they've used since 05.

Amazing how we have righteous indignation about icing on cinnamon rolls but when something actually good changed there was little outrage.

I suppose music isn't fattening

If I recall correctly, there was a small dust-up when the change of pre-show music first took place. Nothing huge, and I'm sure you can search the old threads, but there were a good number of folks who preferred the old music.

I know personally I like the old pre-show music better, but the new tracks have grown on me in the past 8 years. As much as I still love RoE to this day, the bigger question is when the show is going to be refreshed or changed out. Part of me would love to see a new, technologically updated show. But part of me is afraid of a new "value engineered" version of Illuminations with half they pyro and the elimination of the wonderful score. Fortunately for me, TDO will never shell out the cash to change anything, so I should be content with what we have at this point.

 

[SirLink]

I personally Liked At worlds End A lot. I felt the Pirates 2 was the worst of the original 3. It was just a mid story that didn't really solve any mysteries or give away anything. Pirates 3 finished the first story perfectly and I think Pirates 4 would have been better if ALL the original cast came back....But they didn't!

It would of helped if they kept to I think it was the second script which had Capt Jack being chased down on to a frozen Thames and through a market on said Thames.

But onto Pirates 3 understood it completely ... could it of been shorter sure ... could they of shortened the romantic bits down absolutely.

 

[COProgressFan]

The Brand Lowering agenda continues to sink to previously unimaginable levels.

I just don't get it. All Iger talks about is "brand, brand, brand" but then it seems like they go out of their way to cheapen the brand, water-down the brand, and significantly damage the brand. Which way do they want to have it?

Would Disney-branded toilet paper be a good thing? How about a line of Princess themed pregnancy tests for teen moms?

 

[flynnibus]

When I told my kids about this, they said: No big deal. Buy one mug and use it to refill three from our last trip.
This took them all of five seconds to come up with. Imagine the ideas real scammers can conjure once they put their minds to it.

But the system doesn't allow for that.. so your kids were beat before they tried

 

[WDWFigment]

Personally, I don't feel that The Lone Ranger was another John Carter in the regard that Disney destined it to fail, but rather is now the blame game being played as no one wants to be held accountable. I don't buy the reports I've seen that there was a conceited effort within Disney to doom the project. The documented history of the film speaks for itself--and in that regard alone it should be no surprise to anyone that there might have been some individuals at Disney who were less than enthusiastic about the project and possibly didn't give it their all to make it a success. Hollywood egos being what they are, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a certain amount of this on most projects.

The larger part of the problem here is that this film has received 121 negative reviews from independent critics (that's far worse than John Carter). Some of these reviews may be a result of laziness or reviewing the film simply based on the names attached, but not all of them--or even the majority of them. Contrasting the audience score to the critics' score is no indication of sabotage--it happens all the time with blockbusters of this sort, and certainly Bruckheimer is no stranger to it.

As for some specifics:

• Calling a film bloated doesn't necessarily have to do with attention spans. I think TLR was bloated, but Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia are two of my favorite movies, and I don't feel that way about either of them. It's all about what you do with your run-time.
• I thought TLR was pretty violent for a PG-13 film, but I only mention that in juxtaposition to the (attempts at) humor. I like violent films...
• The "humor" is what really sinks the ship for me. I flat out did not find this movie funny, and thought many of the "jokes" either stalled action or were cringe-worthy.
• The framed-story element was pointless.
• The movie has no tone--it jumps all over the place in terms of storytelling.
• The last 30 (or so) minutes of the film are just flat out fun. I disagree with any criticism of the end...

As I've said previously, I think there is a solid popcorn movie under the surface despite these criticisms, but I just didn't find the finished product to be that. I hope that it grows legs through positive word of mouth, as I think there's more to tell here, and I think if given the chance, they could really hit their stride with a sequel.

Reasonable minds may differ, though. I can understand how people might like TLR as-is, and I don't begrudge anyone for that.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

You know what film this summer IS bloated? Man of Steel.

 

[OFTeric]

You know what film this summer IS bloated? Man of Steel.

Man of steel had so many jump cuts, it felt like a student film submission for a Comic Book themed assignment.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Man of steel had so many jump cuts, it felt like a student film submission for a Comic Book themed assignment.

More like a fan film. Snyder makes so many assumptions about the audience's knowledge of Superman that it doesn't really try to give those not in the know a reason to CARE about Superman.

 

[willtravel]

I cannot say enough how much I hate the fact that Disney has been turning itself from a premier Entertainment brand for a wide, wide audience to the kiddiefied image-stigmatized monstrosity it's turning into. I truly fear that some day those of us who grew up loving the Classic Disney and being Disney Fans are going to be stigmatized like adults who watch television shows designed for a 3-year old audience. This is the image the Disney name will sink to if something drastic is not done. Now we can't have films called Rapunzel because it would be toxic branding. How long before the Disney name itself becomes toxic what will happen then? Will the Company become ABC-ESPN Holdings Inc. or something like that because that is the route they are going.

Isn't the Walt of Disney already gone?

 

[Captain Chaos]

I really do want to get back to my thread, but someone started a refillable mug thread and those are like catnip to the Spirit ... truly one of the signs of why this species ain't all we think it is.

But those threads just get me ...baby ... I can't help myself. They are such trainwrecks. But I shall be back later to see if anyone wants to argue with me about The Lone Ranger or WDW's (and O-Town's) weak summer thus far. Now, pour me a Coke (stolen, please) and let's get ready to rumble ...

O-Town's week summer? A few of my friends are in WDW right now and have sent me pictures. The place looks like a ghost town. I was amazed at how light the crowds were. Maybe things will pick up the next few weeks before school starts in August for some and September for the rest. How are Universal and IOA doing with crowds? They busier than normal? Or are they ghost towns too?

 

[culturenthrills]

I think all of O Town may be down this summer. You can go on Uni website and book a room for next week at any of the Uni hotels. I have found some good deals on Hotwire. Sort of surprising how down things are this summer. Maybe people are staying closer to home this year or they finally figured out that coming to FL in the summer sucks.

 

[WDWFanDave]

I really do want to get back to my thread, but someone started a refillable mug thread and those are like catnip to the Spirit ... truly one of the signs of why this species ain't all we think it is.

But those threads just get me ...baby ... I can't help myself. They are such trainwrecks. But I shall be back later to see if anyone wants to argue with me about The Lone Ranger or WDW's (and O-Town's) weak summer thus far. Now, pour me a Coke (stolen, please) and let's get ready to rumble ...

Saw your posts in the other thread...a Happy Birthday to you, Spirit! Is the big day today?

Hey-next time I go to WDW, if you're around...I'll bring an extra mug and fill it up for you Call it a b'day present!

Haven't seen TLR, so can't argue with you about it. But, after reading so much on here, I'd like to see it. Not sure if I'll spring for the tickets or just wait for it later this year on Blu-Ray. Saw both Despicable Me 2 and Monsters U. Not surprising that DM2 did so well; MU was good, but left me feeling like it could have been better.

Bottoms up on that Coke!