ALL SCI-FI

[Krel]

Poor Tiny Ron had a problem. While in the Lothar makeup, people would avoid him at meals, giving him a wide berth, and wouldn't even talk to him. They solved the problem by pinning one of his publicity photos to his costume, people would then associate with him.

Dave Stevens' model for Betty was his then wife, Brinke Stevens. She told how for the piece where Betty is bound and gagged over the Rockteer's shoulder, he put her in costume, bound and gagged her, then draped her over the sofa. The look on her face was because he was taking too long to take the photo. He loved her glare so much, he put it in the art.

Brinke Stevens has an interesting history herself. She was a Marine Biologist for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She got kicked out for doing "forbidden research". Dave Stevens was her college sweetheart. Unfortunately, the marriage only lasted six months. She got into modeling and acting after being seen in costume contests at conventions.

David.

[Custer]

This picture of Brinke Stevens must be from about that time, taken at a San Diego Comic Con cosplay event...



As she was born Charlene Elizabeth Brinkman, it's nice that she retained the surname from her marriage to Dave, her college sweetheart... maybe he called her "Brinke"?

[Bud Brewster]

[Bud Brewster]

[Bud Brewster]

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Do rocket packs / jet packs sound too good to be true?

Yes, they do. But that doesn't mean they're impossible. Take a look at these videos.

Please take note of all the engineering challenges which were solved — including the one about how it seems like a jet pack ought to roast the wearer's ass and set his pants on fire!

___________Royal Marines Jet Suit Boarding Ex


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____________________ Latest Flight Testing


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_____________ Paramedic Mountain Response!


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_______________ Maldives Jet Suit Adventure!


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Another awesome version of the Rocketeer!

_________________Jetman Dubai Takeoff - 4K


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

[ralfy]

"‘The Rocketeer’ Making A Comeback On Disney+ With David Oyelowo Producing & Circling To Star; Ed Ricourt Penning"

https://deadline.com/2021/08/the-rocketeer-movie-disneydavid-oyelowo-1234824453/

[Bud Brewster]

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Here's a few more interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ Dave Stevens, the writer/artist of the original graphic novel, gave the film's production designer Jim Bissell and his two art directors his entire reference library pertaining to the Rocketeer at that time period, including blueprints for hangars and bleachers, schematics for building the autogyro, photos and drawings of the Bulldog Cafe, the uniforms for the air circus staff, and contacts for locating the vintage aircraft that were to be used.

Stevens remembers that they "literally just took the reference and built the sets".

Note from me: I admire the Disney people for going to so much trouble to connect the movie with the highly respected comic book.

~ The movie was originally was supposed to be preceded in theaters by a Roger Rabbit cartoon called "Hare in my Soup". Unfortunately, the cartoon was never made.

Note from me: I guess this was no tragic loss, since none of the Roger Rabbit cartoons offer the kind of clever humor which the classic Tex Avery cartoons did. The Roger Rabbit cartoons are just one long parade of horrendous accidents that Rogersuffers.

And frankly, that gets old rather quickly. Here's an example.

________ Trail Mix-Up - Roger Rabbit Short [HD]


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~ The decision to cast Billy Campbell as Cliff Secord caused mixed emotions amongst Disney executives. Joe Johnston and Dave Stevens believed Campbell was perfect for the role, but Disney wanted an A-list actor. Johnston eventually convinced Disney otherwise.

Note from me: I'm pretty sure the movie wouldn't have done better with a well-known (over-paid) actor playing Cliff. I think the reason the movie was not a big hit is because the public simple doesn't appreciate this kind of imaginative fantasy.

They believe it's too far removed from the "real world" — so they withhold their "suspension of disbelief". It's just a sad indication of our flawed culture.

The real Dog Café (the café shaped like a Bulldog) was built in 1928 on West Washington Boulevard, but destroyed by weather in the mid 1970s. A replica has been a part of the "Streetscape" in the Petersen Automotive Museum since its opening in 1994.

Note from me: It certainly wasn't a place you could go to with large group of friends!





~ Disney had a special mechanism built especially for this film. Called the "Shaky-cam", it was designed to be the exact opposite of the "Steady-cam", that is, to introduce vibrations into the picture. This was used in the scenes filmed inside the Zeppelin to give the impression of the power of the engines. When the movie went to video, the effect didn't transfer too well, and was therefore steadied.

Note from me: I really dislike the whole "hand-held camera" craze that Hollywood has been into for years. It's often overdone, and it can be very distracting.

~ After The Rocketeer escapes from the South Seas Club, there was a sequence in the script when Eddie Valentine and his men give chase and they have a fight with The Rocketeer at the Grauman's Chinese Theater.

The Rocketeer rescues a lady from falling, then lands in wet cement outside the theater, leaving his footprints in the cement before taking off again. The lady he saves signs the footprints as "Rocketeer."

There are conflicting accounts of whether this scene was filmed, but it did wind up in the comic-book adaptation of the film.

Note from me: This is a cute sequence, and perhaps director Joe Johnston could have done it so cleverly that it wouldn't seem too contrived — but it would be a real challenge to do so.

~ During filming, the scenes involving Jenny with Neville Sinclair (as background in the dueling scene and when they are dining at the South Seas Club) followed each other in the shooting schedule.

If you look closely, Jennifer Connelly has a sty in her left eye that a doctor had to lance, so that the schedule would not be disrupted.

