Originally posted by: ocpmovieInteresting theory from Jeffrey Gray, of one powerful exec's role in the whole mess.
Patrick and I have often discussed Jake
Eberts' role in the whole debacle. Consider:
-He was executive producer of both the WB and Calvert versions, sold
the
film to Miramax, and actually commended Miramax on what they did to the
film;
-He was the one who complained that there was too much Thief, that Tack
and
the Thief didn't talk, that there wasn't enough Tack and Yum-Yum stuff;
-He was also the one responsible for the gang-rape of The Magic
Roundabout
for the "Doogal" U.S. release, as Patrick tells me.
A film I didn't even bother to see at all, even though I was a bit interested in seeing how well they adapted the stop-motion figures to CGI and such (and had saw the original shorts on Nickelodeon 25 years back).
Also, some things Patrick and I sort of have inferred, assumed,
postulated, hypothesized (none of it is proven; some of it might not
even be
rumored):
-I formulated a hypothesis that it was Jake Eberts who wanted songs,
which
is why Williams wrote songs and stuff into the workprint;
-Patrick told me that WB actually liked what was coming out of
Williams'
studio, meaning that someone would have had to talk WB into dropping
the
film. I wouldn't be surprised if it were Jake Eberts.
-Apparently, someone was dissatisfied with the workprint Williams
delivered.
If WB was enthusiastic about the film (though maybe a little frustrated
at
the slow speed at which it was coming out), could it have been Eberts
who
wasn't? Think about it; it didn't have the songs or any of the stuff
that
someone (Eberts?) wanted Williams to add; if it were Eberts, could
Eberts
have basically "thrown a tantrum" because they were obviously so far
ahead
into production that the chances of them shoehorning his ideas in would
have
been next to nil?
-I speculated that Eberts had an idea of what he wanted when he
approached
Williams, so him trying to push his demands on Williams wouldn't be out
of
the question.
Jack the Middle Man strikes again!
-Eberts would have had a reason to facilitate Williams being thrown
off,
because only without Williams would he have gotten all the stuff he
wanted,
and did get in the Calvert version.
