Goofy Joins Enchanted
How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre Short in Front of Disney Movie
Here's some news for those of you who were mulling over whether or not to see the hybrid live-action/animated movie Enchanted when it comes out this November 21st. Disney is attaching the Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre to prints of Enchanted when it hits theatres. And that appears to be a slam-dunk for the studio, which is resting its hopes for a cel animation revival on Enchanted's box office results.
Goofy, and Animated Theatrical Shorts, Return
How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre is a revival of the classic How to . . . theatrical shorts of the 1940's and 50's, in which Goofy comically struggles with a certain task while a voice-over narrator (in this instance, Corey Burton) offers sage advice. This time, the iconic cartoon character is trying to put together a home theatre system so he can watch The Big Game in the comfort of his own living room.
The Mouse House put some of its top animators to work on How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre, including Eric Goldberg, Andreas Deja and Mark Henn, under the supervision of Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton. Wermers-Skelton is also the first woman to ever co-direct a Disney cartoon.
Disney Copying Pixar (Copying Disney)
It's also an attempt by the Mouse House to bring back its storied theatrical shorts program. Taking its cue from Pixar (which, in so many other things, took its cue from Disney), the studio is once again placing animated shorts in front of their films.
The purpose of this is two-fold. First off, it adds value to the movie-going experience. Putting the Roger Rabbit short Roller Coaster Rabbit in front of Disney's 1990 film Dick Tracy helped make that troubled picture a modest hit. If Enchanted doesn't live up to its considerable promise, the inclusion of an animated short may help the flick go from bomb to break-even.
Secondly, the theatrical shorts program grooms up-and-coming animated talent for their feature-film debuts. This is crucial if Disney wants to retain its position as the Number One animated studio in Hollywood.
Home Theatre Getting Rave Reviews
Those who have seen How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre claim it's the funniest thing to come out of Disney Animation since the golden era of animated theatrical shorts.
"They nailed it," wrote Cartoon Brew's Jerry Beck, in his review. "How To Hook Up Your Home Theater feels exactly like a contemporary 1949 Goofy cartoon - and I can’t pay it any higher compliment than that. It’s the perfect film to start the new shorts program with."
“I haven’t seen Enchanted yet,” claimed one Disney insider to O-meon. “But if it’s not really great, this could be like the old days when people came to the theatre just to see the Mickey Mouse (cartoon).”
Even the notoriously tight-lipped Disney brass are digging this short like an old soul record, telling all and sundry, “You’re going to love it.”
So, will How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre save Enchanted? Or will it merely push what is widely expected to be a successful movie into a blockbuster? Find out when Enchanted opens November 21st.
