"To Introduce our Guest Star, that's What I'm Here to Do..." The Hensonverse Fan Contribution Thread
- Thread starter Geekhis Khan
- Start date
Ok, that actually benefits my thing of wondering if Disney end up doing something with the Alice Comedies at some point
Still Paying it Forward
Pay it Forward!!: Part Deux
Article by M.N. Emauphorwon[1] from Enlightening Times Magazine, May 2002 Edition
Guest post by @MNM041 with assistance from @Nathanoraptor
Today in this edition of Enlightening Times Magazine, we will be continuing our three-part series on how John Henson's philosophy of Paying It Forward had an impact on the entertainment landscape and was instrumental in giving second chances to people in need. The subjects of the second part of this insightful article are Chris Smith, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Layne Staley, Elliot Smith, Big Pun.
When we left off, John helped River Phoenix kick the drugs and convinced him to adopt his hippie vegan lifestyle which in turn led River to meet John Candy for the 1994 comedy Deadheads and Candy, after a near-fatal heart attack, would also adapt John's philosophy on life. Meanwhile, Freddie Mercury met Kurt Cobain on the set of the Brooks/ZAZ comedy Lame Ducks which also led the two to meet Robin Williams who introduced them to Jim Carrey and eventually world-renowned rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, otherwise known as The Notorious BIG or Biggie. But John and Freddie weren't just done yet as they along with Tupac would meet other individuals to offer help in overcoming their troubles.
Choosing to follow the word of the Buddha John and “paying it forward '', Biggie and Tupac would be there for two young artists who needed them. The two would later be cast in Crossed, the Spike Lee hip-hop and R&B musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet[2]. Tupac, a fan of the play, would produce the movie, as well as play the part of Mercutio, while Biggie played Tybalt. In the role of Juliet, singer Aaliyah was cast, with Tupac and director Spike Lee agreeing she was perfect for the role. She would later go on to sign with Pac & Biggie’s record label, Coast2Coast, and with the help and support of them and many other artists, spoke out against her ex-husband R-Kelly, leading to his eventual arrest[3]. For the role of Romeo, it came down to both members of Kris Kross. Eventually, Chris Kelly was chosen but it wouldn't be the last time Pac and Biggie crossed paths with Chris Smith either. Both of them could tell he was in a bad place, which would later be confirmed by Chris Kelly during production.
(Credit @Vemix on Instagram)
With the help of his friend Tupac, an intervention would be staged for Smith, helping him get off drugs. "I'm still here today because a lot of people were all there for me. Not everyone has that." Tupac would say during an interview with Conan O'Brien. "Not everyone has that, so I guess I figured I'd be there for Chris to help him get over his demons".
Tupac, alongside Aaliyah, would later pay it forward to help another person in need when the pair appeared on Saturday Night Live to promote Crossed. Here, the two would end up meeting and befriending comedian Phil Hartman. When Hartman's marriage began to go south, Tupac in particular would offer him a place to stay while he filed for separation, as the two happened to have houses in Los Angeles. Hartman's ex-wife Brynn would eventually enter rehab following the finalization of their divorce.
"I'm aware it probably sounds like a sitcom setup, but I spent some time at his guest house, feeling like things would only get worse if Brynn and I stayed living under the same roof,” Hartman recalled in his recently-published memoir, You Might Remember Me[4]…, “During this time, he and my dear friend Jon [Lovitiz] felt the need to stage an intervention for me. After I explained why I stayed despite everything, and Tupac, he just looked me dead in the eyes and said, calmly, but bluntly, “You really shouldn’t feel safer in the house of someone you've known for six months than you do in your own house with your wife.” In 1998, Phil Hartman reconnected with his second wife, Lisa Strain, with the two remarrying in 2000[5].
Phil Hartman and his ex-wife Brynn, circa 1996 (Image source; Getty Images)
Over the years, Phil has continued to appear in more films and television shows over the years alongside collaborations with Tupac and Aaliyah[5].
In 1997, another comedic actor, one whom Hartman remains friends with to this day, would be saved from a deadly incident and changed his ways for the better. John's father Jim Henson had known actor Chris Farley through his manager Bernie Brillstein whose daughter Cheryl worked with Chris. Despite his rising stardom, behind the scenes, he was suffering from a mix of drug abuse, alcoholism, and obesity, though Jim and the general public were unaware of his poor health[6]. In early December, Jim would receive a call from his son John. Chris had been dragged into the nurse’s station at the back of his shop on Sunset Boulevard following a drug overdose with his friend Cobain among those present. The nurse administered some medication in the hospital where his health eventually stabilized. What came next would make headlines including a famous interview with Good Neighbor from Farley where he described his path to becoming a born-again Christian and meeting Padre Jose. Farley, in the 2001 Saturday Night Live documentary Live From New York, said that meeting Cobain and John was “the best thing that ever happened to me” since it allowed him to kick his drug addiction and in Farley's own words, "Saved my soul."
Chris Farley, circa 1997 (Image source; Pinterest)
Indeed, Cobain was among the many who helped Farley get off drugs after a long period of self-destructive behavior. Eventually, the combined efforts of these people, including one of Chris Farley's heroes John Candy, led to him going to rehab where, in his own words, Farley "rediscovered Jesus". Farley’s salvation and sobriety became international news, as did John Henson, whose fluid spirituality had made him the subject of attacks by the Religious Right, being his sponsor at a Catholic recovery center. Farley thanked Kurt Cobain, Maria, and John Henson for saving his life, his longtime friends Adam Sandler, as well as David Spade, and Chris Rock for never giving up on him, and Jesus for saving his soul, the latter of which helped diffuse some of the energy of the ongoing attacks against the Hensons. “I don’t care what Pat [Robertson] says”, he publicly commented, “Jim and John are Godly men.”
“When I met the Buddha John at the recovery center, I could tell he was a devout man and I took his advice by reconnecting with my Catholic roots,” Farley explained to us during the surprisingly candid interview with him. Since his recovery, Farley himself has made appearances in not just comedic works but dramatic ones[7].
On the music and especially rock side of things, Kristen Pfaff, who in the years since leaving Hole had grown into a highly respected artist in her own right, would also end up getting another chance to pay it forward while touring the band Alice in Chains. Layne Staley, the band's iconic frontman, had become close friends with Kurt Cobain and the rest of Nirvana during the early days of both bands, with both of them being big in Seattle’s grunge scene. When Cobain began a relationship with Pfaff, she also began a rapport with Staley. That said, Pfaff, who had been off drugs for a few years, disapproved of the heavy drug usage many of her peers indulged in.
Pfaff getting ready for a live show in 1998, photo taken by Cobain. (Source: Livewire)
"Kristen was able to find her way to sobriety, and she wanted to help show us the rest of the way even if some of us didn't want to listen." Billie Joe Armstrong, the Green Day frontman and longtime friend of Pfaff's, recalled in 1996.
"One day, while we were touring in '97, Kurt ended up coming by with his daughter, Frances, after a show we did in Seattle. I was high as a kite, I'm not proud to admit that but it's the truth." Staley recalled during a candid interview with Howard Stern. "I came on the bus, made an ass of myself and Kristen, she just asked Kurt and Frances to step outside and just sort of ripped into me for being high on drugs around her kid. I'd never really known her as the type to get angry like that, so it was sort of a come to Jesus moment for me."[8]
Layne Staley and Kurt Cobain (Image source: Pinterest)
Staley would enter rehab that year, and Pfaff would act as his sponsor while he worked to kick his demons. Since then, Staley and Pfaff have developed a strong friendship that endures to this very day - with Staley reportedly being the godfather of Cobain and Pfaff's children[8].
But Cobain, Pfaff, and Staley weren’t the only singers who would clean up their acts. Elliott Smith, a noted singer-songwriter whose career was quickly on the rise, was fighting his own battle with depression when his and Cobain's paths crossed, meeting in a restaurant in Elliot's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska while both of them were touring.
"I think when we first met, Kurt and I saw this weird bit of ourselves in each other. Like I had a fair bit of the same issues he did, which is why I think he was willing to lend me a hand I really needed at the time," said Smith[9].
According to Cobain, "I could tell that he was in a rough place. Elliot was hurting in a way that reminded me of how I was when I first met Freddie. I felt like I should have tried to be there for him the same way Freddie was for me." Concerned about Elliott's well-being, Cobain would step in to help him kick his addiction to drugs and alcohol along with guidance on how to overcome depression and the two eventually meeting Mercury. Cobain and Smith would forge a close relationship and collaborated on the 2000 album Figure 9[10]. Smith said that he is “looking forward to more collaborations with Kurt in the near future,” in a 2001 interview with us.
Pac, Biggie, and Pun posing for a picture (Credit @Vemix on Instagram)
Speaking of music, the rapper Big Pun (real name Christopher Lee Rios) gained some recognition as Rolls’ biracial Latino cousin Barker in Crossed but hit the big time with his debut album Capital Punishment in 1997. He emerged from the underground hip-hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City during the early 1990s and was the protege of Fat Joe but Capital Punishment made him into a big name among Latino rappers. However, this came with costs - suffering from depression due to his turbulent childhood, he coped with it through overeating, remarking “Some people say I was depressed because I struggled with my weight - it was the other way round, actually. My weight struggles came from my depression”. Big Pun wanted to lose weight and he would receive help from his fellow rappers, some of whom he worked on Crossed, as well as a more surprising source, John Candy[11]. Candy, having also struggled with his weight, sympathized with Rios's struggle and reached out to offer support to help him.
“I know better than anyone what that feels like, ya’ know? Not liking what you see when you look in the mirror, but also not feeling like you can talk to anyone about it. So, I figured I’d give the guy a call, tell him that it can get better but you need to be willing to take that leap.” said Candy in an exclusive interview with Variety Magazine in 2000. Candy has also said that it resulted in the two becoming friends, with Rios having a minor role in the John Candy vehicle World's Greatest Dad.
"John Candy being willing to offer support wasn't really as surprising as a lot of people would have thought at first," Pun's wife Liza Rios admitted in an interview in 2000. "I think he saw that Chris needed the same kind of support that he was able to find, and I'll always be grateful he reached out."
With Candy’s support and encouragement, Rios was able to enroll in a weight-loss program at Duke University, eventually losing over 100 pounds (a little over 7 stone). Rios has since credited Candy as “a constant voice of support” throughout his journey, commenting that “He was my guardian angel."
What have we learned from this journey? Be there for your friends when they need it - if you notice something wrong, never think “someone else will handle it”... because there may never be a “someone else”. You just might save someone’s life. But it’s not the end yet as you will see in the third and final article of the trilogy[12].
[1] As you can tell, it is a continuation of the previous Pay it Forward post.
[2] Recall in the Not Exactly Shakespeare…oh, wait post that Tupac Shakur, Aaliyah, and Chris Kelly starred in Crossed. The success of this film means that they will go on to have healthy and stable acting careers which has already been confirmed on the Main Thread.
[3] In OTL and TTL, R. Kelly is alleged to have committed sexual misconduct towards minors including Aaliyah, and racketeering since the 1990s. Because of the stronger post-Hill backlash against sexual misconduct, Kelly is convicted on charges of sex offenses and racketeering much sooner.
[4] This is the name of an actual biography of Phil Hartman in OTL. Given he still voices Troy McClure (on Nuclear Family this time), this doesn’t seem like something that was butterflied.
[5] Hartman was tragically killed by Brynn at their home after going to an Italian restaurant in Encino, California. The intervention of Tupac and Aaliyah prevents Phil’s wife from killing him since she was sent to rehab as mentioned in this very post. Moreover, Phil's "friend" Andy Dick will not worsen her addiction to cocaine since he was away filming Creature from the Black Lagoon in South America at the time, as mentioned in @Nathanoraptor's post on the movie. As for Hartman reconnecting with his second wife, he seemed to have maintained a level of closeness with her that Brynn appeared to have been threatened by.
[6] As noted by @Geekhis Khan in the post “Undank ist der Weltenlohn”, Farley got help from John and embraced the philosophy of Paying It Forward.
