tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post8614280402568858456..comments2023-12-18T23:20:31.042-06:00Comments on Scriblerus Club: Christopher Robin (2018).PrisonerNumber6http://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-48820625683450733492019-08-25T06:39:40.285-05:002019-08-25T06:39:40.285-05:00Confession time: I've been so damn busy I have...Confession time: I've been so damn busy I haven't gotten to the TV adaptation.<br /><br />I'll have to remedy that one of these days.<br /><br />ChrisC.PrisonerNumber6https://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-15811465137269815482019-08-25T04:25:58.987-05:002019-08-25T04:25:58.987-05:00I don't remember NOS4A2 well enough to know ho...I don't remember NOS4A2 well enough to know how much that character is in the novel, but a subplot involving someone similar happens in the first season of the tv show. She's in only two episodes, I think, but they are probably the best of the season (which was uneven, but kind of had me hooked by the time it got to the finale).Bryant Burnettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01189356171455609865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-9808215848794652522019-08-25T04:01:45.554-05:002019-08-25T04:01:45.554-05:00(7) You should see what people say about the origi...(7) You should see what people say about the original 1996 "Jumanji". They it's "Hook", but in reverse. Again, distinctions probably should be made, though it's kinda understandable how people draw those conclusions.<br /><br />(9) It does seem like the whole Inscape concept is no longer limited to just King the Elder, but pretty much to the entire Casa de King as a whole. There seems to be a genuine interest growing around this idea.<br /><br />It'll be interesting to see what either King, Hill, or O. King does with it. I think I remember Hill saying he already has this idea for something called "The Crooked Alley", and it features this wheel-chair bound girl who got a side-mention in "N0S402". The curious thing is the whole title just puts me in mind of those old Film Noir King was parodying in "Unmey's Last Case".<br /><br />Who know, maybe it could turn out to be a novel length riff on that story. Maybe the girl is able to create her own Clyde Unmey in order to help her with some trouble either she or her family is in. It could be a variation on the Golem legend, where the helper turns into a monster, and only the creator can stop it.<br /><br />Just an idea. Who knows, though.<br /><br />ChrisC. PrisonerNumber6https://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-72669813790834052692019-08-24T20:32:33.567-05:002019-08-24T20:32:33.567-05:00(7) The comparison probably IS unfair, but I coul...(7) The comparison probably IS unfair, but I couldn't help thinking of "Hook." And really, even if the two do have somewhat similar concepts (or even if they had nearly identical concepts), that doesn't mean the execution would be similar. In other words, just because a guy did a thing once, that's no reason for some other guy (or gal) not to do it again later; they are different guys, so the outcome will be different accordingly.<br /><br />(8) Just based solely on reading this blog post, your scenario seems the more genuine of the two. So I think you're onto something there.<br /><br />(9) Oh, no; that's definitely not the worst thing that could happen. The inscapes idea is a compelling one. I found myself putting it to use several times while rereading "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" recently, and was gratified to find that it worked quite nicely.Bryant Burnettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01189356171455609865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-37265518850446269202019-08-24T03:05:56.448-05:002019-08-24T03:05:56.448-05:00(7) Of the two, I'd have to go with saying the...(7) Of the two, I'd have to go with saying the arc of "Pan the Man's" narrative is overall the more interesting and perhaps slightly better written one than Robin's. I don't really count that as a slight on this film, though. In fact, I sometimes wonder how fair it is to even make a comparison between the two films.<br /><br />The thing is I can sort of see why viewers would make the comparison between the two. At the same time, I can't help asking if the two shouldn't be considered their own separate stories? Granted both share a trope, said trope is still going in two different directions in both movies. Robin isn't Pan and vice versa. Indeed, I think in terms of trajectories, Robin's narrative winds up in a different place than "Hook".<br /><br />Granted, I'm helping things when my theory about Neverland is brought into it.<br /><br />(8) In the movie version, he just takes up a book of history and begins to recite facts and figures in the most dry-as-dust manner. It's the same note they use to delineate this character and it just needed a bit of work. The idea I had was just one that I thought would both flesh out the character and get the audience just a bit more on his side. Still, like I say, it;s not a deal breaker or anything<br /><br />(9)(10) (shrugs) Eh, I can't say having Joe Hill color the way you look at certain works of fiction to be the worst thing to happen. <br /><br />In point of fact, Hill's concept of the Inscape was very consciously in my mind when it came to writing those segments. The thing was I wanted to know if this idea was native to just the work of King and Hill, or if it was an actual narrative strategy utilized by other artists and authors. Therefore it was somewhat gratifying to realize it was an actual collective trope of fiction at large (I should have left a link to the site where I found that out if I posted this article right, I think).<br /><br />I think the way the film handles this trope is they wanted to do as much ambiguity as possible, yet I'm not certain it makes much sense unless the characters appear to be in some sense real. The Inscape theory is the best one I got at the moment, I'm afraid. The kicker is, yeah, Hundred Acre does it just a bit better than Mid-World. Say sorry, but there it is.<br /><br />(11) I think this creative strength of Walt's is best on display in films like Peter Pan, Pinocchio, and 101 Dalmatians. In each case the source material is just plain underdone, and needs a lot of fleshing out in terms of character and narrative setups and plot points.<br /><br />All Walt seems to have done is create and fill in these missing gaps. He was so good at this, in fact, that I have no real trouble claiming that the Disney versions of these stories should be considered the canonical one as well. Dodie Smith, I recall, told Walt she thought his adaptation of Dalmatians was even better than her book. That's gotta count for something, at least.<br /><br />ChrisCPrisonerNumber6https://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-47930340861228902042019-08-24T02:40:44.970-05:002019-08-24T02:40:44.970-05:00(1) I do remember there was also this live-action ...