Blunderdog

Blunderdog

You know, I’ve always thought it to be very creative that a big movie studio takes a classic cartoon franchise and makes it into a live action feature. There have been some good movies made in the past on cartoons, like The Flintstones, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and many other that unfortunately don’t come to mind right now. The problem is though, with this concept, there are many ways you can go wrong. If you’re not familiar with this topic, let me put it to you this way: some companies should never, ever be allowed to make movies based on cartoons.

My first prime example would be Warner Bros. This company is guilty of destroying Scooby Doo with it’s live action feature film and equally bad-looking sequel. Second, I will include 20th Century Fox for it’s live-action adaptation of Garfield and IT’S equally bad-looking sequel. The only problem here is, my opinion doesn’t matter so much considering that everyone flocked to see those abominations. Universal, despite it’s live-action Cat in the Hat, stands acquitted on all charges due to it’s history with The Flintstones.

But if there’ one company that should never, ever, ever make a live action movie based on a cartoon, it’s Disney. I’m sorry, I know that Disney has a reputation and history of beating all the other companies to the ground, but I haven’t quite forgotten Inspector Gadget, a movie whose sequel somewhat redeemed it. But they seem to be at it again. Here’s what I mean.

Underdog, 1964:

Underdog, 2007:

By the honor invested in me, the honorable Judge Jaimetud, I hereby declare the Disney company… GUILTY.

Blog This TV

OK, so it’s been a while since I last blogged. What been going on in my life, you ask? Well, first off, I got a brand spankin’ new computer. 2.4 Ghz dual processor Pentium with 2 gigs of RAM and a 500 gig hard drive. In other words, if it had wings, it would fly. And it’s pertinent uses would not just be exclusive to killer gaming, but also faster and better movie making.

Speaking of which, I’m on to a few projects already this summer. First off would be “Gangster’s Guilt,” the new short film from L.D. Taylor that deals with violence in urban communities. The film tells of one man’s struggle to raise a daughter in Oakland as a single father who escaped the gang life, and another man’s struggle to escape the gang life and get a career. How will they both end up? Can both men manage to live life without getting caught in the crossfire? You’ll have to see, once we get this thing finished.

Another project which I’ve just started on this week is a ketchup commercial which I’m entering into a contest on Youtube. I’m hoping that this one will fare better than the last time I entered a Youtube contest. Also, I’ll be filming a commercial this Saturday for a trucker drink, the name of which I haven’t been told yet. It’ll be a good chance for some exposure though. I’ve also heard that a commercial I helped with for the COM film program recently premiered on Novato public access. How exciting is that, to get your work shown on TV?

And lastly, here’s something else fun to mention. Last night, I attended a sneak preview of “Into the Wild,” a new film directed by Sean Penn telling the true story of a young man’s journey living wild in the two years after his graduation from college. Having grown up in a family with no love, Christopher McCandless grew to despise the world established around him and chose to live as a drifter, not being able to integrate with the world around him. The movie was pretty good, but that wasn’t the cool part. The cool part was meeting Sean Penn afterward and getting to shake his hand and congratulate him on a fine job. I’m not the kind of guy who breaks down when he meets famous actors because I realize that they’re just people too. But that was still cool.

More to update soon, but not after I shovel seven more tons of dirt and rocks from my backyard as my new summer job to pay off my computer. I haven’t done it in days, yet my hands are still sore. That’s work, children.