I think Michael Jackson wore Wilbur Robinson's tshirt - only white - in Captain EO

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So...we know the trailer got out before they could fix it, but they're STILL sticking to the Bowler Hat Guy, then?--Any word from Lasseter insiders, over whether Story department's made up its mind yet?
(Although the promotional emphasis does seem to be showing more of Wilbur than they were before--Maybe he'll even get his name back in the title.)

I think the old production sketches look way more original, as does the original artwork by William Joyce. If I were the author, I'd be insulted, to be honest. I have criticised his R.P.O. T.V. series but it is just a matter of personal tastes. Yet I still do not like to see his artwork disregarded in this manner. I always felt artists ought to stick together, regardless of personal tastes. Maybe it's idealistic, but it's what I live by every single day. And I am harder on myself than I am on anybody else.

So far as the uncanny similarity of the new Bowler Hat Man to Dr.Voodoo, well what do you expect from a company that hasn't been able to think for itself since it's namesake passed on? It's all about "what Disney would do". There's noone who can fill his shoes.

Disney's Corp's marketing tactics are also very predatorial these days, and their marketing executives still have a dreadful, suffocating take on their craft from what I've read-- but that's not exclusively a Disney thing. And if Roy or whoever wants to get all bent out of shape about that criticism, and attack my character, calling me names, then so be it. But that's not a reason for me to keep quiet, especially when practically every suggestion I have made has been implemented to the success of the Walt Disney company, while others are taking credit for my thoughts. I want people to see how dumb it is to put pride ahead of reason. I want people to learn to forget about titles and learn to reward good ideas and hard work. I want people to quit rewarding known thieves. When we turned our backs on faith, we all lost something valuable. I am not talking about some cackling, calculating back-stabbing ingrown toenail of a bad trip-- I am talking about a love of nobility, reason and logic. A love of true art. We've many of us forgotten what that is, it seems.

It's a large scale societal problem-- one which I have had the courage to address outright while many others with any degree of influence just used it as an interim public relations stint, and ran away with the milk money while everything just got back to where it was going. I could easily have gone that route, but I give a damn about the future my kids will inherit. I've been blessed with many eye-opening experiences in life that don't just go away when someone flashes money at me. Do I expect others to share my vision? No. But I'd love it if they'd try, because I know how to reciprocate, and let others lead. But I do expect some common courtesy and basic, human respect.

And everyone knows I have had interaction with employees from the Disney Company for a few years now. If the image Disney wants to project, is that they have to power to mess with the reputation, livelihood, and borrow heavily from the I.P. concept, and business strategies of a young, well-intentioned mother of two, without so much as crediting me, just because they can, then so be it. And no-- I am not flattered, it's just a big company. My husband has worked for a couple of them. Big deal. If anything, they were more abusive than the smaller employers in the business on account of all this I am talking of here.

But I do think it's suicide for the Disney company to act in such blatant disregard of an artist who has tried in earnest to forge a positive relationship in the face of such abuses. I do not buy the excuse that corporations do not have souls. People run corporations, corporations do not run themselves. So that mentality is just an excuse for individuals to behave badly, and set a bad example for our children.

So far as us submitting work there, well that would be a risk that I would never take after the treatment I have received, unless I had an apology from certain people for some very wretched behavior, and assurances that my loved ones would not be further harmed. Sorry, I am just not that naive.

Personally I think the movie looks like it is going to be a fun ride.  I am glad they are going to keep Bowler Hat man and it's going to be interesting to see how they pull off this movie.  However, I might have to see it second that opening weekend as it opens against the CG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which looks fantastic in its own right...

Huh?

To answer orljustin, check out chrlane's weblink above and you will see from her blog that the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor with that one.

Is Meet The Robinsons the only film Disney is showcasing this year?!?!?
I really hope there is some new screens or art from other films like Rapunzel and American Dog like there were last year. Thanks for the coverage.

