Comments on: Bone—What Could Have Been

By: Blue

Blue — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:29:07 +0000

I don’t know but as a Bone fan I highly recommend readers see a copy of the Bone flipbook (which I think was published in small run around 1996.) It was put together by Jeff Smith and Disney animator Tom Bancroft. Tom worked at the animation studios at Walt Disney World in Florida back when they were doing the last of Disney traditional hand drawn movies like Mulan and Brother Bear. The flipbook really shows the potential of what Bone could be like in 2D. It is absolutely beautiful, even in black and white. A lot of commenters here think we are being negative, but I think we’re just trying to voice concern over something we love and want the best for Jeff Smith. This movie could either help or hurt the legacy of Bone. I can’t help but worry about it becoming another forgettable CGI cartoon. Look at what they’ve done to classic characters that have had a bigger following and budget like Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Garfield, etc. These movies had no real respect for what people originally loved them for. Hollywood tends to ignore fans in hopes to start their own. That’s why we have another Superman reboot and Batman has been played by every actor in the book until Dark Knight came along. It’s not until they realize that what drew fans in the first place is what will continue to draw them. I saw it happen with all the Ninja Turtle reboots in the 90s up until this year when Kevin Eastman came back to start a new comic series at IDW that has been taking it back to it’s roots and is one of the best selling comics right now. There is also a new cartoon and movie in the works with the same concept. If Bone looks like Garfield the movie, it will hurt the series and we’ll have to wait for 3 reboots until someone gets it right.

By: papashango

papashango — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:51:59 +0000

Honestly I dont think the medium matters that much anymore…the lines between traditional and CG have blurred seriously so….
Ofcourse teh creator not being able to get it done his way…thats def sad..
but I dont think its going to be a disaster because its in 3d…If the story is good and the script is good…2d or 3d shouldnt really matter…

Imagine the locusts and Rockjaw in 3d…and in stereo…it will be pure awesomeness……

By: Ross

Ross — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:44:05 +0000

This is the most negative website I have ever seen, and I’ve been on 4chan. How about instead of automatically pissing about a comic book adaptation that will be made using CGI as opposed to traditional animation, you wait until you see the first production still? Maybe you could wait for a trailer before you decry the movie as unwatchable. I don’t know- just don’t jump to conclusions about a movie that is still in pre-production. You don’t even know what the graphics are going to look like- for all you know it could be designed to emulate the look of a 2D movie.

Jackson Pollock once said that technique is just a means at arriving at a statement. It should not matter what the film looks like, because that has no bearing on how good the movie itself will be. Saying that Bone will be unwatchable because it will be CGI is like saying Seven Samurai is unwatchable because it was filmed with a telephoto lens- it’s an asinine statement, because visual style doesn’t change narrative quality. Case in point: My Dinner With Andre- it was a fantastic film, even though you could watch it blindfolded).

How can you make a living writing about animation if you throw a vitriolic temper tantrum for a movie you haven’t even seen? Amid, you are a critic in the worst sense of the word. Please reserve your judgement until it’s the appropriate time to dispense it- it will make you seem like less of a presumptuous philistine.

By: Hal

Hal — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:01:42 +0000

OK, considering the fact we all know BONE is a great 2d movie in an alternate dimension where CGI is not dominant, if anyone HAS to make a BONE movie in 3D I’m incredibly stoked on ANIMAL LOGIC. HAPPY FEET is unwatchable? Get real – its one of the most cinematic CG films ever made. Going with one of the top CG studios who have a great track record of maintaining the vision of a film’s creator (HAPPY FEET is a George Miller film 100% and that owl movie looks like a Zack Snyder film through and through) is dropping the ball how? This is going to look GREAT and will probably stick to Jeff Smith’s vision just fine. Can’t wait for the BONE-centric retelling of MOBY DICK. Will be awesome.

By: joeyjojo

joeyjojo — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:40:51 +0000

Can we stop this “there were only three hand-drawn animated films in the last five years” thing?

Last year alone had two nominated movies that were hand-drawn and didn’t even nominate ‘Ponyo’ — right, the one by Hayao Miyazaki, whose movies gross hundreds of millions around the world and can’t scrape together $10 million in the USA. ‘Secret of Kells’ couldn’t even gross a million.

“You can’t judge the performance of one technique in the last 5 years if it barely got a chance.”

That’s a fair point. Let’s journey back to 2000-2005 [prior to that, there wouldn't be enough CGI films to fairly compare]
sticking to America, merely due to laziness
Shrek 2 – 2004 – $441 mil
Finding Nemo – 2003 – $339 mil
Shrek – 2001 – $267 mil
The Incredibles – 2004 – $261 mil
Monsters Inc – 2001 – $255 mil
Madagascar – 2005 – $193 mil
The Polar Express – 2004 – $181 mil
Ice Age – 2002 – $176 mil
Shark Tale – 2004 – $160 mil

all those before a single hand-drawn example
Lilo and Stitch – 2002 – $145 mil
The Emporer’s New Groove – 2000 – $89 mil
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie – 2004 – $85 mil
Brother Bear – 2003 – $85 mil
Atlantis: The Lost Empire – 2001 – $84 mil
Rugrats in Paris – 2000 – $76 mil
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – 2002 – $73 mil
The Road to El Dorado – 2000 – $50 mil
Home on the Range – 2004 – $50 mil

so, in the same time period, Disney (with one exception) couldn’t crack the $100 mil ceiling; established child-friendly franchises like Pokemon, Rugrats, and Spongebob couldn’t crack $100 mil.

I’ll grant you it’s not entirely fair, but the high profile failures of such movies as ‘The Iron Giant’ (despite being *amazing* and beloved) and ‘Titan A.E.’ … you can’t just ignore this as if it didn’t happen.

By: Whitey

Whitey — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:11:55 +0000

Wow! I think this would make a SICK series!
This is what Bone should be made into, in my opinion.

Like - 1 others like this comment

By: erlab

erlab — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:47:59 +0000

Lamont, he turned down MORE than just pop songs! Nickelodeon wanted to change the story, up the magical side, give the Bone cousins kids’ voices, and wanted Britney Spears to voice Thorn, all to appeal more toward children.

By: Lamont Wayne

Lamont Wayne — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:34:27 +0000

Here’s the really sad thing, all due respect to Jeff. He turned Nickelodeon down years ago because they wanted to include a pop song in the movie. But he caves on 3D instead of 2D.

No song, but making the movie look completely different from the comic is just fine…