Establishing a shared cinematic universe is hard. Take Warner Bros. and DC's attempt at matching the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for instance. Though it had some commercial successes, the DC Extended Universe ultimately disintegrated over the course of several recent box office bombs that included superheroic flop "The Flash." Then, there was Universal, with its ill-fated Dark Universe, which would have seen updated takes on classic Universal monsters inhabiting a shared timeline that would ultimately lead to some sort of monster team-up. Unfortunately, the whole thing failed almost instantly with the disappointment that was 2017's "The Mummy."
Now, with the almighty MCU even struggling to maintain its dominance amid the deluge of "content" being pumped out in its name, it seems harder than ever to construct and maintain a successful shared cinematic universe. But that won't stop horror director Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who is now threatening an entire interconnected...
Now, with the almighty MCU even struggling to maintain its dominance amid the deluge of "content" being pumped out in its name, it seems harder than ever to construct and maintain a successful shared cinematic universe. But that won't stop horror director Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who is now threatening an entire interconnected...
- 4/5/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
The Twisted Childhood Universe, also known as the Poohniverse, is taking shape. In case you've yet to be clued into what this is all about, the cinematic universe is set to take classic childhood tales now in the public domain and give them a horror movie twist. Things kicked off with the not-so-great "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey," a film that earned bad reviews but made good money. Now the killer Pooh Bear is back with "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2," a film that's defying the odds and actually garnering good reviews.
Things aren't stopping there, though. The next film in the line-up is "Bambi: The Reckoning," a dark and twisted retelling of "Bambi." And this is a far cry from the gentle young deer seen in the classic Disney film. No, this deer is big, mean, and out for blood. The first "Bambi: The Reckoning" teaser awaits you above, and...
Things aren't stopping there, though. The next film in the line-up is "Bambi: The Reckoning," a dark and twisted retelling of "Bambi." And this is a far cry from the gentle young deer seen in the classic Disney film. No, this deer is big, mean, and out for blood. The first "Bambi: The Reckoning" teaser awaits you above, and...
- 4/4/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Producers Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey are building a cinematic universe out of horror movies based on public domain family friendly stories – including Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, that film’s sequels, Pinocchio Unstrung, and Bambi: The Reckoning, which is inspired by Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods. The Bambi horror movie started filming back in January, aiming to make its way out into the world sometime this fall, and today a teaser trailer has arrived online. You can check it out in the embed above.
This movie is coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions. Jeffrey and Frake-Waterfield are producing for Jagged Edge Productions. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland serve as executive producers for ITN Studios. Roxanne McKee (Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines) leads the cast and is joined by Nicola Wright (Firenado), Tom Mulheron (Casualty), and Samira Mighty...
This movie is coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions. Jeffrey and Frake-Waterfield are producing for Jagged Edge Productions. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland serve as executive producers for ITN Studios. Roxanne McKee (Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines) leads the cast and is joined by Nicola Wright (Firenado), Tom Mulheron (Casualty), and Samira Mighty...
- 4/3/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
The brand new trailer for Bambi: The Reckoning has arrived, giving a first look at the latest Poohniverse installment entry that puts a horror twist on a classic children’s property.
It follows “Xana (Roxanne McKee) and her son Benji (Tom Mulheron) who find themselves in a car wreck and soon hunted down by the vicious killing machine, Bambi.”
That’s right. There’s nothing sweet and doe-eyed about Bambi this time. See for yourself in the teaser trailer below.
Filming on Bambi: The Reckoning kicked off on January 6, 2024 in England with a planned Fall 2024 release.
Director Dan Allen (Unhinged) previews, “It’s gonna be terrifying. When people see a deer in the wild after this film they’re gonna run for the hills. This film is about the death of childhoods as much as it’s gonna ruin childhoods Expect bloodshed, tears and rabbits… and one mean killer deer.
It follows “Xana (Roxanne McKee) and her son Benji (Tom Mulheron) who find themselves in a car wreck and soon hunted down by the vicious killing machine, Bambi.”
That’s right. There’s nothing sweet and doe-eyed about Bambi this time. See for yourself in the teaser trailer below.
Filming on Bambi: The Reckoning kicked off on January 6, 2024 in England with a planned Fall 2024 release.
Director Dan Allen (Unhinged) previews, “It’s gonna be terrifying. When people see a deer in the wild after this film they’re gonna run for the hills. This film is about the death of childhoods as much as it’s gonna ruin childhoods Expect bloodshed, tears and rabbits… and one mean killer deer.
- 4/3/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Ready for another horrorific take on a childhood favourite character? Watch the first Bambi: The Reckoning trailer here.
We recently reported that not only was Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 3 in the works, but there was a larger cinematic universe, including a team-up movie, on the way. Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will hit cinemas in 2025, but before that, we’ll get Bambi: The Reckoning.
That’s right, everyone’s favourite fawn, Bambi, is also getting the horror treatment and we now have our first look at the upcoming horror film.