Wilbur Robinson bears a strong resemblance to Jimmy Neutron.

I don't know...so far the movie's concept isn't doing much for me right now. The Disney/Pixar name might help it at the box office, but otherwise it's going to have a tough time against the Turtles IMO.

"The Disney/Pixar name might help it at the box office..."

Huh?  I could be mistaken, but I could've sworn that this one is NOT going out there with the Pixar name on it...

Who is Dr. VooDoo?

Chrlane,
I just read your full post and I think you are assuming that we know things that we don't.  I'd like to hear your story about your dealing with the Disney company.  Seems like you had a rough ride.  Please be more specific in your description of your ordeal.

I saw some of the promotional reels for MTR at Siggraph 05, it looked okay, but the one that got my attention was "American Dog" directed by Chris Sanders, which looked like it had a lot more heart.

The people who are involved know what's what, and crazy is easy to say, but harder to prove, especially when we call ourselves, "Jedi Ted"-- ROTFLMAO!! If you are going to slander someone, please do it in your own name so you have some sort of credibility, o.k.? Thanks.

Come to think of it, there was also a short 3D film put online by LucasFilm shortly after I published our film online back in 2003, which strongly resembled our proprietarty character, Dr.Voodoo, a few months after I sent "Dr.Voodoo's Hair-Raising Experiment" over there to apply for work with the Lucas company. If I recall, Lucas, (otherwise known in his own circles, as "the Necromancer"), gave our character wierd flight powers he doesn't have in that film he made, because he didn't know how to properly direct the material. (Just add lots of SFX, smoke and explosions and you don't have to worry about silly things like story, huh?).

What I don't get is, if you bigshot studio people like the material, why don't you have the guts to approach me? Is it because I am female? Or is it just a "Hollywood" thing? Maybe guilty consciences? Or really gigantic egos? I wish I could understand. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Is it because you'd actually have to credit me and then you would no longer be able to rip me off? So you just want to keep your options open? Nice strategy. And you'd all consume four years of your time running after someone, harassing them and micromanaging their lives from way up, and trying to rip them off their work so that you don't have to credit them with their intellectual property?

If that' is your thinking, that goes against all logic. All it is, is greed and madness. And all of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves, because that's what your films preach against.  That's what your fan-base believes you're all about. It's just a big lie.

I just keep remembering our I.P. lawyers back in B.C. telling us they hoped some Hollywood bozo would steal our I.P. so we could sue their pants off. I never thought it might actually go that way. I guess I am just too honest. Not naive-- honest. I don't believe in planning for failure-- only honest caution. There's a difference. But you guys already know we can't afford to sue you, right? Because you've all made our personal business a hobby for years now. Aren't the films and games your companies put out enough of a challenge for you to occupy yourselves with? How about those big fat charitable organizations you run? After all, they're such amazing persuits… surely they must be very time consuming… or are you really THAT easily threatened by a little struggling creative Canadian family? LMAO!!!! What a joke. I wish you all one thing-- and that is to just grow up and take responsability for the consequences of your actions on society, and on yourseves. It must _really suck_ to be such big hypocrites; to work so fervently every day of your lives against everything you "stand" for.

And it certainly is surprising how _easily_ you all are threatened…

Methinks Chrlane has been sipping from Mel's flask...

SuperGrover-- it's a bunch of internet harassment and stalking and privacy invasion and boys club antics and it's really dumb and mean as heck. And it's not just Disney. It's a group of I.T. and entertainment companies who think I am a threat to their stock prices because of my politics. I've been afraid to approach anyone with my property because of it. When I saw they thought I was a threat, I started to blog-- I tried in earnest to show them there are better ways to make the same profits. To show them better ways for men and women to treat one another. I am stretching myself thin trying to please everybody and noone is grateful because it's not enough I am teaching these clowns, I also am supposed to choose a side. And right now, the Disney company is capitalizing from a lot of my insights, and to add insult to injury, they are stealing my main character's designs for this film, because I haven't given  enough of myself already.