[8] We would call this the Tom Hanks Syndrome for actors who went from comedy to drama. Given that Farley survived a near-death experience and lost weight, he's going to revamp his image by taking on more dramatic, serious roles.
[7] Layne Staley tragically died of an overdose in 2002, and his body was only found after he had been missing for several days. Here, thanks to Pfaff and later Cobain’s influence, he’s able to get clean.
[8] As you can expect, they’re original-to-TTL characters. They’re also comprised of two sons and a daughter named Leland (after Kurt’s grandfather), Richard and Pearl respectively. Leland was born first in 1997 followed by Richard in 1999 and Pearl in 2000 respectively.
[9] In OTL, Smith was not only a drug addict but a heavy drinker as well and those habits coupled with his ADHD and depression contributed to his death in 2003. Here, the meeting with Cobain ensures that he’ll drop his drug and alcohol habits entirely.
[10] The album in question is known as Figure 8 in OTL.
[11] Big Pun did try to lose weight by signing up for a weight loss program at Duke University but he quit the program and kept his unhealthy weight until death. Here, the fact that he has connections to the rappers and R&B singers in Crossed thanks to Fat Joe recommending him for a role in that movie through auditions means he will their attention and Candy’s as well.
[12] Stay tuned for which celebrities get the “Pay it Forward” treatment.
Article by M.N. Emauphorwon[1] from Enlightening Times Magazine, May 2002 Edition
Guest post by @MNM041 with assistance from @Nathanoraptor
Today in this edition of Enlightening Times Magazine, we will be continuing our three-part series on how John Henson's philosophy of Paying It Forward had an impact on the entertainment landscape and was instrumental in giving second chances to people in need. The subjects of the second part of this insightful article are Chris Smith, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Layne Staley, Elliot Smith, Big Pun.
When we left off, John helped River Phoenix kick the drugs and convinced him to adopt his hippie vegan lifestyle which in turn led River to meet John Candy for the 1994 comedy Deadheads and Candy, after a near-fatal heart attack, would also adapt John's philosophy on life. Meanwhile, Freddie Mercury met Kurt Cobain on the set of the Brooks/ZAZ comedy Lame Ducks which also led the two to meet Robin Williams who introduced them to Jim Carrey and eventually world-renowned rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, otherwise known as The Notorious BIG or Biggie. But John and Freddie weren't just done yet as they along with Tupac would meet other individuals to offer help in overcoming their troubles.
Choosing to follow the word of the Buddha John and “paying it forward '', Biggie and Tupac would be there for two young artists who needed them. The two would later be cast in Crossed, the Spike Lee hip-hop and R&B musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet[2]. Tupac, a fan of the play, would produce the movie, as well as play the part of Mercutio, while Biggie played Tybalt. In the role of Juliet, singer Aaliyah was cast, with Tupac and director Spike Lee agreeing she was perfect for the role. She would later go on to sign with Pac & Biggie’s record label, Coast2Coast, and with the help and support of them and many other artists, spoke out against her ex-husband R-Kelly, leading to his eventual arrest[3]. For the role of Romeo, it came down to both members of Kris Kross. Eventually, Chris Kelly was chosen but it wouldn't be the last time Pac and Biggie crossed paths with Chris Smith either. Both of them could tell he was in a bad place, which would later be confirmed by Chris Kelly during production.
(Credit @Vemix on Instagram)
With the help of his friend Tupac, an intervention would be staged for Smith, helping him get off drugs. "I'm still here today because a lot of people were all there for me. Not everyone has that." Tupac would say during an interview with Conan O'Brien. "Not everyone has that, so I guess I figured I'd be there for Chris to help him get over his demons".
Tupac, alongside Aaliyah, would later pay it forward to help another person in need when the pair appeared on Saturday Night Live to promote Crossed. Here, the two would end up meeting and befriending comedian Phil Hartman. When Hartman's marriage began to go south, Tupac in particular would offer him a place to stay while he filed for separation, as the two happened to have houses in Los Angeles. Hartman's ex-wife Brynn would eventually enter rehab following the finalization of their divorce.
"I'm aware it probably sounds like a sitcom setup, but I spent some time at his guest house, feeling like things would only get worse if Brynn and I stayed living under the same roof,” Hartman recalled in his recently-published memoir, You Might Remember Me[4]…, “During this time, he and my dear friend Jon [Lovitiz] felt the need to stage an intervention for me. After I explained why I stayed despite everything, and Tupac, he just looked me dead in the eyes and said, calmly, but bluntly, “You really shouldn’t feel safer in the house of someone you've known for six months than you do in your own house with your wife.” In 1998, Phil Hartman reconnected with his second wife, Lisa Strain, with the two remarrying in 2000[5].
Phil Hartman and his ex-wife Brynn, circa 1996 (Image source; Getty Images)
Over the years, Phil has continued to appear in more films and television shows over the years alongside collaborations with Tupac and Aaliyah[5].
In 1997, another comedic actor, one whom Hartman remains friends with to this day, would be saved from a deadly incident and changed his ways for the better. John's father Jim Henson had known actor Chris Farley through his manager Bernie Brillstein whose daughter Cheryl worked with Chris. Despite his rising stardom, behind the scenes, he was suffering from a mix of drug abuse, alcoholism, and obesity, though Jim and the general public were unaware of his poor health[6]. In early December, Jim would receive a call from his son John. Chris had been dragged into the nurse’s station at the back of his shop on Sunset Boulevard following a drug overdose with his friend Cobain among those present. The nurse administered some medication in the hospital where his health eventually stabilized. What came next would make headlines including a famous interview with Good Neighbor from Farley where he described his path to becoming a born-again Christian and meeting Padre Jose. Farley, in the 2001 Saturday Night Live documentary Live From New York, said that meeting Cobain and John was “the best thing that ever happened to me” since it allowed him to kick his drug addiction and in Farley's own words, "Saved my soul."
Chris Farley, circa 1997 (Image source; Pinterest)
Indeed, Cobain was among the many who helped Farley get off drugs after a long period of self-destructive behavior. Eventually, the combined efforts of these people, including one of Chris Farley's heroes John Candy, led to him going to rehab where, in his own words, Farley "rediscovered Jesus". Farley’s salvation and sobriety became international news, as did John Henson, whose fluid spirituality had made him the subject of attacks by the Religious Right, being his sponsor at a Catholic recovery center. Farley thanked Kurt Cobain, Maria, and John Henson for saving his life, his longtime friends Adam Sandler, as well as David Spade, and Chris Rock for never giving up on him, and Jesus for saving his soul, the latter of which helped diffuse some of the energy of the ongoing attacks against the Hensons. “I don’t care what Pat [Robertson] says”, he publicly commented, “Jim and John are Godly men.”
“When I met the Buddha John at the recovery center, I could tell he was a devout man and I took his advice by reconnecting with my Catholic roots,” Farley explained to us during the surprisingly candid interview with him. Since his recovery, Farley himself has made appearances in not just comedic works but dramatic ones[7].
On the music and especially rock side of things, Kristen Pfaff, who in the years since leaving Hole had grown into a highly respected artist in her own right, would also end up getting another chance to pay it forward while touring the band Alice in Chains. Layne Staley, the band's iconic frontman, had become close friends with Kurt Cobain and the rest of Nirvana during the early days of both bands, with both of them being big in Seattle’s grunge scene. When Cobain began a relationship with Pfaff, she also began a rapport with Staley. That said, Pfaff, who had been off drugs for a few years, disapproved of the heavy drug usage many of her peers indulged in.
Pfaff getting ready for a live show in 1998, photo taken by Cobain. (Source: Livewire)
"Kristen was able to find her way to sobriety, and she wanted to help show us the rest of the way even if some of us didn't want to listen." Billie Joe Armstrong, the Green Day frontman and longtime friend of Pfaff's, recalled in 1996.
"One day, while we were touring in '97, Kurt ended up coming by with his daughter, Frances, after a show we did in Seattle. I was high as a kite, I'm not proud to admit that but it's the truth." Staley recalled during a candid interview with Howard Stern. "I came on the bus, made an ass of myself and Kristen, she just asked Kurt and Frances to step outside and just sort of ripped into me for being high on drugs around her kid. I'd never really known her as the type to get angry like that, so it was sort of a come to Jesus moment for me."[8]
Layne Staley and Kurt Cobain (Image source: Pinterest)
Staley would enter rehab that year, and Pfaff would act as his sponsor while he worked to kick his demons. Since then, Staley and Pfaff have developed a strong friendship that endures to this very day - with Staley reportedly being the godfather of Cobain and Pfaff's children[8].
But Cobain, Pfaff, and Staley weren’t the only singers who would clean up their acts. Elliott Smith, a noted singer-songwriter whose career was quickly on the rise, was fighting his own battle with depression when his and Cobain's paths crossed, meeting in a restaurant in Elliot's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska while both of them were touring.
"I think when we first met, Kurt and I saw this weird bit of ourselves in each other. Like I had a fair bit of the same issues he did, which is why I think he was willing to lend me a hand I really needed at the time," said Smith[9].
According to Cobain, "I could tell that he was in a rough place. Elliot was hurting in a way that reminded me of how I was when I first met Freddie. I felt like I should have tried to be there for him the same way Freddie was for me." Concerned about Elliott's well-being, Cobain would step in to help him kick his addiction to drugs and alcohol along with guidance on how to overcome depression and the two eventually meeting Mercury. Cobain and Smith would forge a close relationship and collaborated on the 2000 album Figure 9[10]. Smith said that he is “looking forward to more collaborations with Kurt in the near future,” in a 2001 interview with us.
Pac, Biggie, and Pun posing for a picture (Credit @Vemix on Instagram)
Speaking of music, the rapper Big Pun (real name Christopher Lee Rios) gained some recognition as Rolls’ biracial Latino cousin Barker in Crossed but hit the big time with his debut album Capital Punishment in 1997. He emerged from the underground hip-hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City during the early 1990s and was the protege of Fat Joe but Capital Punishment made him into a big name among Latino rappers. However, this came with costs - suffering from depression due to his turbulent childhood, he coped with it through overeating, remarking “Some people say I was depressed because I struggled with my weight - it was the other way round, actually. My weight struggles came from my depression”. Big Pun wanted to lose weight and he would receive help from his fellow rappers, some of whom he worked on Crossed, as well as a more surprising source, John Candy[11]. Candy, having also struggled with his weight, sympathized with Rios's struggle and reached out to offer support to help him.
“I know better than anyone what that feels like, ya’ know? Not liking what you see when you look in the mirror, but also not feeling like you can talk to anyone about it. So, I figured I’d give the guy a call, tell him that it can get better but you need to be willing to take that leap.” said Candy in an exclusive interview with Variety Magazine in 2000. Candy has also said that it resulted in the two becoming friends, with Rios having a minor role in the John Candy vehicle World's Greatest Dad.
"John Candy being willing to offer support wasn't really as surprising as a lot of people would have thought at first," Pun's wife Liza Rios admitted in an interview in 2000. "I think he saw that Chris needed the same kind of support that he was able to find, and I'll always be grateful he reached out."
With Candy’s support and encouragement, Rios was able to enroll in a weight-loss program at Duke University, eventually losing over 100 pounds (a little over 7 stone). Rios has since credited Candy as “a constant voice of support” throughout his journey, commenting that “He was my guardian angel."
What have we learned from this journey? Be there for your friends when they need it - if you notice something wrong, never think “someone else will handle it”... because there may never be a “someone else”. You just might save someone’s life. But it’s not the end yet as you will see in the third and final article of the trilogy[12].
[1] As you can tell, it is a continuation of the previous Pay it Forward post.
[2] Recall in the Not Exactly Shakespeare…oh, wait post that Tupac Shakur, Aaliyah, and Chris Kelly starred in Crossed. The success of this film means that they will go on to have healthy and stable acting careers which has already been confirmed on the Main Thread.
[3] In OTL and TTL, R. Kelly is alleged to have committed sexual misconduct towards minors including Aaliyah, and racketeering since the 1990s. Because of the stronger post-Hill backlash against sexual misconduct, Kelly is convicted on charges of sex offenses and racketeering much sooner.