Take a look at the Bambi: The Reckoning trailer below.
Granted, it’s only a 61-second teaser and only gives us a brief look at the film, but we do get a shot of the monstrous deer flipping a car over with its antlers. Say less, we’re in.
Here’s the short description that accompanies the film’s trailer...
We recently reported that not only was Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 3 in the works, but there was a larger cinematic universe, including a team-up movie, on the way. Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will hit cinemas in 2025, but before that, we’ll get Bambi: The Reckoning.
That’s right, everyone’s favourite fawn, Bambi, is also getting the horror treatment and we now have our first look at the upcoming horror film.
Take a look at the Bambi: The Reckoning trailer below.
Granted, it’s only a 61-second teaser and only gives us a brief look at the film, but we do get a shot of the monstrous deer flipping a car over with its antlers. Say less, we’re in.
Here’s the short description that accompanies the film’s trailer...
- 4/3/2024
- by Maria Lattila
- Film Stories
Sarah Polley is no longer attached to direct the live-action remake of “Bambi” for Disney, IndieWire has learned. The remake of Disney’s 1942 animated classic is still in development at the studio, even after the recent exit of live-action film head Sean Bailey. An individual with knowledge of Polley’s exit said there’s no drama in the split but simply said things didn’t work out.
TheWrap first broke the news in an analysis of Bailey’s exit. Bailey, in his 15-year tenure at Walt Disney Studios, had pioneered and greenlit virtually all of Disney’s streak of live-action remakes of animated classics, some mega hits like “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and some like the recent “The Little Mermaid,” “Haunted Mansion,” and others that underwhelmed at the box office. Some of Bailey’s lingering projects include live-action takes on “Moana,” “Lilo & Stitch,” and “Mufasa: The Lion King.
TheWrap first broke the news in an analysis of Bailey’s exit. Bailey, in his 15-year tenure at Walt Disney Studios, had pioneered and greenlit virtually all of Disney’s streak of live-action remakes of animated classics, some mega hits like “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and some like the recent “The Little Mermaid,” “Haunted Mansion,” and others that underwhelmed at the box office. Some of Bailey’s lingering projects include live-action takes on “Moana,” “Lilo & Stitch,” and “Mufasa: The Lion King.
- 3/7/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
In addition to Bambi: The Reckoning, which is part of the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey universe, another upcoming Bambi horror movie has been announced this week.
A gory horror-comedy that pays tribute to the slasher movies of the ’80s and ’90s, Bambi horror movie Bampire was just launched on Indiegogo, and we’ve got your first look.
Directed by Taylor Morden (The Last Blockbuster) and written by Zoë Wassman, the indie film is said to feature “heart-wrenching live action performances, hand-drawn animation by Josh Stifter (A24 and Kevin Smith’s Tusk), practical gore by award-winning fx artist Trysta Kelley, a claymation sequence from effects supervisor Webster Colcord, and even diegetic VHS footage from an in-world camera.”
Writer Zoë Wassman teases, “Picture Evil Dead 2 meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
Bampire (produced by Path Films and Popmotion Pictures) features appearances by Diane Franklin, Greg Sestero, and Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman...
A gory horror-comedy that pays tribute to the slasher movies of the ’80s and ’90s, Bambi horror movie Bampire was just launched on Indiegogo, and we’ve got your first look.
Directed by Taylor Morden (The Last Blockbuster) and written by Zoë Wassman, the indie film is said to feature “heart-wrenching live action performances, hand-drawn animation by Josh Stifter (A24 and Kevin Smith’s Tusk), practical gore by award-winning fx artist Trysta Kelley, a claymation sequence from effects supervisor Webster Colcord, and even diegetic VHS footage from an in-world camera.”
Writer Zoë Wassman teases, “Picture Evil Dead 2 meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
Bampire (produced by Path Films and Popmotion Pictures) features appearances by Diane Franklin, Greg Sestero, and Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman...
- 3/4/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Producers Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey are building a cinematic universe out of horror movies based on public domain family friendly stories – including Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, that film’s sequel… and Bambi: The Reckoning, which is inspired by Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods. The Bambi horror film is set to start filming on January 6, 2024 in England, and Bloody Disgusting hears that the film is going to be directed by Dan Allen, whose previous credits include Mummy Reborn, It Came from Below, and the 2017 version of Unhinged. Roxanne McKee (Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines) leads the cast and is joined by Nicola Wright (Firenado), Tom Mulheron (Casualty), and Samira Mighty (Beauty and the Beast).
This movie is coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions. Jeffrey and Frake-Waterfield are producing for Jagged Edge Productions. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland...
This movie is coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions. Jeffrey and Frake-Waterfield are producing for Jagged Edge Productions. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland...
- 12/15/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
From the team behind Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey comes Bambi: The Reckoning, another upcoming movie that will put a horror twist on a classic children’s property.
Bloody Disgusting has exclusively learned this week that Roxanne McKee (Wrong Turn 5) will star in Bambi: The Reckoning, alongside Nicola Wright and Tom Mulheron.
