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Are the prequels too much like 'kiddie' movies?

Discussion in 'Star Wars Community' started by LeeKenobi, Nov 29, 2002.

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  1. LeeKenobi

    LeeKenobi Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 13, 2002
    It seems to me like the PT is becoming too much of a little kid's series.

    For starters, we have Jar Jar--a character made just for kids.

    We have toilet humor--farting animals, Jar Jar stepping in a pile of excrement.

    We have CG slapstick--The aforementioned Jar Jar's antics, Threepio getting tossed around in a droid factory.

    We have an anti-tobacco/drugs message: 'death sticks'....

    We have cartoonish CG characters: Jar Jar, Watto, Sebulba, Dex Jettster, whatever that thing was that screamed 'OH NOOO!' when Obi-Wan zipped past on a droid, etc. etc. etc.

    I mean, it seems like the target audience is little kids, and not the older fans.
     
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  2. lumberjedi

    lumberjedi Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 17, 2002
    Well, I would really say Dexter, Watto, and Sebulba were less for little kids, but a lot of the dialog seemed more directed at the younger audience. It also has to do that the chracters are a lot younger, such as little boy anakin in eppy 1.

    All you need is love!
     
  3. YodaJeff

    YodaJeff Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 18, 2001
    "I mean, it seems like the target audience is little kids, and not the older fans."

    :eek:

    You mean Lucas is actually making movies for the kids, and isn't just giving in to what the fans want to see?!?!

    The target audience should be children. Who was ANH made for? There were no fans prior to ANH. It was made to be a space epic, that was enjoyable for the entire family.

    The OT gave us Chewbacca, the big walking hairball.

    It also gave us Ewoks, cute little hariballs.

    Not to mention Yoda, a short little green guy with big ears.

    Oh yeah, there also was R2-D2 and C-3PO, talking machines.

    Let's not forget about the Jawas either.

    Sorry, but I think that all of the movies have had children as the target audience. I think the difference is that many fans have grown up and matured since the Original Trilogy came out, and they aren't able to see the Prequels through the innocent eyes of childhood.
     
  4. RangerPrincess

    RangerPrincess Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2002
    I think it was made for adults and children, so they have to even it out. What about the duel in AOTC? That was not a 'kiddie' moment. :p :p
     
  5. dArTh_wenley

    dArTh_wenley Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2001

    Star Wars has always been cheesey and in a lot of parts "kid like".

    The Prequels are getting too much slack! :p
     
  6. SaberGiiett7

    SaberGiiett7 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2002
    When Lucas was making TPM I don't believe he understood the backlash he'd get for its generally non-violent theme,Jar Jar,and the corny little Anakin.He wanted to introduce the new Trilogy to a younger audience but failed to please the old school fans.

    I believe he redeemed himself in AOTC. :)

    BTW --Not like I was around when the OT came out but this is the conception I got.
     
  7. goraptors

    goraptors Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2002
    "Sorry, but I think that all of the movies have had children as the target audience. I think the difference is that many fans have grown up and matured since the Original Trilogy came out, and they aren't able to see the Prequels through the innocent eyes of childhood. "

    Well I first the star wars trilogy when I was 13 years old (1993) and I absolutely loved it. It did not seem like a kids movie at all....especially The Empire Strikes Back.

    But you never saw these stupid little kiddie jokes in the OT as we do in the PT. The OT was much wittier in terms of the humour (Yes I am Canadian, that's how we spell humour).

     
  8. LeeKenobi

    LeeKenobi Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 13, 2002
    But you never saw these stupid little kiddie jokes in the OT as we do in the PT. The OT was much wittier in terms of the humour.

    Exactly. I thought it was funny enough to have Artoo tootle something, only for Threepio to warn him to watch his language.

    But apparently kids today only think something is funny if it involves 'poodoo' or a character doing something stupid (Jar Jar).

    EDIT NOTE--Nothin wrong with 'humour'. After all, that's how it was originally spelled.
     
  9. dinoX

    dinoX Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2002
    i was a kid when i first saw A New Hope (a few years after it came out, at age 3, which was over 20 years ago)...so what are you saying? When I have kids, they aren't going to have cool movies made for them? this thread has alot of negativity in it's purpose. :(

    *holds two thumbs down*
     
  10. jedi_master_ousley

    jedi_master_ousley Manager Emeritus star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2002
    I agree with you, Lee, because today's society is more perverted than it used to be. I don't want Star Wars constantly making referances to crap. And that's what little kids think is funny. A local radio station did a survey and they said that like 95% of kids under age 6 will laugh if you say "poop," even it isn't funny.

    I think by adding stupid humor like that, it makes the movies worse. AotC wasn't as bad as tPM, but the location of the humor was in a bad place. It doesn't need to be in the middle of the beginning of the Clone Wars. The Clone Wars are the beginning of the Empire and the fall of Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One. I think that although the 3-PO scenes were corny, they were more appropriate for Star Wars because they didn't involve crap. But I would have much rather them be somewhere else in the movie, or not have them at all. And I would take out the "Jedi Poodoo" line.

    As they said on ESPN's show, Pardon the Interuption, JackAss was the #1 movie in America for a couple weeks. That shows how intelligent our country is.

