They Call the Wind Pariah

Once upon a time, the phrase "direct-to-video" meant the project stunk. Now it means: bypassing risks associated with expanding beyond the presold audience, and thus maximizing return on a niche, albeit avalanche, marketing campaign. But Disney still wants you to know "Lion King 1½" stinks. Sorta.

For this Lion King sequel -- dubbed "1½" because the studio already went Number 2 -- swagged is Gas-X based on the plot point of Pumbaa, the warthog character, and his heinie halitosis and the profound effect he, it and meerkat pal Timon have upon the storyline in "LK1." So we guess this is "Lion King: The Backfill."

Missing parent in animated Disney phlik phenomenon alert (referenced here): Despite that being a major plot crutch in "LK1," here also Timon lives with mom and uncle.

"One of Those Things Where, in Yourself It's an Interest, Sometimes a Stunt, Maybe a Curiosity, But in Someone Else it's Obviously a Sickness" Dept: Exhibit A (not safe for parents), B, C and D, and so forth. Frankly, Ben was not always gentle either.

Beyond the beans around the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles to the Japanese "boy in the bathtub" commercial Johnny Carson replayed regularly, farts are not just a passing fancy. Over 140 years ago, Joseph Pujol performed as Le Petomaine, the Fartiste. Still today, flatus permeates the social fabric: in science, in medicine (info with tips), in film, in books, in jokes told & smelt & heard, in costume (and why a patent? clones), in home videos, underwater, in entrepreneurship, post 9/11 airline safety, in apocryphal urban legends and folktales retold in advertising (the service) propelling two to trumpet their farticipation:

"It only took three hours to shoot the ad, but Soustrom is hoping the unprecedented publicity will help launch her career into a sitcom or romantic comedy. Grant Pace, creator of the ad, hopes it will launch his career as well. This is his first effort as president of his own agency, Mercury Advertising. Pace was inspired by an event that happened to his sister several years ago."

We are glad this never caught on.

Thinking how the swag's a-linking: A; Mouse's Ol' Factory knows what's good for farthogs, but Gas-X -- though cheap as swag goes -- cost one student five days of school. If needed, we'd think chewing it would better than eschewing it.

Feb 11, 2004 at 04:40 PM by James Hames in Film, Video and DVD | Permalink

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