#MOCKBUSTER

[rustybottlecap]

So back in 2021 The Asylum released Ape vs. Monster, their “response” to Godzilla vs. Kong. Say what you will about that movie, but I was AMAZED by the design of the titular monster, Gila, and was about to praise the hell out of them for it:

...but then it turned out they just bought the model from TurboSquid and so can you too (link in the source), it’s called “Dino Beast”:

So now they released a sequel to their movie, Ape vs. Mecha Ape, and the design of the titular Mecha Ape is also amazing. Suspiciously so.

I couldn’t find the model on TurboSquid, but I thought it looked familiar.

Searching for figures online where I live it’s very common to come across bootlegs, now more than ever with 3D printing technology, some people may get their hands on the file of a model someone else did and either sell the 3d printed figure or the file itself, most likely without the original artist’s knowledge. Add to that the popularity of Godzilla vs. Kong, wich featured a Mechagodzilla, and you come across stuff like this:

Meet “Mecha King Kong”, as online sellers call it. I assume they won’t call it “Mechanikong” because if you know who that is you probably will know this isn’t an official thing. I can’t find who the original artist is.

Now the bodies look completely different, but the head...

There are some differences, like the eyeballs, the forehead, the jaw, and the lenght of the “airvents”. But many of the details are so similar I simply can’t believe it’s just a coincidence:

Now, if the guys at The Asylum are one thing, it’s legaly savvy. There is a reason they’ve succesfully been in the mockbuster business for DECADES. I’m sure they didn’t steal an asset like these neobootleggers probably did, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the “Mecha Ape” and “Mecha King Kong” 3D models have a common origin somewhere down the line.

If there is something I take from all this unprompted cashing-in on robot gorillas, is that if the Godzilla vs. Kong sequel were to feature a robot Kong (Mechanikong or otherwise), audiences and bootlegers would welcome it with open arms.

(Also is this “Ape” fella going to be their new “Mega Shark”?)

[disneyboot]

Mockbusters!

[cutepawz98]

I asked my mom to buy me Silvanyan Families but instead i got Stomle Families

They're coming from China.

[memoryaqua]

It seems Saban was going to do a more blatant ripoff of Disney before wisely changing gears...

[brokehorrorfan]

Mega Ape will be released on DVD and Digital on September 12 via Wild Eye Releasing. The 2023 kaiju mockbuster is inspired by King Kong.

Dustin Ferguson (Nemesis 5: The New Model) writes and directs. It stars Jonathan Nation, Bai Ling, Mel Novak, Vida Ghaffari, Erik Anthony Russo, Traci Burr, and Tom Sizemore in one of his final roles.

The only special feature is the trailer, which you’re going to want to watch below.

A team of animal rights activists unknowingly release a genetically engineered ape from a top secret research facility, who soon grows to enormous size and embarks on a rampage of total destruction in Hollywood.

Pre-order Mega Ape.

[princess-ibri]

Did some redesigns of Disney Mockbuster characters to make them more high quality. A couple of Little Mermaids and an Anastasia in the middle (I guess that one’s a Don Bluth Knockoff x)

[moomingitz]

I watched the Golden Films adaptation of, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, during my childhood. It's no-assed resolution, where it reveals that the already just plain looking Quasimodo was actually a mega handsome looking dude all along, still comes completely out of nowhere just as I remembered it.

[princesssarisa]

Sleeping Beauty Spring: "Sleeping Beauty" (1991 Golden Films animation)

In the '90s, Golden Films was one of the chief producers of direct-to-video animated "mockbusters" – knockoffs both of the latest hit films and of older classics by Disney and other studios. Well I remember seeing their films on video store shelves in my childhood: their versions of Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (which notoriously changes Esmeralda's name to Melody and has Quasimodo lose his deformity in the end), and two versions each of Beauty and the Beast and Snow White. One of their films that I didn't discover until recently, however, is their version of Sleeping Beauty.