[4] This is the name of an actual biography of Phil Hartman in OTL. Given he still voices Troy McClure (on Nuclear Family this time), this doesn’t seem like something that was butterflied.
[5] Hartman was tragically killed by Brynn at their home after going to an Italian restaurant in Encino, California. The intervention of Tupac and Aaliyah prevents Phil’s wife from killing him since she was sent to rehab as mentioned in this very post. Moreover, Phil's "friend" Andy Dick will not worsen her addiction to cocaine since he was away filming Creature from the Black Lagoon in South America at the time, as mentioned in @Nathanoraptor's post on the movie. As for Hartman reconnecting with his second wife, he seemed to have maintained a level of closeness with her that Brynn appeared to have been threatened by.
[6] As noted by @Geekhis Khan in the post “Undank ist der Weltenlohn”, Farley got help from John and embraced the philosophy of Paying It Forward.
[8] We would call this the Tom Hanks Syndrome for actors who went from comedy to drama. Given that Farley survived a near-death experience and lost weight, he's going to revamp his image by taking on more dramatic, serious roles.
[7] Layne Staley tragically died of an overdose in 2002, and his body was only found after he had been missing for several days. Here, thanks to Pfaff and later Cobain’s influence, he’s able to get clean.
[8] As you can expect, they’re original-to-TTL characters. They’re also comprised of two sons and a daughter named Leland (after Kurt’s grandfather), Richard and Pearl respectively. Leland was born first in 1997 followed by Richard in 1999 and Pearl in 2000 respectively.
[9] In OTL, Smith was not only a drug addict but a heavy drinker as well and those habits coupled with his ADHD and depression contributed to his death in 2003. Here, the meeting with Cobain ensures that he’ll drop his drug and alcohol habits entirely.
[10] The album in question is known as Figure 8 in OTL.
[11] Big Pun did try to lose weight by signing up for a weight loss program at Duke University but he quit the program and kept his unhealthy weight until death. Here, the fact that he has connections to the rappers and R&B singers in Crossed thanks to Fat Joe recommending him for a role in that movie through auditions means he will their attention and Candy’s as well.
[12] Stay tuned for which celebrities get the “Pay it Forward” treatment.
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Hensonverse
In the 1980s, Jim Henson flirted with the idea of buying the struggling Walt Disney Productions. This timeline deals with Henson buying into the company and working his way through the ranks, as well as the long-term effects. The Hensonverse is a …
tvtropes.org
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Animation and the Academy
Best Animated Feature Oscar Winners
Oscar Ceremony | Year of Release | Film | Studio(s) |
| 63rd Academy Awards | 1990 | Maus | Disney |
| 64th Academy Awards | 1991 | Aladdin | Disney |
| 65th Academy Awards | 1992 | The Bamboo Princess | Disney and Studio Ghibli |
| 67th Academy Awards | 1993 | War Stories | Disney |
| 68th Academy Awards | 1994 | The Lion King | Disney |
| 69th Academy Awards | 1995 | The Iron Giant | Filmation Feature Films (Fox) |
| 70th Academy Awards | 1996 | Medusa | Disney |
| 72nd Academy Awards | 1997 | The Secret Life of Toys | Disney |
| 73rd Academy Awards | 1998 | Heart of Ice | Disney |
| 74th Academy Awards | 1999 | The Velveteen Rabbit | Columbia Pictures and Don Bluth Productions |
| 75th Academy Awards | 2000 | Tortoise v. Hare | Ardman Animation |
| 76th Academy Awards | 2001 | Aida | Disney |
| 77th Academy Awards | 2002 | At the End of the World | Disney |
| 78th Academy Awards | 2003 | Spirited Away | Studio Ghibli |
| 79th Academy Awards | 2004 | The Further Life Of Toys | Disney |
| 80th Academy Awards | 2005 | ||
| 81st Academy Awards | 2006 | ||
| 82nd Academy Awards | 2007 | Starbox and Cindy | Camp Productions (Universal) |
Oscar Statistics:
- Disney has won Best Animated Feature 11 out of 17 times
- At least 1 Disney animated film has been nominated every year
- 11 Best Animated Feature winners are traditional or hybrid 2D animated films
- 4 Best Animated Feature winners are 3D animated films
- 1 Best Animated Feature winner is a stop-motion animated film
- 2 Best Animated Feature winners are from a foreign film studio
As you can see, the only year I don't have a winner for is 2003. I'm not entirely sure what the status of Studio Ghibli is, but I would recommend that the winner for that year be the version of Spirited Away suggested by Cataquack Warrior way back in the first thread.
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I apologize then. Is there a way to get TV Tropes pages deleted?
EDIT: Never mind, I got it entered on the cut list.
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Thank you. That was one I had difficulty placing, as the chapter didn't actually specify its release date...
Do you know any of the other 2000s Best Animated Feature winners?
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Sure, and for guest writers, here's your opportunity to fill in the blanks. Please alert @ZeSteel if your post contains an Oscar winning animated feature.
She's Baaacckkk!!!
All Heather O'Rourke Projects Explained and Ranked (By Herself)
From Swords and Spaceships Magazine, Digital Edition, September 22nd, 2014
Guest post by @MNM041 with assistance from @Plateosaurus and @Nathanoraptor
Heather O’Rourke is an underrated director. Breaking out in the new millennium and creating an instant classic with her debut Meet the Joneses, the former child star has gone on to cement herself as a giant in the genres of Horror and Suburban Gothic with her provocative look at the darker sides of nostalgia, oft-borrowing elements from her childhood. Since then, Heather has found success both behind and in front of the camera with memorable beloved gems to her name, no small feat when you consider she had to direct between various acting gigs.
Film producer Christopher Figg, who's worked on several of O'Rourke's movies, has described her as "Having a creative drive I haven't seen since Clive Barker. The woman barely took a breather in between projects until she became a mum."
We sat down with O’Rourke herself to learn which projects she loves best and which she feels aren’t up to her par - that aren't related to a certain family of Slashers since according to her “The Joneses are evidently a shoo-in for the top and the bottom at a lot of people's lists, and since I’m not interested in your readers being subjected to redundancy or beating a dead horse, I’ll just go with that.” Heather also said that she feels the best way to discuss these films is to go in depth, so in her words "beware of spoilers."
#10 - Imposter (2009)
Oh yes, this, but as a movie
There’s a good reason the film is at the bottom and it's the reason that most have said this movie doesn't feel like something I made: the film was handed to me rather than my creation. Originally the film was directed by former special FX artist Steve Wang and of course, focused on a crew of astronauts living on a spaceship in the far-off future, tensions bloom as they discover a mysterious alien parasite has infected and taken over one of them, while at the same time, a corporate spy is attempting to steal important information.
Unfortunately, production was quite fraught with issues that led to Steve leaving, and I ended up replacing him on incredibly short notice for the reshoots to turn it into more of a horror comedy because that was “more accessible” for audiences. Of course, if that was the case, one does have to wonder why they had me take over. A part of me thinks that I was mostly asked to direct because I was in the movie and I’m honestly not sure how familiar Steve was with my style when he asked me. I honestly felt a little weird having to bring my sensibilities to a film that someone else never thought I would be involved in and I really can't say that I think the results were worth it.
Needless to say, I just think the resulting film was a complete tonal mishmash. Steven was trying to make a much more straightforward sci-fi horror movie than what I ended up making, mostly because my style aims to be more subversive than what I could do here.
My scenes that were left in just had too much in common with films that had already been made like Alien, Isobar, and The Thing (particularly John Carpenter's version) and I think it came off as a tad repetitive and melodramatic, with multiple scenes of characters accusing each other of being the one infected and or being the spy.
My castmates-turned-cast were people like Ryan Reynolds, Andrew Lincoln, Erica Leerhsen, Odette Annable, Michael Eklund, Idris Elba, Rachel Weisz, Jonathan Brandis, and Sam Neill; all of them did amazing, and were very understanding with the changes that came and I love what the special effects team made for the infected crew members, especially the idea of the creatures having these tendrils coming out of various orifices of the body. But at the end of the day, this movie just wasn't me, you know?
Don’t feel too bad for Steven, by the way, he thankfully was able to have a much better debut that wasn’t hampered by interference and his cut of the movie was released in 2012.
#9 - The Wendigo (2005)
The Wendigo focuses on the Mohawk scouts and the Sunshine scouts, two scout troops with a huge rivalry between one another, who end up lost in the woods after a conference. Once night falls, they realize something is stalking them, and it's not a bear, cougar, or even human, but the titular cannibalistic creature. The film becomes a battle for survival against the titular cannibalistic creature, and as food and supplies run low, they must also battle the fear that one of them may end up joining it in its hunger for human flesh.
The cast consists of Nathan Basil and Eliza Dushku as Scoutmasters Dan Burrows and Kelsey Woods, with a bunch of child actors who would go on to do some impressive things serving as the kids they had to look after, while guys like Texas Battle and Leelee Sobieski serving as other people unfortunate enough to get lost in the woods.
I first conceived The Wendigo when I was younger on a camping trip (probably around 15 to 17 so a little after my treatment) around my home in Big Bear Lake, where naturally, ghost stories were told around the campfire. They provided my main inspiration for the film, along with a lot of '70s backwoods horror films like Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes, as well as the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book series and Stephen Gammell’s art for it, which I actually own some of the originals of. Meanwhile, I created the basic plot while brainstorming what my first project would be after I was done with the Joneses and acting in other films, ultimately I came up with this horror (as opposed to the more darkly satirical Meet the Joneses movies) that drew inspiration from Native American folklore which, looking back I don't know if I handled that with the most grace.
It was the first project I had done with Skeleton Crew; they’re not just goth stuff, but all kinds of offbeat genre work. I honestly don’t remember the finer details of the production, filming in northern California, but what I do remember is that I just let the effects team go all out on that one. I was always in love with the results, the way they handled the characters transforming was just so awesome to see on film. It was also here I started incorporating my history with Crohn’s disease into my works and how I felt about it: the feeling like your life has barely started and it might already be over, pain lasting for a long time, and being willing to do just about anything that you think will make it stop.
However, rewatching it after all these years, I feel like The Wendigo isn’t my best - my directing on it at worst seems rather messy and really barebones and at best as nothing special, and for all its 70’s inspiration, I think it still looks and feels more like a generic horror film. Coming off the success of the Joneses meant I couldn't keep up for a bit, and you’d think from the way I did it this was my debut and not the other way around.
The reality is that after the pain in my ass that was the shoot for The Guest, I was eager to direct anything that wasn't another pointless attempt at cashing in on Meet The Joneses so I just rushed into this so that I had a chance to show I wasn't a one trick pony. That said, I know a lot of people liked this one when it came out, and I think Nathan Baesel and Eliza Dushku did a great job with what I had to give them, playing the two main adults trying to keep things under control and keep everyone else safe and of course, the kids playing the scouts were all great too.
I'll also say that Eliza and Nathan ended up being great with the younger actors playing the campers. Eliza in particular ended up being very protective of them, and we all made sure that the safety of the kids was our number one priority.
Finally, I'll say this film is a little bittersweet for me because I ended up getting Zelda Rubinstein, who I, of course, worked with in Poltergeist to make a cameo, if you don't recall she's the lady who picks up the main characters saying that those who were left behind "Belong to the Wendigo now." That ended up being the last film she ever did. She was an absolute treat to be around on set and I'm glad I got to work with her one last time. Still, I am overall quite proud of it and it's certainly something I've been interested in exploring again, but it’s not a must-see for me, and I think some of the other "creature features" that came out around the same time were better.
#8 - Homicide For The Holidays (2011)
So, one thing that always shocks people about me is when I tell them that I HATE Christmas movies. Not the good kinds, like It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle On 34th Street, I mean stuff like the bad, cheap romance movies made by cable channels and direct viewing services. The kind of stuff that is just cheesier than the entire state of Wisconsin, whiter than a Klan rally, and feels designed to cater to middle aged women in sad marriages. Jude hates them too but it always surprises people when I mention I hate them. I think I may hate them more because I have the unique distinction of having done one, mostly so I could pay for a new car, which is why there's some schmaltzy movie out there where I played the main character. I hated every minute of doing it, especially with the atmosphere making me feel as though I was being judged for existing (Fun fact: right wing Christians make a lot of those movies, so I wasn't feeling welcome).
