In Search of Original Stories

Annie's Log, 5/15/16

Recently I went to go see Captain America: Civil War.

Spoiler Alert: It was awesome.

But I'm not going to talk about it. You should just go see it yourself.

Instead, I'm going to talk about something that I'd noticed a while ago, and was reminded of when I was sitting in the movie theater waiting for incredible/amazing/fantastic superhero antics.

Out of the twelve previews I saw prior to Captain America: Civil War, only two were for original concept movies. That is, not a remake, a sequel, based on a book, a true story, etc. And they were both animated movies (Pets and Kubo and the Two Strings). Go figure.

This year at the Oscars, none of the movies nominated for Best Picture (Brooklyn, The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Room) were original stories. None of them.

Yes, there are amazing screenplays and independent films that come out every year, but they rarely see the light of day. Or, in this case, positive media coverage and praise from the masses.

And that's sad.

To look at things from another standpoint, movies are the most circulated item in the country at public libraries. I work in a public library and check DVDs and Blu-Rays out to patrons all the time. It seems like the most consistently checked-out movies are blockbusters: superhero movies (Avengers, Ant-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, etc.), action flicks (Mad Max: Fury Road, Taken, etc.), dramas (Fifty Shades of Grey, ________). I see this trend first-hand in our "3-day loan" films (that is, the movies that you can only take out for 3 days because they're in such high demand) and "New" displays.

I offhandedly Googled "top blockbusters from 2015" and found this page, which lists the following films as "must-see blockbusters:" Avengers: Age of Ultron, Terminator Genisys, Fast and Furious 7, Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road, Spectre, Fifty Shades of Grey, Ted 2, Mission Impossible 5, Star Wars The Force Awakens.

None of the above "must-see blockbusters" are original stories. They're all part of a series, remakes/reboots, or based on a book.

Side note: I Googled Blockbusters 2016 and this pic came up. Guess what? None of these stories are original.

And yes, familiarity is part of what makes a blockbuster a blockbuster. They get people hyped because they know some background and want to see what happens to the characters that they've seen before. I was one of many who was super pumped for Star Wars Episode VII because I expected Luke and Leia and Han and Chewie to come back. People who read Fifty Shades of Grey (which I am pointedly not going to comment on) wanted to see Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey on the big screen. If you were excited about Ted 2 I guess you wanted to see what antics that weird bear got into.

On yet another note, Disney has gotten into this trend of making live-action reboots. Thus far, the following classic Disney animated films have been made or confirmed as "in production" for live-action reboots: Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, The Jungle Book, The Jungle Book 2 (yes, this one has already been confirmed even though the first one only came out, like, a month ago), Pete's Dragon, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Dumbo, the Sword in the Stone, Mulan, and Winnie the Pooh.

Also included in this list are Alice Through the Looking Glass and Maleficent (as well as, apparently, Maleficent 2), an Aladdin film that will focus on the Genie, a "Prince Charming" focused Cinderella film, a Snow White adaptation that will focus on the original Brothers Grimm character "Rose Red" (Snow White's sister), a Tinker Bell film, a 101 Dalmatians reboot focused on Cruella DeVille, and a Mary Poppins sequel.

Maybe it's just me, but I think that most of these Disney films stand the test of time pretty well and don't need reboots. I can make an exception for films like Maleficent and Cruella which look at the same story from a different perspective. It worked for Wicked and I guess people are trying to make it happen again (though it has to be done well-just look at The Great and Powerful Oz. Actually, don't. Don't look at it. Don't watch it. It wasn't good.)

But for the most part, I, at least, would prefer it if Disney/Pixar focused their resources on creating new stories without compromising or leaning on the story that has already been created.

As I was writing this post, I realized that I was saying that I wanted Disney films to lean less on already-created Disney stories and look more to other fairy tales. I realize that this seems hypocritical because I'm literally complaining about how I think that studios are relying too much on already-established work, but to me, Disney has had success by taking stories, fairy tales, legends, and things that have cultural impact and significance but have never really been explored. They're not established work. These stories have enough room to let the writers expand and create because the source material is so basic, as opposed to basing a story on a fully fleshed-out, published novel like Room or Brooklyn or The Revenant. Just look at the studio that created Paddington-it was great. The idea was there and they adapted it into something amazing because they weren't constrained too terribly much by the source material. Anyway, I continue below:

Frozen, the highest-rated and most-successful animated film EVER, was based on an "untouched" story by Hans Christian Anderson called "The Snow Queen." Walt Disney had apparently been wanting to work on it since the 1940s, but recognized that technology was not at a level that could produce the story he held in his head. When Disney picked it back up in the 21st century, it was "fresh" material that gave the creators a lot of freedom without being limited by the constraints that come in from both outside and inside expectations when you're working on a story that people already know and love.

