The GHZ Forum

http://www.destructoid.com/prepare-for- ... 6391.phtml

I don't know how I feel about this. the adult in me is cynical but the kid in me really wants to see this opening night.

Question! Has there, in fact, EVER been a good movie in the "classic cartoon character brought into the real world with CG" genre? I am trying to think of one and it is definitely a struggle.

Sony's got a tough act to follow.

I can't see SegaSammy having initiated this project. Someone at Sony must've seen this as another CG animal franchise they could couple to the nostalgia train and Sega was just happy to get some significant licensing fees. Unless it ties into the Sonic Boom marketing campaign they're running, but live action seems to preclude that.

Esrever wrote:Question! Has there, in fact, EVER been a good movie in the "classic cartoon character brought into the real world with CG" genre? I am trying to think of one and it is definitely a struggle.

Well, there was Rocky and Bullwink...no, wait, that one was crap. Maybe Scooby-Doo? No, that was shit too...

...Roger Rabbit?

Roger Rabbit was 2D, not CG.

I didn't think the Rocky and Bullwinkle movie was that awful. It was bad, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. (Jason Alexander notwithstanding. I like him, but he was so wrong as Boris.)

I was polling my friends about this too, and Roger Rabbit was the best anyone could come up with, but we also agreed that it didn't really count (not because it wasn't CG).

On a related note, was anyone aware of this? It's a Mexican-Argentine project and it looks surprisingly good and faithful to the source but it's still Top Cat.

Esrever wrote:Question! Has there, in fact, EVER been a good movie in the "classic cartoon character brought into the real world with CG" genre? I am trying to think of one and it is definitely a struggle.

I wasn't really mulling this over, but I'm sure it's 'cause of you I woke up this morning recalling the Casper the Friendly Ghost movie was alright. I mean, I haven't seen it in some time, so I don't exactly remember what, if any, toilet jokes and references du jour it had. But, for what it's worth, what do remember is that Casper speaks in surprising detail the nature of his demise and how it drove his father insane, which still rather ballsy for kids fair.

Yeah! I polled my readers really thoroughly on this affair and the two best movies we could come up with were Casper and Stuart Little. (And Stuart doesn't really count, since he's a book character rather than an existing cartoon character.)

There are definitely some films that are worse than others, but even the best are only really sort of borderline adequate like Casper. I don't think it's inherently impossible to make a good one, but I suppose the genre just attracts a certain... kind of script.

At least Blue Sky isn't doing it..

The writers are aiming for a PG-13 rating.

http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/11/mov ... cancelled/

Also some funny bits about the 90's Sonic movie that was scrapped.

The very fact that they're shooting for a pg-13 rating means they have no idea what they're doing. PG-13s are deceptively hard to get from a franchise unwilling to show characters decapitated; the only way you can get that kind of rating is with relatively graphic on-screen deaths(for instance Loki goring a dude in Avengers), profanity, or sex. None of which belong within 100 miles of this franchise. For reference, the first 3 harry potters were rated PG as was the Incredibles.

Worse, a quick look at this writer's IMDB will reveal he has done close to NOTHING before this. Even a seasoned writer would struggle with making Sonic a relatable and compelling protagonist, what chance does this guy have?

Radrappy wrote:PG-13s are deceptively hard to get from a franchise unwilling to show characters decapitated

Seriously Nintendo did that and they STILL got an E.

Well, the latest TMNT movie got that rating, so if they can ambiguously kill off Doctor Eggman at the end, they'll be fine.

Basically, all they need to do is adapt Shadow the Hedgehog.

Or, y'know, have Sonic flip the bird...

Radrappy wrote:The very fact that they're shooting for a pg-13 rating means they have no idea what they're doing.

It's really sad that everyone who works on this franchise has no idea what they are doing. No matter what the medium, no matter who the creative team, they all seem to stumble around aimlessly, churning out ideas that are terrible on paper, never mind in practise. Why does this keep on happening?

I agree with you wholeheartedly except for the current Archie writers. If nothing else, they know enough about the other parts of the franchise (especially the older games) to pay homage to / draw inspiration from it, and they usually have good story-telling pacing within the comic medium. I've said before that I think Ian Flynn would probably be the best possible screenwriter for a Sonic movie.

The only unknown thing is if he can get the pacing for a movie right. Although it's not the best comparison, I'd at least argue that the Worlds Collide special proves the Archie team can both effectively world-build and set up and resolve a large conflict given a limited amount of script.

