Runt is my HERO! Loved Chicken Little!!

[plutospup]

Just returned from seeing Chicken Little with DD8. We LOVED it! The characters were brought to life and had real character! Whenever "Runt" would break into song, DD8 & I would break out laughing! Whoever heard of a pig that was a Barbara Streisand fan?!!!

Interesting notes: Several of DD8's school friends saw CL last week, and were looking forward to seeing it AGAIN this week. Movie is being shown on two screens each at two local malls. Today when the movie was over, 75% of the audience stayed to watch the "dancing" following the movie, and listen to the music (Cheetah girls) during the closing credits. Bottom line in Northcentral Pennsylvania, CL is a big hit.

 

[bettyann29]

Went and saw Chicken Little today and it was so cute!! Me and DD loved it..

 

[patsal]

We saw ait today and loved it. First movie I've seen in a long time that I would pay to see again. The kids in the theater were laughing so much--love all those little giggles! :rotfl2.

 

[Beachangel]

I saw CL in 3-D this weekend. The theatre was packed and the kids were laughing, but I didn't think it was so great. I'm surprised its doing so well; especially beating "Zathura" this past weekend.

 

[HUFF590]

I also saw it in 3d this weekend, my wife and I, no kids ,it was cute but I dont think I will see it again, but the kids in the theater seemed to really like it.

 

[Peter Pirate]

Like 90% of animated features it was made FOR THE KIDS. Adult praise is a bonus. A plus. Tell me why I'm wrong Mr. Voice. Thank you in advance.

 

[Planogirl]

Eh, to each their own. Right Mr Pirate?

We'll see how CL holds up against Harry Potter. It might turn out to be an interesting battle.

 

[Peter Pirate]

Oh, I don't think anything will do too much against HP, Planogirl...But it (Chicken Little) still may have a good Thanksgiving and run up until Christmas. The tweens will all want to see HP, as will a majority of the teens while a majority of the younger kids will be pushing for CL (HP is PG13 after all).

But it seems to me Chicken Little has already been a success. A bigger than expected opening and then an unusually successful second weekend...It's certainly all about expectations, I guess. That's too bad, IMO.

 

[Planogirl]

It's been a success relatively speaking. It's nothing compared to the truly big animated movies, not yet at least, but it's done well considering how some of the other Disney films have done.

I think that many people will ignore the PG-13 label on Harry Potter and take their young kids anyway. Also, many parents will have older kids to take to HP and won't necessarily want to sit in two theaters this weekend. I don't expect CL to come anywhere close to HP but if it can put up strong numbers with this juggernaut out, that's impressive.

 

[YoHo]

Like 90% of animated features it was made FOR THE KIDS.

sigh....

 

[Peter Pirate]

Come on Mr. Ho, you can't think that anyone goes into an animated feature with adults in mind do you? Sure Walt made movies that were entertaining and stimulating for both kids and adults, Disney followed suit and now Pixar is the giant...But even so Walt, Disney, Pixar, none of them go into an animated movie with adults as their first concern.

 

[raidermatt]

Let's just say that they found a way to make them appealling enough to enough adults that we had fewer people saying "it was made for the kids".

Call it a primary concern, or a secondary concern, whatever, but I don't come out of Pixar films saying "that was great for the kids", I come out saying "that was great for all of us".

I think that some go into the process looking for a way to tell the story that appeals to elements common in both adults and children, while others go into the process trying to make a kiddie movie. (CL aside, as I haven't seen it)

Can you agree with that?

 

[YoHo]

Come on Mr. Ho, you can't think that anyone goes into an animated feature with adults in mind do you? Sure Walt made movies that were entertaining and stimulating for both kids and adults, Disney followed suit and now Pixar is the giant...But even so Walt, Disney, Pixar, none of them go into an animated movie with adults as their first concern.

Walt and Disney and then Pixar made movies FOR FAMILIES!

Just like Walt built Disneyland for FAMILIES!
Families include adults.

No Walt never went into a picture saying: "Let's make a movie that appeals to kids."
Just as surely as he never ever said: "let's make a movie that appeals to adults."

I know from reading your posts over the years that you are content to sit on the park bench and watch your kids on the merry-go-round (figurativly), but that is not Walt and that is not the entertainment empire he built.

Family entertainment does not mean: It makes the kids shut up for 90 minutes, or gives them enjoyment for 90 mins.