All I want to do is my art. It's all I want to do. But i felt cornered and when I am cornered, I fight back how I can. I don't just lay down and die. I have kids to feed.

This is Dr.Voodoo:

http://www.leftlanecartoons.com/tripe.jpg

He's been seen by all the major studios, and Disney creatives know darned well he's my character. I've been an outspoken online presence for over three years now, and on all the major animation forums. I've exchanged correspondence with Lasseter and Sito and Roy Disney and Scott Adams, and Lee Nordling, and a Disney lawyer. They could just be grateful after all I've done for them for absolutely free. Because frankly, I don't need the stress.

chrlane
I looked at the pictures of Dr. Voodoo and Bowler Hat Man looks nothing like him.  I think the point of BHM is to look like the stereotypical villain.  He looks more like Snidely Whiplash then your Dr. Voodoo.  I don't think you have much to worry about in that respect...

Mel!? I don't even drink, Sir. You're just upset because I don't want you to direct. Stop being so pushy. Get over yourself for heaven's sake.

N.T.S., Disney's B.M. design is strongly reminiscent of my character, who is, BTW, modeled after my interpretation of "the villain archetype". That was the whole idea behind Dr.Voodoo. He was conceived as an "anti-villain". It is something new I am exploring in my art; my brainchild. I have lectured extensively online on this very subject, and on archetypes and all that. It's what I am _doing_, for heaven's sake.

http://p101.ezboard.com/fthecartooncaldron59171frm42.showMessage?topicID=14.topic

And Snidely is very flat in his design, so that's a bit of a reach. And this bowler man has the same planar dimension and facial and physical configurations as my character, and moves similarly to Dr.Voodoo. If you squinted you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart.

After all the good I've done FREE for Disney, they should just change it because the similarity is close enough that it bothers me. Lord knows I'd do the same for them, or even my worst enemy if the tables were turned. It's just cruel to muck with me this way. Show some darned gratitude for once, people-- save your reputation. With all that competition, you can't afford to be ripping people off. You there in Hollywood supposedly have all the best talent in the world at your disposal, for heaven's sake. Prove it by thinking for yourselves, or PAYING the people whose ideas you like.

Anyhow, if anyone has an intelligent comment to add, I am receptive to that. But I am going to ignore any more nonsense or denial here directed at me. I have no time to explain myself repeatedly to people with ulterior motives. It's just a waste of breath. Thanks for listening to those of you who still know what common decency and respect is.

I hate to say chrlane but there are COUNTLESS character designs that resemble Bowler Hat Man and your Voodoo Man. They aren't creative or unique enough to be able to notice any plagiarism. There are characters that looked like that back in Looney Toons back in the 70s, it isn’t unique at all. I just think you are fishing for a lawsuit or attention.

I actually think that Dr. Voodoo looks much more like Jafar than Bowler Hat Guy. It's really not surprising that two characters based off a villian archtype will end up looking similar. I actually think Bowler Hat Guy looks a lot like Meet the Robinsons Director Steve Anderson: http://mag.awn.com/issue10.08/10.08images/chick10_SteveAnderson.jpg

You can't tell very much about the movie from early concept art and character maquettes. Has there been any other information released?

Warning: Intelligent Comment ahead......

Like Dahl just suggested, there is a long tradition in both film and illustrated literature of that  stereotype, characterized by hook-nose, high cheekbones, angular chin and mustache. You certainly don't have a monopoly on that generalized type. I was about to say that your Dr. Voodoo also resembled Jafar (especially by virtue of the pointy goatee), but it seems that you chewed out someone on your blog for having made a similar observation, and pretty much implying him to be a racist to boot.

