BEFORE: Another personal connection tonight, but a less positive one. Last year the Academy had to make a ruling about how many animated features were eligible for Oscar nominations - by its guidelines, in any year with 15 or more eligible animated features, 5 films would receive nominations, instead of the usual 3. The Academy ruled that there was not enough animation in this film for it to qualify, so only 14 films were considered eligible, and thus only 3 nominations in that category. This may have prevented a film that I worked on from getting a nomination, so I'm predisposed to hate this film.
Oh, and Mark Hamill from "Queer Duck" was in a little film called "Star Wars" with Harrison Ford, who was in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" with Dan Aykroyd (last seen in "Neighbors") in a cameo role. Aykroyd provides the voice of Yogi tonight. And the bear thing - Bi-Polar Bear in last night's film - is another obvious link.
THE PLOT: A documentary filmmaker travels to Jellystone Park to shoot a project and soon crosses paths with Yogi Bear, his sidekick Boo-Boo, and Ranger Smith.
AFTER: The Academy should have ruled against this one not for its lack of animation, but for its lack of imagination - or any redeeming value, for that matter.
Ugh, I don't even know where to start with this one, or if it's even going to be worth pointing out its numerous faults. I guess I'll start with the obvious - talking bears, which doesn't seem to alarm anyone, though all the other animals seem quite mute. People even travel for miles to see the talking bears, and consider it an honor to have their picnic baskets stolen by them. Which all seems rather weird.
And the talking bear is an inventor on a par with Wile E. Coyote - which is a contradiction in itself, how can an animal be so smart as to build all this complex stuff, which requires brains, but to have absolutely NONE of it do what it's supposed to do - so, are they smart, or not? As a screenwriter, someone has to make some kind of decision.
I know, kids' film, kids' film, kids' film. But BAD kids' film. Even a kids' film has to make some kind of sense. And entertain, at least on some level. But every actor here looks like they'd rather be somewhere else, or in some other movie, except maybe the mayor, who's the only non-animated being on screen with any kind of energy.
I don't know what's worse, the lackluster performances or the "Hey, let's put on a SHOW!" mentality that's going to (somehow) balance the city budget and save a park. And what's with that, anyway - why is a NATIONAL park subject to the whims of a city's budget? Shouldn't they be getting federal funds somehow, or am I asking too much for requiring one lick of sense here?
Just because you can animate a bear character, and make it talk and fall down and water-ski, doesn't mean that you SHOULD. You should only do so if doing so proves to be entertaining, which it's not.
And, like last night's film there are spoofs of/homages to famous (better) films, like "Superman", "2001: A Space Odyssey", even "Apocalypse Now" - but last night they were used for comic effect, here they seem just pointless.
Also starring Tom Cavanagh (who I want to like, really, but he's got to pick better material), T.J. Miller (last heard in "How to Train Your Dragon"), Anna Faris (last heard in "Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel"), Andrew Daly (last seen in "She's Out of My League"), Nate Corddry, and the voice of Justin Timberlake (last heard in "Shrek the Third").
RATING: 2 out of 10 pies in the face
Even when I was the right age to enjoy "Yogi Bear"...I hated the show. Much, much later in life I'd dial down my contempt for Hanna-Barbera kiddie TV, after learning that the Warner Brothers shorts were made for theatrical release and benefitted from vastly-higher budgets and longer timetables.
ReplyDeleteAt the time, though, all I knew was that the stories were crap, the animation was practically nonexistent, and the music was repetitive. I was also very proud of myself for figuring out why each and every character in every HB cartoon wore a necktie, scarf, collar, cravat, even if they were animals who wore no other clothing of any kind.
People complain about "crappy TV shows that are mined for crappy movies" so much that it's become a cliche. Nonetheless, "Yogi Bear" is a mystery. The character is loved and cherished by nobody. There's a bit of name recognition, maybe, but is there any affection? It was a crummy show that could only succeed in the protected environment of broadcast TV syndication. Once kids had ANY option other than Hanna Barbera cartoons...these shows became totally worthless.