I remember a couple of years ago that a brand new collection of German fairy tales had been discovered. We're talking over 500 new stories from the 1800s written by this guy Xaver von Schonwerth. That's a lot of untapped material. Now, I'm not saying that it's good material-I have no idea. I also don't know if it's appropriate or easily translatable into popular media (though looking at the source material for many popular fairy tales, whether or not it's appropriate really doesn't make a difference on the end product). But it's there, and it's something different. I'd love to see someone take a crack at one of these new stories (Disney/Pixar or Dreamworks or even a studio that's not mostly animated films-I won't judge). Instead, it seems like we'll just get another Hansel and Gretel remake, or another Snow White story (Snow White and the Huntsman, Mirror Mirror, The Huntsman: Winter's War-like, nobody even asked for these).

Now, Moana is the next announced big Disney/Pixar princess movie and it IS an original story, focusing on culture in the South Pacific. It looks like Disney is falling back into what made them famous and popular in the first place, namely, introducing a story that has never been seen before, coupling it with stunning visual, plenty of humor and music, probably some action and something to warm our hearts. I'm hoping.

Like I mentioned before, there are a lot of original stories out there. The problem is that if they don't get praised as "THE MOVIE OF THE YEAR" or "THIS SUMMER'S BIG BLOCKBUSTER HIT" or "THE FAMILY MOVIE OF THE SEASON" or "THE NEXT BIG OSCAR HIT" or whatever, they probably won't do as well as, say, "Fast and Furious 17: Quick and Angry" or "Tom Cruise in Another Action Movie Where He Plays a Male Protagonist Role That Doesn't Really Fit Him."

You just have to look for them, and hope that the creators can get the word out and will get the support they deserve.

And I'd also like to say that movies based on books aren't inherently bad. Far from it. I'd rather a studio come out with a movie based on a book that has a good story than yet another Transformers: Age of Dawn of Darkness in Space or Something. For example, I just finished reading Room by Emma Donoghue and can honestly say I've never read anything like it. I'm excited to finally see the movie, even though I'm sure it won't be as good as the book. That's OK, I wouldn't expect it to be, but as long as it's a faithful adaptation I don't mind.

Quick caveat: I would be so happy if we as a society went through a few years without another teen film franchise set around a Strong Female Protagonist who is Somehow Special and there's Angst and Something Supernatural/Dystopian/Evil that Only She Can Stop but there's also Romance and Hormones and a Difficult Choice between One Guy who Doesn't Fit Her Life/Two Guys who are Both Attractive in Unique Ways and the Female Protagonist is Also Attractive in Her Own Special Way and the World is Against Her/Them or Something Along Those Lines.

They've been done to death, and you can cater to a younger crowd without relying so heavily on romance as a driving factor in your story.

Same goes for movies about a Young Male Protagonist who is Different but Special and a Leader but has a Hard Time with it and has Feelings or Powers he Can't Control, but Manages to Learn with the help of his Friends (one of whom is Smart and one of whom is Funny), and the Fate of the World rests on His Young Shoulders and he's an Orphan whose Mentor will Probably Die and Stuff.

I know that there are only seven stories that are ever actually told and that a Hero's Journey/Monomyth has strict rules, but still.

Seriously. If you want to make books out of YA novels, awesome. Just steer away from Twilight/Hunger Games/Insurgent/Mortal Instruments/The Maze Runner/Percy Jackson/Eragon. 

Can we also steer away from Nicholas Sparks style romance movies for a while? Please? Tragedy, Instant Connection, Intense Feelings, Another Tragedy, End. Boom. Done. Collect your money and start writing the next one.

I think I've said about all that I can say at this point. I do realize that it is entirely unrealistic to hope that the film industry will just all of a sudden shift its focus away from banal blockbusters, Disney remakes, teen flicks, etc.

But I can hope.

End Log.