Conference bookie::movies

    Beth,
    
    I believe the movie's called "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey"
    and the voice-overs of each animal get worse.  Two of them are provided
    by Don Ameche and Michael J. Fox.  I'll leave it to the readers as an
    exercise to figure out who's who...
    
    - Skip

    Thanks; I munged the title appropriately. [And I'll definitely take
    ear-plugs. ;-)]
    
    -b

    Well, I saw this one Sunday with my 6-year old daughter, a friend, and
    her 6-year old niece.
    
    All I can say is --  bring plenty of Kleenexes!
    
    I saw five movies this past weekend, and this one was, by far, the best
    of the bunch. It was thoroughly entertaining, bittersweet, beautifully
    filmed, and flawless, IMHO.
    
    Michael J. Fox's voice was kind of a cross between Doc Hollywood, The
    Hard Way and Alex Seaver. The other two voices, I had trouble figuring
    out and was genuinely surprised at who they were.
    
    Excellent movie - take the whole family.
    
    10/10
    
    Catherine
    

Voice-overs for the animals?  Oy, vey!

We saw a sneak preview of *previews* for this movie at the Disney-MGM Studios
just after Christmas (not the movie itself, mind you, just an extended preview).
It gave no indication that the animals had voice-overs.  How disappointing...

Well, I suppose I should reserve judgement until I actually see the movie. :-)

By the way, I believe it was filmed in the Canadian Rockies.

							--Nina

    This sounds like it might be an ok movie but did they have to include a
    CAT? (it's a long story but,the last feline that was forced on me is
    now in "the great cathouse in the sky" after my wife was forced to
    choose between me and "whiskers".pheww! it was a close call but *I*
    survived)  But alas,I'll probably have to sit through it when it comes
    out on video. Maybe I can convince the kids to get "old yeller"{
    instead.
    
    Ken

    re .5, Sorry to hear of your wife's foolish choice.  I think any woman
    who would pick a man over a cat is nuts.
    
    Lorna
    

    Went to see this over the weekend (sans earplugs). It's your basic
    Disney-esque family-style movie (this may be a good thing or a bad
    thing depending on your tastes), with some really fine performances by
    the animals (and their stunt doubles and their trainers, etc.). The
    children in the audience seemed to love it unequivocally; the adults
    groaned at some of the lines, but generally liked it too. (My
    companions and I were not the only people sniffling happily into our
    tissues at the appropriate moments.)
    
    The voice-overs were annoying most of the time, though I'll admit that
    some of the commentary by the Brash Young Dog was pretty funny. There
    were some supposedly serious, mood-setting scenes that I thought would
    have worked better without the voices - the animals' "body language"
    was very expressive - but it may be that the kids in the audience
    appreciated having things spelled out. (I, too, was surprised to find
    out who'd done the voices; I'd only been able to guess one out of the
    three.)
    
    The parts I enjoyed the most all involved the interaction between the
    animals, whether they were loping across mountain meadows, playing
    tricks on each other, or trying to facilitate a jailbreak. Heck, all it
    took was one shot of the three of them setting out across the mountains
    as the music swelled to make me choke up (but I'm a soft touch). The
    trainers really did a marvelous job.
    
    (One cautionary note: The animals' dialog included a number of fat
    jokes and rather nasty name-calling during one sequence involving a
    portly animal-shelter employee; this sequence seemed to be pitching a
    "fat people are appropriate targets" line that felt seriously out of
    place in a "family oriented" movie.)
    
    -b

    I wanted to take my two kids to see this movie this weekend.
    My seven year old daughter refused to go. She is terrified 
    of being subjected to films where animals die. Since I know
    relatively little about the outcome of this film, I couldn't
    reassure or deny her fears.
    
    Could someone (behind a spoiler or thru mail) tell me if the
    movie involves animal death or serious injury?
    
    Thanks, I want to see this film with my kids.
    Jodi-

    Re .8: <spoiler warning: ending discussed>
    
    
    
    [Skipping some more lines, just in case. If you really don't want to
    know, pass on by.]
    
