Thanks for the link. The new design for Philoctetes sounds intriguing although I wonder what prompted that decision. I wonder who the old friend who Hercules wound encounter was supposed to be...can't imagine it would be anyone from the original film. Since Helen of Troy was also meant to be an "old friend," it must have been another new character retconned into Hercules' past. It is interesting that the directors wanted to work on this. Maybe this was back when they thought the film would be a blockbuster hit and the sequel would have been part of the official canon rather than churned out straight to DVD.
I've would've liked if it was made an actual, theatrical sequel to
Hercules, but I wouldn't happen back then. It's remarkable that
Hercules never got a cheapquel, since I know some fans were bitter for it. Yet it's perhaps not strange, since it was the lowest grossing film of the 90's.
Yes, I remember we talked about this a few times with how the later 90s films tried to clamp down on the drama
Yeah, but I think there was a deliberate reson for that. Disney were trying too hard to be po-faced with their films and due to how
Pocahontas and
Hunchback ventured too much on the dramatic side and were less successful at the Box Office, it wasn't strange that the latest films of that decade went on the comedic side.
Ursula would be a natural assumption. For some reason, I always thought he did Frollo as well. I know Esmeralda was the character he wanted to do but she was already taken. A pity Deja didn't end up working on Hunchback at the end. As for Stitch, I know Nani's design was designed in parallel to Mulan's. I never found Mulan very pretty but I think they did a much better job on Nani. The film is more cartoony anyway, like Dumbo, so I never had issues with the human character designs. If they were too realistic, they wouldn't mesh well with the alien characters like Stitch, Jumba, Pleakley, Gantu, or the Grand Councilwoman.
Fair enough. I know there are many comparisons between Mulan and Nani and frankly I can see that. In one of the bonus features from
Lilo & Stitch, there is a featurette with the comparsions between them. I wonder how Deja would've tackled Esmeralda, since he's never supervised a beautiful lady before (for all I know), but Tony Fucile did a heckuva good job.
Agreed A while back the outline for Kingdom of the Sun was also posted and that really put the entire story in shape for us. Did you ever see that?
Yup, but we've talked about it before, didn't we? I wish that I saw it back in the late 90's, since I was DYING to see the plot then. As I've said it before, I think they could've fixed certain storypoints, because the story could've been improved. Yet the article that I posted revealed that Mark Dindal's version was the one that resonated with audiences more. I was surprised that Pacha was essentially the main lead, when Manco is the one who goes through the biggest arc. I was surprised that it didn't give Manco any backstory.
Oh, I despise the Tinker Bell films! No offense in case you like them but they're very much direct-to-video quality for me and the characters are generally all so bland, especially Tinker Bell herself. I'm not surprised that the franchise was cancelled and in fact, I'm just surprised it was ever as big as it was. The books have far better quality and it's a shame that Disney phased those out for the lackluster films. I know the films had some real fans on these forums though but I was never one of them. They lack world building, depth, character development, and whimsy, all of which can be found in the books. But like I mentioned to you before, if you didn't like the tone of the original Peter Pan novel, the books won't be something you'll enjoy either so you'll probably prefer the movies.
Okay, then I'll hate you. Kidding
To be honest, I really liked the two first films of
Tinker Bell franchise. They were obviously made for a pre-school audience in mind, but there was a certain cuteness and adorability to them that made them appealing. Yes, Tinker Bell herself was sort of bland and generic, yet the following films weren't as mesmerizing as the first ones. It's sort of strange that they were suddenly canceled and though I never saw the last film, I've heard that it wasn't a closure to the universe. It's hard to believe that that franchise isn't existent anymore, since it feels like yesterday.
It's possible he was easily influenced by reviewers and whatever they would say, he would take on a similar stance. It's a pity you lost in touch with him though. Perhaps you could try emailing him again after all these years and maybe he'll respond back.
I've tried to e-mail him, but he haven't responded.
I wonder if we'll hear about Favreau working on The Jungle Book 2 now that The Lion King is done. Apparently they considered releasing Simba's Pride theatrically at one point and even for a direct-to-video, they did this huge marketing campaign that was almost on par with their feature films, unlike how Disney treated the rest of the sequels at the time, so clearly they felt the film was of cinematic quality. As such, maybe they could easily adapt it for a live-action sequel.
Well observed! You know what? I've noticed the same thing, that there was a bigger marketing campaign for
Simba's Pride than for the other cheapquels and while it's pretty much regarded for being just as akin to the others, there is a bigger fanbase for
Simba's Pride than for the others. Perhaps it could be to the success of it's very successful predecessor (duuuh), but otherwise you're right. Wonder if the sequel for
The Lion King will essentially be
Simba's Pride.
I guess visual commentaries like Cine-Explore were always much more interesting to me because you can see conceptual art on screen as well as the talking heads, whereas a regular commentary is just the film playing on screen and then I'm tempted to just watch the film instead. However, I was inspired enough by your question to go ahead and watch two commentaries: the Sleeping Beauty Special Edition DVD one and the Pocahontas 10th Anniversary one. I found both enjoyable and the Pocahontas one in particular sparked many memories of things you've told me in the past. I'll definitely have to check out some more commentaries soon. Are there any you'd recommend in particular?
Oh, there are many! The Audio Commentary for
Tarzan is splendid and is simply as great as it come! The one for
Beauty and the Beast is also brilliant, as is the one for
The Lion King. Those for
Mermaid and
Aladdin are also good. Frankly, it's a pity how Disney has excluded the Audio Commentaries for their animated features. The one for the
Pocahontas 10th Anniversary is a good one, while it feels dry in some places, since it's obviously that they haven't seen the film in a while.
Yeah, Maleficent 2 sounds awful and I have nothing good to say about it, which is pretty much in line with the first film as well. I'm still annoyed that when Disney finally released an art/making of book for Sleeping Beauty, half the content was dedicated to Maleficent! Emma Watson herself mused on ideas for a live-action BATB sequel and how Belle would use the castle library to teach the village children and I think someone else mentioned that Gaston could potentially return or something. I really hope Watson doesn't think that audiences will flock to see a film with her just teaching for the entire duration.
Agreed. To be honest, I was annoyed that there wasn't made an Art/Making of-book
The Jungle Book that was about both Walt's version and Jon Favreau's remake, whereas the Art/Making off-book of
Beauty and the Beast got updated with it's own segment about the remake, when it could've given a new book. I was also annoyed that the art/making off-book to
Sleeping Beauty was dedicated to
Maleficent. Yes, I've heard the rumors about Gaston returning, but I'll hope they'll give us a substantial story that is worth to follow.