Joe Dante's Battle With Hollywood 

Ah, but how much respect does it really deserve?

they haven't trusted or understood the characters since the old days. Nowadays they think humans are more fun than the toons.

Speaking of Fraser, he and Timothy Dalton are back together in Doom Patrol

@@SirBlackReeds more than it got, that much is obvious

Then, he got his redemption with Doom Patrol.

Them's fighting words.

@@SirBlackReeds No, they’re not. Joe Dante said he hated Space Jam and felt it was disrespectful to the legacy of Warner cartoons, which immediately got my attention. It was a film made with artistic integrity. Space Jam was a cash-grab piece of garbage with absolutely no merit whatsoever. No one with an appreciation for films and animation thinks Space Jam was good. No one.

@@wellesradio _"No one with an appreciation for films and animation thinks Space Jam was good. No one."_ Sounds rather snobbish. Also, having just seen _Looney Toons: Back in Action..._ yeah, I don't think I'll ever put it above the bizarre yet lasting alchemy that is _Space Jam._

@@Wired4Life2 Oh, Back in Action is flawed and disappointing for sure, but that was the result of a lot of tampering and a difficult production. The end result is not a great film. But Space Jam is just visual excrement. It’s Freddy Got Fingered levels of bad.

@@wellesradio Nah, Space Jam is entertaining. I'd say that "excrement" has to at least fall short of that mark. If Space Jam is visual excrement, think I prefer that to the visual masturbation that dominates art films and Oscar bait dramas. They set out to make an entertaining film and they achieved that. Is it great? No. Do I prefer Back in Action? Yes. Does that make Space Jam literal shit? Not by a long shot.

It always was a film I enjoyed watching as a kid.

I feel really bad for your father in this scenario. I've never done any professional creative work _(and due to horror stories like this I hear about it I'm very scared of it),_ but I do animate as a hobby, and _my_ father was even a CGI artist back in the 2000's. I can often spend multiple weeks or months on making a single animated video, polishing it as much as possible because I like doing that, so I can imagine working a lot harder on animation for such a long time, with hardly any creative freedom, on very little sleep, would be a hellish experience alone, but then if you're also constantly told by strict higher ups, who have little to no understanding of how your field works, to modify and/or scrap something that you poured your heart and soul into, and especially to not even receive ANY credit for it in the end, would be mentally scarring. That can make anyone feel like absolute garbage. He's really talented and deserved at the very least to be credited for the stuff he painstakingly worked on. Hand-drawn animation _(especially for a production like this)_ is the absolute hardest thing to pull off. Art and corporatism often goes horribly together because they're so opposed in nature. That's something I notice all too often in life, even with this website. They can go together well, but only in rare cases where the artist is given enough control to feel comfortable and dedicated to the project, and where the overseer of that project is given enough control to keep their artistic vision and even have it polished by the artists. It's a tough balancing act, and if either group has too much control, the final product and/or the production of it can turn out horribly.

What's his name and the studio he worked in?

What’s his name and what studio did he work at

Excellent work! That's infuriating he never got credited!

There's lots of Looney Tunes love in InnerSpace as well, a bunny names Bugs, an actual Bugs Bunny doll, and Chuck Jones himself

There's always a "surprised you didn't mention blah blah blah" Just inform us of said blah blah blah

One of my personal heroes too! =)

eh, you like watching Brendan and Jenna try to flirt and get their jobs back?

@@Malkmusianful maybe not

That's definitely the stand-out segment in the movie. But yeah the rest of the movie is pretty much like the other guy said, though the Looney Tunes are still great throughout the film.

STAAAWWWP OOORRHH EYE'LL FFFIIIIYAAAAHHH!!!

@@studiodaeera. Imagine if he'd make a fully animated looney tunes movie!

oh yeah im pretty sure i saw a tiktok about an animator who wasnt paid a lot and even got their name spelled wrong in the credits who worked on the new space jam as well. cant find it now tho

Also, it doesn’t help that WB is using AI to make movies now!

@@SlapstickGenius23 oh? Can you elaborate?

