Star Wars: AOTC Trailer on Monster Inc

FortKnox writes "Starwars.com has officially announced that Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones 'teaser' trailer will appear at the head of the new movie, Monsters, Inc. Other reports have the full trailer on Harry Potter, but this is still speculation. Ep-I DVD owners should be able to view the trailers on starwars.com once Monsters, Inc. hits theaters." Good thing I'm planning on seeing both of those movies anyway.

Comments

Re:Must be good

[Anonymous Coward]

That Rowling "Guy" must be pretty impressed that people always assume she's a guy.

A Serious Question

[ekrout]

Am I the only one who HASN'T read the Harry Potter books? I don't mean to sound like an arrogant prick (although I really am), but weren't these books written for little kids? I mean, sure, I enjoyed Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and all when I was younger, but these days I barely watch any TV. So, my question is "What's the appeal of these childish stories to grown, sophisticated adults?".

Thanks.

Re:A Serious Question

[Stevis]

They're not childish stories. I had much the same opinion, but my wife, who is a children's literature buff, knew the difference--and convinced me to read them. At the end of Goblet of Fire, I had much the same ominous feeling that I had at the end of Empire Strikes Back...you don't know where the "good guys" are going from here.

The novels are dealing with the kids growing into adults, something that is universal. It is dealing with the kids as they learn about and define ourselves, and talks about what makes us who we are and how we face choices between good and evil.

In addition, from a storytelling side, JK Rowling has her arc plotted out and knows where she's going--while it's not as tight as Straczynski does things and some inconsistencies slip through, she's not pulling things out of her hindquarters as she goes along. Try reading book one; you'll like it. That's all I can say. Stevis

Re:A Serious Question

[mikester911]

So, my question is "What's the appeal of these childish stories to grown, sophisticated adults?".

I'm sorry....were you talking about Harry Potter here, or Star Wars?

I hated Phantom Menance - not just because it was a kid's movie, but because it forced me to realize, as a 28 year old, that the first three weren't amazing films in my mind because they were amazing films, but because I saw them when I was in grade school.

Attack of the Clones should refer to how Lucas recycled his own story ideas in Phantom Menace.

I will probably go see Ep. 2, but I will hate myself for doing it.

Re:A Serious Question

[Robotech_Master]

There's a world of difference between "written for little kids" and "written down to little kids."

You could even say there's a sort of Star Wars analogy in the books (just to keep this vaguely topical to the thread). The first two are sort of light, kind of like the first Star Wars movie...but by the time you read the third and fourth, you're getting into definite Empire Strikes Back territory. Rowling pulls no punches. The villains are black and foul, not simply "misunderstood"; they're selfish and megalomaniacal but not the self-described "evil" (as in "God, I love being evil") of many down-written kids' shows and books. People die--and worse than die. There is very little sappy moralizing or sermonizing, and what there is flows naturally from the book, from adults giving advice to kids that isn't just "do this, don't do that," but gives them credit for being able to think. And the fourth book...well, don't read the first chapter of it in a darkened room, that's all I can say.

I'd recommend buying them without hesitation, but if you're still not sure, all four of the books are available on Gnutella. I'm not ordinarily one to condone piracy without paying--but I'm confident that once you've read them, you'll enjoy them enough that you want to own them.

This is a bad sign

[crow]

Well, it isn't really news, but this is a clear sign of what audience the movie is targeted at. These are both children's movies. Sure, as far as children's movies go, they have a lot of adult interest; that's what usually makes for a successful children's movie.

Now if they were targeting a more adult crowd, they would be trying to connect to Lord of the Rings.

Of course, it may just be a matter of what big movies are coming out at the right time.

Re:This is a bad sign

[geomcbay]

Its politics and business really.

Monsters, Inc is a Pixar movie. Who sold Pixar to Steve Jobs? George Lucas. There's still pretty strong ties between Pixar and Lucasfilm/ILM, so there you go...

