Updated: There has been another round of content removal from Disney+, this time in the Emea region, which consists of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More than 120 titles have been taken off this week, primarily Disney Channel original movies and vintage Disney live-action films, as well as a few series, including Zeke and Luther, Pepper Ann, So Random and the first three seasons of Nat Geo’s Genius and ESPN/Nat Geo docs.
According to sources, the takedowns were a result of a library title review. There have been several content purges at Disney+ over the last year amid cost-cutting, most notably the removal of a slew of original series last May.
Here is a list of movie titles that are said to be gone from Disney+ in Emea, compiled by Drew Ryan.
A Tale of Two Critters
America’s Heart and Soul
Angry Sky (ESPN)
Babes in Toyland...
According to sources, the takedowns were a result of a library title review. There have been several content purges at Disney+ over the last year amid cost-cutting, most notably the removal of a slew of original series last May.
Here is a list of movie titles that are said to be gone from Disney+ in Emea, compiled by Drew Ryan.
A Tale of Two Critters
America’s Heart and Soul
Angry Sky (ESPN)
Babes in Toyland...
- 2/3/2024
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
From The Video Archives Podcast, writer/director Roger Avary and writer/producer Gala Avary discuss a few of their favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Taxi Driver (1976)
Star Wars (1977)
Matinee (1993)
Dune (1984)
Terror On A Train a.k.a. Time Bomb (1953)
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Batman (1989)
Yentl (1983)
Nuts (1987)
Spaceballs (1987)
Die Hard (1988)
Top Gun (1986)
Cocksucker Blues (1972)
Mijn nachten met Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra (1975)
Straw Dogs (1971)
The Godfather (1972)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Day Of The Dolphin (1973)
Babylon (2022)
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)
Carrie (1976)
Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)
Blow Out (1981)
The Matrix (1999)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Killing Zoe (1993)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Tenant (1976)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Bugsy Malone (1976)
Phantom Of The Paradise (1974)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Rules Of Attraction (2002)
The Sound Of Music (1965)
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)
Giant (1956)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Babe (1995)
Time Bandits...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Taxi Driver (1976)
Star Wars (1977)
Matinee (1993)
Dune (1984)
Terror On A Train a.k.a. Time Bomb (1953)
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Batman (1989)
Yentl (1983)
Nuts (1987)
Spaceballs (1987)
Die Hard (1988)
Top Gun (1986)
Cocksucker Blues (1972)
Mijn nachten met Susan, Olga, Albert, Julie, Piet & Sandra (1975)
Straw Dogs (1971)
The Godfather (1972)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Day Of The Dolphin (1973)
Babylon (2022)
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)
Carrie (1976)
Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)
Blow Out (1981)
The Matrix (1999)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Killing Zoe (1993)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Tenant (1976)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Bugsy Malone (1976)
Phantom Of The Paradise (1974)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Rules Of Attraction (2002)
The Sound Of Music (1965)
Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)
Giant (1956)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Babe (1995)
Time Bandits...
- 2/28/2023
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
After 11 years, Disney is pulling the plug on Disney Family Movies On Demand — with the service’s shutdown coming just days before the launch of the Mouse House’s Disney Plus.
Disney Family Movies, which cost between $5-$10 per month, has been available via pay-tv providers in the U.S., including Comcast Xfinity, Charter Communications, Verizon Fios, Cox Communications, Altice USA’s Optimum and AT&T’s U-verse.
As of Oct. 31, 2019, Disney Family Movies will no longer be available, according to a notice on Comcast’s site. Recent movies featured on the subscription VOD service included “The Princess Diaries,” “Enchanted” starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” with Nicolas Cage, and Tim Allen-starrer “The Santa Claus 3: The Escape Clause,” as well as “Pinocchio,” “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid,” “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch,” “Encino Man” and “Oliver & Company.”
The end of...
Disney Family Movies, which cost between $5-$10 per month, has been available via pay-tv providers in the U.S., including Comcast Xfinity, Charter Communications, Verizon Fios, Cox Communications, Altice USA’s Optimum and AT&T’s U-verse.
As of Oct. 31, 2019, Disney Family Movies will no longer be available, according to a notice on Comcast’s site. Recent movies featured on the subscription VOD service included “The Princess Diaries,” “Enchanted” starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” with Nicolas Cage, and Tim Allen-starrer “The Santa Claus 3: The Escape Clause,” as well as “Pinocchio,” “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid,” “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch,” “Encino Man” and “Oliver & Company.”
