'The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure' falls flat with critics
Are they anthropomorphic? Thank Roscoe there is nothing like them in real life!
There has been so much successful anthopomorphization in animation in the last few years that we tend to forget that anthropomorphization can be done in full-body suits, too – and I don’t mean fursuits! The Oogieloves are a throwback to Barney the purple dinosaur or H.R. Pufnstuf, except that Sid & Marty Krofft did it better back in 1969.
The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure, released in over 2,000 theaters on “Oogust” 29, features Goobie, Zoozie, and Toofie (they’re anthropomorphic somethings!) who live in Lovelyloveville, in a feature that encourages the audience to talk, sing, and dance in the aisles while the movie is going on; with cameos by live-action Toni Braxton, Cloris Leachman, Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes, Jaime Presley, Chazz Palminteri, and others.
The distributor is Kenn Viselmann, the former producer of Thomas the Tank Engine and Teletubbies, which will tell you what age group he is aiming for (old enough to sing and dance in the aisles; too young to have cell phones).
The Cartoon Brew website, which has covered this release, reports that this has gotten “disasterous reviews” (LA Times - NY Times). But Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 38% rating (Ed: now down to 30%), which means that several reviewers did like it. Hmmm. Watch the trailer and decide for yourself – if you are not too embarrassed for Toni Braxton, Cloris Leachman, Christopher Lloyd, et al., acting like retarded idiots.
P.S.: The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure grossed $674,000 from 2,160 theaters on its first weekend in release. For comparison, Rango grossed $38,079,323 on its first weekend out from 3,917 theaters. Ice Age: Continental Drift grossed $46,629,259 from 3,881 theaters. Brave grossed $66,323,594 from 4,164 theaters. That Oogieloves opened in almost 2,000 fewer theaters certainly contributed to its weaker box office, but still... Hoodwinked opened in 2,394 theaters with very little publicity back in 2005, and still grossed $12,401,900.
About the author
Fred Patten — read stories — contact (login required)a retired former librarian from North Hollywood, California, interested in general anthropomorphics
Comments
Am I the only one who thought the Teletubbies looked like retarded space monkeys who'd shat in their uniforms?
PS: 'Oogieloves' opens in 2000 theaters but you still have to drive miles to find a place that's playing the likes of 'Moonrise Kingdom' or 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. Fuck you, Hollywood.
Ahem, it's not very nice to use "retarded" as you do in a pejorative way.
Judging by the trailer, the movie itself does far more of a disservice to mentally disabled actors than this piece ever could.
I second this. Poor choice of words, especially in relation to a children's movie.
And this is furry news... how, exactly?
The Los Angeles Times review says that the Oogielove costumes are felt-covered. That is sort of furry/plushie. Besides, I said that they were anthropomorphic, not furry. The Brave Little Toaster is anthropomorphic but not furry. Some furry fans want to include robots like the Transformers, who are certainly not furry.
Fred Patten
Hey, it got picked up by "Furry News Network."
They have "Furry News" in their name, so they're experts.
... okay, that came out way too sarcastic in my own head. Whatever keeps the front page updating is all I care.
Felt-covered is not what we mean by furry... In any case I disagree with the use of anthropomorphic here. Anthropomorphic is giving human characteristics to non-humans. In your review you just call them somethings. If they aren't from something else they can't possibly be anthropomorphic because you haven't given human characteristics to anything.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
No, these aren't particularly furry, but there are furry fans out there interested in the Sid & Marty Kroft type puppets that these are (apparently poor) cousins of. The Oogawhatsits aren't discernible as specific animals but they're fuzzy near-humans. So what? I still can't figure out what species most of the characters in Mandi Tremblay's "Peachy Keen" are.
Do we really have to do this You fail the Furry Purity Test, sir! routine every time something that's only tangentially furry gets posted? I'm sure it's all well-intentioned, but goodness, some of you need to unclench.
— Chipotle
Voting is the recommended method for expressing displeasure with a piece's relevance, but a comment is fine too.
That said, posting stories about 'relevant' topics is a more useful contribution. We need diversity in the newsroom!
As for Peachy Keen, you just need to spend more time around Pokémorphs. ;-)
[Clover is a sea otter. Logainne is a Whitetail deer. Cyndi is a Siamese cat. Toby is a Red-tailed hawk.]
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