to top

What Could’ve Been, Movie Characters Edition

Last month I shared with you some concept sketches of Disney characters. And today, I give you the early character sketches of famous movies, compiled by the good folks over at Screen Crush.

Take a look — Yoda could have looked like a garden gnome, and the original Jabba looks even more turd-y than the version we all love to hate. Bane seems to be an S&M dungeon master, while the two versions of Ralph (of “Wreck-It” fame) looks nothing like. I do, however, prefer the earlier designs of the Kraken and the Mad Hatter to their final forms. What do you think? (Warning: many images up ahead!)

Shrek, ‘Shrek’
early_movie_concept_art_shrek
DreamWorks/Barry Jackson for DreamWorks

Yoda, ‘Star Wars’
early_movie_concept_art_yoda
LucasFilm

Game of Thrones Costume Details

A Hollywood insider once told me that assistants are often a overlooked source of information, influence, and power.

Upon hearing that, I wondered to myself, ‘Well what about all the other “little” people involved in each movie and television show? Who knows? Even a grip can potentially hold significant insider scoop and leverage!’

Alright, so my overactive imagination probably got the better of me there. (And it’s likely that most people reading this wouldn’t know what a grip even does.) But can you imagine, in this day and age, the fangasms that would ensue if every talented member of a movie/TV production had an active Facebook page, a Twitter feed, or even…gasp…an updated, detailed blog?

And this is where Michelle Carragher comes in. She is an embroidery artist and illustrator for notable productions such as Elizabeth IPrince of Persia, and Stardust.

Oh, and did I mention Game of Thrones?

AND that she has a kickass blog which features numerous photos of her creations?

Casting Disney’s Animated Characters

A few days ago, GeekTyrant shared a list of actors and actresses that should play the live-action versions of Disney’s classic animated characters. 

The fantasy casting, originally created by Super Super Kawaii, includes many big names like Brad Pitt and Scarlett Johansson, and the vast majority of the thousands who have seen the list seem to be in agreement with the choices. (This, however, is purely based on the massive amount of reposts and small number of negative comments. And from my experience, the internet usually isn’t too kind to those who post opposing opinions. 😉 )

Personally, I only agree with about half the choices. And even then, the assessment may be flawed due to two reasons:

  1. The original creator of the list failed to label the pictures with the respective actors and actresses’ names. And I have no idea who some of them are, so I’m purely going by looks.
  2. I’m not super-familiar with some of the movies on the list. For example, I only saw Hercules once and I don’t remember much from it. So once again, the only deciding factor is physical.

Shall we begin?

Here’s The Little Mermaid:

disney_real_life_casting_little_mermaid

The casting of Ariel is a big NONONONONO for me. I have nothing against Amy Adams, but I could immediately think of another amber-tressed actress who not only possesses Ariel’s innocent, wide-eyed look, but can also bring the sass: Kate Mara.

kate_mara

Childhood Disappointment

If you grew up in Korea, or in a Korean household, you may be familiar with a children's show called 뽀뽀뽀 (Popopo). According to its Korean Wikipedia page, it first aired on May 25, 1981 and has been in syndication since. The show was probably most popular in the 1980s; I remember setting aside time every day to watch the educational variety show, full of skits, animations, songs, and dances. A scene from 뽀뽀뽀's 30th Anniversary Special, which aired in 2011 (source) Here's where the story gets interesting. Starting from a very young age, I was able to see that the many puppets featured on the show were NOT human. Nothing special, right? I also believed they were living, breathing creatures. Again, this is not atypical of a...

Continue reading

The Pixar Theory

Internet nerd John Negroni has blown my mind. While the idea that all Pixar movies exist within the same universe isn't entirely new, he has taken it a step further and postulated The Pixar Theory: a detailed proposition that all Pixar characters are part of the same universe, backed up by a believable timeline that incorporates all the movies into one narrative. The first movie in the timeline is Brave, which he points out provides an explanation for animals and inanimate objects that talk. Centuries later, the animals from Brave that have been experimented on by the witch have interbred, creating a large-scale population of animals slowly gaining personification and intelligence on their own. There are two progressions: the progression of the animals and the...

Continue reading