*sigh*... and here we go...

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=medved+%%22happy+feet%%22&btnG...

In short, Happy Feet mocks religion, blames humans for the stories'
existential hell, and is too dark for young kids ("The darkest, most
disturbing feature-length animated film ever offered by a major
studio"). As such, it belies the advertisements' promises of a fun
romp for the whole family.

Preliminary thoughts:

1) Warner Brothers marketing sucks. SHOCKER!!! :)

2) "PG" means "parental guidance suggested"

3) What IS the darkest, most disturbing feature film released by
Hollywood? Last Unicorn? :)

Your thoughts?

Part words from Betsy Hart (of Scripps Howard News):
I'm just also thrilled there are more and more movies from the fun
"Happy Feet" (and no I don't care about it's environmentalist agenda,
and neither do my children)... to which I can enjoy taking my kids.

Forgot to add Medved's pre-Thanksgiving bit of box-office prediction:

"The effort to mask this reality with talk about "singing and dancing
in the aisles" may succeed in bringing in large, eager audiences for
the film's opening weekend (parents are always hungry for
kid-friendly animated entertainment) but once the word-of-mouth kicks
in, watch for the quick box-office collapse of "Happy Feet." "

Oops.

Terrence Briggs, who's about as good at predicting Best Animated
Feature Oscars... WOOHOO!
Peace to you...

Terrence Briggs wrote:

If I don't respond to this Terrence Briggs post, the terrorists
win.

...WHAT.

Titan A.E. and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within both dealt with
GENOCIDE. Not to mention the headtrip that was The Last Unicorn.

Sometimes a tap-dancing penguin is just a tap-dancing penguin,
people!

Freezer wrote:

Consider the source. Though, since it's Medved, I'd as lief not consider
him at all.

Kip W

Terrence Briggs wrote:

(And that's only considering Miller's "Babe: Pig in the City" was
live-action.)

Before we get wags crying "Se7en", think you meant darkest FAMILY
feature ever released (and by major studio, not indie imports like
"Plague Dogs"

In article <1165066710.117013.61890@l12g2000cwl.googlegroups.com>,
"Terrence Briggs" lycos.com> wrote:

That's an interesting question. If you believe Roger Ebert, it's Bambi,
which he called "a parable of sexism, nihilism and despair, portraying
absentee fathers and passive mothers in a world of violence." The funny
part is that Disney used a very truncated quote from that very review to
promote its DVD release of the film.

I might go with Disney's Hunchback. Certainly *parts* of it are among
the darkest stuff to come from mainstream American animation.

I always found the death of the villain and his dogs to be quite
disturbingly done in Oliver & Company, too.

Heather

Terrence Briggs wrote:

Humans also save the penguins (by just fishing somewhere else)...
I was all set to hate HF... over-detailed "realism", endless pop songs,
Robin Williams' motormouth. And yet I enjoyed every minute of it...
I guess I actually cared about the main character, I can't even say
that about Cars (great as it was).

"Terrence Briggs" lycos.com> wrote in message
news:1165066710.117013.61890@l12g2000cwl.googlegroups.com...

Patrick Joseph Mc Namara wrote: