If you’ve been keeping up with the movies that are coming out lately then you’ve likely seen that Artemis Fowl has been on the docket for a while and fans couldn’t be happier to see this one come out finally as the movie will be releasing this coming spring. Well, some fans are likely excited since there are plenty that aren’t too happy to see that Artemis has been sufficiently Disney-fied in this current trailer and turned into a hero that’s basically proud to be a mastermind and thief but is somehow going to be a hero as well. Jennifer Ouellette of ARS Technica has reported on this and it’s pretty evident that some people aren’t really all that happy about how Artemis is starting to look. But one has to wonder what the fans expected when it came down to a character that is, as the author says, an anti-Harry Potter, meaning that he’s not bound to play by the rules at all and he’s not likely to be a very nice person given that he actually kidnaps a fairy for ransom in the books and he’s already been living most on his own since his father’s already missing and his mother’s been grieving for a while. In other words, it does sound as though Disney saw this 12-year old character and decided to nice him up a bit and give him a stable home life before yanking his father away and giving him a reason to inherit his birthright as a thief.
It’s seriously hard to imagine how people aren’t expecting this these days since anything owned by Disney is going to have its edges filed down so that it’s a little more acceptable for family viewing. What’s amazing about that however is that Disney either isn’t doing their research or they just don’t care since the Artemis Fowl books are sold to children that are of about the same age, adults read them too obviously, meaning that they can handle the content and the idea of a 12-year old being less than scrupulous in a story. But unfortunately Disney is acting kind of like the mother hen at this point by showing us something that’s bound to be a little more friendly than the book really was and will, they hope, pull in the numbers that will make it a hit, thereby proving that their way is right once again. I don’t like to hope for the ruination or failure of anyone or anything even if it’s well-deserved sometimes, but if Artemis Fowl doesn’t perform well at the box office then there’s a big ‘I told you so’ coming to Disney that they won’t listen to since they’ll just shut down the idea of a sequel and move on with a shrug of their corporate shoulders. That’s business after all, even with a big loss sometimes the corporation has to eat it and just move on. But come on, the trailer is filled with action, intrigue, explosions, fantasy creatures and fighting scenes that are already likely to be drawing attention, so it’s not entirely feasible to think that the movie won’t do that well.
It is a new idea to bring to the screen after all, a book series that hasn’t been done yet and isn’t a continuation of something else. If it takes off like the Potter movies then it might be that Disney is on to something, and they might have another hit on their hands. But it’s got a long way to go to attain that and there are plenty of people that sound as though they’re not going to be fooled that easily. I’ve said it so many times but I’ll keep on saying it again and again since it never appears that the bigwigs ever listen. SOURCE MATERIAL IS IMPORTANT, and it’s just as important to keep that source material handy at least or adhere to it whenever possible so as to not alienate the fans that already love the story and don’t want to see it change that much. Disney still hasn’t learned that lesson with Star Wars since the money keeps rolling in and the sound of the cash registers must still be chiming in corporate’s ears. They lucked out on that one considering that enough people still love the franchise that they can sit back and watch the dollar signs roll in considering that the movies and the merchandise are bound to rake in the cash. But with new stories, at least new to the screen, like Artemis Fowl it’s going to be a touch and go kind of situation at first since while a lot of people have likely read the books, there are still plenty that are going to be looking to see if Disney decided to follow anything correctly or if they pulled a Rian Johnson and just did their own thing. Oh yes, I did go there.
Follow Us
