Friday, August 13, 2010

Of course you realize, this means war....

From Animated Views...

http://animatedviews.com/2010/whats-up-doc-live-action-bugs-bunny-movie-on-the-way/

"Warner Bros. has just announced plans to bring a new theatrical Bugs Bunny movie to the screen. The film, to be a mix of live-action and computer animation, is being penned by Elf and Spiderwick Chroniclesscreenwriter David Berenbaum. The project is currently without a release date."

I just threw up in my mouth. A lot.

11 comments:

AFightingPanda said...

a-awwwwwww, really? Wasn't forcing bugs next to Brendan Frasier enough?

Crowpie said...

this is terrible, terrible news!

Brian Horgan said...

Yikes, sounds like a terrible idea alright.

What did you make of this? - http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cgi/looney-tunes-exclusive-clip-coyote-falls.html

My initial reaction was one of horror that they are messing with a classic when I heard about it, but in fairness the clip I saw looked pretty good for a CG adaptation, at least they are trying to do a good job of it.. just not sure why they decided to in the first place ;)

Cheers,
Brian

Keith Lango said...

@Brian:
I thought on a lower level the Road Runner stuff was well done. It was on 1's and as such felt a little over-animated compared to the classics from which the short is derived, but since the choice was made to do it on 1's they did a very good job with that. I know a number of the animators who worked on it and they know their stuff for sure. I wasn't sold on some of the larger decisions in what I saw in that clip. The music, staging, texturing, FX, etc. seemed a bit overdone. The music was the typical modern day interpretation of classic WB music that I'm not a fan of. Matt O'Callahan is a good, solid journeyman director who will do a decent, if not overly imaginative, job. I've worked on a couple of his projects before. Overall I don't hate it, but it didn't light a fire in me, either.

Unknown said...

er... am i the only one who thinks this may not be a horrible thing?
I mean, yes, there is the possiblity of it being utter mindless pap, full of generic jokes and forced celebrity cameos- buuuut there's also the possibility that something nice may come of it.
I mean, the classics aren't sacrosanct are they? I think we would be wrong to write this off immediately.

Honestly though, i don't understand why everyone sees this as a bad idea, could someone explain please?

Brian Horgan said...

Your reaction makes a lot of sense to me Keith.

Although I was impressed with the Coyote Falls clip on a technical, 'cool they got smear frames in there', level, it didn't make me grin or laugh out loud like the originals do.
Definitely a big part of the classic ones is the long deadpan holds the Coyote does as he realizes his fate, I think that's really hard to do in CG.

I still reckon the best modern 'adaptation' of this kind of style in CG was the Scrat sequences in Ice Age. They have great poses and timing, lots of squash & stretch etc but they are not totally trying to ape the 2D style, just the sensibility. Seems to me that's a better way to go.

Cheers,
Brian

Mike said...

On a positive note, its employing animators. May not be the most original thing - but then again, so little in art/entertainment is truly original.
Didn't Looney Tunes rip off a bunch of vaudville stuff anyways?

Jorge Garcia said...

Makes me wonder how they're going to do the live action/CG mix... Will it be a live action bunny and a live action duck with face replacements, or a giant mutant rabbit walking around and going grocery shopping with his human roommate Elmer? ;]

Oh boy oh boy!

I do agree with Mike though... Jobs are good. But..sigh.

Phil Willis said...

Personally this sounds like a travesty, but to be fair:

1. They are employing animators

2. The film isn't pitched to middle-aged men (so why are so many of us up-in-arms about it?) It's for kids!

3. WB needs another cash cow, now that they have run out of Harry Potter sequels.

Yes - it won't be like the Bugs Bunny we all knew and loved. But hey - we can still watch those on DVD.

Anonymous said...

I think its too early to jump to any conclusions...

Anonymous said...

I was young when Roger Rabbit came out but I would imagine there were people who felt the same about that movie, the cameos, etc. and it was brilliant. Granted that was Richard Williams....still. I'm glad they're trying something new instead of the 100th Pixar clone. The live action part actually makes this kind of intriguing.

That said the chances that this will be horrible are probably pretty high given how these attempts to recapture past glory rather than innovate tend to work out but still; if they pull of an Enchanted or Roger Rabbit I won't be complaining.