Don Bluth. After NIHM, It seems like it went downhill. I sat thru ONE showing of ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN and literally left the theater with a migraine headache.
Yeah, well no one said the creative process was going to be a cakewalk. Even if you go indie, sometimes you might do ideas your audience will agree with, suffer burnout and struggle to keep things relevant, or make something popular and have a hard time doing a follow up. And even if it gets popular, hoho, well Rule 34 and all that =P, nothing more sobering then seeing something from your stable that might… not be something your comfortable with from fans who don’t have restraint. Point is, either mainstream or doing it yourself, your gonna suffer for that art. But keep the spark alive regardless, it’s not all doom and gloom, just part of the process and a test of your fortitude in following your passion.
And then, of course, there’s the dreaded plague that is sequelitis. Got an amazing animated movie with beautiful art, great character development, and an engaging plot? Did it do really well at the box office? Great! Let’s milk that sucker for all it’s worth with tons of shitty direct-to-video sequels!
An American Tail had three sequels. The Land Before Time had THIRTEEN sequels. Even The Secret of NIMH had one, starring Timmy, the kid who was sick in bed throughout the first film (spoiler alert: it was not well-received). And Don Bluth had no involvement in any of these shovelware sequels. Poor guy must be having fits after seeing what studio execs have done to his work.
I felt the same way about “Monsters vs Aliens”.
It had everything it needed for a blockbuster animated film.
And then…SWING AND A MISS!
5 more minutes of character development, & Disney execs would have been haviing cardiac arrest, from the rivalry.
Beginning of movie: Rooster’s crowing doesn’t effect whether or not the sun rises so they kick him off the farm.
End of movie: They need Rooster to crow to raise the sun.
How does a movie plot get THAT self=contradicted?! Like seriously, how?
@Toon-Resurrection92: But at a lot of terrible costs, with animated movies to this day taking the wrong lessons from it, further ruining the viability of voice acting as a career path.
And also seriously damaging said big star’s relationship with the studio for some pretty blatant rules lawyering around the contractual demands he had for taking the role.
I have gotten contrasting reports over how much meddling was going on with this film over the years. However, the part that baffles ME the most, the tacked-on live-action bookends, THAT was all on Don Bluth; a failed experiment in trying to do the Roger Rabbit thing as a way of testing the waters for working in live-action films. He immediately regretted that decision.
But look on the bright side Kendra. There will be a movie coming out very soon with everyone’s favorite comedic actor playing a certain role that will shape the world of family films forever.
If Kendra thought Rock-A-Doodle was bad, she would utterly despise A Troll in Central Park when she sees it in 1994. Rock-A-Doodle had potential, but studio executives screwed that Bluth film over.
I love Kendra’s ridiculously unhinged “denial” in the original strip, but this is just as great a perspective piece for her. & I’m just gonna say it now: Aaron, for the next 3 Don movie dates, you better buy some gloves……….. HOCKEY gloves.
I’m glad this comic actually acknowledges the bullcrap Don Bluth had to go through when making this film (unfortunately driving him to retirement in the process). While people are allowed to criticize a film for what it is, I think it should be fair to at least be aware of any behind the scenes activities that may have contributed to its quality.
As for Kendra’s plight, she could always go indie. Though she’ll definitely have a hell of a hard time doing so since her timeline lacks the resources that many indie creators today have to accomplish their dreams. Especially since even indie creators like Ralph Bakshi weren’t always able to escape executive meddling.
I can’t tell if Kendra is right, because my memory of Rock a doodle was just tossed into the mental paper shredder and never rewatched.
Swearing brings down the coherency of a work, but _trying_ to be dumb does so also.
I wonder what Kendra’s opinion of the American Tail tv cartoon would be?
Kendra, you are NOT the target audience for this film.
@Christopher Max Wall
Do you have to be damn cynical on EVERYTHING?
Oh god wait until she gets to a Troll in Central Park.
