Tuesday, November 30

Muppets, Mel and Me

Speaking of Muppets, I haven't really enjoyed their antics much since Jim Henson died.  That they've carried on the characters that he voiced (that he *was*) is sad to me, but I understand, from a corporate greed angle, why it must be done.  Kermit is, quite simply, not Kermit anymore.  I cannot enjoy what these characters do or say, because I cannot see them as the entities they were.  They are impersonators.
I could handle the Dick York/Dick Seargeant switch on Bewitched because, even though they were playing the same character, Dick2 didn't try to copy Dick1.  He played the character in his own way.
I was equally frustrated when the Warner Brothers kept the Looney Toons franchise going after Mel Blanc died.  Bugs, Daffy, et al just didn't sound right.  I'd occasionally see some post-Mel cartoons and would get upset at the voice-work and ultimately decided not to watch any more.
Sunday, Looney Toons Back In Action was on, and I half-heartedly decided to check it out for a minute (to see how long it'd take before I got frustrated at the voices and angrily changed the channel).  Well, I was pleasantly surprised.  The new guy they got to do the voices has nailed many of them.  Daffy sounds like Daffy again.  Bugs is back to being Bugs.  Yosemite isn't so good, but overall, I was impressed.
Enough to watch the whole movie.  Which was okay, by the way.  I'm always cheering for Brendan Fraser to succeed.



1 comment:

dave s said...

and i'm always cheering for director joe dante (gremlins, piranha, the howling)to have hits. he's done a lot for my favourite movie genres and looney toons have always been a major influence on him. on a related note, i just came into possession of volume 2 of those mega looney toons 4-disc sets that warner bros is releasing and this set is great, not least because it includes that absolutely fantastic "one froggy evening" short. i also have the just-released seasons 1 & 2 ren & stimpy dvds and i'm happy to say that they're just as funny as they were when they were first aired (i wasn't sure how they'd hold up). happy happy joy joy.