The end of...
- 10/18/2019
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Disney unveiled the complete list of films to premiere on its streaming service Disney Plus via a lengthy Twitter thread Monday. With its powerhouse catalog including Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and National Geographic properties, the full magnitude of the Disney empire will be seen once the streaming service launches. Along with Disney originals previously announced like “Star Wars” live action series “The Mandalorian” and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” viewers in search of nostalgic watches can find dozens of titles from Disney, Disney channel, Disney direct-to-home video and Fox joining the streaming service come Nov. 12.
Feature films start off with the 1937 version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and continues with quintessential feature films such as “Fantasia,” “Dumbo” and “Cinderella.”
Fantasia (1940) pic.twitter.com/pHbtWWseNH
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) October 14, 2019
Check out some of the pre-Lindsay Lohan titles like “Parent Trap” and “Freaky Friday” starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris.
Feature films start off with the 1937 version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and continues with quintessential feature films such as “Fantasia,” “Dumbo” and “Cinderella.”
Fantasia (1940) pic.twitter.com/pHbtWWseNH
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) October 14, 2019
Check out some of the pre-Lindsay Lohan titles like “Parent Trap” and “Freaky Friday” starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris.
- 10/14/2019
- by BreAnna Bell
- Variety Film + TV
Disney has shared a new trailer for their upcoming Disney+ streaming service and it’s over 3-hours long! I don’t know if you want to spend over three hours seeing what Disney+ has to offer when it launches, but you have the option!
Disney+ also posted all of the films and TV shows coming to the streaming service on a super long Twitter thread, which I included below the trailer. As you’ll see there’s a ton of stuff that will be available that will make Disney fans happy. Gargoyles and several other classic 90s animated series are among them along with a lot of old weird films that have been pulled out of the Disney vault.
If you don’t want to watch the trailer or scroll through the Twitter feed, I shared the full list of titles for you. Check everything out below and let us...
Disney+ also posted all of the films and TV shows coming to the streaming service on a super long Twitter thread, which I included below the trailer. As you’ll see there’s a ton of stuff that will be available that will make Disney fans happy. Gargoyles and several other classic 90s animated series are among them along with a lot of old weird films that have been pulled out of the Disney vault.
If you don’t want to watch the trailer or scroll through the Twitter feed, I shared the full list of titles for you. Check everything out below and let us...
- 10/14/2019
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
If you are of voting age in the United States today, you know that stranger things have happened than someone like Tim Heidecker getting elected to public office. But in a world where Americans are getting punked on an almost daily basis by their TV-famous cretin in chief, do we really need a smug fake-news “documentary” making a mockery of the political system?
Maybe that’s too literal an assessment of “Mister America,” the latest oddball installment in the long-running performance-art curiosity that is “On Cinema at the Cinema,” in which a character named Tim Heidecker (played by absurdist comedian/outsider artist Tim Heidecker) pretends to run for district attorney of San Bernardino, Calif. Will he win? That is so not the point in this consistently obnoxious, #onlyfans offering () whose very existence seems to be the punchline to a joke that goes, “Just how far are they going to take this?...
Maybe that’s too literal an assessment of “Mister America,” the latest oddball installment in the long-running performance-art curiosity that is “On Cinema at the Cinema,” in which a character named Tim Heidecker (played by absurdist comedian/outsider artist Tim Heidecker) pretends to run for district attorney of San Bernardino, Calif. Will he win? That is so not the point in this consistently obnoxious, #onlyfans offering () whose very existence seems to be the punchline to a joke that goes, “Just how far are they going to take this?...
- 10/5/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Tim Conway, the agile comedian who was a core member of the “The Carol Burnett Show” troupe and starred in a string of Disney film comedies in the 1970s, died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. He was 85.
A rep for Conway tells Variety he died from water on the brain.
Over his long career, Conway was nominated for 13 Emmys and won six. For “The Carol Burnett Show,” he was nominated six times as a supporting performer in a variety or comedy series, winning in 1973, 1977 and 1978. He was also nominated as part of the writing staff for the show, drawing three nominations and winning in 1978. In addition to those four Emmy wins, he won in 1996 for outstanding guest actor in a comedy, “Coach,” and in 2008 for guest actor in a comedy for “30 Rock.”
“I’m heartbroken. He was one in a million, not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being,...