Samira Mighty (Beauty and the Beast) will also appear in the upcoming horror movie.
Filming begins on January 6, 2024 in England with a planned Fall 2024 release.
The film follows Xana (Roxanne McKee) and her son Benji (Tom Mulheron) who find themselves in a car wreck and soon hunted down by the vicious killing machine, Bambi.
Bambi will destroy anyone in its path.
Director Dan Allen (Unhinged) previews, “It’s gonna be terrifying. When people see a deer in the wild after this film they’re gonna run for the hills. This film is about the death of childhoods...
Bloody Disgusting has exclusively learned this week that Roxanne McKee (Wrong Turn 5) will star in Bambi: The Reckoning, alongside Nicola Wright and Tom Mulheron.
Samira Mighty (Beauty and the Beast) will also appear in the upcoming horror movie.
Filming begins on January 6, 2024 in England with a planned Fall 2024 release.
The film follows Xana (Roxanne McKee) and her son Benji (Tom Mulheron) who find themselves in a car wreck and soon hunted down by the vicious killing machine, Bambi.
Bambi will destroy anyone in its path.
Director Dan Allen (Unhinged) previews, “It’s gonna be terrifying. When people see a deer in the wild after this film they’re gonna run for the hills. This film is about the death of childhoods...
- 12/15/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Ruth Beckermann’s documentary centres around a fake audition in which men read aloud from a once scandalous 1906 novel, revealing the grotesque and humorous nature of male fantasy
Here is a strange, stark documentary from Austrian film-maker Ruth Beckermann, first presented at last year’s Berlin film festival: somewhere between a lab experiment and a practical joke, featuring the kind of non-professional performers who could easily crop up in a movie by Ulrich Seidl, that renowned Austrian chronicler of male grotesqueness.
The film’s purpose is to challenge the gendered nature of erotica and pornography through the simple but effective expedient of making men the object of the porn gaze. Beckermann puts men on camera as they read aloud – at various levels of excruciating discomfort – the female narrative voice from Josephine Mutzenbacher, a once-scandalous Viennese novel that contains the fictional confessions of a prostitute, published anonymously in 1906 and now thought...
Here is a strange, stark documentary from Austrian film-maker Ruth Beckermann, first presented at last year’s Berlin film festival: somewhere between a lab experiment and a practical joke, featuring the kind of non-professional performers who could easily crop up in a movie by Ulrich Seidl, that renowned Austrian chronicler of male grotesqueness.
The film’s purpose is to challenge the gendered nature of erotica and pornography through the simple but effective expedient of making men the object of the porn gaze. Beckermann puts men on camera as they read aloud – at various levels of excruciating discomfort – the female narrative voice from Josephine Mutzenbacher, a once-scandalous Viennese novel that contains the fictional confessions of a prostitute, published anonymously in 1906 and now thought...
- 9/25/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Sarah Polley is in talks to direct a live-action remake of Walt Disney’s “Bambi,” TheWrap has learned. Details on the project are scarce, but she will work off a recent screenplay draft penned by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster and the film will be a musical featuring music from Kacey Musgraves.
The news comes as Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is lighting up the box office and could follow in the footsteps of the photoreal CG-filled “The Lion King” and “The Jungle Book.” While those films were blockbusters, it has not been confirmed as to whether this seemingly less epic offering will be intended for theaters or, as we saw with “Pinocchio,” “Lady and the Tramp” and “Peter Pan and Wendy,” Disney+.
Sarah Polley is coming off an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay for the critically acclaimed “Women Talking,” which was her first directorial effort in over a...
The news comes as Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is lighting up the box office and could follow in the footsteps of the photoreal CG-filled “The Lion King” and “The Jungle Book.” While those films were blockbusters, it has not been confirmed as to whether this seemingly less epic offering will be intended for theaters or, as we saw with “Pinocchio,” “Lady and the Tramp” and “Peter Pan and Wendy,” Disney+.
Sarah Polley is coming off an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay for the critically acclaimed “Women Talking,” which was her first directorial effort in over a...
- 6/13/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Academy Award winner Sarah Polley is in talks to direct a live-action adaptation of the Disney animated classic Bambi. The project is in early development at the House of Mouse, with Polley poised to roll cameras for her most significant undertaking yet. Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer were named the project’s writers in 2020, but that was a while ago, and the ongoing WGA writers’ strike could hamper their participation.
Released in 1942 as the fifth feature film from Walt Disney Productions, Bambi tells the story of a fawn who makes friends with other animals in a serene yet dangerous forest. When Bambi’s mother is shot and killed by a human hunter, Bambi depends on his friends to carry him through the pain of loss and help him become the leader his mother always intended. Disney’s version adapts Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods.
Directed...