Some have compared it to the similarly-deconstructive spoof A Perfect Christmas by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, but I admit I don’t see the comparison beyond “Horror Comedies ripping apart Lifetime Romances”. Full disclosure, neither of us knew about each other's projects until after production had started, Phil and Chris weren't ripping me off and I wasn't ripping them off, it's just that both of us decided to make money off our dislike of Hallmark Christmas movies. Homicide For The Holidays focused on a man who suddenly realized he had eight girlfriends all stolen by the same lumberjack (who is also a serial killer) and now has to try and keep his current girlfriend from suffering the same fate.
I remember during casting I wanted people who had kind experience with these kinds of schmaltzy movies, which was how I ended up casting Sean Faris, Robert Buckley, and Katie McGrath ended up being the leads there as each of them had done one of those types of movies to pay the bills. Watching this movie, I can't help but think about how I have a reputation for putting my main characters through the wringer because Sean had to act like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown for half the movie.
I liked getting a chance to play around with the setting in this. Hallmark movies have this tendency to Give the small town settings this quaint little snowy charm, but here the cold is meant to be almost oppressive like in The Thing and the setting itself, especially once the horror aspects start to show up more, invokes more a feeling of isolation. Sean’s character, Jack, is stuck in this town with murder and no one seems to take him and his warnings seriously because they just think he’s “being a Scrooge”.
It was essentially my middle finger to everything I hate about Christmas: the commercialization of the holiday, the politicization of it by right wing dickheads, the rampant consumerism and the incessant need some people feel to criticize those that don't get into the holiday spirit. I'll also admit that I made some weird choices for this movie's soundtrack. I sometimes wonder if Jude's musical taste rubbed off on me too much, because I ended up making a Christmas movie that had very little Christmas music and a lot of punk and goth music, including a scene where a character sings a song by the Misfits.
I will admit it's somewhat predictable, which I think is the main issue I have with it looking back, not to mention there's the fact that while I made the cinematography in a few scenes feel bland to mimic the uninspired look of many Hallmark movies, I do worry I may have made the film to uninteresting to look at, but I think I think it has an excellent charm to it, and at the very least, I feel confident in saying that the romance elements were better handled than in actual Hallmark movies, mostly thanks to Sean and Katie's impeccable chemistry, so that’s a plus.
#7 - Running Scared (1997)
Most of you probably didn’t even know this was a thing, and I don’t fault you for that. This was the follow-up short I made after finishing film school, and if you’ve seen it, I’m guessing that you saw it on the VCD release for Meet the Joneses. It’s the last thing I ever did before my big break with Meet the Joneses. The story was about an envious but lazy boy being attacked by the decapitated but now animated legs of his more successful brother after a car accident. I don’t know where I got the idea for this from, but I think some kind of substance was involved, and maybe a few incidents as a kid.
By all rates, it was the one that got me noticed by Universal in the directing department even if my student film was the one that got some headlines. I’m willing to bet that a few people reading this know I directed a few of the last episodes of Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids and I'm pretty sure this short was what got me that gig, mostly because that was very much the tone I was going for. I'm certainly very proud of it, though if I had to guess, the thing most people think of when it comes to this short is that it was made just before I showed up in Who Is Alan Smithee? and also features my buddy Jason Narvey, who also played a character in that film.
#6 - Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
And speaking of Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, I suppose I should probably spend a bit of time talking about the time I spent working on that show, shouldn't I? I was a recurring actor on the show for a while and eventually they decided to let me direct a pair in the last season, where they exhausted Jamie Rix’s stories and began making original stories.
Side note: You might have noticed both episodes and Running Scared are about twisted family relations and bad younger siblings, which have prompted some to wonder if it reflected my life story. Up front, that's not really the case. I was an only child, remember? What I will say is that these kinds of stories fascinated me at the time. I think it came from the fact that, when I was growing up, you and even while I was in film school, you had examples of stuff like this, both in fiction and on the news, and that kind of led to a morbid curiosity, and in turn, that was what turned me into this show. It helps that I had picked up a favorite book at the time, a thriller from 1989 called Neibolt Street (no relation to King), which was all about twisted sibling relations, but with plenty of nuance for both sides. Nothing from my life or the life of anyone I know was part of my inspiration for this.
I like what I did for this show, but I'm mature enough to admit it's very novice. I don't think anyone would be surprised to know that it was one of the first gigs my agent helped procure for me. Not terrible, but also far from the best thing I've ever made.
#5 - Primeval - “Can I Keep It?” (2009)
The call for my television debut courtesy came from across the pond, when Tim Haines, the man behind the documentary Where Dinosaurs Roam, had started a new project: Primeval - a horror series involving all kinds of prehistoric life wreaking havoc in our world… and the people whose duty it is to keep them in line.
A little backstory here - this was roughly around Season Two, where the Skeleton Crew had negotiated a co-production deal (because Tim Burton had watched it and liked it), with both Primeval and Tales of the Cryptids to air on NBC - so Tim and Adrian were able to increase their operation enormously - they could film overseas and they could hire bigger stars and bigger directors. They had seen my films, loved Meet the Joneses, and tapped me for one (even if British suburbia aren’t exactly like the North American kind). I wasn’t exactly a dinosaur girl, but the offer sounded pretty interesting.
So I’m talking on the phone with Jude and I commented to her that some British guy named Tim Haines had sent me an email about a story outline for a show called Primeval. Jude’s response? “Heather, I love that show! I have the whole first season on VCD!” So… yeah, that gave me another reason to say yes… brownie points with my girlfriend.
So, in my first meeting with them, Tim and Adrian offhandedly mentioned that they had an idea for a story that darkly - and tragically - deconstructed the classic child’s dream of keeping a pet dinosaur by simply asking the question… What happens when it grows up? In addition, they were looking for something like the first season to basically remind long-time viewers, after episodes like Tides of War, that they were still this British horror series - they hadn’t taken a bunch of Disney/NBC money and gone all Hollywood.
So I wrote a story around that premise - set in the village of Drake’s Hill (a suggestion from Tim Haines, because drake is an old name for dragon) in which this little girl named Emily (the acting debut of Florence Pugh) found a dinosaur egg (a Utahraptor to be precise) in the backyard that, of course, ends up hatching. Naming it Griff, she asks her parents (Martin Freeman and Jessica Hynes) if she can keep it (as you do).
As Griff comes to grow in size and appetite, he becomes sort of a secret in the town - and Merrick becomes kind of nervous about him, for obvious reasons. Of course, when livestock killings and unusual animal attacks begin to occur, it seems his fears are warranted, contrary to the assertions of both Emily and her older sister Lucy (Lily James). And that’s when our heroes come in.
It was basically a farmer and the viper-style story (and that’s why we have Jenny and Nick discussing that tale in the car)... no matter how much you may love it - and no matter how much it loves you back - some creatures simply cannot belong in our world. The scene between Jenny and Emily, after they find out about Griff, was invaluable in this regard - it’s some of Lucy Brown’s finest acting.
Unfortunately, Griff later attacks Joe, Lucy’s abusive boyfriend (a delightfully smarmy - as if there’s any other kind - Tom Felton), in her defense, biting off one of his fingers… and giving him a bit of a vendetta about the Utahraptor - which creates a sense of urgency to get Griff out of town before Joe hunts him down. At this point, we find out that there’s another predator on the loose - this Allosaurus-type thing that’s actually responsible for the killings.
After a scuffle between the two predators, the episode ends on a somber note, with Griff escaping into the forests after driving the allosaur back through the closing anomaly (and the allosaur eating Joe) - and he and Emily sharing a sad goodbye. The final scene is Griff, scarred from the battle, hunting and killing a deer, scanning the woods with a strangely serene expression on his face. He’s back in a wild context for the first time in his life, in the woods which are now his lonely kingdom.
Filming in England was pretty fun, especially since most of my travel expenses were pretty much covered for me. The actors were all a blast to work with - Douglas Henshall and Lucy Brown were tremendous fun, as were Martin Freeman, Jessica Hynes and David Bradley (who played the curmudgeon-with-a-heart-of-gold Mr. Bentley), whilst Tom, Lily and Florence did a fantastic job and really held their own.
However, TV budgets constrained most of what I had in mind - a lot of the rewrites concerned had to be left out mostly because of time constraints. In particular, we had an ending in mind where we did a time skip and we revealed that Griff had found a mate and had offspring… and revealed that he had also found his way to his old home, and regularly visits the Mitchells’ neighbourhood with his family. We all loved the scene - and it was even filmed - but it got cut for time constraints. We managed to get the scene back in on the VCD release - so it’s canon, don’t worry!
On an aside, the ending monologue - a trademark for the show - is probably some of the best writing I’ve ever done (and with Douglas Henshall’s acting… chef’s kiss!). Now, you’ve probably seen it on the VCD, but if you have Marla’s attention span, here it is in full:
“Whilst the events in Drake’s Hill strongly support the theory of anomaly cyclicality, as does the seeming historical evidence of such activity in the area, further observation is needed. With the retreat of the allosaurid, the attacks all but ceased - Joe Broughton’s remains were never found and he is considered missing, presumed dead. It has been recommended that Drakes’ Hill be monitored… just in case.
“As for the Utahraptor… Griff, his whereabouts remain a mystery. The possibility of searching for him has been raised - however, considering we are dealing with a large, intelligent predator, the notion is a fool’s errand. However, fleeting sightings and occasional rabbit and deer kills, almost come off as him reminding us he’s still here, still hiding and still hungry.
The Mitchell family have been consistently evasive when enquiries have been made, as have others. All we know is that Griff is almost certainly alive - and, possibly, somehow has a family of his own - and that he’s keeping a low profile… and he’s wise to do so.
Perhaps Griff remembers that humans were once kind to him, just as much as those who were cruel - and on some level, he understands that we contain the capacity for both… and often display this on a whim. Better to keep a distance.
Did Griff simply drive off a rival predator that had trespassed on what he had come to view as his territory or did he face a far more powerful opponent for the safety of the people who loved him - and who he loved in return? Perhaps we’re wrong to think it one or the other - perhaps nature and nurture don’t exist in opposition, but in harmony. Perhaps the viper, contrary to Aesop, can be tamed after all.
Brilliant.
Anyway…
#4 - A Dinosaur in Central Park (2010)
As previously stated, I’d enjoyed my episode of Primeval immensely, but I wasn’t quite satisfied with it because like I said earlier, it felt a lot more limited in what I could do than I was used to. At the same time, I wanted to write a story inspired by the adventure films of the 1980s I grew up with. After all, this was the era when 80’s nostalgia was at its zenith and everyone wanted to make their love letter to the films of Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, and since I both grew up on those films and grew up with a significant number of people who were in those films.
In the wake of my Primeval episode, I remained pretty close with Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges (much to Jude’s excitement), and they revealed to me, shortly after we were done on that, that they were looking to make a film set in the same universe as the series… and they wanted me to direct it.
This was about the time where Tim was letting the “new meat” guys make their big debuts - people like Michael Dougherty (who’d done Trick or Treat), Joe Lynch (who was doing Dead End), , Adam Wingard (who was doing Eaters of the Dead) and Gareth Edwards (who was doing South of the Border).
So Shawn Levy and I transplanted the story to New York, borrowing elements from my episode of Primeval liberally, mixing in the DNA of stuff like ET, Goonies, and a fair few other 80s movies, which is a big part of the reason my buddies, Ke Huy Quan and Henry Thomas, both made appearances and of course it’s also the reason my better half made an appearance.
The story we created was of Todd Barrett (Zachary Gordon), a science-loving boy whose family moves to NYC so his father (Steve Zahn) can oversee the construction of a bunch of new skyscrapers, but gets a frosty reception from the locals, who see him as an extension of gentrifying efforts by wealthy elitists. Lo and behold, what should appear when Todd’s mom (my better half Jude) goes for a walk in Central Park that night but a baby dinosaur. Naturally, Todd wants to keep essentially hiding it away like E.T. while it keeps going out at night and causing mayhem. PG rated mayhem, but mayhem nonetheless.
