Post by StevePulaski on Jul 13, 2011 11:29:08 GMT -5
Rating: ★½
When news about a live-action movie of the Nickelodeon cartoon The Fairly Oddparents started circulating last year I knew it was going to be loathsome. Several months later I can now state for a fact that it was. A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up Timmy Turner! takes everything that made the television show special and ruins it. The best thing about the show was it wasn't cocky, and knew it was a cartoon. This time, I think it still believes it is a cartoon, when really, it's a messy live-action special.
I can only think of Diary of a Wimpy Kid when I think of this movie. A great line of books ruined by two overly childish and poorly made films. If something is animated, why do you force it into the real world? Cartoons in the real world aren't funny. They're awkwardly made, out of place, and when you see a man-child running around town and still in the fifth grade in the real world, it just isn't funny at all.
Why A Fairly Odd Movie wasn't animated is likely because a "Live-action Fairly Oddparents movie" looks good on advertisements. I can't lie, it presents a great gimmick. But its execution simply doesn't work and will never work. The actors, with the exceptions of Mark Gibbon and Daran Norris, are just fair to mediocre. Daran Norris's role as Timmy's dad was great, because he voices him. They couldn't get Tara Strong to play Timmy because...she's a girl. Mark Gibbon, much to my surprise, didn't voice Jorgen Von Strangle in the show. He sounded a lot like him and looked great in live action.
Those are just minor perks to an appalling special. Right off the bat, the use of CGI on Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof is lame. Even their live action counterparts played by Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines aren't at all funny. Even the brief shot of a CGI rabbit smiling is about the extent of childish humor this special focuses on.
The story is Timmy Turner (Bell), now twenty-three, (which is already awkward since the show has focused on him being ten for every episode, now I guess he hit an abrupt growth-spurt) still has his fairy godparents and is still in the fifth grade. None of this seems strange though even though it looks nothing but odd in live-action. Now in a cartoon, where this belongs, it would look perfectly normal.
Timmy Turner has been threatened by the head-fairy Jorgen Von Strangle (Gibbon) repeatedly to "grow up" and get rid of his godparents. This can only happen if he falls in love and has his first kiss. Timmy's former classmate Tootie (Monet) returns to town sporting more of a model image and now Timmy is head of heels in what he thinks love, when in reality it's a case of strong lust. Cosmo and Wanda fear that Tootie's return could put an end to their fairy duties with Timmy.
On top of that, Tootie has just stepped off what seems to be the Green Party train and has become a raging environmental activist. An idiot real-estate representative named Hugh J. Magnate, Jr. (Weber) plans to get rid of the Dogwood tree in Dimmsdale's park much to Tootie's dismay. On top of that, Hugh joins forces with Timmy's fair-crazed teacher Denzel Crocker (Lewis) to kidnap Timmy's fairies.
It's chaos at best. Denzel Crocker, who I wasn't very fond of in the show, is horrifying in the film. Not because of his geeky looks, I can accept that. But the stuttering and emphasis on "fairy godparents" doesn't do justice in live-action. Also, the character Hugh J. Magnate Jr. raises a lot of questions. If this guy is about as crazy as can be, how is he a real-estate rep? Oh, and the babysitter Vicky? Let's just say, her live-action treatment is worse than I could've ever imagined.
It seems the idea for a live-action movie like this would've looked better on paper than actually on film. And it seems like they tried to give various characters appearances in the film to either showcase their real-world clones or just give the story a lot of people. However, looking alike isn't the main thing that goes wrong. It's everything. Everyone here, with the exceptions of Drake Bell and Daniella Monet, is overacting and on some sort of indescribable sugar rush.
If this show continues, it will be strange because like The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, if you're going to make severe changes to the cartoon in a movie or a special, keep them throughout the course of the show. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie was planned to be the series finale, but continued anyway. When the show continued, it left so much out from the movie it was like the movie never even existed. If The Fairly Oddparents continues, I doubt it will pick up where the movie left off. I assume Timmy will be ten in the show again, and this movie will be the end of the series they couldn't wait to get out to the public.
I did show a little bit of emotion during the final scenes because I really do enjoy this show. It's a fun and inventive cartoon. Maybe I would've shown a little bit more emotion if the movie stuck to its original roots and not think being live-action is a good way to showcase a cartoon's major turning point. What I'm saying is, if this movie stuck to its original formula, and not have gotten cocky, the movie would've been much more entertaining.
Staring: Drake Bell, Daniella Monet, Jason Alexander, Cheryl Hines, Mark Gibbon, and Daran Norris. Directed by: Savage Steve Holland.