Released in 1942 as the fifth feature film from Walt Disney Productions, Bambi tells the story of a fawn who makes friends with other animals in a serene yet dangerous forest. When Bambi’s mother is shot and killed by a human hunter, Bambi depends on his friends to carry him through the pain of loss and help him become the leader his mother always intended. Disney’s version adapts Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods.
Directed...
- 6/13/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
It seems like Sarah Polley is ready to focus on Disney animals talking.
The “Women Talking” writer-director is currently in early talks to helm the live-action adaptation of Disney’s “Bambi,” IndieWire has confirmed. Polley won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for her 2022 feminist film “Women Talking.” The news was first reported by Deadline.
Disney first announced a live-action “Bambi” adaptation in 2020, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer set to write the script. Depth of Field production company was attached to produce. As of now it is unclear if all parties are still behind the project, which is still in the early stages of development.
“Bambi” was the fifth animated feature film to ever be released by Disney. The 1942 movie was an adaptation of Felix Salten’s novel about a young, motherless deer who befriends fellow woodland creatures. Disney’s “Bambi” earned Oscar nominations for Best Sound, Best Song,...
The “Women Talking” writer-director is currently in early talks to helm the live-action adaptation of Disney’s “Bambi,” IndieWire has confirmed. Polley won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for her 2022 feminist film “Women Talking.” The news was first reported by Deadline.
Disney first announced a live-action “Bambi” adaptation in 2020, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer set to write the script. Depth of Field production company was attached to produce. As of now it is unclear if all parties are still behind the project, which is still in the early stages of development.
“Bambi” was the fifth animated feature film to ever be released by Disney. The 1942 movie was an adaptation of Felix Salten’s novel about a young, motherless deer who befriends fellow woodland creatures. Disney’s “Bambi” earned Oscar nominations for Best Sound, Best Song,...
- 6/13/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: After winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Women Talking, Sarah Polley is on to the most epic undertaking of her filmmaking career thus far, as Deadline understands that the filmmaker is in talks to helm a live-action take on Bambi in very early development at Disney.
Multiple sources tell Deadline that the project is a musical to feature music from six-time Grammy-winning country star Kacey Musgraves. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster (Transparent) wrote the most recent draft of the script, and Chris and Paul Weitz’s Depth of Field will produce.
The studio first signaled its intention to adapt Bambi for live-action back in early 2020, bringing Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer aboard as writers and Depth of Field to produce in January of that year. No word yet on when the project might be put in motion, given unpredictable strike conditions, for starters.
The film is of course the coming-of-age story of Bambi,...
Multiple sources tell Deadline that the project is a musical to feature music from six-time Grammy-winning country star Kacey Musgraves. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster (Transparent) wrote the most recent draft of the script, and Chris and Paul Weitz’s Depth of Field will produce.
The studio first signaled its intention to adapt Bambi for live-action back in early 2020, bringing Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer aboard as writers and Depth of Field to produce in January of that year. No word yet on when the project might be put in motion, given unpredictable strike conditions, for starters.
The film is of course the coming-of-age story of Bambi,...
- 6/13/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
A couple days ago, we shared the news that writer/director Rhys Frake-Waterfield has secured distribution in multiple territories for a sequel to his horror twist on a beloved children’s story, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. But that’s not the only project Frake-Waterfield has in the works. He’s planning to build a cinematic universe out of horror movies based on public domain family friendly stories – including Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare and Bambi: The Reckoning. Now The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Bambi: The Reckoning has also secured distribution in multiple territories.
Inspired by Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods, this movie is coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions. Scott Jeffrey will be directing, and is also producing with Frake-Waterfield for Jagged Edge Productions. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland serve as executive producers for ITN Studios.
Plot details are being kept under wraps,...
Inspired by Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods, this movie is coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions. Scott Jeffrey will be directing, and is also producing with Frake-Waterfield for Jagged Edge Productions. Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland serve as executive producers for ITN Studios.
Plot details are being kept under wraps,...
- 5/19/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
A low-budget, X-rated cinematic universe of bloody adaptations of beloved childhood stories is taking (twisted) shape.
Bambi: The Reckoning, from the producers of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (which grossed more than $6 million globally after going viral), has sold to a number of international territories, with hopes that it can achieve a similar success to their first microbudget slasher sensation. The plot is set to involve a mutated killer deer in the vein of Cujo.
Premiere Entertainment has licensed rights involving theatrical components to the creature feature in Mexico and Latin America (Cinemex), Germany and Italy (Plaion), France (Crome Films), Benelux (Movie Company), Scandinavia (Njuta Films), Russia/Cis (Voxell Films), Australia and New Zealand (Umbrella), Japan (Hark), Taiwan (Av-Jet), Middle East (Eagle Films), Turkey (Bg Film), Pakistan (Cine Entertainment), India and airlines (PictureWorks).
Bambi: The Reckoning is based on the title character created by Felix Salten in his 1923 coming-of-age novel Bambi,...
Bambi: The Reckoning, from the producers of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (which grossed more than $6 million globally after going viral), has sold to a number of international territories, with hopes that it can achieve a similar success to their first microbudget slasher sensation. The plot is set to involve a mutated killer deer in the vein of Cujo.