Whilst A Dinosaur In Central Park was not as dependent on horror elements as my previous works (or, indeed, its parent series), the work was in no way tame - the main dinosaurs in the film (the comparatively obscure tyrannosaur relative Dryptosaurus - thanks, Cap Hook[1]…) are portrayed as both caring parents and vicious predators. Nevertheless, it still bore many of the same hallmarks of my films. The theme of underlying darkness beneath bright exteriors is seen in the gentrifying project Todd’s parents are working on, which was not only threatening the homes of the poorer neighborhoods by raising the property rates but would also be shitty for the environment.
This movie was a great chance for me to get out of my comfort zone and make a movie that I would be comfortable letting my son watch (and we do - it’s become a little tradition in the run-up to Christmas) - and it served as a bit of antidote to the darkness of Sweetie, which I was working on roughly concurrently (Shawn was very helpful in shouldering the burden - he oversaw most of the post-production… we were getting a Christmas release anyway, so there wasn’t a rush). Will it result in me making more movies like it? Who can really say?
#3 - Doctor Satan (2007)
Not quite this but has shades of it
DOCTOR SATAN! I'm sorry I had to.
In Doctor Satan, the Kentucky town of Halestown may seem like a picturesque place, but it’s anything but, and it's about to be revealed when the titular town doctor (played by the awesome Sid Haig) returns from his service in the military with an army of mutants, literally loaded with guns. Now, the town must band together to put a stop to this, or risk becoming the next person on his operating table.
When Robert [Rodriguez] told me about the Grindhouse project[2], I knew I wanted in, because I loved those kinds of ridiculously over-the-top, violent flicks. I essentially pitched him an idea I had been toying with for a while since the first time I had worked with Rob Zombie.
Rob had come up with this idea for a character named Doctor Satan, which came from an old pulp magazine I think. After some back and forth between us, we had something pretty close to what we see in the film[3]. Since he and Sheri were already doing another Grindhouse movie, Werewolf Women Of The SS, Rob let me take the reins, though I did give him a writing credit and a producer credit.
I've always loved the visual of an entire town coming together to take down some nigh-unstoppable force of nature, so that was a lot of fun to shoot. I remember the effects took a lot of cues from the films of Frank Henenlotter for the mutants Dr. Satan created, we just had a lot of these really weird designs that almost don't even look like humans because I didn't want to make those people feel like freaks. It helped desensitize the audience to the carnage and kinda clued them into the fact that this a more heightened world than some of my other works. It also makes Dr. Satan himself feel more fun. More Doctor Claw than Doctor Mengele, ya know.
Overall, Doctor Satan was one of the most fun experiences I ever had as a director topped only by some films that are far more personal to me.
Honorable Mentions
I’ve also written for other films and directed a handful of TV episodes and since I don’t think of those as my projects, I think I’ll go over them real quickly here.
#2 - Sweetie (2010)
People are probably going to be really shocked to see this at this spot. Sweetie, a movie about a popular child star played by Mackenzie Foy who is mistreated by the ones close to her. This film was a more dramatic affair that spotlighted the entertainment industry's disturbing treatment of child stars by predatory executives and how the parents of the parents of these children would enable this. Sweetie is to Hollywood child stars what Penny Marshall’s Kandi was to the American porn industry - I admit I found out about the script through my better half, Jude and after reading it I just knew I wanted to help bring it to life.
As dark and morbid a film as it is, I admit Sweetie is one of my favorite projects. Maybe it's the catharsis that comes along with helping show people just how fucked up it was back then. Between my experience in the industry and the horror stories I heard from many of my friends, I think Sweetie could qualify as my most personal film.
I knew I wanted to handle that as respectfully as possible, so before shooting began, I showed the script to a lot of my fellow former child actors. I constantly was worried I might end up making something too f****** up to put in theaters, and thankfully they were all on board with it.
I think part of what drew me to it, as most people probably remember about me, was that I can remember that point that the script was calling back to and how horrible things could be. I remembered going to the funerals of Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, and I remembered studio executives trying to get me to do stuff like losing weight even when I started to hit puberty. This made me extremely uncomfortable as I didn’t want to ruin my body and suffer even further than I did the last time. This coupled with the advice of my parents led me to take a break from acting until I was an adult. It was only after the Anita Hill scandal, which was when those sick pervos finally started to get their comeuppance did much of the world see the dark side of Hollywood and the entertainment industry. That and my burgeoning directing career resulted in this film being made.
If you were a kid in Hollywood, you remembered it. While things have gotten better, don't think for a second that those kinds of pervs have gone away entirely after Anita Hill. Some of these people are still around. It's just that they hide their predatory behavior much better than Weinstein or Spacey or still have prominent connections which is why I'm glad that Sweetie shined a spotlight on those kinds of people.
This movie ended up being big for me in a way that I never expected. It's probably the most mainstream thing from my filmography outside of the obvious and I'm honestly glad of that. I knew that after this film, I was going to go on hiatus, and nabbing an Oscar nomination isn't the worst note to go on. However, like I said back then, it was far from the last thing I'll ever make.
#1 - Dear Old Dad (2008)
If anyone here remembers Nostalgia Critic's review of this film, it's essentially the fake horror movie trailer that was done there.
Didn’t expect this to be my favorite, did you? The basic elevator pitch for this film was putting a horror movie spin on the tired family movie premise of the workaholic parent finally being able to spend time with their family after some fantastical shenanigans. The plot was basically that an overworked realtor, played by Dave Coulier, suddenly dies in a freak car wreck, and returns as a ghost. After that, he decides to make up for the fact that he wasn't able to be there for his family in life by being there for them in his afterlife.
We wanted the film to be almost a bait and switch, where it seems to just be a goofy comedy with supernatural hijinx, but as it progresses Dave's character starts to lash out in increasingly violent ways all while you can tell his sanity is slipping until eventually, you realize we're watching the bad guy. I think that was kind of what made some of the executives tug their shirt collars, and they kept trying to make my course correct, which resulted in an entire subplot being added in during production solely so Dave's character seems better. So, if you saw the movie and wondered why it was suddenly revealed that another ghost was in the house, that was why.
I wanted this movie to be a reflection of the bad behaviors we saw in a lot of family movies, how they seemed to excuse bad fathers, absent fathers, fathers who always seemed to let down their families and how that kind of neglect often comes with worse tendencies. It was actually why I cast Dave Coulier to play the dad, but while Dave himself was game for everything I gave him, the studio seemingly wanted us to change because they didn't want men's rights activists jumping down their throats, which I thought was bullshit.
Dave Coulier was great to work with, down for anything I gave him, as were the rest of the cast playing his family. This film admittedly also holds a special place in my heart because it was the first film where Jude and I co-wrote the script together. No matter what anyone else thinks of this movie, I'm always going to love that I was able to create something like this with the woman I love. Which is why I'm glad that after my cut of the movie was released, it found new life through word of mouth. [7]
[1] Cap Hook is a relatively complete specimen of Dryptosaurus found in New Egypt, NJ in 2001 and described in 2005, which not only gave scientists a better understanding of it but also (re-)elevates it to prominence in palaeo-media due to media hyping it up as the “Tyrant in your backyard”.
[2] Grindhouse already exists ITTL but the films listed are very different. For one thing, there's more than two of them,
[3] Rob Zombie has admitted that he came up with the plot for House of 1000 Corpses as he was pitching it for the first time, meaning that the Firefly Family movies are essentially butterflied, but that doesn't mean he couldn't still come up with some similar ideas.
[4] More on that HBO series in a future post, especially its relation to a certain football movie.
[5] How will this flick play out for O’Rourke and Robbins? Let’s wait and see.
[6] The title of this movie came from a review for the OTL John Waters movie A Dirty Shame although everything about it including the plot and characters is original.
[7] Details about the plots of these are mostly left sparse in case anyone wants to expand on them.
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From Swords and Spaceships Magazine, Digital Edition, September 22nd, 2014
Guest post by @MNM041 with assistance from @Plateosaurus and @Nathanoraptor
Heather O’Rourke is an underrated director. Breaking out in the new millennium and creating an instant classic with her debut Meet the Joneses, the former child star has gone on to cement herself as a giant in the genres of Horror and Suburban Gothic with her provocative look at the darker sides of nostalgia, oft-borrowing elements from her childhood. Since then, Heather has found success both behind and in front of the camera with memorable beloved gems to her name, no small feat when you consider she had to direct between various acting gigs.
Film producer Christopher Figg, who's worked on several of O'Rourke's movies, has described her as "Having a creative drive I haven't seen since Clive Barker. The woman barely took a breather in between projects until she became a mum."
We sat down with O’Rourke herself to learn which projects she loves best and which she feels aren’t up to her par - that aren't related to a certain family of Slashers since according to her “The Joneses are evidently a shoo-in for the top and the bottom at a lot of people's lists, and since I’m not interested in your readers being subjected to redundancy or beating a dead horse, I’ll just go with that.” Heather also said that she feels the best way to discuss these films is to go in depth, so in her words "beware of spoilers."
#10 - Imposter (2009)
Oh yes, this, but as a movie
There’s a good reason the film is at the bottom and it's the reason that most have said this movie doesn't feel like something I made: the film was handed to me rather than my creation. Originally the film was directed by former special FX artist Steve Wang and of course, focused on a crew of astronauts living on a spaceship in the far-off future, tensions bloom as they discover a mysterious alien parasite has infected and taken over one of them, while at the same time, a corporate spy is attempting to steal important information.
Unfortunately, production was quite fraught with issues that led to Steve leaving, and I ended up replacing him on incredibly short notice for the reshoots to turn it into more of a horror comedy because that was “more accessible” for audiences. Of course, if that was the case, one does have to wonder why they had me take over. A part of me thinks that I was mostly asked to direct because I was in the movie and I’m honestly not sure how familiar Steve was with my style when he asked me. I honestly felt a little weird having to bring my sensibilities to a film that someone else never thought I would be involved in and I really can't say that I think the results were worth it.
Needless to say, I just think the resulting film was a complete tonal mishmash. Steven was trying to make a much more straightforward sci-fi horror movie than what I ended up making, mostly because my style aims to be more subversive than what I could do here.
My scenes that were left in just had too much in common with films that had already been made like Alien, Isobar, and The Thing (particularly John Carpenter's version) and I think it came off as a tad repetitive and melodramatic, with multiple scenes of characters accusing each other of being the one infected and or being the spy.
My castmates-turned-cast were people like Ryan Reynolds, Andrew Lincoln, Erica Leerhsen, Odette Annable, Michael Eklund, Idris Elba, Rachel Weisz, Jonathan Brandis, and Sam Neill; all of them did amazing, and were very understanding with the changes that came and I love what the special effects team made for the infected crew members, especially the idea of the creatures having these tendrils coming out of various orifices of the body. But at the end of the day, this movie just wasn't me, you know?
Don’t feel too bad for Steven, by the way, he thankfully was able to have a much better debut that wasn’t hampered by interference and his cut of the movie was released in 2012.
#9 - The Wendigo (2005)
The Wendigo focuses on the Mohawk scouts and the Sunshine scouts, two scout troops with a huge rivalry between one another, who end up lost in the woods after a conference. Once night falls, they realize something is stalking them, and it's not a bear, cougar, or even human, but the titular cannibalistic creature. The film becomes a battle for survival against the titular cannibalistic creature, and as food and supplies run low, they must also battle the fear that one of them may end up joining it in its hunger for human flesh.
The cast consists of Nathan Basil and Eliza Dushku as Scoutmasters Dan Burrows and Kelsey Woods, with a bunch of child actors who would go on to do some impressive things serving as the kids they had to look after, while guys like Texas Battle and Leelee Sobieski serving as other people unfortunate enough to get lost in the woods.
