Miramax Sucks

Ok, so every now and then something peaks my interest and I think, hmmm what is this? I hear about certain aspects of a piece of pop culture from other people and eventually discover it myself on my own terms, and it becomes an obsession that I find interesting and take it to another level, thus making it an inspiring part of my life at that time. This is how I stumbled upon things like Rocky Horror, Monty Python, and even bands like Pink Floyd, Queensryche and Zappa....having heard about them for years before finding out what made them special in the first place. Such has been the case with a strange little British stop-motion show called the Magic Roundabout. I've read about it and heard people talk about it, even how it's all about drugs, and I mentioned it briefly in my book. So I think, hmm interesting...but I've never really seen it.

So a stupid part of me sees this CG feature released earlier this year called Dougal, and I'm like, that looks like the dog from Magic Roundabout, which it is. And then I see it in the video store and my curiosity gets the better of me...I figure, it's British, directed by former stop-motion people, nobody saw it, I like things nobody else cares about, maybe there's something to it. Remember, curiosity killed the cat.....right now I'm a cat with its spleen cooking on the highway.

I got through 15 minutes before I had to stop and watch the special features instead...perhaps they would have a retrospective on the original series, and talk about the history behind the characters, or possibly have an old episode there for nostalgic purposes? No, instead there was another 15 minutes of Whoopi Goldberg and Jimmy Fallon dancing to the Kinks, and some dumbass with bad teeth talking about how cool Jon Stewart is. Funnily enough, the feature had titles for all the voice actors, but didn't have any for the directors or producers! Will the real Alan Smithee please stand up? Did they hire Wal Mart employees to pretend they made the film? Then they spend a minute bragging about how the WHOLE THING was made with computers, and then go right back to Whoopi talking about snails.

Apparently this was a British film that the Weinsteins at Miramax saw and decided they should hire famous actors to dub their dialogue, which explains why the lip sync and posing didn't match at all. They would often ad-lib dialogue over scenes where their mouths didn't move. I had to watch a Popeye cartoon afterwards to try and figure out why it works in that context, but not in this one. The best solution I could come up with so far was....Popeye cartoons are actually GOOD!

Part of me has been thinking, I should see some of these CG features to see if they really are as bad as the traditional-animation purists think they are. Well, they're right after all.

Now Jay and I have to find something better to do with our evening, despite the heat. Already saw the bikes and got some drinks, cooled off...I'm still floored that she delivered all my heavy books yesterday. What a sweetie...she'll do anything strenuous at this point to get our baby out. Come on, Ariel, let's get moving! I need a young mind to fill with culture!

At least our noisy neighbours moved out. There is hope.