A rep for Conway tells Variety he died from water on the brain.
Over his long career, Conway was nominated for 13 Emmys and won six. For “The Carol Burnett Show,” he was nominated six times as a supporting performer in a variety or comedy series, winning in 1973, 1977 and 1978. He was also nominated as part of the writing staff for the show, drawing three nominations and winning in 1978. In addition to those four Emmy wins, he won in 1996 for outstanding guest actor in a comedy, “Coach,” and in 2008 for guest actor in a comedy for “30 Rock.”
“I’m heartbroken. He was one in a million, not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being,...
- 5/14/2019
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Ron Miller, the USC football star who met his future wife Walt Disney’s daughter Diane on a blind date and later became CEO and president of what is now the The Walt Disney Company, has died at age 85. The Walt Disney Co. confirmed Sunday that he passed away Napa Valley, CA.
After stints in the Army and with the Los Angeles Rams, Walt Disney hired his son-in-law to work at The Walt Disney Studios. He became Disney’s sixth employee at the original Disneyland, serving as second assistant on Old Yeller in 1957.
Miller rose up the ranks in film and TV production — his credits include producing The Rescuers, The Shaggy D.A., The Magical World of Disney (which won an Emmy), Herbie Goes Bananas and Tron — and eventually became president and CEO of Walt Disney Productions. He held the post from 1978-1984 until he was famously ousted in a leadership...
After stints in the Army and with the Los Angeles Rams, Walt Disney hired his son-in-law to work at The Walt Disney Studios. He became Disney’s sixth employee at the original Disneyland, serving as second assistant on Old Yeller in 1957.
Miller rose up the ranks in film and TV production — his credits include producing The Rescuers, The Shaggy D.A., The Magical World of Disney (which won an Emmy), Herbie Goes Bananas and Tron — and eventually became president and CEO of Walt Disney Productions. He held the post from 1978-1984 until he was famously ousted in a leadership...
- 2/10/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Nine Lives is a film that’s dangerous to make these days, and that’s largely because Disney isn’t in it’s ’70s mode. That means efforts with fairly decent budgets and big stars that center around people turning into dogs, or field-goal-kicking mules, are looked down upon by everyone looking to take a shot at any film they can.
This is a fantastically goofy movie that, using some lens or another, has no redeeming qualities at all beyond the possible idea that the actors are actually performing their roles rather well. It’s not an uncommon lens, and there aren’t many who are particularly championing things like The Shaggy D.A. (especially when 2006’s Tim Allen remake The Shaggy Dog hit), but these family-friendly charmers don’t deserve the dissection they usually get these days.
In this one, Kevin Spacey plays an ultra-rich business tycoon, Tom Brand, who...
This is a fantastically goofy movie that, using some lens or another, has no redeeming qualities at all beyond the possible idea that the actors are actually performing their roles rather well. It’s not an uncommon lens, and there aren’t many who are particularly championing things like The Shaggy D.A. (especially when 2006’s Tim Allen remake The Shaggy Dog hit), but these family-friendly charmers don’t deserve the dissection they usually get these days.
In this one, Kevin Spacey plays an ultra-rich business tycoon, Tom Brand, who...
- 12/9/2016
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
When the mood strikes, there’s nothing better than an Atomic Age Monster Movie (B Division). Glorious black & white, damsels in distress, iron willed heroes and rubberized villains never fail to hit all the pleasure centers. The Monster that Challenged the World (1957) is one such film, and better made than most of the era. As the tagline says, “A New Kind of Terror to Numb the Nerves!” Well, you may just feel a tingle, but it’s a blast nevertheless.
Released by United Artists in the States in June and rolled out to the rest of the world in ’58, Monster was produced for $250,000; a fair chunk of change for Gramercy Pictures, run by producers Arthur Gardner, Jules V. Levy and director Arnold Laven - they also produced the same year’s The Vampire (read my Dust Off here). And the price tag shows too; Monster is as polished looking as...
Released by United Artists in the States in June and rolled out to the rest of the world in ’58, Monster was produced for $250,000; a fair chunk of change for Gramercy Pictures, run by producers Arthur Gardner, Jules V. Levy and director Arnold Laven - they also produced the same year’s The Vampire (read my Dust Off here). And the price tag shows too; Monster is as polished looking as...