I first conceived The Wendigo when I was younger on a camping trip (probably around 15 to 17 so a little after my treatment) around my home in Big Bear Lake, where naturally, ghost stories were told around the campfire. They provided my main inspiration for the film, along with a lot of '70s backwoods horror films like Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes, as well as the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book series and Stephen Gammell’s art for it, which I actually own some of the originals of. Meanwhile, I created the basic plot while brainstorming what my first project would be after I was done with the Joneses and acting in other films, ultimately I came up with this horror (as opposed to the more darkly satirical Meet the Joneses movies) that drew inspiration from Native American folklore which, looking back I don't know if I handled that with the most grace.
It was the first project I had done with Skeleton Crew; they’re not just goth stuff, but all kinds of offbeat genre work. I honestly don’t remember the finer details of the production, filming in northern California, but what I do remember is that I just let the effects team go all out on that one. I was always in love with the results, the way they handled the characters transforming was just so awesome to see on film. It was also here I started incorporating my history with Crohn’s disease into my works and how I felt about it: the feeling like your life has barely started and it might already be over, pain lasting for a long time, and being willing to do just about anything that you think will make it stop.
However, rewatching it after all these years, I feel like The Wendigo isn’t my best - my directing on it at worst seems rather messy and really barebones and at best as nothing special, and for all its 70’s inspiration, I think it still looks and feels more like a generic horror film. Coming off the success of the Joneses meant I couldn't keep up for a bit, and you’d think from the way I did it this was my debut and not the other way around.
The reality is that after the pain in my ass that was the shoot for The Guest, I was eager to direct anything that wasn't another pointless attempt at cashing in on Meet The Joneses so I just rushed into this so that I had a chance to show I wasn't a one trick pony. That said, I know a lot of people liked this one when it came out, and I think Nathan Baesel and Eliza Dushku did a great job with what I had to give them, playing the two main adults trying to keep things under control and keep everyone else safe and of course, the kids playing the scouts were all great too.
I'll also say that Eliza and Nathan ended up being great with the younger actors playing the campers. Eliza in particular ended up being very protective of them, and we all made sure that the safety of the kids was our number one priority.
Finally, I'll say this film is a little bittersweet for me because I ended up getting Zelda Rubinstein, who I, of course, worked with in Poltergeist to make a cameo, if you don't recall she's the lady who picks up the main characters saying that those who were left behind "Belong to the Wendigo now." That ended up being the last film she ever did. She was an absolute treat to be around on set and I'm glad I got to work with her one last time. Still, I am overall quite proud of it and it's certainly something I've been interested in exploring again, but it’s not a must-see for me, and I think some of the other "creature features" that came out around the same time were better.
#8 - Homicide For The Holidays (2011)
So, one thing that always shocks people about me is when I tell them that I HATE Christmas movies. Not the good kinds, like It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle On 34th Street, I mean stuff like the bad, cheap romance movies made by cable channels and direct viewing services. The kind of stuff that is just cheesier than the entire state of Wisconsin, whiter than a Klan rally, and feels designed to cater to middle aged women in sad marriages. Jude hates them too but it always surprises people when I mention I hate them. I think I may hate them more because I have the unique distinction of having done one, mostly so I could pay for a new car, which is why there's some schmaltzy movie out there where I played the main character. I hated every minute of doing it, especially with the atmosphere making me feel as though I was being judged for existing (Fun fact: right wing Christians make a lot of those movies, so I wasn't feeling welcome).
Some have compared it to the similarly-deconstructive spoof A Perfect Christmas by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, but I admit I don’t see the comparison beyond “Horror Comedies ripping apart Lifetime Romances”. Full disclosure, neither of us knew about each other's projects until after production had started, Phil and Chris weren't ripping me off and I wasn't ripping them off, it's just that both of us decided to make money off our dislike of Hallmark Christmas movies. Homicide For The Holidays focused on a man who suddenly realized he had eight girlfriends all stolen by the same lumberjack (who is also a serial killer) and now has to try and keep his current girlfriend from suffering the same fate.
I remember during casting I wanted people who had kind experience with these kinds of schmaltzy movies, which was how I ended up casting Sean Faris, Robert Buckley, and Katie McGrath ended up being the leads there as each of them had done one of those types of movies to pay the bills. Watching this movie, I can't help but think about how I have a reputation for putting my main characters through the wringer because Sean had to act like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown for half the movie.
I liked getting a chance to play around with the setting in this. Hallmark movies have this tendency to Give the small town settings this quaint little snowy charm, but here the cold is meant to be almost oppressive like in The Thing and the setting itself, especially once the horror aspects start to show up more, invokes more a feeling of isolation. Sean’s character, Jack, is stuck in this town with murder and no one seems to take him and his warnings seriously because they just think he’s “being a Scrooge”.
It was essentially my middle finger to everything I hate about Christmas: the commercialization of the holiday, the politicization of it by right wing dickheads, the rampant consumerism and the incessant need some people feel to criticize those that don't get into the holiday spirit. I'll also admit that I made some weird choices for this movie's soundtrack. I sometimes wonder if Jude's musical taste rubbed off on me too much, because I ended up making a Christmas movie that had very little Christmas music and a lot of punk and goth music, including a scene where a character sings a song by the Misfits.
I will admit it's somewhat predictable, which I think is the main issue I have with it looking back, not to mention there's the fact that while I made the cinematography in a few scenes feel bland to mimic the uninspired look of many Hallmark movies, I do worry I may have made the film to uninteresting to look at, but I think I think it has an excellent charm to it, and at the very least, I feel confident in saying that the romance elements were better handled than in actual Hallmark movies, mostly thanks to Sean and Katie's impeccable chemistry, so that’s a plus.
#7 - Running Scared (1997)
Most of you probably didn’t even know this was a thing, and I don’t fault you for that. This was the follow-up short I made after finishing film school, and if you’ve seen it, I’m guessing that you saw it on the VCD release for Meet the Joneses. It’s the last thing I ever did before my big break with Meet the Joneses. The story was about an envious but lazy boy being attacked by the decapitated but now animated legs of his more successful brother after a car accident. I don’t know where I got the idea for this from, but I think some kind of substance was involved, and maybe a few incidents as a kid.
By all rates, it was the one that got me noticed by Universal in the directing department even if my student film was the one that got some headlines. I’m willing to bet that a few people reading this know I directed a few of the last episodes of Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids and I'm pretty sure this short was what got me that gig, mostly because that was very much the tone I was going for. I'm certainly very proud of it, though if I had to guess, the thing most people think of when it comes to this short is that it was made just before I showed up in Who Is Alan Smithee? and also features my buddy Jason Narvey, who also played a character in that film.
#6 - Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids
And speaking of Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, I suppose I should probably spend a bit of time talking about the time I spent working on that show, shouldn't I? I was a recurring actor on the show for a while and eventually they decided to let me direct a pair in the last season, where they exhausted Jamie Rix’s stories and began making original stories.
- Mommy’s Little Monster - A story about a bratty little girl who’s imagination spawns a strange creature who she comes to care for like a son, but when she starts mistreating it, it turns against her. All the while, the girl remains oblivious of her own horribleness to her parents.
- Brother-Begone - Kevin, a 13-year old eternally feuding with his horrid younger brother Abe and his parent’s refusal to do anything about it finds a toll number that specializes in taking away naughty siblings, run by the seemingly-affable (for a child-kidnapping boogeyman) Mr. Boogs, played by Eddie Murphy… except Boogs decides Kervion is the naughtier one. The ending where Abe and the parents can only look on in horror as Kevin is taken away by Mr. Boogs is definitely where I started my own sense of style. I actually intentionally shot the scene to look like Abe has gotten his comeuppance for mistreating his brother in perhaps the worst possible way, and his parents are gone to give him a severe reality check. The ending where Abe and the parents can only look on in horror as Kevin is taken away by Mr. Boogs is definitely where I started my own sense of style. I actually intentionally shot the scene to look like Abe has gotten his comeuppance for mistreating his brother in perhaps the worst possible way.
Side note: You might have noticed both episodes and Running Scared are about twisted family relations and bad younger siblings, which have prompted some to wonder if it reflected my life story. Up front, that's not really the case. I was an only child, remember? What I will say is that these kinds of stories fascinated me at the time. I think it came from the fact that, when I was growing up, you and even while I was in film school, you had examples of stuff like this, both in fiction and on the news, and that kind of led to a morbid curiosity, and in turn, that was what turned me into this show. It helps that I had picked up a favorite book at the time, a thriller from 1989 called Neibolt Street (no relation to King), which was all about twisted sibling relations, but with plenty of nuance for both sides. Nothing from my life or the life of anyone I know was part of my inspiration for this.
I like what I did for this show, but I'm mature enough to admit it's very novice. I don't think anyone would be surprised to know that it was one of the first gigs my agent helped procure for me. Not terrible, but also far from the best thing I've ever made.
#5 - Primeval - “Can I Keep It?” (2009)
The call for my television debut courtesy came from across the pond, when Tim Haines, the man behind the documentary Where Dinosaurs Roam, had started a new project: Primeval - a horror series involving all kinds of prehistoric life wreaking havoc in our world… and the people whose duty it is to keep them in line.
A little backstory here - this was roughly around Season Two, where the Skeleton Crew had negotiated a co-production deal (because Tim Burton had watched it and liked it), with both Primeval and Tales of the Cryptids to air on NBC - so Tim and Adrian were able to increase their operation enormously - they could film overseas and they could hire bigger stars and bigger directors. They had seen my films, loved Meet the Joneses, and tapped me for one (even if British suburbia aren’t exactly like the North American kind). I wasn’t exactly a dinosaur girl, but the offer sounded pretty interesting.
So I’m talking on the phone with Jude and I commented to her that some British guy named Tim Haines had sent me an email about a story outline for a show called Primeval. Jude’s response? “Heather, I love that show! I have the whole first season on VCD!” So… yeah, that gave me another reason to say yes… brownie points with my girlfriend.
So, in my first meeting with them, Tim and Adrian offhandedly mentioned that they had an idea for a story that darkly - and tragically - deconstructed the classic child’s dream of keeping a pet dinosaur by simply asking the question… What happens when it grows up? In addition, they were looking for something like the first season to basically remind long-time viewers, after episodes like Tides of War, that they were still this British horror series - they hadn’t taken a bunch of Disney/NBC money and gone all Hollywood.
So I wrote a story around that premise - set in the village of Drake’s Hill (a suggestion from Tim Haines, because drake is an old name for dragon) in which this little girl named Emily (the acting debut of Florence Pugh) found a dinosaur egg (a Utahraptor to be precise) in the backyard that, of course, ends up hatching. Naming it Griff, she asks her parents (Martin Freeman and Jessica Hynes) if she can keep it (as you do).
As Griff comes to grow in size and appetite, he becomes sort of a secret in the town - and Merrick becomes kind of nervous about him, for obvious reasons. Of course, when livestock killings and unusual animal attacks begin to occur, it seems his fears are warranted, contrary to the assertions of both Emily and her older sister Lucy (Lily James). And that’s when our heroes come in.
It was basically a farmer and the viper-style story (and that’s why we have Jenny and Nick discussing that tale in the car)... no matter how much you may love it - and no matter how much it loves you back - some creatures simply cannot belong in our world. The scene between Jenny and Emily, after they find out about Griff, was invaluable in this regard - it’s some of Lucy Brown’s finest acting.
Unfortunately, Griff later attacks Joe, Lucy’s abusive boyfriend (a delightfully smarmy - as if there’s any other kind - Tom Felton), in her defense, biting off one of his fingers… and giving him a bit of a vendetta about the Utahraptor - which creates a sense of urgency to get Griff out of town before Joe hunts him down. At this point, we find out that there’s another predator on the loose - this Allosaurus-type thing that’s actually responsible for the killings.
After a scuffle between the two predators, the episode ends on a somber note, with Griff escaping into the forests after driving the allosaur back through the closing anomaly (and the allosaur eating Joe) - and he and Emily sharing a sad goodbye. The final scene is Griff, scarred from the battle, hunting and killing a deer, scanning the woods with a strangely serene expression on his face. He’s back in a wild context for the first time in his life, in the woods which are now his lonely kingdom.
