I just don't know how I feel about this news

[cupcake_goth]

Tim Burton to direct a 3-D stop motion Addams Family movie. (clicky-link!)

I ... wow, I am conflicted about this. On the one hand, I LOVE the Addams Family. (No surprise there.) And Tim Burton is one of my favorite visual stylists/directors.

On the other hand, I was disappointed with Alice In Wonderland. Very disappointed. And really, I can't imagine anything ever being better than the two Addams Family movies with Angelica Huston and Raul Julia. (Tho' if the Addams Family musical goes on tour and comes to Seattle, OF COURSE I am going to see it. No question.)

Comments

[bijouxdejais.livejournal.com]

Oooooh. I want to believe this is good news!
I've loved all his past stop-motion projects so I hope he can do it justice. Also, there wouldn't need to be as much backstory wrangling as with Alice.
The Addams Family play wasn't as great as I'd hoped, but it wasn't terrible either. Who knows? This could be Burton's best animation project yet.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

That's right, you saw the musical! Did you make an LJ post about it? I am really curious about the music.

[bijouxdejais.livejournal.com]

I don't post to LJ anymore, but I blurbed a tiny bit about it on my blog (http://bijouxdejais.blogspot.com/2009/12/addams-family.html).
The music was very Broadway: silly and over-the-top at times, ballady/schmaltzy at others. Not sure who wrote the music, though.
I think my favorite song was from the tango swordfighting scene. There were some misses (two words: full disclosure)
Have I said too much? *zip*

[gothfather.livejournal.com]

I firmly believe that there is a Burton Cycle. He makes a massively awesome movie, then does a few mediocre ones, then makes one or two absolute Travesties before immediately making another awesome film. Depending on where he is in the cycle, this could go either way.

Being stop motion does give us the advantage of not seeing him attempt to dress HBC up as Morticia, so that's already a plus going for it.

However, I do Absolutely agree that he'd be fighting a huge uphill battle against the existing two movies. They were about as close to perfect as one was going to get.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Oh, there's definitely a Burton Cycle. And I would prefer that he NOT use Johnny Depp or HBC for this project, even tho' I'm a fan of both of them.

All the information I've found about this project says that Tim Burton is going back to the original Charles Addams cartoons, and isn't going to reference any of the other versions.

[smu.livejournal.com]

Well, that would be sort of neat. I like the original cartoons. There's a lot that could be done with that, and stand apart from the absolutely perfect prior movies.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

the good news here - the only thing to base any Addams Family thing on is the comics. As long as he goes from *there* it should be just fine. At least there is not an actual storyline, plot, or additional selection of characters for him to play "cut up mix and match" with.

Tiina took me to see Alice. My reaction can be summed up as "I have a Crispin Glover fetish". The further I get from the movie, the more I let go of everything that is not Crispin in the film. Which is making me much much happier over all. I still have frothing anger about the queens issue, but it is abating as Crispin is overshadowing it.

[cajunsblues.livejournal.com]

The Stop motion is his baby. I think it will be very Charles Addams esq

[paprykaspice.livejournal.com]

I just want you to think about this.
It was dark for Disney, but not for Tim. You could have seen that. Also, I think that they assumed we knew more backstory than most of us did. So, yeah.

From a writer's standpoint, there was no tension between the queens. Yes, there was a conflict, but I didn't, at least, FEEL the tension.

But I did like it nonetheless.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I thought the visuals for the Alice movie were gorgeous. I am purchasing the giant art book in the next few weeks. But the story fell flat, and everyone seemed to be mugging their way through the roles. (And I'm usually a fan of people gnawing on the scenery!)

[kerydwenn.livejournal.com]

Hmm, was it so terrible a movie? It's going to be released in France on April 7th only (I think), and I admit that as usual, I haven't been checking any reviews or whatever.

