Dave Thomas Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Bob & Doug McKenzie Live Without Rick Moranis
Filed under: Animation », Home Entertainment », Remakes and Sequels »
Nestled solidly in the halls of beer worship, hosers, and Canadian film is Bob & Doug McKenzie, the men behind Strange Brew. It's been a whopping twenty-six years since the Canadian comedy from Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas was released, which makes me feel ancient, and it's still one of the top films about beer. But its staying power stretches beyond cinematic brew infamy.
Did you know that two years after their 2-4 anniversary, they've jumped into the world of animation? Yesterday evening marked the premiere of Bob & Doug, a new adult-themed animated show in Canada that follows the toque-topped Bob and Doug through their life in Maple Lake. It all came from the short film included on the DVD, but there is one big change. As we all know, Moranis keeps the TV and film world at arm's length these days, so a different man had to take the gig -- the one who threw Alanis Morrisette into a rant-filled frenzy -- Dave Coulier.
It's a blow to not have the real Bob, and read that Moranis said: "I would love to be excluded. I just don't want to do it, you know?" But it does look cute. While I didn't get a chance to see it air, there is a trailer tacked onto the teaser "12 Days of Christmas" video shown below. (Plus a few awesome clips from the movie after the jump.) So far, there doesn't seem to be any US airdates, but early reports did speculate that Fox could add this to their animated lineup. Cool, eh?
This Week's Straight-to-DVD: Brother Bear 2 (More Moose)
Filed under: Animation », Disney », Family Films »
Disney has been releasing a number of sequels to animated films directly to video, so it should be no surprise that Brother Bear 2 is next on the list, with an announced release date of August 29. The original Brother Bear did low box-office business for a Disney animated film -- $85 million -- but I suspect its real money was made on DVD.Brother Bear included an unusual feature on its DVD that definitely boosted adult rentals and sales: a commentary track performed by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis as the moose characters from the 2003 film, in a manner quite similar to their Doug and Bob McKenzie routine from SCTV. (If you don't know who these guys are, you might want to rent Strange Brew.) I would never have watched this movie myself without the commentary track. At times, the commentary bordered on the subversive (for Disney, anyway), with the moose likening the spirit totem in the film to a souvenir from a Canadian airport, and noting that chipmunks always seem to appear just before something dangerous occurs. Disney is obviously aware that these two minor characters and their hilarious commentary track had something to do with Brother Bear's DVD success: not only are Moranis and Thomas back in the sequel, but they're joined by two more moose, played by SCTV alumni Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara. If all four do a commentary track, this may appear on my own rental list.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
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Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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