Did you know that the show “At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper” is owned by Disney? Well, I didn’t. But apparently, Disney has decided that they want to “take the show in a new direction.”
One that doesn’t involve Ebert. Or Roeper.
Tags: pop culture, hobbies, web
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Last year, the rumors first started buzzing about Tim Burton’s 3-D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, which he would make for Disney. It’s part of a three-picture deal that will also include an adaptation of his 1984 short film, Frankenweenie.
In picking Tim Burton, the famously prudish Disney must be fully aware of the direction he will take the story. Alice in Wonderland is a story that, in our jaded times, has been found to be laden with innuendo. The video game American McGee’s Alice explores the darker side of Wonderland - and was also rumored for a film adaptation, although that seems to have been put on hold. In Lost Girls, writer Alan Moore explored the sexual undertones in three famous girl heroines: Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Wendy from Peter Pan, and, of course, Alice.
Tags: web, life, recreation
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It’s true, it’s true, o my readership–one of the biggest online brand names and one of only a handful to survive the great dot-com bubble of the early 2000’s, Amazon, has launched the beta version of its video on demand service.
This will allow Amazon users to watch, via streaming video, any of forty thousand currently available titles. Requiring no special software, Amazon “rents” the videos for specific fees per individual title. Since the titles are all streaming in nature, they can’t be seen anywhere where there is no internet access, like on airplanes and such. At least not currently–I’ve heard more that one rumor that says airlines are working on mobile wireless broadband in the cabin. Though given the state of the airline industry these days I’m leaning toward doubting it.
Tags: trivia, hobbies, pop culture
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Up front warning this week, folks. This one’s going to be controversial as all hell. I know I’m not exactly a stranger to that sort of thing–I’ve been screaming vitriol at Hollywood for years upon, and I’m one of the only few commentators expressing serious doubts about the movie theatre as a viable industry, but this one just caught me right and I figured it might start some people talking.
We might all well be familiar with the whole concept of a Disney princess–those multicultural, blandly inoffensive figurines designed to hawk product within an inch of their unrealistic-body-typed lives. And you’ve got to admit that Disney’s been pretty proactive about the whole “multicultural” bit–the last twenty years have witnessed the Disney princess go from exclusively Snow White (in every sense of the term!) to include Arabs and Native Americans and fish-women hybrids and Atlanteans. One glaring omission remained until only recently–there were no black Disney princesses.
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Disney’s trying something new and different, in a move that looks like it’ll make theatre owners cringe still further. Apparently, Disney will be offering FREE STREAMING VIDEO of several of their full-length money machines–by that of course I mean movies–following their airing on Wonderful World of Disney this summer on ABC. Plans are to show one single commercial at the beginning of said film (amazing restraint on Disney’s part, in all honesty) and then the film will begin playing.
There’s no word yet as to whether or not the films streamed will be the full theatrical versions or the edited-for-television versions, but my guess would be the same one they just showed on Wonderful World of Disney.
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Years ago, we first heard rumors that Disney was producing an updated version of the fairy tale “Rapunzel.” Originally titled Rapunzel Unbraided, it would have been the story of two “romantically challenged, real-world teenagers” transformed into fairy tale characters by a disgruntled witch. (Sound familiar? Yeah, I think they might have used some of the discarded concepts for Enchanted, just in reverse.)
The film was to be an answer to Pixar’s increasing success, and proof that Disney was still the king of animation. But lead animator Glen Keane, who was also to direct Rapunzel Unbraided, felt that the film was going in a direction he didn’t like. He revamped it all, called for rewrites, and returned to the origins of the fairy tale.
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In a move that strikes me as more sad than anything else, Lindsey Lohan’s little sister Ali Lohan is going to be taking on a role in High School Musical 3.
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And then, there’s more sequel news out from the great Mouse Empire–National Treasure, which just released a sequel, is looking at a third and even fourth in the series.
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To whoever’s in charge of distribution at Disney’s motion picture department, an open letter. Rather, a note. Okay, just one scream of frustrated rage:
Enough with the sequels already!
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We’ve all known the feeling of being a tiny fish in a very big ocean. One way or another, we can all relate to the plight of the little clownfish in Finding Nemo - his desire to explore places he knows are forbidden, and the danger that ensues.
Finding Nemo was equally popular with kids, teenagers, and their parents, due to its charming humor and relateable themes. Featuring voice talents like Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, it quickly became a Disney classic.
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