Filming in England was pretty fun, especially since most of my travel expenses were pretty much covered for me. The actors were all a blast to work with - Douglas Henshall and Lucy Brown were tremendous fun, as were Martin Freeman, Jessica Hynes and David Bradley (who played the curmudgeon-with-a-heart-of-gold Mr. Bentley), whilst Tom, Lily and Florence did a fantastic job and really held their own.
However, TV budgets constrained most of what I had in mind - a lot of the rewrites concerned had to be left out mostly because of time constraints. In particular, we had an ending in mind where we did a time skip and we revealed that Griff had found a mate and had offspring… and revealed that he had also found his way to his old home, and regularly visits the Mitchells’ neighbourhood with his family. We all loved the scene - and it was even filmed - but it got cut for time constraints. We managed to get the scene back in on the VCD release - so it’s canon, don’t worry!
On an aside, the ending monologue - a trademark for the show - is probably some of the best writing I’ve ever done (and with Douglas Henshall’s acting… chef’s kiss!). Now, you’ve probably seen it on the VCD, but if you have Marla’s attention span, here it is in full:
“Whilst the events in Drake’s Hill strongly support the theory of anomaly cyclicality, as does the seeming historical evidence of such activity in the area, further observation is needed. With the retreat of the allosaurid, the attacks all but ceased - Joe Broughton’s remains were never found and he is considered missing, presumed dead. It has been recommended that Drakes’ Hill be monitored… just in case.
“As for the Utahraptor… Griff, his whereabouts remain a mystery. The possibility of searching for him has been raised - however, considering we are dealing with a large, intelligent predator, the notion is a fool’s errand. However, fleeting sightings and occasional rabbit and deer kills, almost come off as him reminding us he’s still here, still hiding and still hungry.
The Mitchell family have been consistently evasive when enquiries have been made, as have others. All we know is that Griff is almost certainly alive - and, possibly, somehow has a family of his own - and that he’s keeping a low profile… and he’s wise to do so.
Perhaps Griff remembers that humans were once kind to him, just as much as those who were cruel - and on some level, he understands that we contain the capacity for both… and often display this on a whim. Better to keep a distance.
Did Griff simply drive off a rival predator that had trespassed on what he had come to view as his territory or did he face a far more powerful opponent for the safety of the people who loved him - and who he loved in return? Perhaps we’re wrong to think it one or the other - perhaps nature and nurture don’t exist in opposition, but in harmony. Perhaps the viper, contrary to Aesop, can be tamed after all.
Brilliant.
Anyway…
#4 - A Dinosaur in Central Park (2010)
As previously stated, I’d enjoyed my episode of Primeval immensely, but I wasn’t quite satisfied with it because like I said earlier, it felt a lot more limited in what I could do than I was used to. At the same time, I wanted to write a story inspired by the adventure films of the 1980s I grew up with. After all, this was the era when 80’s nostalgia was at its zenith and everyone wanted to make their love letter to the films of Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, and since I both grew up on those films and grew up with a significant number of people who were in those films.
In the wake of my Primeval episode, I remained pretty close with Tim Haines and Adrian Hodges (much to Jude’s excitement), and they revealed to me, shortly after we were done on that, that they were looking to make a film set in the same universe as the series… and they wanted me to direct it.
This was about the time where Tim was letting the “new meat” guys make their big debuts - people like Michael Dougherty (who’d done Trick or Treat), Joe Lynch (who was doing Dead End), , Adam Wingard (who was doing Eaters of the Dead) and Gareth Edwards (who was doing South of the Border).
So Shawn Levy and I transplanted the story to New York, borrowing elements from my episode of Primeval liberally, mixing in the DNA of stuff like ET, Goonies, and a fair few other 80s movies, which is a big part of the reason my buddies, Ke Huy Quan and Henry Thomas, both made appearances and of course it’s also the reason my better half made an appearance.
The story we created was of Todd Barrett (Zachary Gordon), a science-loving boy whose family moves to NYC so his father (Steve Zahn) can oversee the construction of a bunch of new skyscrapers, but gets a frosty reception from the locals, who see him as an extension of gentrifying efforts by wealthy elitists. Lo and behold, what should appear when Todd’s mom (my better half Jude) goes for a walk in Central Park that night but a baby dinosaur. Naturally, Todd wants to keep essentially hiding it away like E.T. while it keeps going out at night and causing mayhem. PG rated mayhem, but mayhem nonetheless.
Whilst A Dinosaur In Central Park was not as dependent on horror elements as my previous works (or, indeed, its parent series), the work was in no way tame - the main dinosaurs in the film (the comparatively obscure tyrannosaur relative Dryptosaurus - thanks, Cap Hook[1]…) are portrayed as both caring parents and vicious predators. Nevertheless, it still bore many of the same hallmarks of my films. The theme of underlying darkness beneath bright exteriors is seen in the gentrifying project Todd’s parents are working on, which was not only threatening the homes of the poorer neighborhoods by raising the property rates but would also be shitty for the environment.
This movie was a great chance for me to get out of my comfort zone and make a movie that I would be comfortable letting my son watch (and we do - it’s become a little tradition in the run-up to Christmas) - and it served as a bit of antidote to the darkness of Sweetie, which I was working on roughly concurrently (Shawn was very helpful in shouldering the burden - he oversaw most of the post-production… we were getting a Christmas release anyway, so there wasn’t a rush). Will it result in me making more movies like it? Who can really say?
#3 - Doctor Satan (2007)
Not quite this but has shades of it
DOCTOR SATAN! I'm sorry I had to.
In Doctor Satan, the Kentucky town of Halestown may seem like a picturesque place, but it’s anything but, and it's about to be revealed when the titular town doctor (played by the awesome Sid Haig) returns from his service in the military with an army of mutants, literally loaded with guns. Now, the town must band together to put a stop to this, or risk becoming the next person on his operating table.
When Robert [Rodriguez] told me about the Grindhouse project[2], I knew I wanted in, because I loved those kinds of ridiculously over-the-top, violent flicks. I essentially pitched him an idea I had been toying with for a while since the first time I had worked with Rob Zombie.
Rob had come up with this idea for a character named Doctor Satan, which came from an old pulp magazine I think. After some back and forth between us, we had something pretty close to what we see in the film[3]. Since he and Sheri were already doing another Grindhouse movie, Werewolf Women Of The SS, Rob let me take the reins, though I did give him a writing credit and a producer credit.
I've always loved the visual of an entire town coming together to take down some nigh-unstoppable force of nature, so that was a lot of fun to shoot. I remember the effects took a lot of cues from the films of Frank Henenlotter for the mutants Dr. Satan created, we just had a lot of these really weird designs that almost don't even look like humans because I didn't want to make those people feel like freaks. It helped desensitize the audience to the carnage and kinda clued them into the fact that this a more heightened world than some of my other works. It also makes Dr. Satan himself feel more fun. More Doctor Claw than Doctor Mengele, ya know.
Overall, Doctor Satan was one of the most fun experiences I ever had as a director topped only by some films that are far more personal to me.
Honorable Mentions
I’ve also written for other films and directed a handful of TV episodes and since I don’t think of those as my projects, I think I’ll go over them real quickly here.
- TV episodes - I’ll be honest and say I don’t even remember directing some episodes for certain shows if only because they were passable but rather average. For instance, I directed a 2003 episode of the HBO football drama The Commissioner[3] where the titular character (played by Dennis Quaid) had to deal with one owner’s issue about a player’s contract. The show itself is overall great in its examination of the sport but this episode too many, including myself, was “meh” in contrast to the later episodes of the series. Another was the sequel series of the ABC sports sitcom Coach titled Coach: Game Day where Craig T. Nelson’s Hayden Fox was the head coach of the fictional NFL team the Orlando Breakers and I directed an episode in the second season in 2008 where Hayden is trying to help a player for charity which is not exactly great but not terrible either. Overall, the TV episodes I directed were fine but weren’t that memorable.
- The Safe House (2004) - Ah, Robert De Niro. He’s one of the greatest actors of all time to ever grace the silver screen with classics that I don’t need to go into because there’s a decent chance that you’ve seen more of them than I have. I had the distinct honor of writing this thriller after its director, De Niro himself saw and liked to Meet the Joneses, about two New York sisters and their adoptive mom protecting themselves from said sisters’ abusive father and his partner in crime with the help of his former partner (played by De Niro himself). I distinctly remember that after I got the offer to help with rewrites, I ended up repeatedly pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
- Poltergeist: Resurrection (2004): I, of course, co-wrote this movie with my on-screen brother, Oliver Robbins, who sat in the director's chair for this movie. It focused on our characters from the original once again being haunted by the Beast. I'm proud of what we did with this movie but it's just something I contributed to, with Oliver being the real driving force. By the way, if you're one of those people that think I was "the real director" fuck off, it's just as stupid as when we had those debates with the original[5]. That said, I am really glad I was able to help finish Carol's story, just because of how close to my heart she's always been.
- Haunted Mansion (2006): I loved writing for this movie, but I was by no means the most important person in that writer's room. I'm willing to admit that most of my contributions to this film were lines for the characters that Jude voiced, and while writing material for my better half is certainly a nice gig, it's far from the most meaningful work I've ever done.
- Small Dark Room (2006) - I was hired by David Cronenberg to do rewrites on this movie around the same time I was hired for Haunted Mansion, which made for a weird time because I was juggling time between a family comedy and a gritty crime drama. I know that I said my hiatus from filmmaking was down to a desire to spend more time with my family after a surgery but in truth, it was also because I was really in need of a break. Needless to say though, it was still an awesome experience.
- Sweetly Twisted[6] (2008) - John Waters, as I'm sure many people know, is one of my biggest mentors so I naturally jumped at a chance to work with him when he offered me a chance to help write the script for this raunchy college comedy. I'd give you a summary, but I can now hear my kid in the next room so you’ll have to search it up yourself. Another great experience, though it is quite possibly the filthiest material I've ever written. I once joked with Jude "Obviously, this is one that we don't let Jonah see." Jude just looked at me and said, "I don't think this would be appropriate for me to see." Which was the point I wondered if I had gone overboard. I had. I had. I almost got us an NC rating. So anyway, I feel like I should get to number one before this just turns into me humble bragging. There's a struggling screenwriter out there that probably wants to ring my neck.
#2 - Sweetie (2010)
People are probably going to be really shocked to see this at this spot. Sweetie, a movie about a popular child star played by Mackenzie Foy who is mistreated by the ones close to her. This film was a more dramatic affair that spotlighted the entertainment industry's disturbing treatment of child stars by predatory executives and how the parents of the parents of these children would enable this. Sweetie is to Hollywood child stars what Penny Marshall’s Kandi was to the American porn industry - I admit I found out about the script through my better half, Jude and after reading it I just knew I wanted to help bring it to life.
As dark and morbid a film as it is, I admit Sweetie is one of my favorite projects. Maybe it's the catharsis that comes along with helping show people just how fucked up it was back then. Between my experience in the industry and the horror stories I heard from many of my friends, I think Sweetie could qualify as my most personal film.
I knew I wanted to handle that as respectfully as possible, so before shooting began, I showed the script to a lot of my fellow former child actors. I constantly was worried I might end up making something too f****** up to put in theaters, and thankfully they were all on board with it.
I think part of what drew me to it, as most people probably remember about me, was that I can remember that point that the script was calling back to and how horrible things could be. I remembered going to the funerals of Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, and I remembered studio executives trying to get me to do stuff like losing weight even when I started to hit puberty. This made me extremely uncomfortable as I didn’t want to ruin my body and suffer even further than I did the last time. This coupled with the advice of my parents led me to take a break from acting until I was an adult. It was only after the Anita Hill scandal, which was when those sick pervos finally started to get their comeuppance did much of the world see the dark side of Hollywood and the entertainment industry. That and my burgeoning directing career resulted in this film being made.
If you were a kid in Hollywood, you remembered it. While things have gotten better, don't think for a second that those kinds of pervs have gone away entirely after Anita Hill. Some of these people are still around. It's just that they hide their predatory behavior much better than Weinstein or Spacey or still have prominent connections which is why I'm glad that Sweetie shined a spotlight on those kinds of people.