When news about a live-action movie of the Nickelodeon cartoon The Fairly Oddparents started circulating last year I knew it was going to be loathsome. Several months later I can now state for a fact that it was. A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up Timmy Turner! takes everything that made the television show special and ruins it. The best thing about the show was it wasn't cocky, and knew it was a cartoon. This time, I think it still believes it is a cartoon, when really, it's a messy live-action special.
I can only think of Diary of a Wimpy Kid when I think of this movie. A great line of books ruined by two overly childish and poorly made films. If something is animated, why do you force it into the real world? Cartoons in the real world aren't funny. They're awkwardly made, out of place, and when you see a man-child running around town and still in the fifth grade in the real world, it just isn't funny at all.
Why A Fairly Odd Movie wasn't animated is likely because a "Live-action Fairly Oddparents movie" looks good on advertisements. I can't lie, it presents a great gimmick. But its execution simply doesn't work and will never work. The actors, with the exceptions of Mark Gibbon and Daran Norris, are just fair to mediocre. Daran Norris's role as Timmy's dad was great, because he voices him. They couldn't get Tara Strong to play Timmy because...she's a girl. Mark Gibbon, much to my surprise, didn't voice Jorgen Von Strangle in the show. He sounded a lot like him and looked great in live action.
Those are just minor perks to an appalling special. Right off the bat, the use of CGI on Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof is lame. Even their live action counterparts played by Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines aren't at all funny. Even the brief shot of a CGI rabbit smiling is about the extent of childish humor this special focuses on.
The story is Timmy Turner (Bell), now twenty-three, (which is already awkward since the show has focused on him being ten for every episode, now I guess he hit an abrupt growth-spurt) still has his fairy godparents and is still in the fifth grade. None of this seems strange though even though it looks nothing but odd in live-action. Now in a cartoon, where this belongs, it would look perfectly normal.
Timmy Turner has been threatened by the head-fairy Jorgen Von Strangle (Gibbon) repeatedly to "grow up" and get rid of his godparents. This can only happen if he falls in love and has his first kiss. Timmy's former classmate Tootie (Monet) returns to town sporting more of a model image and now Timmy is head of heels in what he thinks love, when in reality it's a case of strong lust. Cosmo and Wanda fear that Tootie's return could put an end to their fairy duties with Timmy.
On top of that, Tootie has just stepped off what seems to be the Green Party train and has become a raging environmental activist. An idiot real-estate representative named Hugh J. Magnate, Jr. (Weber) plans to get rid of the Dogwood tree in Dimmsdale's park much to Tootie's dismay. On top of that, Hugh joins forces with Timmy's fair-crazed teacher Denzel Crocker (Lewis) to kidnap Timmy's fairies.
It's chaos at best. Denzel Crocker, who I wasn't very fond of in the show, is horrifying in the film. Not because of his geeky looks, I can accept that. But the stuttering and emphasis on "fairy godparents" doesn't do justice in live-action. Also, the character Hugh J. Magnate Jr. raises a lot of questions. If this guy is about as crazy as can be, how is he a real-estate rep? Oh, and the babysitter Vicky? Let's just say, her live-action treatment is worse than I could've ever imagined.
It seems the idea for a live-action movie like this would've looked better on paper than actually on film. And it seems like they tried to give various characters appearances in the film to either showcase their real-world clones or just give the story a lot of people. However, looking alike isn't the main thing that goes wrong. It's everything. Everyone here, with the exceptions of Drake Bell and Daniella Monet, is overacting and on some sort of indescribable sugar rush.
If this show continues, it will be strange because like The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, if you're going to make severe changes to the cartoon in a movie or a special, keep them throughout the course of the show. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie was planned to be the series finale, but continued anyway. When the show continued, it left so much out from the movie it was like the movie never even existed. If The Fairly Oddparents continues, I doubt it will pick up where the movie left off. I assume Timmy will be ten in the show again, and this movie will be the end of the series they couldn't wait to get out to the public.
I did show a little bit of emotion during the final scenes because I really do enjoy this show. It's a fun and inventive cartoon. Maybe I would've shown a little bit more emotion if the movie stuck to its original roots and not think being live-action is a good way to showcase a cartoon's major turning point. What I'm saying is, if this movie stuck to its original formula, and not have gotten cocky, the movie would've been much more entertaining.
Staring: Drake Bell, Daniella Monet, Jason Alexander, Cheryl Hines, Mark Gibbon, and Daran Norris. Directed by: Savage Steve Holland.
