Meet The Robinsons

Features, Shorts, Live-Action and Direct-To-Video
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Post by droosan » April 24th, 2007, 1:28 am

ShyViolet wrote:
The Lion King was ostensibly geared for children...but man, there was some HEAVY stuff in that film. Seeing your father murdered as a child (OK, lion cub) and blaming yourself for it. Having to fight your uncle to the near-death (well, OK, right before the the hyenas kill him) to get back the kingdom he stole, right after he roughed up your mom. Knowing that you can't go on squandering your life because of the trauma you endured as a child.....does any of this sound like a prototypical "kid's flick"?
No .. it sounds like Hamlet .. :P

------------

So .. how about that new Disney movie, Meet the Robinsons ..? I hear it's still in theaters, and well-worth watching, if you haven't seen it, yet. :)

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Post by ShyViolet » April 24th, 2007, 1:27 pm

I might see it again. I have to double-check that its still playing near me ,though--probably it is. :)

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No .. it sounds like Hamlet .. Razz

True, but:

A.) Hamlet didn't actually SEE his father killed (his father's ghost tells him about it.)

B.) Hamlet wasn't a child when the whole thing first happened (well, he was supposed to be a young man/teenager, but still.)


:)


I've heard the whole Hamlet/Lion King thing before, but having having read Hamlet a lot through my school career, I just don't see that much of a resemblance even though I know that it was somewhat intended to be like the story.

I think TLK was inspired by Hamlet, but definitely not based on it.

One of the most important aspects of Hamlet as a play is that Claudius goes after Hamlet's mom (sexually) after he kills Hamlet's father.
This was actually originally intended for TLK, but JK thought it would be too upsetting for little kids (on top of everything else that was going on.)

The whole thing about TLK is that Simba is a very young child when much of the film takes place. Hamlet is more or less a man--IMO that's a crucial difference.

(Mufasa also never tells Simba to kill Scar, just "remember who you are." You could say that he was subtly telling him to, but notice that Simba never actually DOES kill Scar ("I'm not like you") but the Hyenas do...(Simba's dirty work is done for him) which completes the film's narrative.)


Hamlet is a very heavy, very serious and very long play...but the whole "child witnesses father getting killed" thing was never in there. That's pure Disney's TLK.

Child trauma is also pure Disney, but taken to new heights in TLK.

:wink:
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Post by Ben » April 24th, 2007, 4:37 pm

The Lion King is Hamlet.

The Lion King II is Romeo And Juliet.

The Lion King 1.5 is Rosencratz and Guiderstern Are Dead.

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Post by Daniel » April 24th, 2007, 5:00 pm

Woot, LKII! :P

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Post by ShyViolet » April 24th, 2007, 9:24 pm

The Lion King II is Romeo And Juliet.

The Lion King 1.5 is Rosencratz and Guiderstern Are Dead.

Have to check these out sometime...'specially LK 1.5



:)
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Post by ShyViolet » April 25th, 2007, 1:35 pm

It's critics and the rest of Hollywood (as well as audience members) that have pigeonholed them as children's fare.

Yeah, see, that's my point.

Again, I know that there are plenty of animated films with heavier themes, and adult animated films like the ones Ben mentioned, but animation is seen by MOST people as kids' stuff - and there's a reason for that.


Part of that reason, is, like you said, that animated films are often sold to families and that certain scenes can't go as far as they might have been with live-action.

But IMO the biggest reason for most people seeing animation kid's stuff is that they just don't know know any better. (no offense to them.) Studios and corporations want the big bucks, so they stick a PG or G rating on most animation--mostly G--and churn out a lot of plushies/pez dispensers/sticker books/posters/DVDs so that families will spend money. (and who usually has the most money to spend--usually? Families.)

If anyone remembers, the TV commercials for Hunchback and Beauty and the Beast made both films look like they were intended for six-year-olds. So of course many assumed that's who they were for...ditto the rest of the publicity.

It's true these films are primarily marketed to families so they can't have sex scenes, nudity, or too much blood/scary stuff. But that doesn't mean they're Barney's Great Adventure, either. They're made as films. Films intended to entertain. :wink:
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Post by Meg » April 25th, 2007, 9:53 pm

It's true these films are primarily marketed to families so they can't have sex scenes, nudity, or too much blood/scary stuff.
Yeah, see, but I'm not saying I WANT to see sex and gore in animated films.