With Harry Potter the connections are (among other things) ILM doing many of the special effects and John Williams doing the score.

LOTR is a different beast...A New Line movie, music by Howard Shore/Enya, WETA doing the special effects...

What about November 9th?

[M_Talon]

Anyone who has the Ep 1 DVD knows they've been hyping November 9th. It was just kinda assumed that was the release date for the new teaser for Ep 2. Anyone check lately to see if 11/9 is still being promoted, or if they've changed that to 11/2 (the release date of Monsters Inc)?

Re:Must be good

[interiot]

"that Rowling guy", ala google's image search.

Star Wars Trailers and Movie Grosses

[BiteMyShinyMetalAss]

Slightly offtopic, but a question that I at least thought was interesting...

I remember reading that tons of fans went to see 'Meet Joe Black' (I'm prettysure that's what it was) just to watch the Episode I trailer, and I'm guessing that the same will happen with 'Monsters, Inc.' (although 'Monsters, Inc.' is probably more enjoyable than than 'Meet Joe Black')

I wonder: how much of an effect do the new Star Wars trailers have on the grosses of the films that they appear in front of? I'm sure that the take from 'Meet Joe Black' was nicely boosted by those who walked out after the trailer ;)

Try them

[BillyGoatThree]

The first book is pretty light and features HP as an 11 year old boy. But each subsequent book is darker as Harry gets older (one year per book). The first time I read the 4th book (which I'm currently re-reading in anticipation of the movie and 5th book) I snuck it into my cubicle and work and spent the entire day reading it. It's that gripping.

So no, they aren't for "little kids". They are for children of various ages. Just like the Narnia and Alice books.

Re:Hrm?

[geomcbay]

You get a special URL that works in conjunction with some proprietary Windows-browser that does some sort of checksum on the DVD-ROM disc (needs to be inserted in your computer's DVD drive).

There's already content on this DVD-ROM only site, still pictures from Episode 2, etc...The few people that have redistributed this content on publically accessible web-sites have, not surprisingly, been spanked by Lucasfilm.

Re:Hrm?

[snookerdoodle]

In a word: Yes. There is also other content on starwars.com available only to Episode I DVD owners.

Unfortunately (depending on your point of view), I'm not enough of a fan to spend a lot of time on their web site. I watch the movies. I go to bed.

The next day, I watch the Pod Race with my 4 and 6 year old boys. Then I watch the Pod Race with my 4 and 6 year old boys again. Then I watch the Pod Race with my 4 and 6 year old boys again. Then I watch the Pod Race with my 4 and 6 year old boys again.

Mark

Typical

[elefantstn]

Good thing I'm planning on seeing both of those movies anyway.

CmdrTaco then continued by saying,

"Then I plan to complain on slashdot that Disney, AOL-TW, and Fox -- coincidentally the companies who will be making money off Monsters, Inc., Harry Potter, and Star Wars Episode II respectively -- are using their vast monetary resources to purchase laws in the United States Congress. The irony of blasting these movie studios repeatedly on my website and then in the same breath praising and promoting their movies is apparently totally lost on me."

Re:Typical

[MikeBabcock]

You mean I'm not allowed to purchase tickets to a movie by WB or Disney but not like the fact that they take my rights away with the profits?

I thought thats what laws were for ... regulate what they could and could not do with the money they make off making good movies.

PS, yes, I do think they make good movies.

Rowling, Clones Trailer

[Robotech_Master]

Well, that's what the publisher wanted you to think. Listen to some of the Rowling audio interviews from NPR's archive; she says that the publisher wanted to publish her as J.K. Rowling instead of Joanne K. Rowling, out of fear that little boys would be turned off of a book written by a girl (ick, cooties!). As it turns out, they didn't need to worry; it's now well-known she's female (except on Slashdot, apparently) and it hasn't dampened the books' popularity one whit.