Don Bluth. After NIHM, It seems like it went downhill. I sat thru ONE showing of ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN and literally left the theater with a migraine headache.
*your audience won’t agree with
Yeah, well no one said the creative process was going to be a cakewalk. Even if you go indie, sometimes you might do ideas your audience will agree with, suffer burnout and struggle to keep things relevant, or make something popular and have a hard time doing a follow up. And even if it gets popular, hoho, well Rule 34 and all that =P, nothing more sobering then seeing something from your stable that might… not be something your comfortable with from fans who don’t have restraint. Point is, either mainstream or doing it yourself, your gonna suffer for that art. But keep the spark alive regardless, it’s not all doom and gloom, just part of the process and a test of your fortitude in following your passion.
And then, of course, there’s the dreaded plague that is sequelitis. Got an amazing animated movie with beautiful art, great character development, and an engaging plot? Did it do really well at the box office? Great! Let’s milk that sucker for all it’s worth with tons of shitty direct-to-video sequels!
An American Tail had three sequels. The Land Before Time had THIRTEEN sequels. Even The Secret of NIMH had one, starring Timmy, the kid who was sick in bed throughout the first film (spoiler alert: it was not well-received). And Don Bluth had no involvement in any of these shovelware sequels. Poor guy must be having fits after seeing what studio execs have done to his work.
I felt the same way about “Monsters vs Aliens”.
It had everything it needed for a blockbuster animated film.
And then…SWING AND A MISS!
5 more minutes of character development, & Disney execs would have been haviing cardiac arrest, from the rivalry.
Beginning of movie: Rooster’s crowing doesn’t effect whether or not the sun rises so they kick him off the farm.
End of movie: They need Rooster to crow to raise the sun.
How does a movie plot get THAT self=contradicted?! Like seriously, how?
@Toon-Resurrection92: But at a lot of terrible costs, with animated movies to this day taking the wrong lessons from it, further ruining the viability of voice acting as a career path.
And also seriously damaging said big star’s relationship with the studio for some pretty blatant rules lawyering around the contractual demands he had for taking the role.
I have gotten contrasting reports over how much meddling was going on with this film over the years. However, the part that baffles ME the most, the tacked-on live-action bookends, THAT was all on Don Bluth; a failed experiment in trying to do the Roger Rabbit thing as a way of testing the waters for working in live-action films. He immediately regretted that decision.
But look on the bright side Kendra. There will be a movie coming out very soon with everyone’s favorite comedic actor playing a certain role that will shape the world of family films forever.
Get ready Kendra. Bevy it’s all down hill from here
Also, TheJayster49, the video in which Freddy Kruger raps was for The Fat Boys song Ready For Freddy.
If Kendra thought Rock-A-Doodle was bad, she would utterly despise A Troll in Central Park when she sees it in 1994. Rock-A-Doodle had potential, but studio executives screwed that Bluth film over.
I love Kendra’s ridiculously unhinged “denial” in the original strip, but this is just as great a perspective piece for her. & I’m just gonna say it now: Aaron, for the next 3 Don movie dates, you better buy some gloves……….. HOCKEY gloves.
Also, Freddy Krueger was in a rap video? Why was I not aware of this? XD
I’m glad this comic actually acknowledges the bullcrap Don Bluth had to go through when making this film (unfortunately driving him to retirement in the process). While people are allowed to criticize a film for what it is, I think it should be fair to at least be aware of any behind the scenes activities that may have contributed to its quality.
As for Kendra’s plight, she could always go indie. Though she’ll definitely have a hell of a hard time doing so since her timeline lacks the resources that many indie creators today have to accomplish their dreams. Especially since even indie creators like Ralph Bakshi weren’t always able to escape executive meddling.
I can’t tell if Kendra is right, because my memory of Rock a doodle was just tossed into the mental paper shredder and never rewatched.
Swearing brings down the coherency of a work, but _trying_ to be dumb does so also.
I wonder what Kendra’s opinion of the American Tail tv cartoon would be?