Friday, March 30, 2007

No More Cheapquels...Really!

Cheapquel...yes that's the word I came up with a few years ago to describe the incredibly awful DVD movies that were being produced by Disney Toon Studios; Cringe-worthy Classics like Cinderella 2, Atlantis 2 and Hunchback 2. If there was a number 2 in the title, it's highly possible that it was a 'Cheapquel'. The number 2 also gave insight into the quality of the Cheapquel, as in 'I'm going to the bathroom to do number 2'.
According to recent reports, the days of the Disney Cheapquel is over. Well what do you know.
I'm speechless. Maybe not.
Not all the Cheapquels were bad. Some actually looked good. Some didn't even deserve to be called Cheapquels. Oh well...my bad.

My official stance on the whole thing was very simple. I have no problem with sequels to any movie. Pixars' sequel to Toy Story is a great example of a sequel done well. Toy Story 2 took the characters of Buzz and Woody, expanded the storyline naturally and created something that was well worth seeing. Although I like both Toy Story films, I prefer the second one over the first.
Cinderella 2 was a disgrace to the Disney name. It was a sequel that was inferior in both story and animation and only existed to capitalize off the original films popularity. On a scale from 0ne to ten, Cinderella 2 is a minus 20.
Some of you might think that I never watched one of these things...as a matter of fact I have.
I actually purchased one or two for my daughter and rented some of the others. Most of them are drek. I'd rather watch an episode of 'Show Me The Money'. (Now that was real entertainment watching Shatner dance!)
My daughter couldn't watch these things from beginning to end either. Often she'd get up and leave the room. Since she wasn't watching the ones I purchased, I tried to sell them to a used video dealer. The dealer didn't want em. He had a whole bunch of cheapquels on the shelf that were collecting dust.

However, the cheapquels were good for one thing...watching them put me out like a light, like a really good sleeping pill.
Some of the best sleep time I ever had was while watching one of these disasters.

Cheapquels....Good Riddence.

5 comments:

Richard Gaines said...

I still gleefully wear your "No More Cheapquels" shirt. At least Disney has taken a step in the right direction.

So what have you been doing as of late?

Brian Mitchell said...

Richard,
That shirt is a true limited edition! There's well under 500 produced so keep it in good shape!
It might be worth 75 cents some day.
I have been working on some original cartoons to premiere online.
Unfortunately, the first one won't be finished until August of this year.
Stay tooned.

Richard Gaines said...

Bri, why don't you post some drawings for once! You've had the blog for over a year now. I'm excited to see what you're working on!

Brian Mitchell said...

Richard,
I will address this in my new post..."We get letters"
Brian

Pete Emslie said...

"However, the cheapquels were good for one thing...watching them put me out like a light, like a really good sleeping pill."

Maybe the Cheapquel is better than NyQuil!!