Spinoffs appear to be the ‘in’ thing right now since just about everyone is thinking about them and some movies and TV shows are actually getting them. A Cruella spinoff is bound to be at least halfway interesting since trying to come up with a spinoff to show how Cruella might come to be the person that everyone remembers is something that might create a bit of intrigue, while creating a spinoff of Jasper and Horace feels like a Laurel and Hardy or Abbot and Costello act in the making. It’s coming to the point where one might have to wonder when spinoffs are going to become less attractive, but it would appear that this isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Once someone in Hollywood gets an idea to do something it’s time to form a pack and follow the leader as one spinoff idea takes point before another one comes up to knock it out of the lead. In this manner it feels like that the idea of spinoffs could last a while since all one really has to do is start lobbing ideas up and hope that they stick before they hit the ground.
The idea of a Cruella spinoff is something that might get a lot of people excited, but it will hopefully make others ask ‘why?’ simply because the whole idea feels like something that’s being done out of desperation at times and boredom at others. Spinoffs are so closely connected to the movies or shows they come from most times that thinking up an original idea isn’t always necessary if one can build off of the idea that created the spinoff in the first place. If there’s any reason to have disdain for spinoffs at all it’s because they don’t always come from a new idea, but instead leech off of an existing movie or show in an attempt to see if they can survive on their own. To be fair, some spinoffs have done quite well throughout the history of cinema as they’ve been able to take that original idea and use it for just long enough to let the new idea find its legs so that it could stand on its own. If this is what the plan is with the Cruella spinoffs then so be it, but at this time it really feels as though it’s trying to stay centered on the core idea of the story without wandering too far.
So far, Cruella has been getting great reviews, so there’s plenty of evidence that people like what they’ve seen. But one has to wonder if that favor would extend to the spinoffs if they’re any less impactful than the movie was. This is another point when it comes to spinoffs since at times they’re too much like sequels in which the main characters don’t always make it back. The quality might not be the same, the story might be altered enough to the point that people feel as though they have to invest in something else that’s similar but not quite the same as what they remember, and the overall experience isn’t what people are hoping for. This isn’t a given obviously, since some spinoffs might do just fine and produce the kind of backstories for various characters that people wanted in the first place. There’s always a pro and a con to any action after all and it’s fair to say that the story of Cruella and those around her might have plenty of tales that could entertain the fans if they were told in a manner that people would accept.
What does need to be said though is that there probably should be a connection eventually between the prequel and the actual movie, with a few alterations of course since we’re not bound to get the same exact movie that people might want. At times it does feel as though Disney is attempting to slowly but surely retcon everything it’s done until the memories of the fans are overcome with the new and exciting material. That’s a bit too much like a conspiracy theory though, since there are always bound to be plenty of fans that will remember how the stories were originally crafted.
When all is said and done the age of the spinoff has certainly come along and people are riding the wave as much as they can. When the spinoffs start to grow old and the branching stories can no longer be sustained though it’s time to wonder just what is going to come next since there’s always something coming next. The idea of a Cruella-verse sounds pretty silly, to be honest, but scoffing at it as of now doesn’t sound wise since it might be too tempting for the Mouse House to resist. For now, let’s just see how the planned spinoffs will go.
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