    
    
    
    Should be safe - the only things that actually die in this one are some
    fish, and the ending is triumphantly happy. HOWEVER... there are a
    couple of segments where the fate of one animal or another is in some
    doubt, and sensitive kids may need encouragement to get through these
    (or hints as to when to stop watching, and when to open their eyes
    again). [I sympathize; heck, _I_ had a rough time watching the river
    sequence, even though I could tell that the "cat" in the long shots was
    stuffed. Dunno if it would help to explain to her how the special
    effects were done, or just to keep reassuring her that it's going to be
    OK...]
    
    -b

RE .8 -- David Letterman asked the same thing of Michael J. Fox when he (Fox)
was a guest on his (Dave's) show the other night... :-)

							-- Nina

    Didn't Disney do this movie already back in the 50s?
    
    What was the one about the pet that got left behind?  No, not "E.T.",
    the one about some cat or something that chases its owners halfway
    across the country on foot without even a map or compass?
    

    Re .11: Yep, Disney did an earlier version - a decent job, and
    _without_ voice-overs for the animals (though I'll admit that the
    animal performances in the newer version are much livelier).
    
    Re pets left behind: "Lassie Come Home" would be your classic example,
    I think, but the story's quite common. Heck, half of Albert Payson
    Terhune's books (and 90% of all "Lassie" episodes!) seemed to feature
    it... 
    
    I don't suppose the "Jaws" series counts, though the shark and its
    descendants certainly did a fine job of tracking down the family
    wherever they went. ;-)
    
    -b

    I have to throw in a dissenting note. I found the movie EXTREMELY
    painful to sit through because of the voice-overs. It was irritating
    and annoying, and I'm being kind. Yes, the emotional parts were
    emotional, the scenery was beautiful, but the movie stunk.
    
    
    Dick

    My daughter and I saw this because the two movies we'd rather see were
    both sold out. :-)  Actually, I thought it was quite cute and fairly
    enjoyable.  As a cat lover, though, the cat made it for me.  She was
    *lovely*, just lovely, and the the prettiest leading lady I've seen in
    any recent movie.
    
    It was sort of a sappy story, but since I love animals, I was able to
    sit through it.
    
    I read the book a long time ago, and recall that I thought that was
    wnderful, at the time.
    
    Lorna
    

    I absolutely cannot watch "Dumbo" or "Old Yeller" ... here I am, a
    grownup, and I even cry over cartoon animals! 
    
    I want to see this movie, though ...
    

    RE: .13  by 56517::ROSENBERG 
    
    >I found the movie EXTREMELY painful to sit through because of the
    >voice-overs. 
    
    Sort of like how Dudley Moore's voice-over ruined that Japanese-made
    film about this puppy and kitten who get losy and then find their way
    home.  That would've been a wonderful movie with no dialog, just the
    action, scenery, and music.
    
    Come to think of it, there were no voice-overs in "The Bear", were
    there?
    

>    Sort of like how Dudley Moore's voice-over ruined that Japanese-made
>    film about this puppy and kitten who get losy and then find their way
>    home.  That would've been a wonderful movie with no dialog, just the
>    action, scenery, and music.


"Milo and Otis" - Moore narrated, and he did cloy a little at times, but the
overall effect was that of a "bedtime story" which (given the intended
audience) seemed appropriate to me... 

    Actually, what I liked best about this movie was how funny the cat
    looked, running through the woods and fields, trying to keep up with
    the two dogs.  I was laughing out loud watching, she was so cute.
    
    Lorna
    

    I enjoyed this movie.  I thought the voice-overs were very appropriate
    to the animal's actions and expressions.  I can't imagine the movie
    without that dialogue.  I think because we attribute human emotions to
    animals so much of the time is what makes them endearing, no?  Plus the
    fact that they have fur and we don't.

    
    I don't think this film can be all bad, but it reduced my nearly 3 year
    old to tears near the end. We were a bit stunned that she really
    understood what was happening...Never underestimate kids.
    
    BTW to show what totally hopeless parents we are we let her watch
    Jurrassic Park too, because she's hooked on dinosaurs. It didn't
    provoke any tears, frights or nightmares. 
    
    I guess the moral is, if your worried about letting your children see
    Jurassic Park, keep them well away from this one!
    
    Mark