@@ickyvicky3817 the reason why the voice actors and a single Puerto Rican animator aren’t credited for this film is that WB has a crowd of Computer AI preferring big name celebrities over voice actors or even anything in between.

@@SlapstickGenius23 I can't tell if you're joking?

Sounds like you spent more money on that movie renting it than if you were to just buy it. Though I might have grew up at the ending years of rental stores and they were just more expensive in general.

Yooo me too, when I was like 6 someone got me space jam and looney tunes BIA in a bundle and that was MY movie I watched it like everyday for a year I can't hate either of those movies because I'm tottaly nostalgia blind

Yeah, I also used to watch it on TV every time

There was talk of animation going down, but Roy Disney wouldn't have let that happen. Roy was a force throughout his time at Disney, despite being shunned by Walt himself. Walt and Roy Sr died at a... Normal age for the time, but Roy was the rock. You should check out Michael Eisners biography, it details a lot of his life at paramount and Disney, I'm about 3/4 of the way through

Also omg, the video actually mentions Eisner around the 16 minute mark. Him, Katzenberg, and Diller were all good friends (But absolute assholes to each other)

Probably helped that Eric Goldberg was the animation director.

Joe Dante has said he modelled the zany , frenetic pace for Gremlins 2: The New Batch on comedy movie Hellzapoppin.

Mant! was hilarious. It's biggest issue is that it was 1000x better than the movie it was inside of.

"Half man, half ant - ALL TERROR!" :)

The late Jerry Goldsmith did an okay job composing the score hence he is Joe Dante’s associated composer.

Having just seen _Back in Action_ for the first time, I'll admit that the Louvre chase was easily my favorite moment of the film. That said, I'll also admit that it doesn't exactly forward the story much and you're watching it while aware that the story has to pause for it to occur.

Or George Miller

Yup...can't believe he would wind up directing episodes of Hawaii Five-0 (the rebooted version)

It doesn't particularly sound like he wants a big comeback. If he doesn't want anything to do with the studio system then more power to him I say.

I think the spark is gone, like with John Carpenter. He had some bad luck starting with Explorers.

Well Hollywood pretty much blacklisted him and he was just tired of all the BS politics and wanted no part of that

You forgot the fact how much hoskins Is really good at convincing us that he Is looking at cartoon. Like you think its Easy, but Is not, he has to work with NOTHING on set and he act His hardest to make us belieave he Is really Is looking at cartoon. And for an actor working with nothing Is harder than working with a guy in a suit, at least with something like Gollum or other other motion capture character the live action actors know what the hell to look at before acting like they are watching a monster or something. With nothing for most of the Time can cause you schizophrenia attacks because of the lack of focus from the eye, even Hopkins admited he had took therapy sections after shotting the entire toon town section on a Green screen. Something that Jordan, freiser and at Times Lebron didn't have since they didn't act that much that they were staring at cartoons, and most of the times they weren't even in the same shot.

@@motor4X4kombat Ah yes, Hoskins once saw a cartoon weasel with a big prick. Also, the special features reveal that Jenna Elfman and Brendan Fraser interacted with plushes and stuff.

@@SirBlackReeds even if they acted with plushes they never convice us that they were really looking at them since they eyes there always unfocus with the animation.

Yeah, that was the one assertion of this otherwise excellent video that I vehemently disagree with. BACK IN ACTION is a terrific movie, but it is not a more "seamless" combination of live-action and animation than ROGER RABBIT is. Not even close.

AGREED! Back in Action did a decent job given the new technology available at the time, but WFRR perfected the art to a degree that has never been matched before or since.

His argument is actually really easy to shoot down. Two simple words and a letter: American History X.

