Writer's Block: Let's try this again
May. 13th, 2011 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shamanicshaymin[Error: unknown template qotd]
I realize this is VERY much "Be careful what you wish for..." territory here, so I'm going with the assumption that the remake will be GOOD, as opposed to shallow CGI pop culture celebrity crap.
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. Hands down. It had SO much potential going for it: gorgeous animation, creative elements such as the Greedy (disturbing as he is) and animating the characters by having them move like actual dolls instead of cartoons, great music (for the most part) by Joe Raposo (the man behind Sesame Street's music, including "C is for Cookie" and "It's Not Easy Being Green") and a few genuinely heart-warming moments like the ending with the Camel With the Wrinkled Knees.
The problem is it's disorganized as hell. I understand it was under time constraints and going over budget, but still. They spent so much time trying to make the movie pretty that they neglected the storyline and gave little character development to Raggedy Ann & Andy themselves. I also understand it's a musical; but the movie is glutted with so many unnecessary songs that do nothing to move the plot forward or show us anything about a character that it weakens the writing and just leaves us with an unmemorable mess of a shiny cast of blank slates. It's like they didn't know what to do with Raggedy Ann & Andy, but had an idea where to go... I don't mind making shit up as you go, but at least give me a reason to care other than waving a pair of keys in my face.
OH BOY. PURI GOES TEAL DEER OVER A MEDIOCRE FILM.(AGAIN) HERE WE GO.
If I was in charge of directing it, this is what I'd do:
- One complaint about the movie is that the focus is always on some shiny new character Raggedy Ann & Andy meet as opposed to developing our protagonists themselves. And based off what I read from Micheal Sporn's blog, a lot of budget went into animating characters with a lot of colors but little substance to their personalities themselves. This especially applies to the toys in Marcella's room; they appear in the beginning and the end only, and you can't give equal distribution between a pincushion, a fix-it guy, a jack-in-the-box, a sack doll, a sock-puppet, etc. along with Raggedy Ann & Andy at the same time. I would start by limiting the focus of the toys in Marcella's room to about three: the ones who interact the most with Raggedy Ann, namely Grandpa, Susie Pincushion, and Maxi-Fix-It, while the rest are background characters. Maxi-Fix-It will likely need a redesign, simply because I have a hard time imagining a little girl, especially in the modern age, owning a wheel thing with four arms. Something Bob-the-Builder-esque? His role as a warmhearted toolbox won't change, and his design will be more palatable. With that in mind, it'll give us plenty of room to build up to the pirate captain and Babette.
And of course, the first thing I'd do is axe the bloody naked twin dolls. They are not cute to anybody at any age. They are horrifying and ugly. Nobody liked them. EVER.
- Keep some songs and snip out others. "I Look (And What Do I See?)" tells us about the kind of person Raggedy Ann is and her unique perception of life. "Blue" is heartbreaking and makes us feel sorry for the Camel. But things like "It's Not Easy Being King (When You're Short)" and "You're My Friend" are extraneous and annoying. Those are sentences, not songs. Not everyone needs to sing. Basically it amounts to knowing what moves forward what's a waste of time; the difference between "Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers", a genuinely touching and sweet song Raggedy Ann & Andy share about their sibling relationship, and "I Love You", where the Loony Knight aka Crazed Serial Killer, randomly blurts out he pulls dangerous practical jokes on our heroes "BECAUSE I LAAAAAAAAAAAVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!111!11"
- For god's sakes, make us care about what happens to Raggedy Ann & Andy. Did they have to be such morons? D: This film wanted to break away from Disney, but thanks to the flaws above, our two protagonists ended up being blank slates of your typical Disney kids. :P
Will it make the movie a classic? I doubt it. But it'd be an improvement and that can't hurt. :P
If I had to nominate anyone to do a remake of Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure", considering the darker/scary elements of the film, I'd pick Henry Selick or Tim Burton. Selick directed Nightmare Before Christmas as well as James and the Giant Peach and Coraline. I can see him weaving the darker/scary aspects of the movie like the Greedy while still maintaining the innocence and sweetness of Raggedy Ann & Andy themselves, making an exciting adventure for children without talking down to them or insulting their intelligence, or sugarcoating or being too frightening. I'm a little more cautious about Burton since his take on Alice in Wonderland was kind of mainstream and "meh" for my standards (especially considering his previous works), but he knows how to take a "bizarre" setting and cast of characters and make something heartwarming. 'Sides, I wouldn't mind seeing his take on Raggedy Ann & Andy. :PTen bucks says Johnny Depp plays the Looney Knight.
Fuck it. More than a Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure remake, I want to see Studio Ghibli make an adaptation of Raggedy Ann & Andy & The Camel With the Wrinkled Knees. That book is just begging to be animated. And there's material from Johnny Gruelle's other books, where Raggedy Ann & Andy don't just hang out in Marcella's room, but go on all sorts of crazy and fantastic adventures in the Deep Deep Woods, discovering whole other worlds, like a land and its people build entirely out of cookies. They help lost kids find their families, they make friends with bizarre folks like a Snitzdoodle and a paper dragon, and they outwit trouble-makers like goblins threatening to turn them into soup while still being kind and honest without resorting to senseless violence or treachery. They're fantasy books, and it shows.