- 11/26/2016
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Anyone who saw a lot of kid’s movies in the ‘60s and ‘70s remembers Dean Jones. He was always a likable presence and a welcome sight, especially in the Disney family-friendly sort of films he excelled in such as The Ugly Dachshund, Blackbeard’S Ghost , The Love Bug, Snowball Express, The Million Dollar Duck, That Darn Cat! The list goes on and on and it’s hard to believe he was 84! He was always so young-looking, sort of the Dick Clark of the movies! Dean Jones was 84 and had Parkinson’s disease.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
“Dean Jones, the affable actor who starred in such classic Disney family comedies as That Darn Cat!, The Love Bug and The Shaggy D.A., has died. He was 84. Jones died Tuesday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Los Angeles, publicist Richard Hoffman announced. Jones’ film grosses exceeded $960 million, Hoffman noted. The actor...
From The Hollywood Reporter:
“Dean Jones, the affable actor who starred in such classic Disney family comedies as That Darn Cat!, The Love Bug and The Shaggy D.A., has died. He was 84. Jones died Tuesday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Los Angeles, publicist Richard Hoffman announced. Jones’ film grosses exceeded $960 million, Hoffman noted. The actor...
- 9/3/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Dean Jones: Actor in Disney movies. Dean Jones dead at 84: Actor in Disney movies 'The Love Bug,' 'That Darn Cat!' Dean Jones, best known for playing befuddled heroes in 1960s Walt Disney movies such as That Darn Cat! and The Love Bug, died of complications from Parkinson's disease on Tue., Sept. 1, '15, in Los Angeles. Jones (born on Jan. 25, 1931, in Decatur, Alabama) was 84. Dean Jones movies Dean Jones began his Hollywood career in the mid-'50s, when he was featured in bit parts – at times uncredited – in a handful of films at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer In 2009 interview for Christianity Today, Jones recalled playing his first scene (in These Wilder Years) with veteran James Cagney, who told him “Walk to your mark and remember your lines” – supposedly a lesson he would take to heart. At MGM, bit player Jones would also be featured in Robert Wise's...
- 9/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Legendary Disney classic film actor Dean Jones has died of Parkinson's disease at the age of 84.
Jones is best remembered for his work in three bonafide family film classics - the original "That Darn Cat," "Blackbeard's Ghost" and the start of the "Herbie" franchise "The Love Bug". Jones starred in around 46 films along with appearing in numerous television series and on Broadway.
Amongst his work were the likes of "The Shaggy D.A.," "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo," "Clear and Present Danger," "Other People's Money," "Beethoven," "Under the Yum-Yum Tree," "Any Wednesday" and "The Million Dollar Duck" along with guest roles on "Murder She Wrote," "The Love Boat," "Bonanza" and the animated "Superman" series.
Source: Variety...
Jones is best remembered for his work in three bonafide family film classics - the original "That Darn Cat," "Blackbeard's Ghost" and the start of the "Herbie" franchise "The Love Bug". Jones starred in around 46 films along with appearing in numerous television series and on Broadway.
Amongst his work were the likes of "The Shaggy D.A.," "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo," "Clear and Present Danger," "Other People's Money," "Beethoven," "Under the Yum-Yum Tree," "Any Wednesday" and "The Million Dollar Duck" along with guest roles on "Murder She Wrote," "The Love Boat," "Bonanza" and the animated "Superman" series.
Source: Variety...
- 9/2/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Reel-Important People is a monthly column that highlights those individuals in or related to the movies that have left us in recent weeks. Below you'll find names big and small and from all areas of the industry, though each was significant to the movies in his or her own way. Sam Andrew (1941-2015) - Guitarist. As a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, he appears in the films Monterey Pop (see below), Janis, Feed Your Head and Ball and Chain. He died on February 12. (THR) Richard Bakalyan (1931-2015) - Character Actor. Best known as Detective Loach in Chinatown (see below), he also appears in Robin and the 7 Hoods, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Shaggy D.A., The Computer Wore Tennis...
Read More...
Read More...
- 3/4/2015
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
Walt Disney passed away December 15, 1966, and in the decade that followed, the Walt Disney Company struggled to define itself. Should the company stay beholden to Walt and his vision, asking themselves what Walt would do, or should they take the opportunity to try something new? The decades that followed Walt’s death were a mix of trying to recreate old magic and experimenting with new genres and styles.