Yes, Greg Ford told me that a few years ago (a former employee of his was my first year professor at SVA, and Ford came to talk to my class once). According to him, their film "(Blooper) Bunny" was withheld from release for about six years because WB would let them release it with Daffy's line "WB doesn't have an original bone in their body!" and this is something a classic short could get away with because nobody at WB actually watched the films, they just bankrolled and released them. The Merry History of Looney Tunes also gives credit to the original producers, namely Leon Schlesinger and Eddie Selzer but also their successors, for cultivating the environment that allowed their artists to work undisturbed. It wasn't that interference from studio brass WASN'T a threat, it was that the producers were very good at staving them off and believed that the animators did their best work when they were just left alone to do their jobs, and just trusted them to do so ("trust" being a key word here). See also Ralph Bakshi on "Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures," the cartoons Spielberg produced with WB in the 90s, Linda Simensky's time at both Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, all producers who were very good at negotiating, shared the philosophy that people do their best work when they're trusted to do so without being micromanaged and were willing to shoulder most of the burdens that came with it (that's what a great leader is expected to do: take credit for success and blame for failure). Plus, being trusted just makes you feel good, and the guarantee of both that positive response AND proper compensation makes you want to work harder; that's why screen credit was one of the reasons the Disney artists fought to unionize in the 40s: being paid for your hard work is great, but why work that hard if that's all you get from it? Artists should be able to defend their decisions, but their job isn't to negotiate, and forcing them to shoulder that responsibility gives them less energy to do their ACTUAL job. I equate it to teachers being expected to buy their own school supplies: putting that responsibility on them means less energy to focus on their actual job of teaching, and when students turn out poorly, the detached superiors either blame the kids for being "too difficult" or blame the teachers for not working hard enough. No one is infallible, obviously, but I think we can all agree that it's better to take risks trusting someone than to not trust anyone out of fear of risk.

Probably for a reason

Seconded! That film is weak, but solid enough, story-wise, but the visuals? They hold up spectacularly well! The design of the world and characters and the lighting and rendering look almost brand new. It's a wonderful film to look at. Chris Wedge is slept on as a director, I think. The first Ice Age is also wonderfully designed and animated and very heartfelt and hilarious.

And what was the response?

And you would be 100% correct

Speaking the truth

That's the hot take I'm here for

I like both for what they are.

It’s something we won’t see in a long time. Yeah the new Space Jam has that but it’s not the same as they go from 2D to 3D later on

After the excrement that was Space Jam 2, this movie deserves its praise.

I saw like 10 minutes of it on tv when I was like 8. Same with Space Jam.

Same! The humongous rock is still probably my favorite joke of the film!

So did I, but now I thought adding more and change a few things around

Its Tunes.

...You just sold me on a Deadpool movie, much less a third one inside the MCU. How.

I want him to do a animated Deadpool film

I feel like if that was your takeaway you entirely missed the point of this video

@@balls261 great comment. Now how about you tell me just exactly what I should’ve taken away from the video, since I SO missed the point of it, and you seem to be the expert and all. Unless the point is “Poor Joe Dante, Hollywood screwed you, and thus we’ve been deprived of more work from such an interesting, unique, funny, and all around amazing film maker, I mean look at this stuff he did, Hollywood you’re the worst.” IS THAT IT!?!?!? 😡

The proliferation of superhero movies is why filmmakers like Dante don't have work anymore. He turned down an offer to direct Batman in the 80s because he "doesn't believe in" superheroes.

I'm lowkey really upset that this isn't a book. I checked on Amazon and Google myself, haha.

Same. It took me too long to realize the book wasn't real. Great title though.

the title is GENIUS

it's honestly an 8 out of 10 for me. one of the weaker Dantes, but still very, very, very fun, plus good Wal-Mart gag.

Back in Action was kinda average if you ask me. Out of all the Looney Tunes movies so far, it's probably the weakest one. And the reason I say weakest is because it's not that I dislike the movie, it's just it ranks the lowest in my opinion. Even when I was a kid I wasn't too into the movie. With that being said, I blame all the studio meddling on why I rank Back in Action low. If there wasn't any studio meddling, I probably would've ranked it A LOT higher and probably would've enjoyed it more.

I got your back, i also like it very much!