Of course, if either of those movies get made, it'd nail my book (aimed at adults, not children) in a coffin. XDDD;;; So no rush, hahaha.
I realize this is VERY much "Be careful what you wish for..." territory here, so I'm going with the assumption that the remake will be GOOD, as opposed to shallow CGI pop culture celebrity crap.
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. Hands down. It had SO much potential going for it: gorgeous animation, creative elements such as the Greedy (disturbing as he is) and animating the characters by having them move like actual dolls instead of cartoons, great music (for the most part) by Joe Raposo (the man behind Sesame Street's music, including "C is for Cookie" and "It's Not Easy Being Green") and a few genuinely heart-warming moments like the ending with the Camel With the Wrinkled Knees.
The problem is it's disorganized as hell. I understand it was under time constraints and going over budget, but still. They spent so much time trying to make the movie pretty that they neglected the storyline and gave little character development to Raggedy Ann & Andy themselves. I also understand it's a musical; but the movie is glutted with so many unnecessary songs that do nothing to move the plot forward or show us anything about a character that it weakens the writing and just leaves us with an unmemorable mess of a shiny cast of blank slates. It's like they didn't know what to do with Raggedy Ann & Andy, but had an idea where to go... I don't mind making shit up as you go, but at least give me a reason to care other than waving a pair of keys in my face.
OH BOY. PURI GOES TEAL DEER OVER A MEDIOCRE FILM.
If I was in charge of directing it, this is what I'd do:
- One complaint about the movie is that the focus is always on some shiny new character Raggedy Ann & Andy meet as opposed to developing our protagonists themselves. And based off what I read from Micheal Sporn's blog, a lot of budget went into animating characters with a lot of colors but little substance to their personalities themselves. This especially applies to the toys in Marcella's room; they appear in the beginning and the end only, and you can't give equal distribution between a pincushion, a fix-it guy, a jack-in-the-box, a sack doll, a sock-puppet, etc. along with Raggedy Ann & Andy at the same time. I would start by limiting the focus of the toys in Marcella's room to about three: the ones who interact the most with Raggedy Ann, namely Grandpa, Susie Pincushion, and Maxi-Fix-It, while the rest are background characters. Maxi-Fix-It will likely need a redesign, simply because I have a hard time imagining a little girl, especially in the modern age, owning a wheel thing with four arms. Something Bob-the-Builder-esque? His role as a warmhearted toolbox won't change, and his design will be more palatable. With that in mind, it'll give us plenty of room to build up to the pirate captain and Babette.
And of course, the first thing I'd do is axe the bloody naked twin dolls. They are not cute to anybody at any age. They are horrifying and ugly. Nobody liked them. EVER.
- Keep some songs and snip out others. "I Look (And What Do I See?)" tells us about the kind of person Raggedy Ann is and her unique perception of life. "Blue" is heartbreaking and makes us feel sorry for the Camel. But things like "It's Not Easy Being King (When You're Short)" and "You're My Friend" are extraneous and annoying. Those are sentences, not songs. Not everyone needs to sing. Basically it amounts to knowing what moves forward what's a waste of time; the difference between "Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers", a genuinely touching and sweet song Raggedy Ann & Andy share about their sibling relationship, and "I Love You", where the Loony Knight aka Crazed Serial Killer, randomly blurts out he pulls dangerous practical jokes on our heroes "BECAUSE I LAAAAAAAAAAAVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!!111!11"
- For god's sakes, make us care about what happens to Raggedy Ann & Andy. Did they have to be such morons? D: This film wanted to break away from Disney, but thanks to the flaws above, our two protagonists ended up being blank slates of your typical Disney kids. :P
Will it make the movie a classic? I doubt it. But it'd be an improvement and that can't hurt. :P
If I had to nominate anyone to do a remake of Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure", considering the darker/scary elements of the film, I'd pick Henry Selick or Tim Burton. Selick directed Nightmare Before Christmas as well as James and the Giant Peach and Coraline. I can see him weaving the darker/scary aspects of the movie like the Greedy while still maintaining the innocence and sweetness of Raggedy Ann & Andy themselves, making an exciting adventure for children without talking down to them or insulting their intelligence, or sugarcoating or being too frightening. I'm a little more cautious about Burton since his take on Alice in Wonderland was kind of mainstream and "meh" for my standards (especially considering his previous works), but he knows how to take a "bizarre" setting and cast of characters and make something heartwarming. 'Sides, I wouldn't mind seeing his take on Raggedy Ann & Andy. :P
Fuck it. More than a Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure remake, I want to see Studio Ghibli make an adaptation of Raggedy Ann & Andy & The Camel With the Wrinkled Knees. That book is just begging to be animated. And there's material from Johnny Gruelle's other books, where Raggedy Ann & Andy don't just hang out in Marcella's room, but go on all sorts of crazy and fantastic adventures in the Deep Deep Woods, discovering whole other worlds, like a land and its people build entirely out of cookies. They help lost kids find their families, they make friends with bizarre folks like a Snitzdoodle and a paper dragon, and they outwit trouble-makers like goblins threatening to turn them into soup while still being kind and honest without resorting to senseless violence or treachery. They're fantasy books, and it shows.
Of course, if either of those movies get made, it'd nail my book (aimed at adults, not children) in a coffin. XDDD;;; So no rush, hahaha.
