Case Studies in Intellectual Property: Dick Tracy

[Ralif Redhammer]

He belongs in the same club as Bulldog Drummond and Dick Barton - big in their day, but that day has passed. whereas Batman and Holmes have run pretty much continuously since their creation. Spiderman only dates to 1962, so he is nothing like so vintage, but he has run continuously since then too.

If you want to do something in that style, you might as well create a new character, like the Rocketeer or Indiana Jones, rather than pay for a licence.

Indiana Jones is a prime example of how to do it - he feels very much like a character that you could swear was in the pulps.

One does wonder what would've happened if we had seen, say the Bob Clampett animated John Carter come to fruition in the 30s, then the McTiernan-directed, Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts starring John Carter movie in the 90s. Would Disney's adaptation have faired better, or would it have still suffered the same ignoble fate?

And honestly it's fine. Some stories and characters just belong to different eras. They don't need to be IP factories that are perpetually turning out new product.

Not every character, or every work can stand the test of time. That doesn't make them bad stories necessarily, nor does it mean that there won't still be devotees. But there is a difference between a mild fandom and audience and the kind of fandom and larger audience that creates the MCU.

They did try "Doc Savage" in 1975, Starring Ron Ely. It went over about as well as the recent "John Carter" movie did. And I've got some bad news for people...

Doc Savage | Adventure

Doc Savage: Directed by Shane Black. With Dwayne Johnson. Doc Savage, the man of bronze, was raised from childhood by a team of scientists to become the original "super" hero of the 1930s. A man of great mental and physical strength, he went around the world battling larger-than-life villains.

www.imdb.com

Oh man, it's like combing Black Adam and The Jungle Cruise. What could possibly go wrong!

 

[Kaodi]

Was Jungle Cruise... bad?

 

[Ryujin]

Oh man, it's like combing Black Adam and The Jungle Cruise. What could possibly go wrong!

"Journey 2: The Mysterious Island", but with a torn shirt.

 

[Deset Gled]

Was Jungle Cruise... bad?

It was okay, and better than I expected going in. A fun little adventure romp. A little sanitized, a little cheesy. Entertaining as long as you're in the right mindset. Definitely not a classic like Pirates of the Caribbean but much, much better than The Country Bears.

This review works for the movie and the ride.

 

[nevin]

I

One does wonder what would've happened if we had seen, say the Bob Clampett animated John Carter come to fruition in the 30s, then the McTiernan-directed, Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts starring John Carter movie in the 90s. Would Disney's adaptation have faired better, or would it have still suffered the same ignoble fate?

I think marketing killed that movie. If they'd sold it as an alternate steampunk style universe I think it would have done better. Instead they proffered it like the books assuming that all the 1890's to 1920 pulp scifi was something reasonable and not surprising. ' the cognitive dissonance between the psuedoscience and actual reality was just too much.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

the Bob Clampett animated John Carter

Bob Clampett’s “John Carter of Mars” |

cartoonresearch.com

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Was Jungle Cruise... bad?

No, it was pretty good. Not as memorable as Raiders of the Lost Ark or the first Pirates movie, but an entertaining streaming movie that made a nice change from the endless diet of Marvel.

It's only vaguely inspired by 1930s pulp fiction though. It's more, inspired by movies that where inspired by 1930s pulp.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think marketing killed that movie. If they'd sold it as an alternate steampunk style universe I think it would have done better. Instead they proffered it like the books assuming that all the 1890's to 1920 pulp scifi was something reasonable and not surprising. ' the cognitive dissonance between the psuedoscience and actual reality was just too much.

Yeah, definitely miss-marketed. Also miss-timed. Would have worked better as a streaming miniseries.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Yeah, definitely miss-marketed. Also miss-timed. Would have worked better as a streaming miniseries.

Considering how many books there are and the episodic nature of them, it would've been a great candidate for an entire series, if they could crack it for modern audiences (and that's a big if).

Jungle Cruise was a fun enough movie in the Indiana Jones/The Mummy tradition. Of the movies inspired by Disney amusement park rides, it's certainly not at the bottom.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Of the movies inspired by Disney amusement park rides, it's certainly not at the bottom.

eta- I also want to mention that we must be in the darkest timeline, as we can rank movies inspired by theme park rides.