Disney

Me again --

First, let me say that I love Disney, I really do. Honest. I grew a Disney kid and I know far too much about the company, its movies, its parks, and the man himself for my own good. However, Im not so much into them that I cant call BS when I see it. Specifically, what appears to be Disneys inability to come up with original plots for their movies.
Im going to describe two movies I watched recently, and its going to be your job to tell me which movie is which. Simple, huh? Ok, lets see.....

1) Hot shot attempts to make his way to Hollywood where he hopes to become a bigger shot in his field, on the way he misses his exit and ends up in a small town where hes forced to stay an extended period of time before he can leave again and fears missing out on his big break. While hes there he meets and falls for a country gal and she shows him how life could be if he stayed there instead of going to Hollywood. Ultimately he ends up going anyway, finds out its not all its cracked up to be, and returns to the small town to be with the girl and live happily ever after.

2) A group of animals - including a lion, a giraffe, a hippo, and penguins - live at a New York zoo where one of them wishes to leave the caged confines and travel to far away places to see how real animals live. He escapes by getting into a container and placed on a boat. The rest of the animals follow after him. They all arrive on an island populated by a group of animals that sing and dance in choreographed routines to a catchy tune. The group disagrees amongst themselves, and eventually the lion is forced to make a stand against the bad animals, thus saving his friends and making everything right.

Figure em out? If you guessed "Cars" and "The Wild" then youre right. And youre also wrong. The first movie I described is also "Doc Hollywood" and the second movie is also "Madagascar." What? How? Huh?
See, thats my issue - Disney took the plot from two movies, changed very little, and made two brand new movies out of it. Theres no way you can watch "Cars" and not think youre watching an animated "Doc Hollywood." And theres no way you can watch "The Wild" and not think youre watching a ripoff of "Madagascar." Theres no originality.

Theres also the little known fact that such beloved Disney characters like Winnie The Pooh and his pals, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast... and on and on... werent even created by Disney. They just took the characters, changed a thing here and there, and viola... instant Disney classic.

And dont even get me started on "Kimba" and "The Lion King." Actually, just go HERE and read it for yourself.

Ive written too much tonight. Im hungry. So I bid you adieu.

-- DBW --