    If Episode III has any mentions at all of "poodoo" I am going to be very mad. It is supposed to be the most serious Star Wars movie, and I don't want the Anakin/Obi Wan battle ruined by a cut scene to Jar Jar stepping in some kind of body waste with a much to loud sound effect and then yelling "EWWW" It would ruin the whole movie.
     
  11. SLAVE2

    SLAVE2 Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    I think that all of the movies have had children as the target audience

    I agree, they are all "kiddie" films that adults can enjoy if they aren't to cynical about it.

    I remember a conversation with a friend recently where we were talking about films we loved, and after I said some he replied something like they were all films I would have seen when I was a kid, but I would think they suck now. I said I wouldn't think they sucked because I know they are for kids so I would never view them to be something they are not, and could always enjoy them.
     
  12. yodaschum

    yodaschum Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 9, 2002
    I agree. it seems George Lucas has alienated his original audience. I'm a 24 year old man. As far as I can see, GL has lost most of the fans like me and recruited a whole new group of fans, most of whom are very young pre-schoolers or kids up to the age of 10. Except Star Wars was tougher in my day. It was great film making; well directed, challenging, fresh, well written, funny, likeable characters. A prequel movie, just seems like an episode of The Tweenies, allbeit a very expensive one with lots of state of the art special effects.
     
  13. jedi scholar

    jedi scholar Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 1999
    Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with a lot of the opinions expressed here. I was nine when ANH came out and I remember that it was derided as a "kiddie movie" back then as well. By the time ROTJ arrived, I was in high school and the Ewoks were a little much even for an avowed teddy bear lover like myself, but I still loved the whole saga anyway. I guess I couldn't muster up enough teenage cynicism for SW--it had become a cherished childhood memory for me and snide remarks would've been unthinkable!!
    I have enjoyed the PT in part because I still appreciate movies aimed at a younger audience and because I have a child to share the experience with. Watching my daughter envelop herself in the GFFA has been a joy for me.
    SW has always been a trans-generational movie series---I think that this has been a large part of its appeal over the years. I don't really think that GL has changed his target audience--it's just that a lot of SW fans have gotten older (well at least chronologically)and tastes and perceptions often change over time.
     
  14. ST-TPM-ASF-TNE

    ST-TPM-ASF-TNE Moderator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 27, 2001
    All the SW films are kiddie movies. All the SW films are adult movies as well. That's the appeal. They all have something that's for everyone. I know there are people who say the PT is just for kids, but:

    - We many aliens drinking, along with Obi-Wan, at the bar in the Nightclub
    - Zam's arm is cut off
    - Anakin's arm is cut off
    - Qui-Gon is stabbed through the chest
    - Darth Maul is cut in half
    - Elan Sleazobaggano is a drug dealer. I don't recall too many "kiddie" films with drug dealers in them
    - Gungans are shot down in the Battle of Naboo
    - Jedi are shot down in the Battle of Geonosis
    - Obi-Wan is stabbed in the arm and knee
    - Shmi, an old woman, is found beat up and scarred
    - Many of the pilots during the Pod Race are killed or injured

    When people say the PT is for young kids, do they even acknowledge these parts? I don't see why this type of stuff is less graphic than what was seen in the OT.
     
  15. Shelley

    Shelley Jedi Youngling star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2001
    For starters, we have Jar Jar--a character made just for kids.

    So they would be entertained, because the plot of the movie wasn't kiddie at all.

    We have toilet humor--farting animals, Jar Jar stepping in a pile of excrement.

    We have one incident of each. Why is it that people are so fixated on those two incidents of toilet humor?

    We have CG slapstick--The aforementioned Jar Jar's antics, Threepio getting tossed around in a droid factory.

    Gee, and Chewie trying to get Threepio's head back from the pig guys who were playing keepaway with it (this was in the sainted ESB, btw) wasn't slapstick? Or was that OK because it wasn't CGI?

    We have an anti-tobacco/drugs message: 'death sticks'....

    Yeah, Lucas should've been encouraging kids to smoke and take drugs. *eye rolls*

    We have cartoonish CG characters: Jar Jar, Watto, Sebulba, Dex Jettster, whatever that thing was that screamed 'OH NOOO!' when Obi-Wan zipped past on a droid, etc. etc. etc.

    I don't even remember "that thing." Jar Jar was cartoonish, and I'd say Dex was too, but Watto and Sebulba? I don't consider them cartoonish at all.

    I mean, it seems like the target audience is little kids, and not the older fans.

    The target audience is, as always, kids. Yes, some elements of TPM targeted younger kids. But a heckuva lot of the elements of TPM didn't. The plot, for instance. The lightsaber duel, which ended in Qui Gon's death.

    All of the movies had some juvenile elements. When ANH came out it was derided as being too kiddie. Then when ESB came out it was derided as being too scary for kids. Then when ROTJ came out it, like ANH, was derided as being too kiddie.
     
  16. foxbatkllr

    foxbatkllr Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 27, 2001
    they said that like 95% of kids under age 6 will laugh if you say "poop," even it isn't funny.

    "poop" [face_laugh] [face_laugh] [face_laugh] [face_laugh] [face_laugh]

    LOL! Oh that's good stuff.
     
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