Hey dere lucky pals, Harry J. Knowles here with another amazing adventure.... Duh, hey what's this scoop about anyway, oh yah, Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocky J Squirrel I believe. Anyway, this here SPYDER J. SPY is coming in with all the wiley news of their latest epic battle with those baddest of bad guy and gal... Boris and Natasha... Read on...
Hail Head Geek and all the Geeks at sea,
A few months ago, I had the odd opportunity to free an unusually large gray squirrel with blue goggles from the sticky strands of my humble abode. Evidently, the fellow was training diligently for an upcoming movie role and was still working the kinks out of his technique. It has been a while since the little squirrel had flown. Looked like he needed a little more practice to me. (then again, I’m a Spyder who lives in a web and writes movie reviews… who the heck am I to criticize a flying squirrel?) Anyhow, in appreciation for my aid, he slipped me a copy of the screenplay he was training for, "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle."
It wasn’t until tonight that I saw a "first look" piece on Access Hollywood which showed quite a bit of footage from his picture that I remembered the gift the little fella left me. Given how much of the story they’ve already shown, it seemed like it might be a good idea to speak up about the script.
It’s important to remember a couple of things about writing for animation. Animation scripts are often rather dynamic, subject to change and multiple drafts written with the input of a number of people. Though it looks like the basic story of "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle" remains intact from the draft I read (from 1998, it appears), I trust that any number of lines and situations will be punched up by the time we see the finished result on screen.
Having said that, the footage shown tonight seems pretty close to what I read. Though, De Niro’s "Are you talking to me" moment is one of those fortunate things that happen once you cast a part. It wasn’t in the script (as far as I remember) but it was kind of funny.
"The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle" is directed by Des McAnuff (a former Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse, which was the original home of what became Broadway’s "Tommy" – no doubt Des plays that up to no end). It features Robert De Niro as Fearless Leader, and Jason Alexander and Rene Russo as the live-action Boris and Natasha. Rocky and Bullwinkle will be playing themselves. (good for them… hope they have a good agent and got some of the ancillary rights). Writing credits appear to be going to Jay Ward and Ken Lonergan, but you never know just how many people really had a part in it (unless you’re one of them). I think this is who the WGA (Writers Guild of America) decided should get it.
On with the show: in what I read, the story is pretty simple. Boris, Natasha, and Fearless Leader manage to get themselves into the real world and plot to take over the United States using our own greatest weakness: television. Rocky and Bullwinkle are called on to leave their cartoon world to save the day, and team up with Agent Karen Sympathy, played by Piper Perabo. Together, Moose, Squirrel, and a cute FBI agent save us from the bad guys and the hypnotic influence of bad television (for the moment, at least).
[Piper appears on page 67 of the current Entertainment Weekly, the X-Men cover issue, under a description of her upcoming role in "Coyote Ugly." – amazing what one finds lying around the web.]
The script had me in stitches, actually laughing out loud, for the first thirty or so pages. It suffered a bit from what they call "second act sag," which is usually when that first act momentum can’t be sustained for the 45-60 minutes the middle section of the story usually takes. It does pick up toward the end of the second act, though, and gets pretty funny once more. The middle has some laughs, it just doesn’t have quite the pace the first and third acts did.
My only concern is that the humor is a tad Industry oriented. Given that you’re reading this review sent into a site that does nothing but watch the Industry, maybe that won’t be such a hurdle. I caught myself laughing at a number of lines that sounded like something out of a story meeting, ("Sure, but how can you justify that dramatically?" ) and wasn’t sure just how broadly appealing some of the jokes would be.
Don’t worry, though, it’s not all Industry jokes. There are plenty of really bad puns and one-liners like what you’d expect from the "Rocky & Bullwinkle" cartoon shorts of yesteryear. Combined with what appear to be pretty cool special effects (the cartoon duo actually looks rather three-dimensional in the footage) I think the picture should be some fun.
I’m just hoping the punched up the second act a little bit. Maybe what I read will play out better on screen. Like they say in comedy, timing is everything.
Back into the web,
A Spyder.
P.S. I do hope the Talkback Gallery won’t be too upset I don’t go into the details of the ending. It’s a Rocky and Bullwinkle picture. They can do the math on who wins.
