December 21, 2004

It's in the public domain, after all

I received this advertisement in my spam folder the other day:

undisney.jpg

I can't deny that those are classic stories...that have been animated...and thus in some sense they are animated classics...but, oh, how I feel for any children who find those under their tree this year.

The set also contains The Adventures of Pocahontas, Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Leo the Lion -- King of the Jungle. They don't all coincidentally resemble Disney animated features, though. The other movies include Heidi (Disney, but not animated), The Nutcracker (only part of Fantasia involves the Nutcracker Suite), Thumbelina (animated, but not Disney), Black Beauty (barely Disney-related at all, though there was apparently a 1966 Disney read-along record, "The Story of Black Beauty"), and A Christmas Carol ("Mickey's Christmas Carol" was a short, not a feature).

So that all makes sense for a company hoping people will buy their DVDs by mistake. But then what are we to make of the other two movies: Magic Gift of the Snowman and The Toy Shop? I guess the first one could be a rip-off of the Frosty the Snowman television special, but I just have no clue what the other one is trying to copy. Suggestions are welcome.

Posted by Francis at 11:42 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Toy Story?

Posted by: Doug Orleans at December 22, 2004 01:08 AM

That's gotta be it. And here my brain was stuck on "The Old Curiosity Shop".

Posted by: Francis at December 22, 2004 01:17 AM

Argh! I hate these things! They're basically for grandparents who don't know any better who want to purchase something sweet from Disney for the little ones. Go do your homework, Nana!

Posted by: Toonhead! at December 22, 2004 09:32 AM

I once saw a VHS tape in Staples that was a movie called "Christmas Toy Story". The word 'Christmas' was very easy to miss above the gigantic letters for 'Toy Story'.

Toonhead! is exactly right. These products are for out of touch grandparents who don't have their reading glasses on.

Posted by: Mark Wade at December 22, 2004 10:07 AM

Pirated DVDs in China often (I don't know about often, I guess, but I know someone it happened to) take badly photocopied Disney packaging and put these DVDs in them. The same family also got a copy of "The Little Mermaid" that was a badly burned copy of the DVD, but the credits and miscellaneous other fine print on the back of the box were from "Enemy at the Gates."

In a different (and desperately more obsessive) vein, does "Aladdin" look to anyone else like the older brother on "Mr. Belvedere"? Rob Stone, according to IMDB, but there's just one publicity shot there, so it's not much help.

Posted by: Scott at December 22, 2004 12:15 PM

That totally looks like Rob Stone.

Remember the one where Wesley got all mad at Belvedere and had him deported? That was my favorite.

Posted by: bpd at December 22, 2004 12:43 PM

No one ever lost any money underestimating the intelligence of the American grandparent.

Posted by: Doug at December 22, 2004 04:56 PM