Fred Goes To Hollywood!

So, I was looking through various sites for a good topic for this last blog (for the class, anyway), when I came across this article.

Fred is getting his own feature film.

For those of you who haven't had the...um, pleasure of seeing a Fred video on YouTube, let me break them down for you. Fred Figglehorn (a fictional character played by 16-year-old Lucas Cruikshank) is a six year old boy with a high pitched voice. He goes around doing random things, including standing up to a bully named Kevin and crushing on a trailer-trash girl named Judy. His mom is an alcoholic and his dad is in jail. Just to give you a taste of what this internet show is like, here is a video of Fred Going Swimming.

Even though Fred's videos tend to only feature offscreen voices that interact with him, there was a casting call put out for the movie, including parts for Judy and Kevin.

Now, despite whether or not you are a fan of Fred, I seriously have to question whether he can hold his own for a good hour and a half. It's true that Fred did a cameo on the kids' show iCarly, but what works on the internet has trouble translating on to the big screen. I don't think I have the patience to listen to that voice for that long.

So, what do you think of Fred getting his own movie? How do you think it will do on the big screen? Do you think his fan following is large enough that it will do better than a "regular" movie? What are your feelings personally on Fred?

Disney in the 21st Century: The Princess and the Frog

For those of you who haven't heard, Disney is releasing a 2-D animated musical on December 11th called The Princess and the Frog. It's about a young woman in New Orleans who gets turned into a frog after kissing a frog prince. The soundtrack and songs are by Randy Newman (Academy Award winner, Toy Story), who spent every summer in New Orleans as a kid. Not to jump the gun, but this movie looks really good. Musicals are my favorite kind of movies, and those old Disney musicals just take me back to my childhood and make me happy.

But it's going down a little different this time around. What do I mean? Well, there are so many more ways to market this movie with the internet. I remember going to the movie theater and seeing a preview for The Lion King. My mom said "We're going to that," and we planned for a few months ahead of time to go see it in the theater. A year ago, I remember going on the internet and looking at early pictures of the characters in this movie, and then planned a year in advance to go to the movie. Now, there are commercials , backstage access, "making of" featurettes, character analysis', the soundtrack is on Youtube...you can even view the first five minutes of the movie! Before the movie is even released.

There are still the regular marketing items: coloring books, bubble baths, Princess Tiana clothes, posters...(on a side note, I owned Lion King coloring crayons. Way better than regular ones).

So, what do you think? Have you heard of this movie? Are you going to see it? What was/is your favorite Disney movie? Did you have a favorite song? Who was your favorite character? Do you think the internet will help Disney roll in the cash, or will the fact that this is "old school" Disney do that all on its own?

[To answer my own questions, my favorite Disney movie is (tied) The Lion King, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, I like "Reflection" and "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", my favorite character is Mulan because she defies typical female gender roles. I am going to see The Princess and the Frog and am bringing my six year old brother to it. I think that the combination of old school Disney and the internet will make this a high grossing film (that and it's rated G so all ages will go to see it. And Princess Tiana is the first black princess).]