While the opening credits say "Adapted from a story by the Brothers Grimm," the plot of this Sleeping Beauty is really a cross between Perrault's version, the Grimms', and other adaptations. It opens like the Grimm's tale, with a frog assuring the Queen that she'll soon give birth to a daughter. But after the Princess is born, the story follows Perrault by inviting seven fairies (rather than twelve) to the castle. These fairies are tiny, giggly, slightly goofy winged creatures, four female and three male, who, like Disney's Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, serve as the main viewpoint characters throughout most of the story and provide comic relief. Their names are Hector, Wanda, Oscar, Jewel, Tinder, Cinder, and Lily. Meanwhile, the villainess is a flying sorceress (probably not a fairy, because she's human-sized) named Ursula, who, despite having a human flesh tone and wearing purple instead of black, looks and sounds like a screechy knockoff of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. She curses the Princess to prick her finger and die "someday, when you least expect it," but Lily softens the curse to a hundred-year sleep.

Although the King has all the kingdom's spinning wheels burned, the fairies still worry about Ursula and resolve to never let the Princess out of their sight. A comic montage follows, where the lively, playful Princess gives her fairy "babysitters" more trouble than they bargained for. But eventually, Lily makes the mistake of playing hide-and-seek with the Princess, and of course while looking for a hiding place, the Princess finds Ursula disguised as an old woman with a spinning wheel. After sadly laying their daughter to rest in her bed, the King and Queen are put to sleep in their own bed by the fairies, who go on to freeze the rest of the castle in place, sometimes in the middle of comical moments, a la the 1955 German film.

A hundred years pass, and during that time, thorn bushes – which grow naturally on the castle grounds, and which the King was shown complaining about in an early scene – grow into a forest of briars around the castle. Many princes try to fight their way in, but all fail. (Without dying, however – they're shown leaving afterwards). But eventually, the right Prince arrives. Ursula tries to stop him from reaching the castle, first by trying to drown him in a river, then by bringing trees to life to attack him, and then by blocking his way with walls of briars. But each time, the fairies thwart her with their magic. Then a chime of bells signify the end of the hundred years – at this point, Ursula has no more power to stop the Prince, and she vanishes in a rage. The Prince kisses the Princess, everyone awakens, and a royal wedding is celebrated, with the King and Queen remembering to invite Ursula this time.

As a whole, this is a reasonably charming Sleeping Beauty for young children – colorful and lighthearted, without the emotional depth or artistry of other versions, but not offensive either. The animation is far from sophisticated, but neither is it ugly. The same can be said for the musical score, which in classic "mockbuster" fashion, ends with a pop song, "Love Has Opened Your Eyes," over the closing credits. One interesting visual detail is that unlike in most versions, the Princess seems to age slightly in her sleep, as her appearance changes from childlike to more womanly. (Her dress also changes from pink to blue and yellow – did the fairies have a Disney-style color battle during the hundred years, I wonder?) The voice cast is uncredited, but from my knowledge of '90s cartoons, I'm almost certain that the tiniest fairy, Jewel, is voiced by Kath Soucie, and that Rob Paulsen voices Oscar, the chubby male fairy.

Not an essential Sleeping Beauty, but worth seeing.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @thealmightyemprex, @faintingheroine, @paexgo-rosa, @reds-revenge, @comma-after-dearest, @the-blue-fairie, @thatscarletflycatcher, @themousefromfantasyland

[penguinofspades]

Day 12: Least favorite adaption

Any of the low quality rip offs clearly just trying to coast off the success of the Disney version like Video Brinquedo's version.

[potato-head-kids]

Random writing prompts:

1. a character who’s really bad at cooking decides to make pudding because it’s “easy”

2. you work for the Asylum now (the movie company that made Sharknado and stuff)! write a basic pitch for a rip-off of your favorite movie

More to come when we think of any lol

[lakefoundtheirexit]

BEN SHAPIRO of all people leading the mockbuster renaissance was not on my 2023 bingo card but here we are

[rustybottlecap]

The Asylum is releasing an animated Little Mermaid movie, just saw the trailer. I would bet a lot of money that it was made through AI. Something about how they move feels wrong in a very different way to others bad low budget cgi animated movies.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Megalodon implies the existence of microlodon, which I picture as a swarm of sharks either the size of piranhas or those little Amazon fish that swim up your urethra, whichever would make a better syfy channel/asylum movie.

[memoryaqua]

Saban was going to be a lot less original with their mermaid and prince.

[thelowerdecker]

Pure Quality Man! XD