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And the Fans Scream On
Jan. 8th, 2008 08:53 amI read this morning on Muppet Central that the Dark Crystal sequel will be going direct to DVD. Personally I am glad that they are making it and will pick it up on DVD probably the first day that it is released to stores. This project was first announced back in 2005 and has a long and rocky road to this point.
Now I have already seen, on the release of this news, some of the more fanatic fans for the Dark Crystal series already start to dismiss the sequel because it is not being released on the Big Screen so there must be something wrong with it. They feel "betrayed" because the PTB couldn't get into the theaters and are cutting a deal for direct-to-DVD which makes it less worth. And of course we hear the cry "Well Jim wouldn't have done that. He would have found a way to get it into movie theaters."
Bull I say. The direct format didn't really exist 20 years ago. Video Tapes were just ramping up to be direct sales rather than just rentals and DVD technology was R&D at best. Jim was pretty good at seeing the potential for various formats to deliver entertainment and tended to be on the cutting edge of such things. These "fans" also forget that in terms of dollars both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth didn't do that well in the theaters. Where these films picked up speed and became cult classics were in the secondary markets. And so they are going directly to that market and passing up the chance to get slammed at the box office yet again, which might hurt their potential DVD sales.
The Fraggle Rock fans are now biting their nails that the Fraggle film will also go direct to DVD. Might I remind them that the Fraggles were one heck of an experiment in television since it was one of the first made for cable children's shows? No? I didn't think so. The Fraggles have never been on the big screen and there is a reason for it. They were built for the small screen (which has gotten bigger since they started). They would have to revamp how they made a number of the puppets just so the puppets wouldn't look awful on the large screen. So they won't look like the Fraggles you saw on TV and therefore the fans are going to complain about them.
I swear that if you gave a fan everything they wanted in a film or TV show, they would then complain that that was not what they wanted and explain how you got it all wrong and could improve on it.
I am grateful that there will be new Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock in my future no matter what the format.
Now I have already seen, on the release of this news, some of the more fanatic fans for the Dark Crystal series already start to dismiss the sequel because it is not being released on the Big Screen so there must be something wrong with it. They feel "betrayed" because the PTB couldn't get into the theaters and are cutting a deal for direct-to-DVD which makes it less worth. And of course we hear the cry "Well Jim wouldn't have done that. He would have found a way to get it into movie theaters."
Bull I say. The direct format didn't really exist 20 years ago. Video Tapes were just ramping up to be direct sales rather than just rentals and DVD technology was R&D at best. Jim was pretty good at seeing the potential for various formats to deliver entertainment and tended to be on the cutting edge of such things. These "fans" also forget that in terms of dollars both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth didn't do that well in the theaters. Where these films picked up speed and became cult classics were in the secondary markets. And so they are going directly to that market and passing up the chance to get slammed at the box office yet again, which might hurt their potential DVD sales.
The Fraggle Rock fans are now biting their nails that the Fraggle film will also go direct to DVD. Might I remind them that the Fraggles were one heck of an experiment in television since it was one of the first made for cable children's shows? No? I didn't think so. The Fraggles have never been on the big screen and there is a reason for it. They were built for the small screen (which has gotten bigger since they started). They would have to revamp how they made a number of the puppets just so the puppets wouldn't look awful on the large screen. So they won't look like the Fraggles you saw on TV and therefore the fans are going to complain about them.
I swear that if you gave a fan everything they wanted in a film or TV show, they would then complain that that was not what they wanted and explain how you got it all wrong and could improve on it.
I am grateful that there will be new Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock in my future no matter what the format.
