July 19th, 2015.
It's been a bit of a dull 10 days since the premiere of "Ant-Man", although I did get down to London Film and Comic Con yesterday (and I snapped shots of both Christopher Lloyd and Michael J Fox between signings). But this morning was a tricky proposition : early morning Sunday animated premiere vs Sleeping in.
Here's how it went down.
They called it a "UK Gala" which typically means B- and C- Grade television celebrities and their kids show up. Fortunately my lower threshold for celebrities sits around G- or H-Grade..
Of the four (five?) mental states depicted in this movie, Disgust is probably the one that's second-in-command in my psyche these days. (Shout-out to GOVIA, the horrific train company I use).
"That's not a guest list! That's a shopping list!"
They're calling her 'Joy' but not everyone's feelin' it.
Our first arrival is unknown to me. (Also known as : nice jumper, not sure who it belongs to)
I also don't know who this is... but the hair is stunning and the kid came with licensed Merch.
Speaking of stunning hair..... I have no idea who this is, but I'm slowly gaining some sense of motivation to find out whose pixelated dress this is, and what voltage is required to get the hair looking like that.
"Here's the number of my hair-dresser. I'm not sure what he's going to be able to do for your bald friend, though.."
Once again, please feel free to tell me of the cultural significance of Bill Oddie. He shows up at numerous premieres but other than the time Jeremy Clarkson wore a mask of Oddie's face in the Nissan GTR vs Bullet Train challenge, I have no idea who he is.
'Fear' gets another outing. If sadness is out there somewhere, she's probably drowning her sorrows with vodka in the upstairs bar.
Good news : I'm finally going to stop making the journal equivalent of smalltalk - a van has arrived and it's dispensed Amy Poehler and Pete Docter - both of whom have an actual connection to this film!
"Yes, I'm the voice of the character 'Joy' in the film. Anybody else got a f**king question??"
"Just kidding. I'm really glad to be here" Amy Poehler is best known for being in the TV show 'Parks and Recreation' which also unleased Chris Pratt upon an unsuspecting (and subsequently grateful) world...
"With this film they can also do a cross-over with Star Wars, Avengers... you name it! My accountant and I are very excited at the possibilities" I can't wait til Disney finds an intellectual property they can't buy. (Personally, I'm still open to bids for my comic creation Mike The Moose (C)2001).
'Disgust' and 'Fury' are snubbed in favour of stars posing elsewhere.
"Sequels, Prequels, Cross-overs and Reboots : we're not ruling out anything" - now that Disney have announced live-action adaptations of Jungle Book, Winnie The Pooh (!), Dumbo and Mulan to go with Maleficent and Cinderella, I personally can't wait to finally see Darkwing Duck on the big screen, flying an X-Wing and fighting Thanos in Avengers III.
While we ponder the horror of Disney owning every piece of western culture and stretching trademark and copyright protection to something just under the expected lifespan of the cosmos, here's a quick Art Interlude. (Enjoy!)
John Ratzenberger holds the rare (and very cool) distinction of having his voice featured in EVERY PIXAR MOVIE ever made. He's probably best known for being the voice of the piggybank Hamm in the Toy Story films.
I can't tell if this is sophisticated audiovisual equipment or a particularly advanced new form of crossbow.
"Name ALL the characters? Umm... Yeti in Monsters Inc, Underminer in Incredibles... one was called Mustafar... uh....?"
"You're right... I can't name all of John Ratzenberger's voices any more than I can name all of Pixar's movies." Everybody always forgets that Cars had a 'planes' spinoff...
Pete Docter (left) directed this film, as well as Pixar's "Up" and "Monsters Inc". I remember the premiere of 'Up' - it remains the only premiere I've been to where literally zero (0) cast members showed up. (Well... a large plush Korean Scout showed up... but that doesn't count)
"Bye! All hail our Disney overlords, and you'll be paying for the rights to name your children soon enough."
So.. that was a premiere. Next up? Mission Impossible 5 next Saturday. No doubt it will be very crowded, but until then at least I have another entry for my "Archive of Movie Premieres".
ps. if you want to know whenever I post a new premiere journal, feel free to follow me on twitter @berndt2_photo or on facebook at premieresdotco.