I’ve always been a big fan of Disney movies, but it seems like lately there haven’t been a lot of new ideas coming from them.
The only new movies I can think of lately are Monsters Inc., Lost City of Atlantis and coming soon Lilo and Stitch.
Everything else is a recycled movie. There has been Pocahontas 2, Cinderella 2, Alladin 2 & 3, Beauty and the Beast 2 &3, Lion King 2, The Little Mermaid 2, The Goofy Movie 2 and Toy Story 2, but I think that one was better then the original.
What’s going on ? Is anyone else bothered by this ?
Well, first off, Disney hasn’t been very original for a LONG time. Pixar is probably the best thing going for them. As for all the sequels, basically Disney has found that there is plenty of money to be made just re-hashing old ideas and selling them on video. They sell stuff based off the name, and people buy it.
So, what is their motivation to be fresh? Disney is just a business. Been to Disney World lately? They won’t even build a ride, if they can’t figure out a way to sell stuff on the way out of the ride…tore down Mister Toad’s Wild Ride for that very reason.
I think Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was replaced by the new Winnie the Pooh ride. It was an effort to placate the multitude of Pooh fans who couldn’t BELIEVE that DisneyWorld had no Pooh-themed ride.
“The Emperor’s New Groove” is a recent offering and is, I must say, an absolute hoot. Repeated viewings (which I must withstand, as a parent who watches television with my children) have not diminished its humor. David Spade and Patrick Warburton (the guy who played Puddy on Seinfeld) are hysterical.
My favorite line: “He’s gonna lead you down the path of rightousness. I’m gonna lead you down the path that ROCKS!!”
I admit, I loved Winnie the Pooh as a kid, but come on, to replace Mr. T and the Weasles in Hell with that? What the FUCK?!?!?! Persoanlly, I haven’t liked Disney for a LOOOOONG time. Aladin was pretty good, but the Lion King was a rip off of an old anime about a white lion called Timba (they couldn’t even come up with a more original name). The Emperor’s New Groove was absolutely AWESOME, but aside from that, everything Disney’s done over the past several years has made me want to vomit. First off, the Hunchback should NEVER have been touched by Disney. The fact they’re releasing a SEQUEL? And at the same time, a sequel to CINDERELLA? The movie’s damn near fifty years old, and they decide to make a fucking sequel. What the fuck is wrong with them? Also, I remember being a kid and watching the Disney Channel a lot (hey, they showed like, two hours of Gummie Bears a day!), and the big redeaming quality of it was that there were no commercials. They’ve since gotten rid of that. Disney sucks. They blow. And I hate them a lot. One of these days I’m sure they’ll do something to make me appreciate them again, but the next sequal I see, I’m going down to the Disney store and gutting Mickey Mouse.
It’s all about the money, oh my brothers. Rehashing the stuff that’s worked before is a great strategy for Disney for several reasons:
They don’t have to come up with new ideas.
They know that the idea they’re reselling has made lots of money before, so it should work again.
By releasing sequels directly to video, they save the expense of a big theatrical release.
They save money by making sequels because, since the public is already familiar with the characters, they don’t have to do as much marketing.
Direct-to-video films are cheaper to make because the animation can be of lower quality than a theatrical release.
And so on. But yes, they’re taking it to extremes now. I mean, come on, was anyone really clamoring for a sequel to Cinderella, fer cryin’ out loud? Or, for that matter, the disappointing Hunchback of Notre Dame or Pocahontas? I’m sure we’ll shortly see sequels to The Jungle Book, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver and Company, Pinocchio, and The Aristocats. One hopes that they’re smart enough to leave Snow White alone, but with this Cinderella thing, you never know.
I believe that the theatrical release of the Peter Pan sequel was a way to “test the waters” and see if theatrical releases for such sequels are economically viable or desirable. I’m betting the answer there is “no.”