How you can watch a pixar film and even suggest that it aimed squarely at kids boogles my mind. The themes in Toy story are so far beyond anything a child could understand that it's laughable to even suggest it.

In short, people who think this stuff is aimed "primarily" at kids just don't get it. Family Entertainment means the whole family, not just the kids.

 

[Another Voice]

Like 90% of animated features it was made FOR THE KIDS. Adult praise is a bonus. A plus. Tell me why I'm wrong Mr. Voice. Thank you in advance.

Okay.

Big box office comes from adults and children going to see a movie. That was the secret to the success of Beauty and the Beast through The Lion King and all of the Pixar hits – they got both the soccer moms out with the kiddies and they got the date night crowd of adults. You can’t hit the magic $200 million “hit” level without help from both.

There are two ways to make a movie with “cross over” appeal. You can make a children’s movie that also interests adults, or you can make a movie aimed at adults that children will also enjoy.

Looking over the history of success, you’ll find that the biggest films tend to have themes that appeal to young adult to adult audiences. Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. were both about parenting – very adult. The Lion King was about assuming adult responsibility; Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, The Incredibles, Ice Age were all about adults and their problems. Even A Toy Story was about adult relationships – Woody and Buzz were not kids.

Movies aimed squarely at children do not fair well at the box office. There’s been no bigger children franchise in memory than Spongebob Squarepants, yet that movie sank without making a ripple at the box office. Even movies that appear to be aimed at children – Robots, Sharks Tale – also suffer at the box office (despite sometimes painful attempts to adult-them-up through adult jokes and stars). That even appears to have happened with Zathura – it’s a kiddie flick and the adults are staying away because of it.


P.S. Somewhere there is a quote from Walt specifically saying that he made his animated movies for adults and not “just” for children. That’s certainly the case with both John Lassiter and Brad Bird.

 

[cristen]

I can't post just quotes? Oh well, here are some AV. Don't know if those are the exact ones you were thinking of.

Your dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway. Walt Disney

Animation offers a medium of story telling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world. Walt Disney

 

[cristen]

Sorry, I think I found it. Gosh, I feel like Hope.

“I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty. Call the child innocence. The worst of us is not without innocence, although buried deeply it might be. In my work I try to reach and speak to that innocence, showing it the fun and joy of living; showing it that laughter is healthy; showing it that the human species, although happily ridiculous at times, is still reaching for the stars.”

 

[YoHo]

LOL Dead Walt just told Peter Pirate to ST...U. indeed




Sorry Mr. Pirate I couldn't resist the drubbing you just got at the hands of the dead guy.

 

[Planogirl]

I think that there have been big hits aimed primarily at adults (Titanic anyone?) but I can't think of one that was only aimed at kids. Maybe the Spy Kids movies were the most successful kids movies?

I agree that in animation the best appeal to everyone. Disney's older films, the Pixar films, the Shrek pair, Ice Age and even Madagascar managed to appeal to all ages if you think about it.

 

[Another Voice]

Yes Ms. Cristen, that’s the one.

It’s not a case of Dead Walt telling anyone to s- it. It’s just that a lot of what’s true in entertainment just seems to defy common sense. No one in the world suspected before The Little Mermaid that you could get more adults than children to see an animated film in the modern era. It’s was an iron clad rule in Hollywood that modern teenagers refused to see a historical period piece because they all flunked history. Yet a movie about a boat filled with people in funny hats that sank one hundred years ago became the all time box office champion because of hoards of screaming teenagers. And who in their right mind would have thought kids – growing up with video games, lasers and chatting on the Internet – would want to see a movie about short twerps, elves and a piece of jewelry?

Real success in Hollywood comes from doing the unexpected. That’s were Chicken Little falls short. It’s trying so hard to be another Shrek that you can feel the desperation coming off the screen. Too many pop culture inside jokes flying too fast – none of them connecting with the characters or the story.. It’s exactly the same feeling you could feel in Hercules, Pocohantas and the later Disney efforts as they strained to force those films into the formula of “but seven songs worked for The Lion King”.

Disney’s biggest problem is they lack the courage to do the unexpected. The price of failure for them is too great to try something without a minimal guarantee of success – so they settle for the middle, the sort-of, and the “better than expected” faint praise.

They need to take risks again.

 

[YoHo]

Why must you stomp on my bit of fun? The idea of Zombie Walt coming back to life to tell a disboard poster to cram it makes me giggle like a little girl. Is that so wrong?