I just want them to have more adult STORIES.

See? :)

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Post by ShyViolet » April 25th, 2007, 11:01 pm

Gotcha Meg! :)

I also echo that statement....I think we have come along way but can still go further....:wink:
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Post by ShyViolet » April 26th, 2007, 3:51 am

I didn't even notice KM had been interviewed by Animated Views...:oops:

I'll have to give his movie a chance. :wink: (ASAP)
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Post by ShyViolet » April 26th, 2007, 6:47 pm

I just want them to have more adult STORIES.

But I do just have to add that I still think Beauty, Pocahontas and Lion King ARE adult stories.
Plots of murder, betrayal, massacres, romance, life and death? I can't see them any other way.


Image







:wink:
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Post by ShyViolet » April 29th, 2007, 7:55 pm

TAG blog weekend update of Robinsons BO....

...plus some interesting musings on the whole Pixar live-action issue in the comments section. :wink:



http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/ ... nd-bo.html


EDIT:


They comment here too.


http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/ ... r-and.html
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Post by Sullivan » May 4th, 2007, 4:46 pm

ShyViolet wrote: Also, I was SO choked up when (blank) met (blank) that I didn't really think of this, but technically, as Doc Brown warned Marty, :P "(doing blank)" could have a catastrophic effect on time itself. I still loved it, but I do wish that the whole "forbidden" aspect of that could have been addressed, ...

(blanks added to remove spoilerish stuff)

I think of it this way. In the world of Back to the Future, merely interacting in any significant way has potentially catastrophic reactions BECAUSE THAT'S necessary to move Zemeckis and Gale's plot.

In the world of BTTF, time travel is risky and time-streams alter radically and put our heroes in dangerous places.


In Meet the Robinsons, time travel is more friendly and fun. It doesn't really always necessitate that rack and ruin are imminent if you step on so much as a butterfly in the past.

Different movies, different tones, different dangers and consequences for action.

Think of MTR time travel as being like the people flying in the soap bubbles. In SOME movies, those soap bubbles would be deadly! One sharp part of your clothes and the bubble pops and you fall screaming to your death.

But that's not Bill Joyce, and it's not Disney. Disney is, "hey this is fun and whimsical", not "This is dark and dangerous and deadly and peril abounds at every turn."

So blank can meet blank in MTR, and it's not the end of the world. Now if blank... KILLED blank... well then you're in a way different movie.

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Post by Ben » May 4th, 2007, 6:30 pm

I've drawn a blank on this one. ;)

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Post by Meg » May 4th, 2007, 6:44 pm

But I do just have to add that I still think Beauty, Pocahontas and Lion King ARE adult stories.
Plots of murder, betrayal, massacres, romance, life and death? I can't see them any other way.
True, they're adult themes, but they're played out in a very kiddy-friendly way. (I'm not putting any of these films down, mind you - The Lion King is my favorite movie - I'd just like to see more variety is all.) I mean, most of those you’ve mentioned have G ratings.
Disney is, "hey this is fun and whimsical", not "This is dark and dangerous and deadly and peril abounds at every turn."
Even though Sully wasn't discussing what I'm talking about I thought I'd use this quote anyway. While I have no problem with Disney sticking to what they do -hey, it's their tradition - I would like to see other animation studios go for a "This is dark and dangerous and deadly and peril abounds at every turn." movie sometime. :)

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Post by Daniel » June 16th, 2007, 12:03 am

From Ultimate Disney:
June 15, 2007 - Disney has informed retailers that Meet the Robinsons will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on October 23, a month after the previously-anticipated release date and nearly seven full months since the movie opened in theaters. The DVD will present the film in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1.

The slipcovered single-disc release will include an audio commentary by director Stephen Anderson, deleted scenes, music videos by Rob Thomas ("Little Wonders") and the Jonas Brothers ("Kids of the Future"), the featurettes "Inventing the Robinsons" and "Keep Moving Forward: Inventions That Shaped the World", and the family tree game "Family Function 5000." The Blu-ray Disc will contain all of the DVD's features plus more deleted scenes and the game "Bowler Hat Barrage!"
And here's the Blue-ray cover art:

Image

Minimal bonus features, but hey, at least there's an audio commentary! :)

The cover art is ok, but I really hope they change the backround color. Looks tacky.

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