Note from me: There's only one thing a person can say in a situation like this.

"Ouch!"

~ James Horner's Disney music debut. He would later do music for Mighty Joe Young and Bicentennial Man. Coincidentally James Horner was a pilot just like Cliff in the movie.

Note from me: Unfortunately Mr. Horner died when his private plane crashed.

~ While filming, Bill Campbell (Cliff Secord) and Jennifer Connelly (Jenny Blake) began a romance. They later became engaged, but broke the engagement in 1996 after having been together for five years.

Note from me: In Hollywood, five years practically constitutes a Golden Anniversary!

~ Talk of a live-action remake of The Rocketeer first made the news in 2016. In November of 2019 Disney unveiled a CG animated series for children on its kids streaming service.

Note from me: I presume this is a promotional short for that series.

____________ The Rocketeer 20th anniversary


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

From Wikipedia:

The Rocketeer creator/artist/writer Dave Stevens, along with film writers Danny Bilson & Paul De Meo considered originally to make the movie as a low-budget film, shot in black & white and funded by independent investors.

The climax was originally to have involved a submarine before it was rewritten to take place on a Nazi Zeppelin.

Over the course of pre-production Disney fired and rehired Bilson & De Meo three times. The script went through numerous revisions.

Sherilyn Fenn, Kelly Preston, Diane Lane, and Elizabeth McGovern were all considered for the role of Jenny.

Sidebar: All beautiful women. However, Sherilyn & Elizabeth would have been the best casting choices had Jennifer Connelly not accepted the role.

The movie was shot from September 19, 1990 to January 22, 1991.

Filming went 50-days over schedule due to weather and mechanical problems.

Disney was not enthusiastic to have Dave Stevens involvement in the project. Dave was on set from morning to night every day. "I had to fight to prove I was there for the benefit of the film and not my own ego" said Stevens.

Budget went from the initial $25,000,000 to $35,000,000 .Once Disney executives saw early footage they realized that this was an exciting movie with great potential and it required a budget increase, so the budget was never one of those out of control situations as it had been approved by Disney.

The abandoned World War II runway at Santa Maria, California airport served as the fictional Chaplin Air Field in the film.

Additional scenes were shot in Bakersfield, CA.

The circus scene had 700 Santa Maria extras for the crowd and 25 vintage aircraft.

Disney wanted to change the Rocketeer's helmet design completely. President Michael Eisner wanted to go with a straight NASA-type helmet. Director Joe Johnston threatened to quit the production over this issue.

Disney relented only after a number of prototypes designs were created.

Dave Stevens asked Johnston for one week to produce a good helmet design. The final design by Stevens is, in most respects, identical to the one he created for his comic book series.

Sidebar: Thank heavens. Eisner's idea would have been terrible compared to that marvelous "hood ornament" used in the movie.

Noted makeup designer Rick Baker created the Rondo Hatton-inspired prosthetic makeup for henchman Lothar played by Tiny Ron Taylor. Taylor appears in the film without his Lothar makeup in the scene with the two farmers as they watch the Rocketeer flying over their field and into a clothesline.

ILM provided the special effects. Stop-motion-animation was utilized in some flying scenes using go-motion in order to create a no-blurring effcet.

The Nazi Zeppelin scene in the finale took four months to shoot at Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia, CA.

The Zeppelin special effects explosion cost $400,000 to do.

The Rocketeer was intended as part of a trilogy like the Indiana Jones films. However, disappointing box office returns ended that plan.

Sidebar: If ever a fine film deserved a franchise it was The Rocketeer. What a shame the public did not turn out in large numbers to make the movie the massive hit it so deserved to be. It does now have a cult following and is seen as a terrific movie that just wasn't appreciated as it should have been in its day.

[Bud Brewster]

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It seems to me that Hollywood and television studios think that they have to make a big profit on the movie in it's initial release or the production is a failure.

Apparently they don't realize that when something is good, it will continue to make money for the producers if it's long-term marketing is handled well.

Consider the fate of The Wizard of Oz. It wasn't a big hit in 1939. But now, 83 years later, there are annual events which feature theaterical showings of the movie to sell-out crowds. Annual sales of DVDs and BDs are a very healthy cash cow for MGM. Merchandising bring in a pretty penny as well.

My point is that filmmakers let the public's response to a production when it's first released determine how much it's worth. But that's stupid!

It's about as dumb as a chef placing a steak dinner in front of man who just finished a big meal and saying, "Here, eat this."

If the man doesn't want it . . . the chef concludes that he's a lousy cook!

The success of a film at the time of it's release depends on a long list of variables. If everything it just right, the movie is a success. A good example is Star Wars: A New Hope. The time was right, the movie was something new and wonderful, and the world lapped it up.

But if too many of the conditions are wrong, the film is deemed a failure — even if it should have been a hit.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Another issue is the whole film franchise mentality. While a studio can produce a terrific movie, it doesn't mean that the film needs any sequels. The film in question may have simply told its one story and that's all there is to it.

To continue milking it in further films is only profit-based and not artistically motivated.

Now I do believe that The Rocketeer did have more stories to tell, but as we all have experienced with sequels, the succeeding films can go downhill in quality regarding the writing.

[Gord Green]

BUD SO SAGELY UTTERED:

[Bud Brewster]

[Bud Brewster]