Fans Believe “John Carter 2″ Can Be Achieved

I joined the Back to Barsoom Facebook Group when I first learned about it but I haven’t been feeling well the past few months so I only joined the discussions there a couple of days ago. While there are only 8,000+ members so far the core group of participants are very dedicated to their cause.

After all, for a “major flop” the “John Carter” film has managed to bring in almost $300 million so far this year. And while “John Carter” has completed its first run in US theaters for the most part, the DvD and Blu-Ray will be released on June 5 — which is still more than a month away.

The Carter fan group leaders estimate they need to help drive about $200 million in revenues for Disney in order to build a business case to greenlight a sequel. Technically, this is achievable. Other “failed movies” have generated millions of dollars in post-box office revenues. In fact, Saul Zaentz proved that merchandising rights tied to bad movies (such as Ralph Bakshi’s “The Lord of the Rings, Part One”) can be very, very lucrative. Had Zaentz not kept that candle burning in the window for 20 years there might have been no Peter Jackson trilogy.

Star Trek fans brought about a movie franchise launch 10 years after their TV show was cancelled. And from the movies sprang up four TV shows.

So what the fans of “John Carter” propose is not just wistful dreaming. All they have to do is bring together enough people to drive a couple hundred million dollars in DvD and merchandising sales. And these folks have connections with ERB, Inc. and the Disney Co. and PIXAR — they might just be able to arrange the right meeting of marketing minds to kick off a merchandising campaign to put Saul Zaentz’ Middle-earth Enterprises to shame.

Stranger things have happened.

To that end, discussions are under way (with some input from me, so understand I am NOT an unbiased reporter) for establishing a more public face for the John Carter fan group. They will most likely keep the Facebook group going for strategic discussions. That makes sense. But ideas being considered for now include:

• Starting a scifi convention circuit where volunteers reserve and man fan tables
• Special promotional artwork for posters and flyers to be distributed at conventions, book stores, DvD stores, comic book shops, gaming shops, etc.
• Letter writing campaigns (one is currently underway now)
• Asking science fiction bloggers to write about John Carter a couple of times a week in advance of the DvD release (I have offered to help promote those blogs by linking to them across my network)
• Starting a Web forum for John Carter fans (most likely on the central Back to Barsoom fan site
• Perhaps putting together a legal entity (a corporation) to take on some licensing (custom merchandise or things that can be manufactured through out-source and on-demand providers)

The letter writing campaign I mentioned above is called Operation Woola and I shared details at the SF-Fandom forums.

There is, by the way, ANOTHER Facebook site — a fanpage (basically a Facebook public forum) called John Carter Back to Barsoom – The Sequel Campaign where the founder is hoping to collect LIKEs to show off to Disney and potential merchandisers.

These are some very determined people. If they see the news media say anything negative about “John Carter” they are all over the articles with comments pointing out the movie’s worldwide box office take, the fact that millions of people DID go see it and love it, and to show their support for the film to Disney.

Having joined a few “save the show” fan movements in the past, I go into this with my eyes open — but frankly, to avoid doing something simply because it seems so daunting is not in my blood. I do it because I love the challenge and because I love my favorite TV shows and movies and books.

I do it because I am a science fiction fan.

So the clarion call has gone out. Come join us. You don’t have to have anything more than your teeth, your passion, and a love for “John Carter” and Barsoom.

Beauty, beast, and the video

When the Disney Studios began releasing new feature-length animated films in the 1990s, I think most people had the idea that they would not be quite as good as the “classics” of the 1940s – 1960s era. Any movie touched by Walt Disney himself was simply magic, or so it seemed. Nonetheless, “The Aristocats” left some people cold (although my sister and I saw it 6 times when it first came out in 1971 — I think our parents feared we were going to move into the theater). My best friend and I spent many days singing “Everybody wants to be a cat”. “The Aristocats” wasn’t quite as popular as “The Jungle Book” but it marked the end of an era of Disney animated features for me. I didn’t see another one in the theaters for many years afterward.

And I should say I didn’t see “Beauty and the Beast” in the theater, although I wished I had once I saw the movie. I thought it would be just another kiddie film. I was wrong. Well, anyway, if I start out talking about Aristocats I need to share some of the magic.

But great though that movie was, as I said, it was the last animated Disney flick I saw in theaters for … oh, decades. But back to “Beauty and the Beast”.

If you have been reading this blog (or the other SF-Fandom blog) for any length of time, then you know by now that I have a soft spot in my heart for student films. Well, this next video is more like a parent’s proud clip. It’s a middle school staging of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” — I don’t know from what year but I suppose it cannot be too long ago.

Amateur and professional stage adaptations of the animated film have taken place all over the world. This video shows the ballroom scene from an amateur Australian production filmed sometime in 2007:

Here is the original take (although this is probably not the best available copy of it) on the ballroom scene from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. I’ve always preferred Angela Lansbury’s version of the song to the Peebo Bryson/Celine Dion version. That’s just me, I’m sure.

And that, dear friends, concludes this week’s trip down fantasy dance-and-song lane. I’m sure there are many, many more videos out there. I won’t get to watch them all any more than you, but I’m doing my best to get through them one by one.

I’m doing my best.

Speaking of Nicolas Cage – The Sorcerer in ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’

Okay, by now you must have heard that Nicolas Cage will play the sorcerer in Disney’s live-action adaptation of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, which many of us fondly recall from “Fantasia”, where Mickey Mouse enchants a broom to do his chores for him.

Here’s the mundane stuff: IMDB’s page for the movie, some pictures of Cage in costume published in March 2009, and a recent blogarticle about some accidents on the set that led to injuries.

People are snickering at the movie without actually having seen it, and that kind of anticipation always amazes me. Everyone sort of built up “Watchmen” as this avant-garde retro-comic movie and I figured it would do well at the box office right up until it bombed. So who cares what the movie critics think?

Well, if Disney screws up the movie by NOT treating the subject matter with respect, it won’t be the first time they talk down to the audience and chase serious dollars away. One critic compared this project to “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Hm. Well, if that was meant to foreshadow a low quality movie, clearly the critic has no idea about what constitutes quality.

To be honest, if there is lots of plot, plenty of action, and at least reasonable characterization then so long as the movie is fun it should be okay. Disney doesn’t have to crank out heart-wrenching dramas to win hearts and make millions of dollars. As long as they entertain their core audience, that’s really all that matters.

I’m sort of looking forward to the movie — but maybe that’s just me.