Good – Bedknobs and Broomsticks
In Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Disney was returning to a tried-and-true formula, one that had worked beautifully in Mary Poppins. The screenplay was based on a book series by an English children’s author, the story of a magical woman and the children under her care. Mary Poppins’ director Robert Stevenson helmed the project, which combined live action and animation. Robert and Richard Sherman, the team responsible for Mary Poppins as well as numerous other classic Disney songs, wrote the music and lyrics.
Good – Bedknobs and Broomsticks
In Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Disney was returning to a tried-and-true formula, one that had worked beautifully in Mary Poppins. The screenplay was based on a book series by an English children’s author, the story of a magical woman and the children under her care. Mary Poppins’ director Robert Stevenson helmed the project, which combined live action and animation. Robert and Richard Sherman, the team responsible for Mary Poppins as well as numerous other classic Disney songs, wrote the music and lyrics.
- 2/20/2014
- by Rachel Kolb
- SoundOnSight
There has been a lot of speculation concerning the the rise in childhood obesity among today’s youth. Why are so many of today’s children so fat? I’ve got a one one word answer: Twinkies. Just kidding (R.I.P my nuclear-blast-surviving friends). Why don’t kids exercise more or go outside and play? Some blame genetics or diet, while others look to socioeconomic factors (fat people tend to be poorer). Others blame media over-saturation (Facebook, TV, cell phones, PlayStation, etc.).
Each argument makes a valid point, but none provide a solution to the problem outside of the obvious: Stop watching TV and go outside! I’m going to suggest that the problem is one of vision. When it comes to weight loss and children, you can’t take an adult point of view to the problem. Adults exercise and lose weight for boring reasons that kids can...
Each argument makes a valid point, but none provide a solution to the problem outside of the obvious: Stop watching TV and go outside! I’m going to suggest that the problem is one of vision. When it comes to weight loss and children, you can’t take an adult point of view to the problem. Adults exercise and lose weight for boring reasons that kids can...
- 12/5/2012
- by Raymond Keith Woods
- Obsessed with Film
Herbie Rides Again
Written by Bill Walsh, based on the novel Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford
Directed by Robert Stevenson
USA, 1974, imdb
Listen to the Mousterpiece podcast about Herbie Rides Again or read Josh’s extended thoughts about the film!
*****
“The first rule of all drive-in sequels: make the same damn movie you made the first time!”
-Joe Bob Briggs
Herbie Rides Again stands proudly alongside Halloween III: Season of the Witch as the two films that most deliberately break the sequel rule. It is debatable which is more cruel. Halloween III has no Michael Myers (and for that matter no witches) but never explains why. No doubt many in the audience when it was first released must have been wondering when Michael Myers was going to show, right up until the moment the film ended.
While discarding most of what made the first film work: Dean Jones as racer Jim Douglas,...
Written by Bill Walsh, based on the novel Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford
Directed by Robert Stevenson
USA, 1974, imdb
Listen to the Mousterpiece podcast about Herbie Rides Again or read Josh’s extended thoughts about the film!
*****
“The first rule of all drive-in sequels: make the same damn movie you made the first time!”
-Joe Bob Briggs
Herbie Rides Again stands proudly alongside Halloween III: Season of the Witch as the two films that most deliberately break the sequel rule. It is debatable which is more cruel. Halloween III has no Michael Myers (and for that matter no witches) but never explains why. No doubt many in the audience when it was first released must have been wondering when Michael Myers was going to show, right up until the moment the film ended.
While discarding most of what made the first film work: Dean Jones as racer Jim Douglas,...
- 3/1/2012
- by Michael Ryan
- SoundOnSight
Last week I was a very bad recapper. I was so busy viewing the world through my rose-colored glasses, clutching my pearls, and hugging my Care Bears that I naively didn't appreciate the implications of what was about to happen with Jason and that line-up of Hot Shot freaks.
Then you good people went ahead and pointed it out to me. Um, thanks, I guess? So I got to spend the week Purelling my eyeballs and bleaching my brain all in an effort to try to forget any of that ever happened.
But now comes this week's episode and confirmation that what you all suspected was indeed what went down with poor Jason. And I don't think we've got enough cutesy Wtf fang icons around here to communicate just how fanged up this whole storyline has become. So let's first turn to more pleasing storylines …
Eric Gets Totally Fit-shaced
Having...
Then you good people went ahead and pointed it out to me. Um, thanks, I guess? So I got to spend the week Purelling my eyeballs and bleaching my brain all in an effort to try to forget any of that ever happened.