If the artbook is great, though, I might decided to get it, rather than go to the cinema.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say "terrible". But very Tim Burton by-the-numbers, and strangely joyless.

other side of the looking glass

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

very Tim Burton by-the-numbers

I completely adore you, know this first before I say anything else. :)

But such a "paint-by-numbers" comment, aren't many of us guilty of this to one degree or another? I mean, where is the line that delineates between personal style/aesthetic and rote predictability? You have an incredible, and instantly recognizable style to the point where if someone saw stripes, pink accents, whimsical top hats, swirls, cupcakes, bats, etc... people would think "Jillian!" and I think people really enjoy that about you ~ that they can see things, even people who don't know you well personally, and see it as being very *you*. I don't think many people are out there going, Jillian should really wear an emerald green twinset, or a tanktop and jeans next ;)

I think Tim likewise has a strong personal style that he's been lucky enough to make a profession indulging. Personally, I don't see that as a bad thing at all. His work has a "flavour" as countless other artists/directors do. I guess I'm just a bit confounded by why all of a sudden it seems this thread of continuity he has is being purported as a bad thing.

I haven't seen Alice yet, but only due to lack of time, not desire. I'm hoping to catch it on the trip actually. And I'm thrilled he's doing another (some say predictable, I say) "classic" piece and look forward to the spin he puts on it.

Do you think perhaps this is all a familiarity breeds contempt thing?

Re: other side of the looking glass

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I don't *think* it's a case of familiarity breeds contempt, because quite honestly, the things I enjoyed the most about the Alice movie were the things that were part of the familiar Tim Burton aesthetic. I think the problem was that the movie felt very ... rote? It felt like a standard (and somewhat second-rate) Disney fantasy story (and remember, I'm a big Disney fan), with a thin veneer of Wonderland and Tim Burton pasted over it.

In some ways, I feel like Tim didn't go far enough with what he could of done for Alice In Wonderland. There's a part of of me that wonders if his hands were a bit tied by the studio; "We want zany! But not too zany. Here's the merchandise we want to sell, build the movie around that."

I really, REALLY wanted to like the Alice movie. But once my reaction of "Wheeee! Tim Burton imagery!" wore off, I didn't. Like I said, I will LOVE the big art book, because that will allow me to enjoy the visuals and aesthetics without a feeling of disappointment.

(I feel the same way about the Series Of Unfortunate Events movie, actually. Beautiful, beautiful images, but I have no urge to sit through it ever again. Unless I can turn the sound off.)

Re: other side of the looking glass

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I'll hold off on my opinion of the film until I've actually seen it, but I enjoyed a lot of the other movies I've heard people recently being dismayed about, so my perspective may be skewed to fit my own tastes ;) C & I attempted to watch the Snicket movie once, and honestly don't remember anything about it really other than we only got through a small poriton before mutually agreeing to move on to something else.

I guess I just can't tell if people are feeling an annoyance because they admire and want *better* from him (and if it's even right to put someone on such a high pedestal, that it might be impossible for them to create *that* level of expected astonishment they're perhaps being pressured to do), or what it is exactly... It's sad, because to me it reeks a bit of instances I've seen many times before in my own life (especially in the scene) where you'll have two people who have a boatload more in common with each other than they do with most of the rest of society at large, and yet they'll be at constant odds as though they're total opposites ~ something that couldn't be farther from the truth. It's a weird phenomenon ~ like two positively charged ends of magnets. They have the same charge, and yet find themselves only able to repel each other. Perhaps it's easier/safer to be upset with someone you feel closer to in some ways, whereas it can feel pointless to express fault with someone you truly don't have much in common with. (I'm not just pointing this at you by any means, just a larger pattern I've noticed.)

I really do look forward to seeing the movie, and hopefully I'll get more insight as to what the hubbub is about (though the hubbub seemed to start before it was released). That said, I'll likely just find myself charmed by the little things, and can't wait to see Helena. As with many films, I think it boils down to a willing "suspension of belief".

[smu.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm gonna go see Alice in about a hour. Should I gird myself for massive disappointment?

[bittergourd.livejournal.com]

Without Raul Julia do the voice of Gomez, I will never ever want to see this project.

Also, no thanks, but I hate the 3d. And I do graphics/animation.

[aniline.livejournal.com]

Wow, add in Bauhaus and it's a gothic hat trick.

