The state and future of animation

[EricJ]

Because they're remaking movies they OWN.
It's their version of what Warner does, when they keep trying to ram Space Jam and Wonder Woman down our throats. That's why most of us in the US dearly wish Disney would stop.

No one else on the planet has ever wondered about Disney buying Ghibli, especially most of the folks at Ghibli, but that's pretty academic, since Disney's licensing deal with Ghibli ended quite a few years ago.

(I do have to offer a note of thanks, though...Do you know most of the folks here used to think I was nutty and idiosyncratically milked dead threads to within a sad inch of their lives?)

[Ben]

"Used"…!?

[EricJ]

(I was taking bets which version of that joke you would use within minutes. Looks like you went for the low-cost off-brand version.
I was even offering 3:1 on the Toy Story 2/Mr. Potato Head citation.)

[GeffreyDrogon]

Why has Disney been making so many remakes of their classic animated films, and when did that start? Why aren't other studios making (live-action) remakes of classic animated films like Balto or contemporary ones like Shrek or Spirited Away?

[GeffreyDrogon]

Are there any flaws in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs?

[GeffreyDrogon]

Why is Balto such a good movie despite being very loosely based on the 1925 Serum Run to Nome?

[Ben]

Where's the Duracell bunny when you need him?

[Dacey]

Energizer, Ben. Energizer.

[Daniel]

It's actually the Duracell Bunny everywhere except in the US and Canada. Duracell's mascot debuted in 1973, 15 years prior to the Energizer Bunny. Energizer Bunny was created as a cool parody and because the trademark had lapsed, got to keep the rights over here. A tale of two bunnies.

[Randall]

Fascinating. I never really paid attention to this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duracell_Bunny

https://medium.com/knowledge-stew/energ ... 7b4ec37ff0

So, there are Duracell bunnies, and a single Energizer bunny. And now they have to keep to their own defined territories! Huh.

I remember the original Duracell commercial,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VhRKJX_sk

but it's the Energizer bunny in shades that I think of these days!

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... lawsuit-us

[EricJ]

Are there any flaws in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs?

I remember walking out of the theater after fifteen minutes, calling it "The movie where characters bounce off the walls literally AND figuratively", but YMMV.

Why has Disney been making so many remakes of their classic animated films, and when did that start? Why aren't other studios making (live-action) remakes of classic animated films like Balto or contemporary ones like Shrek or Spirited Away?

To answer the first question...remember back when the Six Blind Studios were trying to figure out the Elephant-like success of Tim Burton's Alice?

The first blind studio said "It's a dark fairytale!", and went out to do feminist Snow White reboots.
The second blind studios said "It's a fangirl fantasy!", and also went out to do feminist Snow White reboots.
But the third blind studio, Disney, felt it up for an hour and said "It's a live-action version of classic Disney!" and went out to do feminist reboots of Cinderella and Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty".
(But then they wanted to "legitimize" their live-action reboots by getting Famous Directors to do them...Like Tim Burton doing Dumbo.)

To answer your repeated question--which you will no doubt continue asking tomorrow, and the rest of the week--Ghibli won't remake Spirited Away, because they're smart, and don't do things they don't know how to do. And DreamWorks won't remake Shrek because there's been no such thing as live-action DreamWorks since the late 00's.
One Japanese studio (not Ghibli) did, however, do a live-action Kiki's Delivery Service, and it sucks out loud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA1Nz9CnNKQ

[Dacey]

How on earth was 2015 Cinderella a “feminist reboot”?

[EricJ]

Well, granted it's not trying to have it both ways, like "Snow White & the Huntsman", but, you mean, besides the fact that Cindy already meets the prince while out riding horses, thus making it her own "real" relationship?
Or the cute "looney" depiction of the Fairy Godmother, to satirize the blind optimism that someone would "give" Cindy her advantages? (Starring Helena Bonham Carter, queen of the madwomen.)

Sorry, just still getting over that recent Amazon abomination.

[Dacey]

Neither of those things make it a “feminist reboot”…at least by what definition of the word “feminist” you seem to be using here.

[GeffreyDrogon]

What are the differences between an entertainment studio owning an animation studio, verses picking up films/shows for distribution?