To avoid the dreaded Off-Topic markdown, let me just mention that, as one of the DVD-owners, I have access to the Star Wars site; they're still hyping November 9th as far as I know. For the moment, they have what can only be described as a trailer for the trailer posted--a 7-meg Quicktime slideshow called "Choices" that shows images and posits such gripping questions as "What is the cost of failure?" and, my favorite, "What do droids worry about?"

Since Quicktimes can easily be downloaded, I expect you could find it on Gnutella by now. It's not all that great, but at least it's something.

Re:huh?

[SirSlud]

Return of the Jedi?
The Empire Strikes Back?

They are cool names only because you associate them with cool movies. They sound 'retro'. Today, audiences are very wary, if receptive at all, of 'camp' and in general, the 'pulpy' style. Lucas, if anything, is not bowing down to current trends in keeping the names of the movies in line with the original campy names. Unfortunately, I thnk audiences are far too cynical and pessimmistic to accept such campy names anymore, as evidenced by the furor over the name "Attack of the Clones". Personally, I think the more money you spend on something, the less likely people are going to accept camp as entertainment, especially since camp is one of the cheapest styles to infuse into movie productions. (Indeed, being 'campy' is partly defined as appearing articicial; thus, your sets/titling/acting need not be juiced for every possible production dollar.)

The media/advertising pipelines are more clogged than ever, and since camp is more often a tool used by lower budget productions (for obvious reasons), people are not hearing of movies that utilize camp very much, and consequently are not demanding it or appreciating it unless its associated with a previously prooven franchise (ie, Star Wars, Batman, Star Trek)

At least, thats my take on it.

Garret

I know what the trailer will be like!

[Amon CMB]

"They came from outer space!"

"They came from Planet X!"

"OH NO!"

"Run, hide! They are coming!"

Natalie Portman: ::screeeeam::

"Come see the latest in the Star Wars saga!"

Star Wars Episode II: When Clones Attack

Trailer synopsis and Ep II review

[artemis67]

Aint It Cool News has had some intersting Episode II news lately... the first is a synopsis of the trailer that seems to have been verified by TheForce.net. It can be found here:

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=10579

The second is even more tantilizing... it's a full review of the movie, allegedly based on the second editied version. That can be found here:

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=10528

Enjoy.

Ah, I remember the TPM trailer

[Junks Jerzey]

Having seen the Star Wars movies as a kid, the TPM trailer gave me chills. "wow, just like the previous" movies. It was so perfect, so slick, I couldn't get over it. Then I saw the movie and _yikes_ was it horrible. Did I just grow up or was TPM just plain embarrassing? Sadly I think that you needed to be nine years old to appreciate it.

Re:Ah, I remember the TPM trailer

[dswensen]

I was incredibly jacked about TPM when I saw the trailer. I thought it was going to be the Best Thing Ever. Then the advance reviews started coming out, some expressing not so much disappointment as existential despair, and I started to worry. A whole generation of former kids had hung their identities on this series of movies, and felt personally betrayed when the new one didn't deliver the same magic through a wall of years and life experience.

I saw TPM opening night, I enjoyed it (with some reservations), and I've seen it many times since then. I think my initial disappointments sprung from a few things:

1) It's far from a perfect film.
2) I'm no longer a kid.
3) I expected it to be the Best Thing Ever, thereby almost ensuring it wouldn't be.

I don't think TPM was embarrassing, but I do think it's a very different film from the rest of Star Wars. It adds a more openly "comic" character (which, to my mind, was a good try but a failure), and includes things like politics, intrigue, foreshadowing, and deception -- which the classic trilogy was fairly short on.

I love and appreciate the classic trilogy for its wahoo, space-cowboys appeal, but honestly, I'm not so sure I need to see three more movies of it. I'm glad Lucas is not entirely resting on his dramatic laurels and is branching out into new ground (for him, anyway).

Personally, I'm excited to see the new flick, to see if Lucas will have learned from some of his mistakes in TPM, and also because I think TPM was all foreshadowing and setup, and we're going to see some real action in the next two flicks.

Re:huh?