I don't think I've liked a Tim Burton film in quite some time, but I will most likely enjoy it's stripes and large eyes. heh. :D

[elfstar18.livejournal.com]

This is worrisome because I feel all of the hopeful flutters for this that I for some reason could not muster for Alice (I will see it, but I don't know when). I very easily could wind up being very disappointed. (By 3D, do they mean 'animated objects, not animated drawings' or 'you will be wearing strange glasses'?) I was VERY excited by Sweeney Todd, and while the movie had a lot to recommend itself, I forgot it pretty quickly. That said, Corpse Bride was fantastic, so...

I love the two movies, but the television show (even more so than the comic. I am a bad person.) is my 'canon' Addams Family. As much as I love the characters that Houston, Julia, and Ricci created, there's a part of me going "Gomez shouldn't be that sexy; Morticia should be gentler; Wednesday should be younger..."

[bijouxdejais.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about the show. That is my earliest memory of The Addams Family; only later was I able to seek, read and "get" Chas. Addams' original comics, which were significantly saltier than the show.

Let's not be too hard on the man, Burton that is (nb, I haven't seen Alice yet); his canon of work as a whole definitely sets him apart from any other director or filmmaker, and like the human being he is, he is bound to slip every now and then. As long as he stays true to his creative vision and progresses beyond said slips, he's got my respect.

[schwarze-krahe.livejournal.com]

I don't think I have been really happy with a film by him since Ed Wood.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

For a moment I read 'stop-motion' and thought it meant the kind of 3D-painted-on-real-people thing that's been so popular lately, and I was going to cry. Stop-motion is considerably more all right with me, as I love his visual sense to pieces.

As for him doing the Addams Family... well, I've only ever seen the movies, so I'd need to watch the old show and read more of the cartoons so that I could broaden my expectations a bit.

I really would like to see him do more original stuff, especially since The Corpse Bride is one of my favorite movies, and certainly my favorite of *his*.

[princesadeplata.livejournal.com]

"The Corpse Bride" is very similar to this 2001 short, actually:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM6sP61zNx4

Love them both, though.

Also, completely OT...

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

So I was headed to dance class, wearing both my purse and a bag with paper plates, etc for a potluck cross-body. I commented to my husband that I looked like I was wearing a bandoleer, and suddenly it hit me: pastryslinger! I now have a terrible, never-to-be-realized desire to make an EGL cupcake desperado outfit. With little cake decorating accessories, etc, instead of bullets...

1) I need help.
2) For some reason, I had to share this with you.

[dirtnap13.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel. I think everything that Burton touches that is not his own creation, he seems to ruin. Except for Big Fish.

[metum-capere.livejournal.com]

i fell asleep to alice in wonderland.. it didn't realy keep my interest (and i'm almost 8 months pregnant lol). I don't feel like I missed much. The story was rather dull, and it was never fully explained. I agree that the last several movies from Tim Burton have been rather dull. I didn't like the corpse bride but I didn't like nightmare either because of all the singing. And it's all far too cutesy for me too.
Many of his films are childrens films, but even children want more originality and creativity to a storyline.
I am scared about the Addams movie, and terrified over the Dark Shadows remake. Please make it gothic horror and NO humor at all. Johnny Depp is a great actor and will make a good Barnabas Collins as long as it's a brooding role and not a tongue in cheek role.
My big issie with Tim Burtons movies as of late are the corruption of my favorite childhood stories. He has taken "goth" and watered it down, mass marketed it and therefore cheapened it.
I do love some older Tim Burton movies. But it's always the same formula, and just because I like the original formula of beetlejuice doesn't mean I want to see Alice in wonderland with a beetlejuice twist... I think he can do way better.
I don't want my favorite books and tv shows and movies remade into something palatable for a widespread audience. If the masses didn't enjoy the origal incarnation of a story, why would they even want to see the burton version?
I'm over it. It hurts my soul a little bit to think about the Addams' and Collins' families bastardised storylines.
He is so creative, can't he make a new story that creepy,kooky, myesterious and spooky?

[brockulfsen.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one here who'd rather see performance capture and the original grotesque Addams's brought too humanly to life?

I don't think stop-motion can convey the ordinary wrongness of Festers' goblin head on a beer barrel physique.

I'd hate to see the Addams's done like Corpse Bride, it would be too hard to tell the freaks from the norms.