Jason Seaver
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 1997
- Messages
- 9,303
Since An American Werewolf In London was delayed (again), the Brattle had to come up with a replacement, and somehow managed to dig up a copy of this delight.
For those who have never seen it (probably most of you), it's a fantastical adaptation of the classic book, directed by Terry Jones and basically a Monty Python reunion - Jones plays Toad, Eric Idle is Rat, Michael Palin is Mr. Sun, John Cleese is... well, I'm not telling. It has a whimsical production design where the characters are basically humanoid, with flourishes (Rat's whiskers, Toad's green color, etc). It works, trust me.
Not many people saw this in the U.S.; distribution was a mess - Miramax was to distribute it, but the theatrical run went from Miramax to Columbia as part of the settlement for the Scream/Screamers lawsuit. Columbia did nothing to promote it since they wouldn't have the video rights (where the real money is made on family films). Mirimax/BV then did nothing with it to avoid confusion with the animated Wind In The Willows, and because it was too unusual to pigeonhole an audience for it.
For those who have never seen it (probably most of you), it's a fantastical adaptation of the classic book, directed by Terry Jones and basically a Monty Python reunion - Jones plays Toad, Eric Idle is Rat, Michael Palin is Mr. Sun, John Cleese is... well, I'm not telling. It has a whimsical production design where the characters are basically humanoid, with flourishes (Rat's whiskers, Toad's green color, etc). It works, trust me.
Not many people saw this in the U.S.; distribution was a mess - Miramax was to distribute it, but the theatrical run went from Miramax to Columbia as part of the settlement for the Scream/Screamers lawsuit. Columbia did nothing to promote it since they wouldn't have the video rights (where the real money is made on family films). Mirimax/BV then did nothing with it to avoid confusion with the animated Wind In The Willows, and because it was too unusual to pigeonhole an audience for it.
