Which version of Disney’s next animated film do you favor?
American Dog
Bolt
0voters
Originally titled “American Dog”, Bolt is Disney’s next animated film set for theatrical release November 26, 2008. Chris Sanders, the creator of the original story, was dismissed from the project after John Lasseter took charge. And if that didn’t enrage his fans enough, the artwork of the revised film recently exhibited online feels like a slap in the face:
before
(cropped from 2006 WDW photo of mine)
after
Yeah, the characters are cute, but they’re too generic for my taste, especially compared to the original concept art done by the great Chris Sanders:
Which version of Disney’s next animated film do you favor?
Although the new version is adorable, I would’ve preferred to see the original one made. I guess there’s no stopping Disney- if Chris Sanders was dropped, then they’re definitely going through with their version. It is adorable though; but you know they’re also doing it for marketing purposes. Seems selfish to do even though they would make cute toys.
The revised version of the movie doesn’t fit my personal taste either. Now, don’t get me wrong, the characters are cute like PV stated, but the original version seems more… stylized. I voted for “American Dog” .
It was directed by Chris Sanders from Lilo & Stitch, one of my favorite Disney movies, among The Lion King and such
and
Because now it seems like ANOTHER dog movie, with ANOTHER generic dog
I really liked Chris’ original concept (even though it doesn’t really look like a dog) because now the movie Bolt seems just like if they released Underdog 2 and Underdog loses his powers!
It seems like we all have good taste because I voted for American Dog as well.
The original artwork held a promise of a new direction for Disney, even if it was only in the visual sense but I think that it would have represented a new direction for the story as well. I would love to know what changes were made to the story.
The revised artwork is very cutesy and I adore the cat and hamster, but it really isn’t anything new. It’s a shame that the style of animation had to be dumbed down for the general audience, who may be scared away of anything they aren’t used to.
But if John Lasseter made the changes, then I guess he has Disney’s best interests at heart. My guess is that he is going to release “safe” films such as Bolt until Disney can be trusted again in the public’s eye, kind of like making up for the past ten years or so, then after they can be relied upon for delivering quality entertainment and not just horrid sequels they can branch out and take a risk on different films such as American Dog.
This is what Pixar is doing, and suspect it was their strategy all along (WALL-E, JCOM and to a further extent, Ratatouille), so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what John Lasseter is going for with his decisions over at Disney. Hopefully, in a few years we’ll see some more adventurous animation.
I’m not really an expert on Disney, but that’s my take on the matter anyways.
I’d have to say neither because I cant say that either of them look that appealing to me. Probably because I’m not that into dogs or dog movies. Maybe if I saw more I’d be able to make a better judgement, although that top one reminds me of Brian from Family Guy for some reason.
I voted for American Dog simply because, let’s face it, Mr. Sanders has journeyed along a weary and hard road with Disney, and a very unceremonious one at that. He was lucky enough to be given the chance to advertise and display his own creations via Lilo and Stitch (and, to a certain extent, Mulan…I suppose), and it’s painful in itself to see that the studio enraged Chris Sanders to the point of his leaving the company and being, as PV stated, dismissed from his own project.
As for the “revised” version of American Dog, well, yes, the character designs are adorable, but what about the story? I’m not too worried if John Lasseter has a hold on the reigns, obviously, but this does nothing to credit Mr. Sanders in its entirety. At the most they’ll probably slap a “Based-on-an-idea-by-Chris-Sanders” sign at the end of the film along with the credits, if even. sigh
Yeah but, see, the audience does want something new, unique, and refreshing; they just don’t know it! This happens on so many occassions: Either the content of films is dumbed down or omitted completely because studios (or Hollywood, more likely) are afraid that it won’t be well received by a mass audience. How is the world supposed to experience anything different and out of the ordinary in the entertainment world…if it isn’t given a fair chance?!
sigh I went off the handle there. Sorry about that… Eheh.
Jim Hill writes an interesting article on American Dog and how animation fans are writing it off. Maybe it’ll chnage your mind about the movie… for now…
Here it is: jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/ … -bolt.aspx
But still we could’ve seen something awesome like this in theatres:
I agree with everything you said there. I wish that Disney had the guts to stand up for something different. But my point is that with their past failures, they don’t really can’t take a chance on something like American Dog, simply because it is a risk at this point in time. All they really want to do is to show everyone that they are still the king of animation, even though things have been a bit rocky lately and that they are back in the saddle.