Premiere Entertainment has licensed rights involving theatrical components to the creature feature in Mexico and Latin America (Cinemex), Germany and Italy (Plaion), France (Crome Films), Benelux (Movie Company), Scandinavia (Njuta Films), Russia/Cis (Voxell Films), Australia and New Zealand (Umbrella), Japan (Hark), Taiwan (Av-Jet), Middle East (Eagle Films), Turkey (Bg Film), Pakistan (Cine Entertainment), India and airlines (PictureWorks).
Bambi: The Reckoning is based on the title character created by Felix Salten in his 1923 coming-of-age novel Bambi,...
- 5/19/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rhys Frake-Waterfield's new horror film "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" takes the toddler-like characters from A.A. Milne's beloved 1926 children's novel, and transforms them into lumbering, human-hating, bloodthirsty serial killers. If you ever wanted to see Christopher Robin's little yellow Pooh bear as Leatherface from "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," then "Blood and Honey" is for you.
The central gag of Frake-Waterfield's film is, of course, the juxtaposition of Milne's childlike innocence with the violent crassness of your average slasher movie. One might ostensibly get a certain lascivious thrill from seeing well-known childhood imagery blended with adult material. A similar approach was used in Danishka Esterhazy's 2019 film "The Banana Splits Movie" which saw the stars of the 1968 children's TV show turned into murderous robots, as well as any number of horror fairy tales.
Because most of the above stories are now in the public domain ("The Banana Splits...
The central gag of Frake-Waterfield's film is, of course, the juxtaposition of Milne's childlike innocence with the violent crassness of your average slasher movie. One might ostensibly get a certain lascivious thrill from seeing well-known childhood imagery blended with adult material. A similar approach was used in Danishka Esterhazy's 2019 film "The Banana Splits Movie" which saw the stars of the 1968 children's TV show turned into murderous robots, as well as any number of horror fairy tales.
Because most of the above stories are now in the public domain ("The Banana Splits...
- 2/17/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Armageddon Time (James Gray)
Armageddon Time is the sort of film usually invoked as a “portrait of the nation” or “state of the union address,” something taking the temperature of a country—most likely the United States—at a particular time in history. But it’s also a work that makes self-consciousness a virtue: its wonderful writer-director, James Gray, is informed up to his eyes about the virtues and pitfalls of films like these, and here makes something so idiosyncratically his own but that audiences and critics might still mislabel with one of those aforementioned ideas. – David K. (full review)
Where to Stream: Peacock
The Civil Dead (Clay Tatum)
For Clay, the man at the center of The Civil Dead, there isn’t much happening in life.
Armageddon Time (James Gray)
Armageddon Time is the sort of film usually invoked as a “portrait of the nation” or “state of the union address,” something taking the temperature of a country—most likely the United States—at a particular time in history. But it’s also a work that makes self-consciousness a virtue: its wonderful writer-director, James Gray, is informed up to his eyes about the virtues and pitfalls of films like these, and here makes something so idiosyncratically his own but that audiences and critics might still mislabel with one of those aforementioned ideas. – David K. (full review)
Where to Stream: Peacock
The Civil Dead (Clay Tatum)
For Clay, the man at the center of The Civil Dead, there isn’t much happening in life.
- 2/17/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Thanks to the insatiable appetite of horror fans for the twisted and depraved, the independent film scene has seen some recent microbudget box office hits, from “Terrifier 2” to “Skinamarink.” The next one may come from the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.”
Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, “Blood and Honey” reimagines Winnie the Pooh and Piglet as bloodthirsty slasher villains bent on revenge against Christopher Robin after he left them behind upon reaching adulthood. The film’s first trailer was a viral hit after it was released this past August, and now event film distributor Fathom Events will be bringing “Blood and Honey” to approximately 1,500 theaters starting February 15 for a nine-day limited engagement.
“There are so many films with the usual horror monsters, like werewolves and ghosts, and we want to make something that really stood out,” Frake-Waterfield told TheWrap. “I thought that maybe if we were lucky,...
Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, “Blood and Honey” reimagines Winnie the Pooh and Piglet as bloodthirsty slasher villains bent on revenge against Christopher Robin after he left them behind upon reaching adulthood. The film’s first trailer was a viral hit after it was released this past August, and now event film distributor Fathom Events will be bringing “Blood and Honey” to approximately 1,500 theaters starting February 15 for a nine-day limited engagement.
“There are so many films with the usual horror monsters, like werewolves and ghosts, and we want to make something that really stood out,” Frake-Waterfield told TheWrap. “I thought that maybe if we were lucky,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
The Hundred Acre Wood has seen some pretty unsettling things over the years. A honey jar shortage. Rather blustery days. The omnipresent threat of a Heffalump.
