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If I Could Remake...
Mar. 21st, 2011 02:03 pmIn the ever reaching hope of someday being able to put any number of my ideas to any sort of actual use, and the still niggling attempts to get my review/animation/whatever blog going, I'm gonna start a new segment (yes, I wasn't aware I had "segments" either) here called, um, obviously "If I Could Remake..."
The idea behind this is that, in terms of Hollywood especially, remakes are to be considered "teh badz". It shows a lack of imagination, a bottle barrel scrap of past ideas already used, and just a grap at cash at things people already know and maybe love or hate. But these, like all things, are not always bad. It's the way you use them. And if they deserve to be used.
Lauren Faust, who I think is my new animation hero/idol/stalkie, originally didn't want to do MLP:FiM. She wanted her own show, her own creation, like her husband (Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home), not to create something based on toys for someone else. But she also loved MLP as a kid. But not the show. She hated the show, because it didn't do anything for her. She hated the lack of true characterization, lack of real conflict of any level, and how pandering it was to girls. But toys were a different story, she could make up her own plots and characters and everything. So, when offered MLP by Hasbro, she took it and became that little girl again, playing with her ponies, only now they're animated.
Because they're in the toy business more than anything, Hasbro doesn't really care what she does with the show, only that certain obligations are met, usually nothing more than "insert a new character" or "show this new toy thing", which why the hot air balloon is showed prominantly and why two ponies have a dog and cat as pets. But for the most part, Faust was under no obligation to make the show as wonderful and engaging as it is, that was pure passion on her part, as well as that as the writers and animators who worked with her.
While many beraided the inclusionn of a long, partially forgotten toy line cartoon, calling it a money grab (which they weren't totally wrong on, at least it's origins) and again pandering to the girl demographic, it's really anything but. It's everything a remake should be; reminsencient but new, different while still acknowleding those that came before it, and above all good. It did what it didn't have to do, which was be more than a twenty-two minute commerical.
Which is kinda what I want to express through IICR; what I want to do if I was allowed to pitch an idea to remake an already done idea or franchise. Not because I don't have my own ideas, but because some ideas are worth remembering. A product of their time does not mean they can't be timeless, and just because something may not have been "good" during its day doesn't mean it's not worth another look.
In terms of TV shows, right now I mainly have girl's shows; Jem and the Holograms, Wildfire, and something else to be named later. A movie I'd like redone is Street Fighter, and as time goes one I hope to come up with other shows or films that I think deserve another look over.
People like to talk about things they liked as kids, or how bad something was done the first time around to something they really enjoyed. If they liked it, why not bring it back so the new generation can enjoy it as well? If done horribly, why not allow it a chance to prove itself?
The idea behind this is that, in terms of Hollywood especially, remakes are to be considered "teh badz". It shows a lack of imagination, a bottle barrel scrap of past ideas already used, and just a grap at cash at things people already know and maybe love or hate. But these, like all things, are not always bad. It's the way you use them. And if they deserve to be used.
Lauren Faust, who I think is my new animation hero/idol/stalkie, originally didn't want to do MLP:FiM. She wanted her own show, her own creation, like her husband (Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home), not to create something based on toys for someone else. But she also loved MLP as a kid. But not the show. She hated the show, because it didn't do anything for her. She hated the lack of true characterization, lack of real conflict of any level, and how pandering it was to girls. But toys were a different story, she could make up her own plots and characters and everything. So, when offered MLP by Hasbro, she took it and became that little girl again, playing with her ponies, only now they're animated.
Because they're in the toy business more than anything, Hasbro doesn't really care what she does with the show, only that certain obligations are met, usually nothing more than "insert a new character" or "show this new toy thing", which why the hot air balloon is showed prominantly and why two ponies have a dog and cat as pets. But for the most part, Faust was under no obligation to make the show as wonderful and engaging as it is, that was pure passion on her part, as well as that as the writers and animators who worked with her.
While many beraided the inclusionn of a long, partially forgotten toy line cartoon, calling it a money grab (which they weren't totally wrong on, at least it's origins) and again pandering to the girl demographic, it's really anything but. It's everything a remake should be; reminsencient but new, different while still acknowleding those that came before it, and above all good. It did what it didn't have to do, which was be more than a twenty-two minute commerical.
Which is kinda what I want to express through IICR; what I want to do if I was allowed to pitch an idea to remake an already done idea or franchise. Not because I don't have my own ideas, but because some ideas are worth remembering. A product of their time does not mean they can't be timeless, and just because something may not have been "good" during its day doesn't mean it's not worth another look.
In terms of TV shows, right now I mainly have girl's shows; Jem and the Holograms, Wildfire, and something else to be named later. A movie I'd like redone is Street Fighter, and as time goes one I hope to come up with other shows or films that I think deserve another look over.
People like to talk about things they liked as kids, or how bad something was done the first time around to something they really enjoyed. If they liked it, why not bring it back so the new generation can enjoy it as well? If done horribly, why not allow it a chance to prove itself?