(1) I do remember there was also this live-action TV show called "Welcome to Pooh Corner" which was I think supposed to be one of those pre-school educational shows. It featured actors in a bunch of suits and I don't know if it holds up on revisiting. <br /><br />(2) I think what you're describing is pretty much what I saw growing up. Back in the day the Disney channel used to compile snippets of its old material into this minor anthology pieces and just repackage them for TV. For better or worse, this is how I think most 80s were introduced to the Mouse House legacy growing up.<br /><br />I found out Winnie and the gang that way as well. It was also how I first met Mickey, Donald, and the Goofster. I remember they even had Jiminy Cricket as the host of a series of PSA shorts, because, of course. In addition, this repackaging format was my introduction Snow White, Lady and the Tramp, and Peter Pan. After all these years, though, I still have yet to get around to Snow White. I'll have to remedy that.<br /><br />(4)(5) I'd have to argue that it comes to two things. On the one hand I think the Disney material counts as a sort of logical progression. On the other, that doesn't cancel out the fact that some fans will have limits as to how far they are willing to go with the character's progression. The net result seems like some kind of strange balancing act.<br /><br />(6) Well, alls I can say it means something come and gone when people stop asking such questions. With any luck, it may never happen (finger crossed?).<br /><br />ChrisCPrisonerNumber6https://www.blogger.com/profile/03156430802462353459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-86748061185032618162019-08-23T19:57:30.722-05:002019-08-23T19:57:30.722-05:00(7) "However, it is in scenes like this wher...(7) "However, it is in scenes like this where they run the risk of flattening the main character into a cliche that is all just the same one note repeated over and over again." -- This might be too random a question, but how do the annoying-old-man aspects of Christopher Robin's grown-up depiction compare with those of Peter Banning in "Hook"?<br /><br />(8) I like that Wordsworth scene of yours. That'd work, I think. Granted, I've not seen the movie, so I'm not familiar with whatever it would be replacing. But just as its own thing, it sounds workable.<br /><br />(9) "There are moments when the narrative seems to try an blur the line between fantasy and reality." -- Joe Hill has poisoned me. I now find myself obligated to speculate that the Hundred Acre Wood is Christopher Robin's inscape! This also has to somehow tie in with Ewan McGregor playing Danny in "Doctor Sleep" soon. And I'm sure it could be made to fit the "Real Ghostbusters" story you mention, which actually sounds pretty interesting.<br /><br />(10) I kid with that inscape business, of course, but only a bit. It does sound to me as if the movie's approach to the material is that it didn't really want to land solidly on one side of the real/imaginary divide or the other, but preferred to retain the charming and childlike ambiguity of the source material. A good ambition, but it sounds as if the strain of moving that approach into a partially adult story shows.<br /><br />(11) "It's a little recognized strength of Walt's that he sometimes knew how to either improve on a recalcitrant bit of source material, or that he could at least condense it into a format that would still please audiences." -- I had a line of thinking about this once upon a time that involved the notion of "Disneyfication" of European stories and folk tales being not at all dissimilar to the way in which America, as an idea, is ostensibly a reworking of European values and practices. Taken that way, Disney -- the man and the company alike -- seem not only inevitable but appropriate, at least from an American point of view. Less so, perhaps, from other points of view.<br /><br />(12) Sounds like an interesting movie. Speaking of inevitable, I'll be subscribing to Disney+ when it launches; I'm sure this will be there, so I will check it out at some point.Bryant Burnettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01189356171455609865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3917612005522287441.post-73650906236676416682019-08-23T19:57:21.850-05:002019-08-23T19:57:21.850-05:00(1) "There are a great deal of us whose chil...(1) "There are a great deal of us whose childhood is in many ways a catalogue of the cartoon characters we saw at an impressionable age." -- Undoubtedly. This explains my fascination with both Star Trek and James Bond, both of which I've enjoyed for literally as long as I can remember (maybe a tiny bit later in the case of 007 than of Trek, but not much). Many other things I loved during childhood have faded away over the years, though. I'd love to know what governs the selection process for me.<br /><br />(2) I do remember Pooh and friends being a constant part of my life as a child, though never in a big way. Did I have a stuffed Pooh? I *think* I might have, but I can't remember for sure. A storybook or two? Same. I definitely saw the Disney movie ("Many Adventures") at some point, probably on television, possibly chopped back down into its constituent elements. It never struck a big chord with me, but, as you say, it nevertheless kind of hung in there and has never gone fully away.<br /><br />(3) "There's no way Winnie the Pooh could be real, is there? Christopher Robin is a very strange man." -- Aren't we all? ;)<br /><br />(4) "Those who argue that a chase sequence is out of place are looking at the characters from the perspective of the more sedate tone and pacing of Milne's books." -- Not having read Milne, I can't weigh in with any authority, but my feeling would be that so long as whatever they did doesn't outright violate his intent, it's probably okay. And the idea that the Hundred Acre Wood is a creation of the imagination (?) opens things up fairly widely in that regard, I'd think. Anyways, none of what I'm reading here sounds out of line to me.<br /><br />(5) Same thing applies to the offshoot (?) Disney versions of the characters, I guess. Even if some of that didn't stay true to Milne, it arguably need not; it arguably need only stay true to the Disney line. An odd distinction, in some ways, but not unimportant.<br /><br />(6) "I seem to recall one critic asking if this is the kind of film Walt might have done. My answer is that it is just within the realm of possibility." -- As someone who loves the work of Disney the man, I like the fact that people still ask this question, and that it actually means something. That might eventually change, but the man built a powerful legacy; if it does fade, it's not going to be quickly, I think.Bryant Burnettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01189356171455609865noreply@blogger.com