[dark_panda]

According to the popular theories, the clones are basically a precursor to the Empire's stormtrooper army. Basically, the theory goes that the entire stormtrooper army is really just a bunch of clones of one guy, specifically, Boba Fett, or rather, Fett's father.

Apparently, Boba Fett is actually the clone of Jango Fett, who in turn was used as the "father" of the clone army.

Why the big deal with clones? Well, based on the post-original trilogy Heir To The Empire books, the Emperor is pretty adept at controlling large groups of people. Of course, the droid armies used in TPM are useless 'cause they aren't alive, and the Emperor can't control them directly. However, he could control a large group of clones. Something to do with the Force, I guess.

So the clone wars is apparently the beginning of the end for the Republic, with the Emperor (or Senator Palpatine at any rate) at the head of the clone army.

A lot of post-original trilogy stuff from Dark Horse Comics and the novels and such played with clones constantly. In the wicked-cool Dark Empire comics series from Dark Horse, the Emperor returned in a clone of himself. The blue flash the erupted as Vader tossed the Emperor down a shaft at the end of Return of the Jedi was apparently the Emperor's consciousness being released, on its way to a new clone.

The Heir to the Empire series also had a bunch of clones, including clone generators and such. A Jedi clone in that series (Joruus C'Boath, or something to that effect), tried to replace the Emperor as head of the crumbling Empire. I think Luke was cloned, too, as Luuke or something, an evil clone of some sorts.

According to the books and comics, clones are pretty unstable folk and prone to insanity. Joruus was pretty insane.

It's been a while since I've read any of that stuff, though, so I might be a bit cloudy on the details. But that's what I make from most of the lore and the rumors going around.

I recommend checking out http://www.theforce.net. (Check out the Knightquest film if you get a chance -- amazing for a fan flick.)

Man, I know too much about this crap.

J

how about for non-dvd owners?

[jchristopher]

I just found out that even though I own the Episode I dvd (which I use in a standalone player), I won't be able to access the trailer on starwars.com, since I don't have a DVDROM in a computer running Windows. (scam, but that's another post)

Can anyone suggest a website that will have the trailer besides starwars.com? I assume that someone will save it from starwars.com and post it elsewhere...

Spoken Like a CS Major

[Greyfox]

Good children's literature will have several levels. All a child will generally catch will be the most simplistic story, which may be about cute talking furry animals or other such children's topics. Go back and study it in college (Or a good High School) and you'll find several layers of metaphor which could cover anything from Jesus (This is a favorite, you'll find a Jesus in a lot of Children's literature) to the WWII Holocaust.

That being said, Harry Potter seems to be mostly preteen wish fulfillment with a slight Orwellian flavor. Orwell had a very similar masochistic writing style (Except his characters never had a chance.) The writing is as formulaic as Saturday Morning cartoons, and about as literary. On the plus side, it does piss the Baptists off and anything that pisses the Baptists off is a good thing in my book. It's also encouraging the kids to read, which is also a good thing, and sometimes you just want the literary equivalent of a slice of pie. After a week of digging through XML books, you really don't want to schlog through anything too heavy.

Take what I say with a grain of salt though. I also despise CS Lewis, which is the literary equivalent of having a metaphor pounded into your head with a 2x4. Also, any Disneyesque story where children overcome hideously inept adult villians. That pretty well limits the children's literature that I'll be feeding my kids.

Trailer schedule (three trailers!)

[antdude]

This was e-mailed from my friend who is a big movie fan (Thanks Spaceman Spiff!):

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 3 SWE2 trailers coming
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 12:58:02 -0800

Found this at Coming Attractions...

The first trailer, dubbed the "Breathing" teaser, will definitely run
attached to all prints of Monsters, Inc. on November 2nd.

The second trailer, slated to appear online at the official Star Wars
website, will debut November 9th.

The third trailer, longer and containing more adult-oriented material than
the first teaser trailer, will be attached to Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone on November 16th.