But in “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” a new microbudget R-rated horror film, Pooh wades into far darker territory than even Eeyore could have ever imagined. After 95 years of saying things like “A hug is always the right size,” Pooh — newly freed from copyright — is now violently terrorizing a remote house of young women.
Countless cherished characters have passed into public domain before, but perhaps never so abruptly and savagely as Pooh.
Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Eeyore and Christopher Robin all became public domain on January 1 last year when the copyright on A.A. Milne’s 1926 book, “Winnie-the-Pooh,” with illustrations by E.H. Shepard, expired. Just a year later, Pooh and Piglet can now be found on a murderous rampage in nationwide movie theaters...
But in “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” a new microbudget R-rated horror film, Pooh wades into far darker territory than even Eeyore could have ever imagined. After 95 years of saying things like “A hug is always the right size,” Pooh — newly freed from copyright — is now violently terrorizing a remote house of young women.
Countless cherished characters have passed into public domain before, but perhaps never so abruptly and savagely as Pooh.
Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Eeyore and Christopher Robin all became public domain on January 1 last year when the copyright on A.A. Milne’s 1926 book, “Winnie-the-Pooh,” with illustrations by E.H. Shepard, expired. Just a year later, Pooh and Piglet can now be found on a murderous rampage in nationwide movie theaters...
- 2/15/2023
- by Emerson Pearson
- ET Canada
For many movie fans who watched "Bambi" at a tender age, the Disney movie may seem as horrifying as it is cute. After all, before the sweet yearling at the heart of the classic 1942 film has a chance to so much as finish gulping down his first taste of spring grass, his mother is shot by hunters. Bambi's mother's death may be mild by adult standards, but for a kid, it's a harrowing introduction to the world of Disney. But at least in the world of Walt Disney, Bambi has a happy ending. The same can't be promised for "Bambi: The Reckoning," an upcoming horror film that Bloody Disgusting reports is in the works from the director of "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey."
That's right: the future prince of the forest is the latest lovable childhood icon to get the slasher treatment from Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the filmmaker who's already...
That's right: the future prince of the forest is the latest lovable childhood icon to get the slasher treatment from Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the filmmaker who's already...
- 12/9/2022
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
The viral success of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, coming to theaters on February 15, 2023, has led director Rhys Frake-Waterfield down a path of putting his own horror movie twist on other iconic children’s properties that have slipped into the public domain, with Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare currently in the works for a future release from his team.
And that’s not all, as Dread Central has scored the exclusive word that Rhys Frake-Waterfield is also planning a Bambi horror movie that’s currently titled Bambi: The Reckoning.
From ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions, Bambi: The Reckoning is set to be directed by Scott Jeffrey with Frake-Waterfield producing the “dark retelling” of the classic tale.
Jeffrey tells Dread, “The film will be an incredibly dark retelling of the 1928 story we all know and love. Finding inspiration from the design used in Netflix’s The Ritual, Bambi will be...
And that’s not all, as Dread Central has scored the exclusive word that Rhys Frake-Waterfield is also planning a Bambi horror movie that’s currently titled Bambi: The Reckoning.
From ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions, Bambi: The Reckoning is set to be directed by Scott Jeffrey with Frake-Waterfield producing the “dark retelling” of the classic tale.
Jeffrey tells Dread, “The film will be an incredibly dark retelling of the 1928 story we all know and love. Finding inspiration from the design used in Netflix’s The Ritual, Bambi will be...
- 12/2/2022
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Rhys Frake-Waterfield is on a streak of taking public domain children’s book characters that have previously been given the Disney treatment and turning them into something terrifying. His movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is set to receive a U.S. theatrical release through Fathom Events on February 15th, he’s developing a horror twist on Peter Pan that will be called Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare, there’s a chance of a Blood and Honey sequel, and now the folks at Dread Central have broken the news that Frake-Waterfield will also be producing a horror movie inspired by Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods. The horror take on Bambi is called Bambi: The Reckoning.
Coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions, Bambi: The Reckoning is set to begin filming in January with Scott Jeffrey (The Curse of Humpty Dumpty) at the helm.
Coming to us from ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions, Bambi: The Reckoning is set to begin filming in January with Scott Jeffrey (The Curse of Humpty Dumpty) at the helm.
- 11/28/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Directors of The Curse of Humpty Dumpty and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey to team up for new take on bereaved deer
Many childhoods have already been traumatised by Bambi, the classic Disney animation about a young fawn whose mother is murdered. Now, two film-makers are seeking to continue the upset for adults, with a sinister remake which rethinks Bambi as a “vicious killing machine”.
Scott Jeffrey, the director responsible for work such as The Curse of Humpty Dumpty and The Bad Nun, has said he will team up with Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who wrote and directed forthcoming slasher film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, for a new version of Felix Salten’s novel.
Many childhoods have already been traumatised by Bambi, the classic Disney animation about a young fawn whose mother is murdered. Now, two film-makers are seeking to continue the upset for adults, with a sinister remake which rethinks Bambi as a “vicious killing machine”.