I’m speaking from a “suit” angle of course, where all they think about is money, and future stability versus creativity and new ideas. If things were my way, I’d let them take a chance on American Dog so that Disney could be seen as the old company that we all know and love, that has fresh ideas and styles that we can enjoy. It could have been a fresh start for them - but that would have meant taking a chance.
So, I can see things from both sides. Personally, it would have been cool to see a different type of animation, and I bet the story would have been unique as well, judging by the direction of the animation.
Honestly, the general audience is scared to take a risk, and their intelligence on a whole is not that great, so I’m not sure if they could appreciate, or even see past the new animation and would want to see American Dog, unfortunately. But I bet it would have been embraced by all the animation buffs on this forum, and everywhere, really.
Again, I hope that in ten years’ time when Disney can be seen as a reliable company once more, instead of just a sequel factory, they can start taking risks on animation such as American Dog, but there is nothing more we can do, I guess until Bolt comes out so we can compare what could have been.
Oh, and I agree that it must be embarassing for Chris Sanders: to be kicked off your own project. Didn’t John Lasseter do the same thing with Meet the Robinsons? Oh well, maybe the ends will justify the means.
And Mitch, don’t apologise. You were just expressing your point of view. Heh.
In all honesty, I know nothing about either American Dog or Bolt, so purely on an aesthetic point of view, I voted for American Dog. But the whole talking animal thing, especially with dogs, seems very overdone to me. It’s neither new nor innovative.
And two more things- is it just me, or does the dog in Bolt have psychopathic eyes? And is that an oversized Harry Potter scar running down his side?
rachel - Mmm. Yes… Yes, I see what you mean now. The Disney company wishes to attract a valuable (er…massive) audience whilst still retaining their popularity by not going…“overboard”, so to speak. It’s rather pitiful, but, like you stated, what can ya’ do? Heh.
Hopefully, as you mentioned, we’ll see a change in this lingering pattern of Disney’s sooner than later. Ever since Mr. Lasseter marched into the studio, things have been looking a little more up than usual, especially as far as the revival of 2D animation is concerned. (And as for your question concerning Lasseter and Meet the Robinsons, I don’t know much about that situation other than he did have a role to play [whether small or large, I’m not certain] in that film, which is why the last ten minutes of the production in question are so worthwhile.)
But yeah. Good points, rachel! I see what you’re getting at now…
Eheh. Yeah, I suppose that I shouldn’t apologize for every single instance and beat myself down to the ground. Such is the life of moi. (snigger)
lizardgirl - You can learn more about Bolt and its previous plot as American Dog via this Wikipedia article on the subject:
To answer the question about the Lasseter/Robinsons involvement, well John stepped in but he did NOT replace directors, instead he cleaned up the “middle towards the end” part of the film because it was so weak. I don’t know how it helped because I don’t know how bad it was, but (even though I was really excited) I hated the movie.
Note: My info comes from a JHM article I read in March.
bawp- Yes, it is very, very, very funny. I love Kiskaloo (already) even though there’s only one. In fact I was just reading it. it’s humor is very deep (so far) and sorta adult (cus it may go over kid’s heads). Oh, yeah, and it’s like Lilo’s cousin and the cool cat with an eye-patch, that makes it even cooler.
bawpcwpn - Ha! Kiskaloo? I have a shirt with the text “Kiskaloo University” printed on it…along with a little tiger character created by Chris Sanders. I’m not surprised that he used that particular name for his equally charming comic. (heheh)
Well, “American Dog” was the one upcoming Disney film I was looking forward to the most, and whilst I am disappointed in seeing Chris Sanders take on the film pushed aside, I’ve still got hope that “Bolt” will be a film worth seeing and accepting into the Disney canon. Lasseter has yet to turn out a real stinker of a film, so hopefully his changes will be for the best come November. We just have to wait and see.
PS, the dog is much cuter than Sander’s version IMO.
^I don’t see how anyone can claim to not like a movie that they haven’t even seen footage of yet (just a couple a stills and the logo).
From what I hear, from an animation perspective, Bolt is pushing some bars. As for they story, who knows.
From just the test animation that I’ve seen, Bolt is looking good.
Whether it ends up being better or worse than the Chris Sanders original, we’ll never know, and I have a feeling that “what if” scenario is bound to be in the back of many peoples heads (unfortunately, mine included) while viewing Bolt.