Back In Action is the best live action Looney Tunes movie, better than both Space Jams. I said what I said. I was recently bummed to find out it’s the only one not on HBO Max

Not the only one! I LOVED THIS MOVIE! It’s one of our family’s favorites!

J

@@javierpucheu6150 Thanks so much for saying so

Any link?

I guess they moved out.

Yeah, i've loved Gremlins 2 since it first came out. I'm really glad that it's still remembered and, if anything, has just become more appreciated over time. Dante was so far ahead of the curve on meta/ironic filmmaking that no one in 1990 had any idea what he was even doing.

Redlettermedia speak very fondly of it despite fans criticizing them for it

Also not to mention is that Osmosis Jones was originally going to be PG-13 rated film for teenagers and adults, but Warner Bros had the film edited down into a family friendly PG rating instead, because Warner Bros at that time did not want to make a PG-13 or R rating animated film. I’m guessing because due to problems and failure of Hey Good Looking, witch was a R rated animated comedy film directed by Ralph Baskhi and released in 1982 that Warner Bros made and did little business on release.

In my opinion, Joe is one of the best directors in Hollywood. I consider him on the same level as Steven Spielberg, Richard Donner, Ron Howard, George Lucas and etc.

I can't believe he compared Joe Dante to a child murderer. Seriously, fuck John Landis.

@@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747 Here here. That was a really tone-deaf compliment at best, especially after ranting so much about how artists should just be allowed to do whatever they want. Sometimes, limiting artists is important. Sometimes, it prevents gung-ho auteurs from pulling shit like that.

@@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747 Well, they are known as being good friends, so I am not sure that this might be an insult towards Dante.

@@darwincity John Landis killed three people, two of them immigrant kids, he doesn't deserve to have film work, he deserves to be in prison.

@@luismarioguerrerosanchez4747 I did not oppose that point. I was just mentioning a fact. However, yes, John Landis not going to jail for what he did is an insult to the concept of justice.

Roger rabbit actually got me into film noir

Wow, its you guys

Yeah. I wish that was something that the dumb executives can get through their heads, and that they should be aware of the fact that when you give creative freedom, you get great films. But when you’re basically being an asshole about it, you and everyone fails. That should be the lesson every studio executive should know

I mean, THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF DISNEY BASHING. And I ain't arguing with all the cruel shenanigans Disney gets up to. But the WB fucked up a sovereign nation's labor laws to make 3 shitty hobbit movies. The rest of hollywood needs the internet nerd-o-sphere to scold theme and be taken to task. I will never get a good hobbit movie (and the WB had screwed up getting a rankin bass copy). I will never get back my time wasted with Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, the Star Wars prequals, EVERY James Bond movie has nothing worth thinking about (at least Ironman 2 has lip service to some bigger ideas), ready player 1 showed me my favorite director thinks very little of the world I live in........but we just sweep this stuff all under the rug as "Hollywood" with a smirk while Disney gets raked over the coals like Kevin Smith, George Carlin, and Bill Mayer talking about catholism.

omg i literally tried looking up that book because i was so interested in reading it but it doesnt actually exist :(

Aren't those the reason why hates the studio system?

Gremlins 2 is better than 1, change my mind.

@@artistanthony1007 I -will not- because you are correct

It's a really nice personal cap to his career after his good run in the 80's.

I've heard that too but doesn't that mean the new execs look bad at their job as the first things they release are under-funded, under-marketed and badly handled to lose the studio money. And the studio heads might think to get rid of them before they have a chance to do their originally generated projects.

Must people just complain that it's too long (I'm talking about King Kong)

The Frighteners is fucking awesome.

I like Tomorrowland (or Disney Tomorrowland A World Beyond as it's known in the UK). My own criticisms are that it takes too long to get to Tomorrowland and it's a little too violent. But I do really like it. I might revisit it when I finish my holiday

@@reptongeek Right. I was arguing that the characters are the best part about it. But the protagonist is *really* good.

He means Space Jam 1 dummy

BTW I highly recommend everyone to watch Matinee, it’s probably his masterpiece together with Gremlins.

I was thinking of that bit in Transformers while watching Explorers