Interestingly, Snidely Whiplash was just a Jay Wardian take on the Simon Legree character from "Uncle Tom'e Cabin", a source of inspiration for many characters, including "Wacky Races" baddie Dick Dastardly, who was likely based on Jack Lemmon's villain in "The Great Race", who in turn was just one more variation on the Simon Legree-tieing-the-damsel-to-the-traintracks type of villain. Add to the list, Conrad Veidt in "The Thief of Baghdad" (upon which Jafar is heavily influenced), Dicken's Fagin, and all the slimy mustachioed villains portrayed by the likes of Vincent Price or Terry-Thomas.

So, sorry Chrlane, but your Dr. Voodoo is merely a close cousin of all of these tall, gaunt, mustachioed and sinister fellows. I really don't think you should be suggesting plagiarism here.

Let me put it to you this way.

Way back in primary school, I used to draw a lot. I wasn't that competitive in the school yard but the teachers liked me, because I got good grades and I was gentle and honest. And I was real shy.

Well, there was this girl in my class called, Caroline. Caroline had lots of boyfriends at a really young age, and she knew how to dish the dirt. She was what you'd call, "popular".

One day, in art class, I was minding my business, drawing a pretty green caterpillar. It was a good caterpillar because I practiced a lot while the other kids ran around outside. My Grandma used to chase them out of our storage locker-- they were in there reading porn mags they had stolen from their dads. They used to grab eachother's crotches in the school yard, but I was frightened so I just had a couple of good friends I'd talk to. I never much cared for rough play.

Caroline, who always picked on me with her friends, was sitting opposite me that day in art class. Nobody said anything about my caterpillar. They all ignored me, because they knew the teacher liked my work, and I used to let them all copy off my tests so they'd pass their French classes, so they'd leave me alone. But when Caroline, who could barely draw, drew the exact same thing minutes after I did, all her friends, who saw that I had drawn mine first, well they all made this big stink about how wonderful her caterpillar was, just to hurt my feelings. We all knew they were just making sport of me, but because they played dirty, and Caroline was a bully, she got credit from the other kids.

Notice I never said I was the only one to ever draw a caterpillar.

Well later on, when high school rolled around, I heard a couple of things about that Caroline girl. She'd gotten knocked up at fifteen, and flunked out of school. She was always in trouble. Everyone who used to be her friend told me how bad she'd gotten, and nobody wanted to know her anymore. But they all liked me just fine, because she was no longer calling the shots. And you want to know something, I wasn't happy to hear of her demise. There was a stirring of vindication in my heart, but mostly, I felt sad for Caroline. I don't know how to take pleasure from someone else's misery.

Take what you like from the story. I've seen that pattern play out countless times in my life. I'm all grown up now, and I'm one of the cool kids. And you know, I still don't know how to enjoy it. Most likely never will. But alas, there it is.

Chrlane --

Jim Hill here. Let me see if there's a polite way to say this ... Your posts in this particular TalkBack at JHM? They've been kind of off the grid.  Especially the one directly above this note. Where you attempt to make it sound as if Caroline actually got what was coming to her. All because she dared to copy a caterpillar that you drew back in primary school.

When I read a post like that (Which resurrects childhood grievances. Rather than dealing with the topic at hand. Which is "Meet the Robinsons") ... I begin to think that maybe it might be time for you to take your ball and go home.

Again, I'm not trying to rude here. I'm just saying that -- once you turned this TalkBack into a protracted discussion about how the Walt Disney Company allegedly stole the design of your Dr. VooDoo character -- this thread became rather self-serving. Which I was willing to tolerate for a while. Until you posted your Caroline story.

At that point, I felt that it was necessary to step in and shut you down. To suggest (again, politely) that this matter might be better suited for your own blog. I mean, you're not really winning JHM readers to your world view, Chrlane, by suggesting that a girl got "knocked up at fifteen" because she dared to copy your caterpillar. That's just (Again, I'm trying to be polite here) crazy talk.

So how's about you take a break from noting in this particular TalkBack, Chrlane? I'm asking nice. Okay?

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