But now comes this week's episode and confirmation that what you all suspected was indeed what went down with poor Jason. And I don't think we've got enough cutesy Wtf fang icons around here to communicate just how fanged up this whole storyline has become. So let's first turn to more pleasing storylines …
Eric Gets Totally Fit-shaced
Having...
- 7/18/2011
- by Steven Frank
- The Backlot
Today Universal released Get Him to the Greek, a sort-of sequel to 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall as it uses Aldous Snow who had a small role in the original. Beyond that, there is only a brief reference to Sarah Marshall, which has me thinking it's not really a sequel as much as it is a spin-off. The same could be said for a movie like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)... Same characters, but not really a sequel to Clerks, which ended up having its own sequel in 2006.
In a debate with a group of fellow Seattle critics trying to decide if Get Him to the Greek was a sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall or not, the topic turned to comedy sequels in general and I was asked to name a great comedy sequel. Should be easy... right?
I started mining my memory banks, and started thinking of movies with...
In a debate with a group of fellow Seattle critics trying to decide if Get Him to the Greek was a sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall or not, the topic turned to comedy sequels in general and I was asked to name a great comedy sequel. Should be easy... right?
I started mining my memory banks, and started thinking of movies with...
- 6/4/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
If Queen Latifah can step into Alec Guinness' Last Holiday and Steve Martin can go from Father of the Bride to Cheaper by the Dozen to The Pink Panther remakes, why shouldn't producer-actor Tim Allen take a romp as The Shaggy Dog? Director Brian Robbins, a young veteran of teen and family fare, and five writers have turned out a fast-moving Walt Disney Co. comedy that manages to sail past many of the cliches usually found in this genre while throwing together a wild story line more apt for a new millennium. Business could be brisk for the tweener crowd. DVD sales and rental figures look to be strong.
The original 1959 release was the first of scores of live-action family comedies from the Walt Disney studio, producing a lineage of teenage stars that would lead to Hayley Mills and Lindsay Lohan. Although Fred MacMurray was top-billed, that film focused on his teenage son, played by Tommy Kirk, who stumbled onto Cold War missile secrets. Back then it was Kirk's Wilby Daniels who turned (off and on) into a canine, courtesy of an ancient Borgia curse. Years later, a sequel, The Shaggy D.A., had studio regular Dean Jones stepping into the role of an adult Wilby.
The remake credits both earlier screenplays with an acknowledgment of Felix Salten's original story, The Hound of Florence, as well. About the only similarity to the first film plot-wise is Dad's dislike of dogs (though in the original, there was a valid rationale: MacMurray was a veteran postal employee). As before, the fun is in the shape-shifting between man and beast, usually at the most inopportune moments.
Like Batman Begins, The Shaggy Dog opens in Tibet. A brief prologue introduces us to a 300-year-old bearded collie living -- and praying! -- among the monks. Henchmen from an evil pharmaceuticals conglomerate, headed by an ailing Philip Baker Hall, are on a reconnaissance mission to snatch the dog. Once back at the U.S. headquarters/secret genetics lab, two young scientists try to use the collie to perfect the Fountain of Youth for greedy corporate nincompoop Robert Downey Jr. (who seems to be playing a campy Prince Hal).
The balance of the film has assistant DA Dave Douglas (Allen) prosecuting his animal-activist daughter's (Zena Grey) tree-hugging social studies teacher, when his bloodstream gets infected with the ancient serum that gradually transforms the star into a furry dog. Allen is at his comic best in these scenes, from growling at opposing counsel in the courtroom (reminiscent of his Home Improvement hyper-masculine barking shtick) to chasing his bathrobe's tail at home. Kristin Davis, almost too attractive, plays Mrs. Douglas, and Spencer Breslin (Disney's The Kid, The Santa Clause 2) is the atypical younger brother. As a four-legged animal whose "voice" is heard only by the viewer, Allen starts to see how much he had neglected his family.
The supporting cast includes Jane Curtin as the judge, Danny Glover (miscast) as the DA and Shawn Pyfrom (Desperate Housewives) as Grey's teen boyfriend. The best supporting players are the mutant creatures (a snake with a dog's tail, a bulldog-headed frog) -- real animals mixed with concoctions bred by the Stan Winston and Tippett labs -- that aid Allen in an elaborate laboratory escape.