This movie ended up being big for me in a way that I never expected. It's probably the most mainstream thing from my filmography outside of the obvious and I'm honestly glad of that. I knew that after this film, I was going to go on hiatus, and nabbing an Oscar nomination isn't the worst note to go on. However, like I said back then, it was far from the last thing I'll ever make.
#1 - Dear Old Dad (2008)
If anyone here remembers Nostalgia Critic's review of this film, it's essentially the fake horror movie trailer that was done there.
Didn’t expect this to be my favorite, did you? The basic elevator pitch for this film was putting a horror movie spin on the tired family movie premise of the workaholic parent finally being able to spend time with their family after some fantastical shenanigans. The plot was basically that an overworked realtor, played by Dave Coulier, suddenly dies in a freak car wreck, and returns as a ghost. After that, he decides to make up for the fact that he wasn't able to be there for his family in life by being there for them in his afterlife.
We wanted the film to be almost a bait and switch, where it seems to just be a goofy comedy with supernatural hijinx, but as it progresses Dave's character starts to lash out in increasingly violent ways all while you can tell his sanity is slipping until eventually, you realize we're watching the bad guy. I think that was kind of what made some of the executives tug their shirt collars, and they kept trying to make my course correct, which resulted in an entire subplot being added in during production solely so Dave's character seems better. So, if you saw the movie and wondered why it was suddenly revealed that another ghost was in the house, that was why.
I wanted this movie to be a reflection of the bad behaviors we saw in a lot of family movies, how they seemed to excuse bad fathers, absent fathers, fathers who always seemed to let down their families and how that kind of neglect often comes with worse tendencies. It was actually why I cast Dave Coulier to play the dad, but while Dave himself was game for everything I gave him, the studio seemingly wanted us to change because they didn't want men's rights activists jumping down their throats, which I thought was bullshit.
Dave Coulier was great to work with, down for anything I gave him, as were the rest of the cast playing his family. This film admittedly also holds a special place in my heart because it was the first film where Jude and I co-wrote the script together. No matter what anyone else thinks of this movie, I'm always going to love that I was able to create something like this with the woman I love. Which is why I'm glad that after my cut of the movie was released, it found new life through word of mouth. [7]
[1] Cap Hook is a relatively complete specimen of Dryptosaurus found in New Egypt, NJ in 2001 and described in 2005, which not only gave scientists a better understanding of it but also (re-)elevates it to prominence in palaeo-media due to media hyping it up as the “Tyrant in your backyard”.
[2] Grindhouse already exists ITTL but the films listed are very different. For one thing, there's more than two of them,
[3] Rob Zombie has admitted that he came up with the plot for House of 1000 Corpses as he was pitching it for the first time, meaning that the Firefly Family movies are essentially butterflied, but that doesn't mean he couldn't still come up with some similar ideas.
[4] More on that HBO series in a future post, especially its relation to a certain football movie.
[5] How will this flick play out for O’Rourke and Robbins? Let’s wait and see.
[6] The title of this movie came from a review for the OTL John Waters movie A Dirty Shame although everything about it including the plot and characters is original.
[7] Details about the plots of these are mostly left sparse in case anyone wants to expand on them.
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Muppet Show Guest Stars Seasons 6 & 7
The Muppet Show Guest Stars (Season 6)
6x01) Michael Caine. October 4th 1981
6x02) Tom Baker. October 11th 1981
6x03) Olivia Newton John. October 18th 1981
6x04) Matthew Corbett with Sooty and Sweep, Gerry Anderson, Basil Brush and Rod Hull with Emu[1]. October 25th 1981
6x05) KISS. November 1st 1981
6x06) Larry Hagman. November 8th 1981
6x07) Cher. November 15th 1981
6x08) Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi. November 22nd 1981
6x09) Salvador Dalí. November 29th 1981
6x10) Mel Blanc. December 6th 1981
6x11) Andy Kaufman. December 13th 1981
6x12) Miles Davis. December 20th 1981
6x13) Bill Crosby. December 27th 1981[2]
6x14) Fred Rogers. January 3rd 1982
6x15) John Ritter. January 10th 1982
6x16) Queen. January 17th 1982
6x17) Tony Bennett. January 24th 1982
6x18) David Bowie. January 31st 1982
6x19) Stan Freiberg. February 7th 1982
6x20) Harrison Ford. February 14th 1982
6x21) Lucille Ball and Jerry Lewis. February 21st 1982
6x22) Betty White. February 28th 1982
6x23) Robin Williams. March 7th 1982
6x24) William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley[3]. March 14th 1982
The Muppet Show Guest Stars (Season 7)
7x01) Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. October 3rd 1982
7x02) The B-52's. October 10th 1982
7x03) Mr. T. October 17th 1982
7x04) Arnold Schwarzenegger. October 24th 1982
7x05) Kim Cattrall. October 31st 1982
7x06) Bette Midler[4]. November 7th 1982
7x07) Carrie Fisher. November 14th 1982
7x08) Electric Light Orchestra. November 21st 1982
7x09) Dolly Parton. November 28th 1982
7x10) Oingo Boingo. December 5th 1982
7x11) Frankie Laine. December 12th 1982
7x12) Ray Charles. December 19th 1982
7x13) Don Rickles. December 26th 1982
7x14) Herbie Hancock. January 2nd 1983
7x15) Sterling Holloway. January 9th 1983
7x16) Aerosmith. January 16th 1983
7x17) Eric Idle and Graham Chapman[4]. January 23rd 1983
7x18) Bruce Springsteen. January 30th 1983
7x19) Lionel Richie. February 6th 1983
7x20) Larry Bird. February 13th 1983
7x21) Michael Jackson. February 20th 1983
7x22) Hulk Hogan. February 27th 1983
7x23) John Candy. March 6th 1983
7x24) Jim Henson. April 3rd 1983
-------------------
[1] Gerry Anderson appears with marionettes from Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, two completely different styles of supermarionation (with the Thunderbirds marionette having oversized heads and a caricatured appearance, while the Captain Scarlet style marionette has smaller heads and natural body propositions). Basil Brush, is being performed by Ivan Owen (who won't be appearing in person on the Muppet Show as he famously ensured he was never seen throughout his time performing him).
[2] Like the episode featuring Chris Langham in OTL, and most certainly in TTL, this episode will not be included on Disney Direct's list of Muppet Show episodes to view.
[3] This episode is almost like Episode 417, with Mark Hamill, R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca, for as they appeared four months before Empire Strikes Back, Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley's appearance on the Muppet Show is before Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (which released on June 4th, 1982).
[4] Bette Midler, Eric Idle and Graham Chapman were among the "dream line-up" for The Muppet Show by the Muppet performers.
Special thanks to @Servo1991, @OldNavy1988, @Plateosaurus, @Ogrebear and @Brainbin for their suggestions in AHITHOM, namely Don Rickles, Herbie Hancock, Sterling Holloway, ELO, Frankie Laine, Aerosmith, Leonard Nimoy and the other Star Trek cast. They certainly inspired me to help fill out the gaps!
6x01) Michael Caine. October 4th 1981
6x02) Tom Baker. October 11th 1981
6x03) Olivia Newton John. October 18th 1981
6x04) Matthew Corbett with Sooty and Sweep, Gerry Anderson, Basil Brush and Rod Hull with Emu[1]. October 25th 1981
6x05) KISS. November 1st 1981
6x06) Larry Hagman. November 8th 1981
6x07) Cher. November 15th 1981
6x08) Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi. November 22nd 1981
6x09) Salvador Dalí. November 29th 1981
6x10) Mel Blanc. December 6th 1981
6x11) Andy Kaufman. December 13th 1981
6x12) Miles Davis. December 20th 1981
6x13) Bill Crosby. December 27th 1981[2]
6x14) Fred Rogers. January 3rd 1982
6x15) John Ritter. January 10th 1982
6x16) Queen. January 17th 1982
6x17) Tony Bennett. January 24th 1982
6x18) David Bowie. January 31st 1982
6x19) Stan Freiberg. February 7th 1982
6x20) Harrison Ford. February 14th 1982
6x21) Lucille Ball and Jerry Lewis. February 21st 1982
6x22) Betty White. February 28th 1982
6x23) Robin Williams. March 7th 1982
6x24) William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley[3]. March 14th 1982
The Muppet Show Guest Stars (Season 7)
7x01) Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. October 3rd 1982
7x02) The B-52's. October 10th 1982
7x03) Mr. T. October 17th 1982
7x04) Arnold Schwarzenegger. October 24th 1982
7x05) Kim Cattrall. October 31st 1982
7x06) Bette Midler[4]. November 7th 1982
7x07) Carrie Fisher. November 14th 1982
7x08) Electric Light Orchestra. November 21st 1982
7x09) Dolly Parton. November 28th 1982
7x10) Oingo Boingo. December 5th 1982
7x11) Frankie Laine. December 12th 1982
7x12) Ray Charles. December 19th 1982
7x13) Don Rickles. December 26th 1982
7x14) Herbie Hancock. January 2nd 1983
7x15) Sterling Holloway. January 9th 1983
7x16) Aerosmith. January 16th 1983
7x17) Eric Idle and Graham Chapman[4]. January 23rd 1983
7x18) Bruce Springsteen. January 30th 1983
7x19) Lionel Richie. February 6th 1983
7x20) Larry Bird. February 13th 1983
7x21) Michael Jackson. February 20th 1983
7x22) Hulk Hogan. February 27th 1983
7x23) John Candy. March 6th 1983
7x24) Jim Henson. April 3rd 1983
-------------------
[1] Gerry Anderson appears with marionettes from Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, two completely different styles of supermarionation (with the Thunderbirds marionette having oversized heads and a caricatured appearance, while the Captain Scarlet style marionette has smaller heads and natural body propositions). Basil Brush, is being performed by Ivan Owen (who won't be appearing in person on the Muppet Show as he famously ensured he was never seen throughout his time performing him).
[2] Like the episode featuring Chris Langham in OTL, and most certainly in TTL, this episode will not be included on Disney Direct's list of Muppet Show episodes to view.
[3] This episode is almost like Episode 417, with Mark Hamill, R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca, for as they appeared four months before Empire Strikes Back, Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley's appearance on the Muppet Show is before Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (which released on June 4th, 1982).
[4] Bette Midler, Eric Idle and Graham Chapman were among the "dream line-up" for The Muppet Show by the Muppet performers.
Special thanks to @Servo1991, @OldNavy1988, @Plateosaurus, @Ogrebear and @Brainbin for their suggestions in AHITHOM, namely Don Rickles, Herbie Hancock, Sterling Holloway, ELO, Frankie Laine, Aerosmith, Leonard Nimoy and the other Star Trek cast. They certainly inspired me to help fill out the gaps!
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Out of curiosity whoever is listening out there who are the core muppet players for 1992 because if it’s alright with you guys I would like to do a guest post here for the diary of say Steve Whitmire
Whitmire, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, Kevin Clash, David Rudman, and John Henson. Jim also continued to perform Kermit in some live appearances throughout the 1990s, and continued performing Rowlf to at least 1999.
I'd also love to see a post from Steve's perspective.
Yeah, a perspective from Steve Whitmire ITTL could be quite interesting.
Although I probably should point out that, Frank Oz, due to his directing career, stepped down from puppeteering, and mainly handed over the puppeteering of his characters to Kevin Clash (before the roles are taken over by Eric Jacobson, with maybe Jacobson serving as an understudy/right-hand performer from 1994, as he had began puppeteering at that point IOTL), and thus all he did was recording his voice later in post-production (as mentioned in the Muppets Impossible post).
And there's also John Kennedy, the Dr. Teeth performer (who took the role in OTL from 1991 to 2003).
Although I probably should point out that, Frank Oz, due to his directing career, stepped down from puppeteering, and mainly handed over the puppeteering of his characters to Kevin Clash (before the roles are taken over by Eric Jacobson, with maybe Jacobson serving as an understudy/right-hand performer from 1994, as he had began puppeteering at that point IOTL), and thus all he did was recording his voice later in post-production (as mentioned in the Muppets Impossible post).
And there's also John Kennedy, the Dr. Teeth performer (who took the role in OTL from 1991 to 2003).