Disney & Zemeckis float 'Yellow Submarine' remake

[ALIASd]

Variety reports that Walt Disney Pictures is negotiating a deal for the rights allowing the studio and producer/director Robert Zemeckis use of 16 Beatles songs including “All Together Now,” “Baby You’re a Rich Man,” “All You Need Is Love,” “When I’m 64,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” and of course, the title tune, "Yellow Submarine" for a new remake. They are looking at a 2012 release date.

Zemeckis will direct the performance-capture 3-D digital production format he utilized for “A Christmas Carol” starring Jim Carrey opening in November.

More on the story at:
BFDealmemo on Variety.com

[ImagineerWaryur]

I'm speechless. But I'll quote the always interesting Honor Hunter from Blue Sky Disney:

"This is an idea that whose time should not come. Could you just make a sequel to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and torpedo this latest idea, Robert?

Some motions should not be captured.."

I couldn't have said it better myself.


ImagineerWarrior

[C. Andrew Nelson]

When will this motion capture craze end? How many more soul-less, atrocious mo-cap box office flops must we suffer before someone in Hollyweird gets a clue?

Don't get me wrong. As a visual effects supervisor and animator, I believe that mop-cap when done well (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) can be great. But the last thing we need is more dreck like Polar Express and Beowolf.

This reminds me of what happened after the success of Toy Story when a bunch of studios started shoving "me too" 3D CGI features through the pipeline in order to catch up with Pixar. The attitude in Hollyweird was that the CGI was the thing that drew in the crowds. Of course it wasn't that at all. It was that Toy Story was one heck of a good story with great characters. I was speaking on a panel once about animation alongside John Lasseter. This was back before the whole Disney/Pixar merger happened. It was the week that Disney had announced that they were closing down all 2D feature animation production. I new John was livid about this announcement. I flat out told him (and the entire audience) that if Pixar released a 2D hand-drawn animated feature tomorrow everyone in the industry would say, "3D is dead! 2D is king!" Because the medium (3D, 2D, stop-motion, live-action) doesn't matter. It's story, character, and performance. That's why Pixar succeeds. Guys like John and everyone else at Pixar get it. Bean-counting, ex-lawyer industry executives don't. A few do, but most don't. Now they are looking at mo-cap the same way they did 3D CGI when Toy Story debuted. Actually, it's potentially worse. They see it as cheaper than live-action films (no sets, locations, costumes, or props required) and faster than traditional 2D or 3D animation. Every single mo-cap project that I know of, though, has gone over budget and taken longer than expected.

Hmmm...this scenario sounds familar. Gee, sounds like what happened when Disney released Snow White and all the other studios got caught with their pants down and were suddenly having to scramble to get their own animated feature into production. Those film industry execs who do not learn from motion picture history (i.e. - the ridiculous demands Paramount put on Max Fleischer to create an animated feature after Snow White was a smash hit) are doomed to repeat it. But I digress...slightly.

What I don't understand about the motion capture animated feature is why studios are so gaga over it. Usually studios want to imitate what they see as successful in the marketplace. There has yet to be a truly successful mo-cap feature. So why do so many studios have the hots for it? Mo-cap works best when you are trying to create a sense of realism. That's why it lends itself so well to CG characters in live-action projects. Realism in an animated feature doesn't always...feel right. Pixar does a great job (without mo-cap) of finding the balance of realism and fantasy. Films like Finding Nemo look "cartoony" by feel "real". I haven't seen a single mo-cap feature that has found that balance.

And why remake Yellow Submarine??? As an industry colleague of mine (who will remain nameless) once said, "Why not remake something that barked the first time it came out?" Indeed, why remake a good film. Remake a dog that actually could have been good if it had been done right, not something that worked to begin with. There is no need to remake Yellow Submarine.

But that's not how some industry execs think. Case in point: the soon to be released remake of Fame. The original is a brilliant film that still holds up today. Why was it remade? Because every studio wants their own High School Musical type franchise. So they try to shoehorn the Fame story (quite a weighty drama really) into the light-hearted musical framework of HSM. The result (as you can see from the trailer) is a slick, glitzy, paint-by-numbers, flash & fluff piece of forgettable drivel. And that's what will become of Yellow Submarine if it is remade as a mo-cap feature.

I hope I'm wrong.

Oh my gosh, I truly hope I'm wrong.



[ENDS TIRADE]

[STEPS DOWN FROM ANTI-MOCAP SOAPBOX]

[TAKES DEEP BREATH]

[APOLOGIZES TO ALL MICECHATTERS FOR PASSIONATE OUTBURST]



By the way, if you've never seen Yellow Submarine I recommend renting it. I'm not a huge Beatles fan. I got burned out on their music a long time ago. However the film is very inventive and quirky. I can't think of another animated feature that is quite like it.

[santadog]

it'll probably be just as good as that "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" movie that came out in the 70s (starring the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton and Steve Martin)

[SnorkletsMom]

As abysmal as the "Sgt. Pepper" film was, it was at least an original film production. They used Beatles songs (not recordings) to make a musical film. A very bad musical film.

"Yellow Submarine" used actual Beatles recordings (although they didnt provide the speaking voices for their characters) and why oh why would anyone want to remake it?

Honestly, here is my fear: that Disney is going to end up using the songs (re-recording by others) and maybe the ideas and make some horrendous abomination starring Miley or Selena or the Jonas Brothers or whichever meat puppets they're pimping.

[disneytim]

Originally Posted by C. Andrew Nelson

As an industry colleague of mine (who will remain nameless) once said, "Why not remake something that barked the first time it came out?" Indeed, why remake a good film. Remake a dog that actually could have been good if it had been done right, not something that worked to begin with.

Hmmm, something like "The Black Cauldron" perhaps? That would get my vote.

As for a "Yellow Submarine" remake . . . hell no!

Let me think about it some more: NO! NO! NO!

[penguinsoda]

No. No no no! This is just such a bad idea on so many levels. The original was a classic psychedelic experience, indicative of the era that it was created in. It reflected the counter culture of the time, influenced not only by, lets admit it, the drug culture prevalent in the 60's, but by such artists as Peter Max. It stands on its own as a historical monument to a time of cultural turmoil, as well as a time of innocence of a generation lost.

No remake could ever come close to capturing the spirit and feel of the original. It would be nothing more than an attempt to capture not the hearts, minds and souls of a new generation, but merely their pocketbooks instead.

[MrSunnyBlack]

I honestly don't find this to be THAT BAD of an idea.
For one, I DO think the film would be relevant for the times.
This would be the perfect film to go see and have a good time and not worry about how messed up the world is and it will give everyone a reminder that we survived the pretty tumultuous era the original film was made during.

Not only that but I think the film would be BEAUTIFUL! The reason why mo-cap hasn't worked so far TO ME is because they are striving for realism which makes me just wonder, why not just make it REAL with a few mo-cap elements ala King Kong? With this film however to capture the style of the original film it wouldn't be repeating the mistake of other mo-cap films, I imagine it being just as flamboyant, quirky and visually dynamic as the original and deviate from trying to look "real", I thinking of a more psychedelic, HYPER realism.

There is also a new interest in the Beatles that has been happening the past couple of years with the Cirque de Soleil show and the new Rock Band game. They now have a larger presence in TODAYS generation.

On top of all that just think how AMAZING it would be in 3D!!!!!!