THE SHAGGY DOG
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures/Mandeville Films/Boxing Cat Films
Credits: Director: Brian Robbins; Screenwriters: The Wibberleys and Geoff Rodkey and Jack Amiel & Michael Begler; Producers: David Hoberman, Tim Allen; Executive producers: Robert Simonds, Todd Lieberman, William Fay, Matthew Carroll; Director of photography: Gabriel Beristain; Production designer: Leslie McDonald; Costume designer: Molly Maginnis; Music: Alan Menken; Editor: Ned Bastille.
Cast: Dave Douglas: Tim Allen; Rebecca Douglas: Kristin Davis; Carly Douglas: Zena Grey; Josh Douglas: Spencer Breslin; Ken Hollister: Danny Glover; Dr. Kozak: Robert Downey Jr.; Judge Claire Whittaker: Jane Curtin; Lance Strictland: Philip Baker Hall; Baxter: Craig Kilborn.
MPAA rating PG, running time 92 minutes.
The original 1959 release was the first of scores of live-action family comedies from the Walt Disney studio, producing a lineage of teenage stars that would lead to Hayley Mills and Lindsay Lohan. Although Fred MacMurray was top-billed, that film focused on his teenage son, played by Tommy Kirk, who stumbled onto Cold War missile secrets. Back then it was Kirk's Wilby Daniels who turned (off and on) into a canine, courtesy of an ancient Borgia curse. Years later, a sequel, The Shaggy D.A., had studio regular Dean Jones stepping into the role of an adult Wilby.
The remake credits both earlier screenplays with an acknowledgment of Felix Salten's original story, The Hound of Florence, as well. About the only similarity to the first film plot-wise is Dad's dislike of dogs (though in the original, there was a valid rationale: MacMurray was a veteran postal employee). As before, the fun is in the shape-shifting between man and beast, usually at the most inopportune moments.
Like Batman Begins, The Shaggy Dog opens in Tibet. A brief prologue introduces us to a 300-year-old bearded collie living -- and praying! -- among the monks. Henchmen from an evil pharmaceuticals conglomerate, headed by an ailing Philip Baker Hall, are on a reconnaissance mission to snatch the dog. Once back at the U.S. headquarters/secret genetics lab, two young scientists try to use the collie to perfect the Fountain of Youth for greedy corporate nincompoop Robert Downey Jr. (who seems to be playing a campy Prince Hal).
The balance of the film has assistant DA Dave Douglas (Allen) prosecuting his animal-activist daughter's (Zena Grey) tree-hugging social studies teacher, when his bloodstream gets infected with the ancient serum that gradually transforms the star into a furry dog. Allen is at his comic best in these scenes, from growling at opposing counsel in the courtroom (reminiscent of his Home Improvement hyper-masculine barking shtick) to chasing his bathrobe's tail at home. Kristin Davis, almost too attractive, plays Mrs. Douglas, and Spencer Breslin (Disney's The Kid, The Santa Clause 2) is the atypical younger brother. As a four-legged animal whose "voice" is heard only by the viewer, Allen starts to see how much he had neglected his family.
The supporting cast includes Jane Curtin as the judge, Danny Glover (miscast) as the DA and Shawn Pyfrom (Desperate Housewives) as Grey's teen boyfriend. The best supporting players are the mutant creatures (a snake with a dog's tail, a bulldog-headed frog) -- real animals mixed with concoctions bred by the Stan Winston and Tippett labs -- that aid Allen in an elaborate laboratory escape.
THE SHAGGY DOG
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures/Mandeville Films/Boxing Cat Films
Credits: Director: Brian Robbins; Screenwriters: The Wibberleys and Geoff Rodkey and Jack Amiel & Michael Begler; Producers: David Hoberman, Tim Allen; Executive producers: Robert Simonds, Todd Lieberman, William Fay, Matthew Carroll; Director of photography: Gabriel Beristain; Production designer: Leslie McDonald; Costume designer: Molly Maginnis; Music: Alan Menken; Editor: Ned Bastille.
Cast: Dave Douglas: Tim Allen; Rebecca Douglas: Kristin Davis; Carly Douglas: Zena Grey; Josh Douglas: Spencer Breslin; Ken Hollister: Danny Glover; Dr. Kozak: Robert Downey Jr.; Judge Claire Whittaker: Jane Curtin; Lance Strictland: Philip Baker Hall; Baxter: Craig Kilborn.
MPAA rating PG, running time 92 minutes.
- 3/17/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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