Scott Jeffrey, the director responsible for work such as The Curse of Humpty Dumpty and The Bad Nun, has said he will team up with Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who wrote and directed forthcoming slasher film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, for a new version of Felix Salten’s novel.
- 11/28/2022
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
I've heard of just about every kind of killer animal movie in my time, from hordes of ravenous rats to the mutton monsters of "Black Sheep," but a killer deer is a new one. According to Dread Central, the team behind the demented "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" are tackling the beloved story of "Bambi," but with their signature sickening twist. ITN Studios and Jagged Eye Productions will be making "Bambi: The Reckoning," giving the story of the fawn who loses his mother a horror update.
"Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" saw Winnie the Pooh and Piglet going feral and turning into murderous beasts because Christopher Robin forgot to feed them when he went off to college, so just about anything is possible with the team's Bambi retelling. There's a revenge story baked into the movie already with Bambi's poor dead mom, so it wouldn't be a huge...
"Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" saw Winnie the Pooh and Piglet going feral and turning into murderous beasts because Christopher Robin forgot to feed them when he went off to college, so just about anything is possible with the team's Bambi retelling. There's a revenge story baked into the movie already with Bambi's poor dead mom, so it wouldn't be a huge...
- 11/27/2022
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
When the trailer for the upcoming “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” dropped this summer, many Disney fans were horrified to see beloved childhood characters like Winnie the Pooh and Piglet appearing in a gory slasher flick. But, as the film’s producers made very clear, the upcoming B-movie has no connection to the Disney franchise. As A.A. Milne’s original “Winnie the Pooh” books have entered the public domain, artists and filmmakers of all stripes are now free to do whatever they want with the material.
And what director Rhys Frake-Waterfield wanted to do was get very, very bloody. In an interview, he explained that his take on the beloved children’s literary characters is not going to pull any punches. According to him, “Blood and Honey” is a revenge-driven film that sees the anthropomorphic animals taking revenge after Christopher Robbin grows up and abandons them.
“They get enraged when they see him,...
And what director Rhys Frake-Waterfield wanted to do was get very, very bloody. In an interview, he explained that his take on the beloved children’s literary characters is not going to pull any punches. According to him, “Blood and Honey” is a revenge-driven film that sees the anthropomorphic animals taking revenge after Christopher Robbin grows up and abandons them.
“They get enraged when they see him,...
- 11/26/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Festival programmes tribute to Mantas Kvedaravicius, filmmaker killed in Ukraine.
New films from Martin Scorsese, Patricio Guzman, Gianfranco Rosi and Ruth Beckermann are among the Masters selection for the 35th International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film Personality Crisis: One Night Only will have its international premiere at IDFA, following a world debut at New York Film Festival in October. The film shows a set from US singer-songwriter David Johansen at New York’s Café Carlyle from January 2020.
The festival will also play Gianfranco Rosi’s first archive-based film In viaggio, which considers the human...
New films from Martin Scorsese, Patricio Guzman, Gianfranco Rosi and Ruth Beckermann are among the Masters selection for the 35th International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film Personality Crisis: One Night Only will have its international premiere at IDFA, following a world debut at New York Film Festival in October. The film shows a set from US singer-songwriter David Johansen at New York’s Café Carlyle from January 2020.
The festival will also play Gianfranco Rosi’s first archive-based film In viaggio, which considers the human...
- 9/27/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
That the Viennese author Felix Salten wrote the book Bambi was based on while also being an avid hunter—so much so that he’s said to have killed over 100 deer—is a fine paradox for a life’s work; but then Salten had another. In 1906 a book was released anonymously, titled Josefine Mutzenbacher; or, The Story of a Viennese Whore, as Told by Herself. Aside from a smattering of bans over the last century, the novel has stayed in print ever since, selling around three million copies. It has always been controversial, and it has always been attributed to him.
In a recent article on Bambi for the New Yorker, Kathryn Schulz wrote “he was an unlikely figure to write one of the most famous children’s stories of the twentieth century, since he wrote one of its most infamous works of child pornography.” That same thorny piece of...
In a recent article on Bambi for the New Yorker, Kathryn Schulz wrote “he was an unlikely figure to write one of the most famous children’s stories of the twentieth century, since he wrote one of its most infamous works of child pornography.” That same thorny piece of...
- 3/23/2022
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
The real star of Mutzenbacher, an austere Austrian documentary screening in the Encounters strand at the Berlin Film Festival, is a gaudy but once elegant settee that has seen better days, and likely even service in a 1970s pornographic movie (it is described early on as looking like “a former erotic sofa”). Fittingly, it is literally a casting couch for director Ruth Beckermann, who entertains a parade of men aged between 16 and 99 — her specific criteria — as she holds an open audition for a role in her latest film.
What the men know is that Beckermann is putting together a film based on Josefine Mutzenbacher or The Story Of A Viennese Whore, a scandalous book published anonymously in the early 1900s, purportedly penned by Felix Salten, the author of Bambi. What they don’t know is that there is no film, just pages of explicit content from the book that Beckermann...
