Peeve Farm

g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets

Brian Tiemann
Silicon Valley-based purveyor of a confusing mixture of Apple punditry and political bile.

btman at grotto11 dot com

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11/3/2003 -  11/9/2003
10/27/2003 -  11/2/2003
10/20/2003 - 10/26/2003
10/13/2003 - 10/19/2003
10/6/2003 - 10/12/2003
9/29/2003 -  10/5/2003
9/22/2003 -  9/28/2003
9/15/2003 -  9/21/2003
  9/8/2003 -  9/14/2003
  9/1/2003 -   9/7/2003
8/25/2003 -  8/31/2003
8/18/2003 -  8/24/2003
8/11/2003 -  8/17/2003
  8/4/2003 -  8/10/2003
7/28/2003 -   8/3/2003
7/21/2003 -  7/27/2003
7/14/2003 -  7/20/2003
  7/7/2003 -  7/13/2003
6/30/2003 -   7/6/2003
6/23/2003 -  6/29/2003
6/16/2003 -  6/22/2003
  6/9/2003 -  6/15/2003
  6/2/2003 -   6/8/2003
5/26/2003 -   6/1/2003
5/19/2003 -  5/25/2003
5/12/2003 -  5/18/2003
  5/5/2003 -  5/11/2003
4/28/2003 -   5/4/2003
4/21/2003 -  4/27/2003
4/14/2003 -  4/20/2003
  4/7/2003 -  4/13/2003
3/31/2003 -   4/6/2003
3/24/2003 -  3/30/2003
3/17/2003 -  3/23/2003
3/10/2003 -  3/16/2003
  3/3/2003 -   3/9/2003
2/24/2003 -   3/2/2003
2/17/2003 -  2/23/2003
2/10/2003 -  2/16/2003
  2/3/2003 -   2/9/2003
1/27/2003 -   2/2/2003
1/20/2003 -  1/26/2003
1/13/2003 -  1/19/2003
  1/6/2003 -  1/12/2003
12/30/2002 -   1/5/2003
12/23/2002 - 12/29/2002
12/16/2002 - 12/22/2002
12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
12/2/2002 -  12/8/2002
11/25/2002 -  12/1/2002
11/18/2002 - 11/24/2002
11/11/2002 - 11/17/2002
11/4/2002 - 11/10/2002
10/28/2002 -  11/3/2002
10/21/2002 - 10/27/2002
10/14/2002 - 10/20/2002
10/7/2002 - 10/13/2002
9/30/2002 -  10/6/2002
9/23/2002 -  9/29/2002
9/16/2002 -  9/22/2002
  9/9/2002 -  9/15/2002
  9/2/2002 -   9/8/2002
8/26/2002 -   9/1/2002
8/19/2002 -  8/25/2002
8/12/2002 -  8/18/2002
  8/5/2002 -  8/11/2002
7/29/2002 -   8/4/2002
7/22/2002 -  7/28/2002
7/15/2002 -  7/21/2002
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6/24/2002 -  6/30/2002
6/17/2002 -  6/23/2002
6/10/2002 -  6/16/2002
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5/27/2002 -   6/2/2002
5/20/2002 -  5/26/2002
5/13/2002 -  5/19/2002
  5/6/2002 -  5/12/2002
4/29/2002 -   5/5/2002
4/22/2002 -  4/28/2002
4/15/2002 -  4/21/2002
  4/8/2002 -  4/14/2002
  4/1/2002 -   4/7/2002
3/25/2002 -  3/31/2002
3/18/2002 -  3/24/2002
3/11/2002 -  3/17/2002
  3/4/2002 -  3/10/2002
2/25/2002 -   3/3/2002
2/18/2002 -  2/24/2002
2/11/2002 -  2/17/2002
  2/4/2002 -  2/10/2002
1/28/2002 -   2/3/2002
1/21/2002 -  1/27/2002
1/14/2002 -  1/20/2002
  1/7/2002 -  1/13/2002
12/31/2001 -   1/6/2002
12/24/2001 - 12/30/2001
12/17/2001 - 12/23/2001

Sunday, November 9, 2003
22:01 - Out with a bang	(top)
Brother Bear is the last animated feature film to come out of the venerable Buena Vista Blvd. ANIMATION building in Burbank, the one with the giant Mickey Mouse "sorceror" hat out front. The dream factory. The things that went on in that building were both good and evil; the stories of horror from within those walls were as legion as the stories of the magic that was created. But it's all gone now, the building off the 138 is closed, and the final product-- the last big-screen feature with the Aquinos and the Kuperschmidts in the credits-- is now in theaters. I just saw it, and it's a fine send-off. Now, I'm not saying it's the best Disney movie ever. I wish I could say I was surprised to see that it comprised such a Who's Who of misanthropic, nihilistic pablums-- there was even a "Why do they hate us?" segment right in the middle that gave me hives, almost as much as the Phil Collins soundtrack did, which was more needlessly cacophonic than even his Tarzan outing-- but I wasn't. I knew what to expect going in. And it didn't disappoint on that count. But then, there weren't many counts that it did disappoint on. This is, after all, still Disney-- and they know how to really pour it on in the final emotional scenes. The screenwriters did themselves proud. It's a very complex script-- not in the plot, but in the way it's engineered. Lots of little interwoven elements of song and dialogue and pseudo-montage, like in the "I don't like this story" scene. Very ambitious of them. It's also not as funny a movie as many of the recent Disney outings have been-- but the very last visual gag in the "outtakes" they stuck into the credits (not the bit after the credits, but the final actual "outtake") is absolutely astonishing. I don't know if I was just sitting there helplessly with my guard down after the final tear-jerking scenes, but something about that last gag had me honking with laughter over the entire rest of the credits as the parents herded their kids worriedly past me and toward the exits. Word is that the upcoming Home on the Range will be Disney's last 2D animated feature ever, the decision to move exclusively to 3D hinging on the success (or failure) of Brother Bear. Now, I'm not one to stump for the company taking actions that are known to be money-losers when they've got stockholders depending on them; if people just aren't dumping the bucks into the box office the way they used to, I'm not going to tell Disney they have to just suck it up and operate at a loss because it's their "duty" to produce classical 2D features. I could maybe ask for reality to be a little different; after all, everybody said they wanted Disney features to involve more "adult" humor and less kiddie content, and they delivered with Lilo & Stitch and The Emperor's New Groove and the like, movies that are definitely a pinnacle in the adult-level enjoyability of Disney films... but they were box-office disasters. Who knew? Sure, it sounded good on paper to write movies that appealed to everybody, and the products were fabulous... but their non-traditional, non-formulaic, non-merchandisable natures appear to have killed Disney. So enjoy Brother Bear... for all its saccharine emotional grandstanding and its musical vapidity and its cellophane-wrapped romanticization of primitive human life and its uncharacteristic bloodlessness (recent Disney films have even been fairly gory by comparison), you'll never see its like again. Godspeed to a great Hollywood phenomenon, now a thing of the past.