Stars & D23 members come out for the LA premiere of “John Carter”

Shelly Valladolid

12 years ago

Given that “John Carter” is mostly set on the red
planet, it’s only appropriate that the stars who attended Wednesday night’s
premiere of this Andrew Stanton film …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… walked down the red carpet at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live.

Walt Disney Pictures really went all out for “John
Carter” ‘s LA premiere. Persuading Academy Award-winners like Helen Mirren
to come for this event …

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

… not to mention crafting a giant three dimensional
version of the “John Carter” logo. Which many entertainment reporters
then used as a backdrop as they interviewed members of this movie’s cast onsite at the premiere.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

But you know what made “John Carter” ‘s LA
premiere different from most other movie premieres in Hollywood? The fact that
Walt Disney Studios actually reached out to D23 and then invited members of the
Official Disney Fan Club to come on out to the Regal Cinemas L.A. Live on
Wednesday night so that they could participate in this event. Which meant that
these folks got plenty of face time with fan favorites like Bruce Boxleitner.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Speaking of this “TRON” and “TRON: Legacy” star … Boxleitner revealed on the red carpet that he and Edgar
Rice Burroughs’ grandson Danton had tried to turn “A Princess of
Mars” into a TV mini-series back in the 1980s. But sadly none of the
networks back then were willing to take a risk on a television version of this seminal work of science fantasy.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

“That’s why I’m here tonight,” Bruce explained.
“To represent Danton. I’m just glad that someone was finally able to bring
his grandfather’s story to the big screen.”

And speaking of TV version of sci-fi projects … Though
Boxleitner admitted that he wasn’t really supposed to talking about “TRON:
Uprising” (Not yet, anyway), what Bruce then went on to say is that —
based on the footage that he’s seen so far for this new Disney XD animated
series — “TRON” fans will not be disappointed.

“It definitely ties in with the original ‘TRON’ film as
well as ‘TRON: Legacy.’ But ‘TRON: Uprising’ is also stronger enough to stand
on its own. I think that ‘TRON’ fans are really going to love all of the new characters
as well as how this animated series
looks,” Boxleitner continued.

And speaking of animation, Dr. Ed Catmull — the President of both Pixar Animation Studios
and Walt Disney Animation Studios — also turned up at the Regal Cinemas L.A.
Live on Wednesday night. Though — to hear Ed talk — he wasn’t there in any
official capacity. Catmull was just there to support Stanton, his longtime
friend and colleague.

Photo by Shelly Valladolid

After a little bit of prodding, though, Ed did open up a bit about a few projects that
Pixar currently has in the works, among them the soon-to-be-released
“Brave” (which is being directed by Mark Andrews. Who — fyi —
co-wrote the screenplay for “John Carter” with Andrew Stanton) …

“Brave” director Mark Andrews
chats with bloggers
at “John Carter” ‘s LA premiere. Photo by
Shelly
Valladolid

… and “Monsters University.” Which Kids in the
Hall vet Dave Foley (who is best known as the voice of Flik in Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life” and Wayne the Christmas Elf for those Disney’s “Prep and Landing” holiday specials) will be voicing a character for. Though neither
Catmull nor Foley were willing to talk about who this character might at
Wednesday night’s premiere.

Dave Foley and his daughter
Alina. Photo by Shelly Valladolid

And speaking of “John Carter” ‘s premiere … One of the main reasons that reporters &
bloggers go to events like this is to get face time with the stars of the movie
which is about to open. And Taylor Kitsch (who plays the title character in
“John Carter”) could not have been more gracious. This 30-year-old
from Austin, TX good-naturedly answered the same three questions over &
over & over again (“Did you do your own stunts?,” “How did
you get in shape for the film?,” “Had you read the ‘John Carter’
books when you were a kid?) while repeatedly signing autographs & posing
for pictures on both sides of the red carpet.

Taylor Kitsch at the “John Carter” premiere. Photo by Shelly Valladolid

Once the last of the stars had gone through, it was now time
for the premiere itself. And the Studio had thoughtfully set up a separate
theater for D23 members so that these Disney fans could also check out
“John Carter” on Wednesday night. And Andrew Stanton made a brief appearance in that theater to offer up
an interesting bit of theater: That — thanks to the huge amount of visual
effects & performance capture that had to be done for “John
Carter” to properly capture the look & feel of Mars — this allegedly
live-action Walt Disney Pictures release actually had more animation in it than
“Finding Nemo” did.

Then the film rolled. And given how poisonous the buzz has
been about “John Carter,” I have to admit that I was surprised by how
entertaining this Walt Disney Pictures release was. It’s a terrific big-screen
adaptation of this Edgar Rice Burroughs book.

And I think that the Studio was hoping that all of these D23
members who attended the LA premiere would feel just as I did. Given that — as
they exited that theater at the Regals Cinemas L.A. Live — these Disney fans
were handed a commemorative litho as well as made aware of a “I saw it first” website. Which
they were supposed to then share with friends & family.

So don’t believe what you hear about bad tracking for
“John Carter.” Better yet, make plans now to make tracks to see this Walt
Disney Pictures release when it opens in theaters on March 9th.