What the men know is that Beckermann is putting together a film based on Josefine Mutzenbacher or The Story Of A Viennese Whore, a scandalous book published anonymously in the early 1900s, purportedly penned by Felix Salten, the author of Bambi. What they don’t know is that there is no film, just pages of explicit content from the book that Beckermann...
- 2/13/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
A new translation of Felix Salten’s 1923 novel reasserts its original message that warns of Jewish persecution
It’s a saccharine sweet story about a young deer who finds love and friendship in a forest. But the original tale of Bambi, adapted by Disney in 1942, has much darker beginnings as an existential novel about persecution and antisemitism in 1920s Austria.
Now, a new translation seeks to reassert the rightful place of Felix Salten’s 1923 masterpiece in adult literature and shine a light on how Salten was trying to warn the world that Jews would be terrorised, dehumanised and murdered in the years to come. Far from being a children’s story, Bambi was actually a parable about the inhumane treatment and dangerous precariousness of Jews and other minorities in what was then an increasingly fascist world, the new translation will show.
It’s a saccharine sweet story about a young deer who finds love and friendship in a forest. But the original tale of Bambi, adapted by Disney in 1942, has much darker beginnings as an existential novel about persecution and antisemitism in 1920s Austria.
Now, a new translation seeks to reassert the rightful place of Felix Salten’s 1923 masterpiece in adult literature and shine a light on how Salten was trying to warn the world that Jews would be terrorised, dehumanised and murdered in the years to come. Far from being a children’s story, Bambi was actually a parable about the inhumane treatment and dangerous precariousness of Jews and other minorities in what was then an increasingly fascist world, the new translation will show.
- 12/25/2021
- by Donna Ferguson
- The Guardian - Film News
Thumper in Bambi Photo: Disney As many in the UK turn their thoughts to Easter this week, we are taking our inspiration from the Easter bunny for our streaming spotlight. We took a look at bunnies on film a few years ago - but rabbits are a filmmaker favourite, so we thought it was time they hopped to the front of the queue again.
Bambi, Disney+, Amazon
He may not be the star of the show but Thumper the bunny is just as memorable as the title character in this early Disney tale about a young deer, who loses his mum and goes on a big adventure. The bunny - who was by Disney to the original tale by Felix Salten in order to beef up the comedy - offers a bounding and boundless energy that helps to drive the film as he tries to show Bambi how to do all the exciting stuff.
Bambi, Disney+, Amazon
He may not be the star of the show but Thumper the bunny is just as memorable as the title character in this early Disney tale about a young deer, who loses his mum and goes on a big adventure. The bunny - who was by Disney to the original tale by Felix Salten in order to beef up the comedy - offers a bounding and boundless energy that helps to drive the film as he tries to show Bambi how to do all the exciting stuff.
- 4/2/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson, Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Bambi—the iconic Disney animated film responsible for destroying childhood innocence everywhere—celebrated its 74th anniversary on Saturday. Drew Taylor of the website Oh My Disney dug into the production history of the 1942 classic. The film was the fifth feature released by Disney, and Taylor calls it the “synthesis” of the films that came before it: “[It utilizes] the formalism of Pinocchio and Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, the naturalism of Dumbo, and the gentle experimentalism of Fantasia.”
Based on a 1923 book by Viennese author Felix Salten called Bambi: A Life In The Woods, the Disney animators struggled to figure out how to tell a more amorphous story without a traditional fairy tale structure. The Bambi team wound up sequestered in another building while animators worked on Fantasia, Alice In Wonderland, and Peter Pan in the main studio. And a lengthy production period gave the team time ...
Based on a 1923 book by Viennese author Felix Salten called Bambi: A Life In The Woods, the Disney animators struggled to figure out how to tell a more amorphous story without a traditional fairy tale structure. The Bambi team wound up sequestered in another building while animators worked on Fantasia, Alice In Wonderland, and Peter Pan in the main studio. And a lengthy production period gave the team time ...
- 8/15/2016
- by Caroline Siede
- avclub.com
Even today, 69 years after it was released, Bambi remains a remarkable achievement in hand drawn animation. The world depicted within it is not realized with the depth of detail we see in today's animated features. The result, however, is equally convincing and certainly more artistic. Yet, despite is technical and aesthetic merits, the charming characters and some wonderful moments, Bambi shows its age. The musical score is old-fashioned, the story is simple and there is not an annoying personality to be heard. Irrespective of how well it resonates with modern audiences, however, Bambi has never looked better. It is the latest Blu-ray reissue in Disney's Diamond Edition series. Yet again the studio has done yet a splendid job of remastering the audio and video for HD. It has also packed in a mass of superb extras making Bambi another must-buy for collectors.
Bambi is based on Felix Salten's novel,...
Bambi is based on Felix Salten's novel,...
- 3/11/2011
- CinemaSpy
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
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.
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