For better or for worse, this is a "Sonic-comes-to-our-world" movie. I'm sure the goal is probably to make the next Transformers or Ninja Turtles or Avengers or Pirates -- something that adults, teens, and children (with their parents) will all go see. And all those movies -- all live action/CG hybrid action adventure films in general -- are PG-13. They still all have toylines and picture books and spin-off cartoons, but these movies that millions of children go see are marketed as "PG-13" because that's the marketable rating for the genre. If it gets a PG, it will be perceived as a family film, like the Smurfs or Alvin and the Chipmunks.

It's very easy to get a PG-13 rating in a live-action action film. Stuff just has to realistically explode, and someone has to swear. Even a straight live action adaptation of Shadow the Hedgehog would get a PG-13. It would also be amazing; someone make that please.

I'm kind of relieved it's PG-13. Not that I want swearing, blood, sex jokes or anything like that, but because it means it'll not be in the style of Smurfs or Chipmunks.

If it's styled liked the new TMNT movie, I'll be okay with it. Just don't have some dumb premise where Sonic literally jumps out of the television set. And don't have stupid celebrities taking focus away from Sonic.

I think it'll be PG-13 simply for the constant action and maybe Eggman's robots looking a little scary.

I will say... the thing about the PG-13 that makes me nervous isn't the idea that it'll go all grimdark, but that it'll follow the trend in PG-13 action films and make the CG characters super realistic. I'm trying to imagine what Sonic would look like done in the style of the new Turtles or even Rocket Raccoon. It's not pretty.

Then again, Sonic Team barely let Boom drift from Sonic's regular design, so maybe the same will apply with this.

Sega of Japan will never allow it. (I can't even picture what a realistic Sonic would look like..) They've shot down several movie pitches in the past, so I imagine they're going to be very strict about how Sonic is portrayed in this. (They have a bunch of mandates for the comic book)

I'd like to see the name Robotnik used again for the movie, (If this is gonna be done as a comic-booky action film you can't have the villain calling himself something as ridiculous as Eggman. They should just go back to the compromise they reached in SA1 where Eggman was an insult Sonic came up with, and Robotnik was what he called himself)

cjmcray wrote:I can't even picture what a realistic Sonic would look like..

I can. The question is whom they are going to cast as Princess Elise.

Esrever wrote:It's very easy to get a PG-13 rating in a live-action action film. Stuff just has to realistically explode, and someone has to swear. Even a straight live action adaptation of Shadow the Hedgehog would get a PG-13. It would also be amazing; someone make that please.

It's more complex than that, and deceptively difficult. If you've got swords in your movie, it's easy to do as a couple shots of characters impaling other characters (seeing the tip of a sword run through a grunt) will make the grade. Movies like irobot and Thor had to struggle for their ratings and had to add shots where the main characters were partially nude to make the grade. Guardians of the Galaxy got its rating by having a scene of blood letting sacrifice with a giant hammer and a character severing their own(albeit robotic) arm at the end. Explosions and menacing robots are not enough.

Shadow would work as a pg-13 film easily. On screen deaths via fire arm and profanity are gonna get you there in a heartbeat. But wasn't that why we fucking hate that game in the first place? This whole project needs to not happen.

When I initially suggested it, I was being sarcastic. Of course nobody in the know wants that game made into the movie. I suspect some clueless studio head might urge the writers to consider it due to its reputation as one of the more violent entries in the series, but hopefully SEGA itself has enough experience with that game to know not to bother. And when it comes to the creative direction of Sonic-related projects meted out to other companies, their oversight seems to be pretty tight, for better or worse.

I imagine that the movie will probably have an original story heavily influenced by the games, but if they were to do an adaptation, the best choice would probably be Sonic Adventure 2. It has a fairly tight story (it's not overly sprawling like the first Adventure game) while also featuring varied eye-catching locales and most of the major players in the newer Sonic games. It would probably earn that coveted PG-13 rating. The game itself is probably one of the more well-known entries in the series, especially with a demographic that's coming into financial independence (as well as young kids of their own, rating be damned). Personally, I would also like it because the story has just the right amount of heart near the end.

Man, I kind of feel like the guy who had to pitch this movie idea in the first place. Okay, I'll stop.

P.P.A. wrote:The question is whom they are going to cast as Princess Elise.

There's not a neck long enough in Hollywood to support that character.