Oh, on the Winnie the Pooh thing: I hear that Winnie has become Disney’s top money-making product, even bigger than Mickey Mouse, so it doesn’t surprise me in the least that they’ve given him extra space in the park.
In conclusion, I completely concur that The Emperor’s New Groove rocked. I love that llama’s face during the, “I didn’t do anything, someone’s throwing stuff,” scene.
Three years ago, Uncle Cecil discussed this controversy in Did Disney’s The Lion King rip off an old Japanese TV series? He found numerous similarities, but suggested that it seems to be more a case of the development of common themes than direct copying.
I’ll add:
They make sure that the copyright limits are continuously extended, so their work is perpetually protected from ever going into the public domain, even though much of their success is from having access to earlier works in the public domian. (However, the constitutionality of these retroactive copyright extensions is currently under U.S. Supreme Court review).
Well, considering all the other places they COULD have put the Pooh ride, I know better. Heck, they still aren’t using all the 20,000 leagues space for much of anything.
I have a brother who works at Disney. they pretty much don’t want to build any rides that don’t have marketabiliy. Mr. Toads was mostly unrecognizable to today’s kids. Dispite the ride being one of the best in Fantasy Land. So, they ripped it up. I wish they woulda ripped up Small World…
The really disappointing thing is that the Disney Pooh ride is an emasculated version of the full-blown one at Tokyo Disneyland. We get the cut-down version so Michael Eisner can save money.
And yes, Disney hasn’t been creative or original in ages (though The Emperor’s New Groove was a fluke, and the Pixar stuff don’t count). They’re just out to make a quick buck right now.
True, but to retool “20,000 Leagues” is gonna take some serious bucks. Replacing “Mr. Toad” with Pooh was a matter of redesigning the sets; they kept the ride structure and drive-train intact. From Disney’s perspective, I’m sure that was a much more economically feasible alternative.
As of right now, a portion of the old “20,000 Leagues” ride is Ariel’s Grotto, where you can go get her autograph. The rest is basically blocked from view. The old queueing area is used as a shaded spot for character meetings.
For what it’s worth, they’ve also added an Aladdin ride that’s similar to Dumbo. You get in a magic carpet and glide around while controlling how high you fly. There’s a camel nearby who spits water on you periodically. The ride has been placed in the open area between the Tiki Birds, the Swiss Family Treehouse and the Jungle Cruise.
Indeed. For those who haven’t heard about this: the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was passed in 1998, extending the copyrights on many works soon to have passed into the public domain. The term was formerly “life of the author plus 50 years”; the Bono act extended the term to “life of the author plus 70 years”. Since the copyright on Disney’s Steamboat Willie was due to expire in 2003, this bought them some time. I believe that the Bono Act passed due to the relentless lobbying of Disney, coupled with the fact that Bono died before it was passed, prompting Congress to pass it “in his honor”, since it was his pet project.
But here’s the interesting bit: the foundation of all copyright and patent law is in the U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8. The sentence reads:
The only reason artists and inventors are granted “monopoly rights” for a limited time in their creation is to provide some incentive to create works that, when the limited time has passed, will benefit the American people. Without being at least somewhat rewarded, people probably won’t create; still, down the road, their work should benefit the public. The only reason copyright and patent exist, really, is “to promote science and useful arts”, and legislation must be crafted with that aim in mind.
The current argument which the Supreme Court has agreed to hear (Eldred v. Ashcroft) argues that extending the duration of copyright on presently-existing works is contrary to the Constitutionally-stated purpose of copyright, since the extension on existing copyrights would only increase the profits of holders, not promote science and the useful arts. Extending copyright terms on existing works, the argument goes, does not encourage creation, it only rewards creators of content already in existence without advancing any governmental interest. I think they have a hell of a shot; the whole point of copyright is that everything, eventually, falls into the public domain.
Disney does get good original movies on its channel and on Wonderful World of Disney, though, even if it’s not bothering to do good originals as theatrical releases. I enjoyed “Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister” that was on Wonderful World of Disney last Sunday.