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NEWS: Lawsuit Launched over Proposed Live-Action Voltron Film


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Tomibiki



Joined: 08 Jul 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:38 pm Reply with quote
But Voltron sucks, so it has to be remade!
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Tempest
I Run this place.
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:40 pm Reply with quote
fighterholic wrote:
In other words, both parties are too big-headed to settle this out of court and actually clarify what each party's contracts say.


Not willing to settle or unable to agree, yes.

But...

I really can't think of any contractual lawsuit in history that wouldn't be covered by the above.

Lawsuits happen because parties can't agree.

-t
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:32 pm Reply with quote
Now the Harmony Gold haters can see some real bs from an American licensor. This is one of the few times Toei's in the right. Sorry, WEP, but if WB has to pay FOX for the Watchmen movie[And it owns the effing comic!], your arses have to pay for the Voltron movie.

Hunter:
Quote:
Ahhh. Another happy victim of Japan's crazy copyright and licensing laws.


This has nothing to do with their laws as much as getting their financial compensation for their property, plain and simple.

Anyway, they already did a Voltron movie. In fact, two of 'em. Rolling Eyes

Karma: Yeah, Voltron's dumber than DB, but I still wouldn't like the idea of them turning it into The Warriors. Oh, and Speed Racer isn't a bomb yet, since it probably made its money back on dvd and cable.
Finally, Japan steals too; the problem with Hollywood is that it still makes whitey versions of Asian pop culture[See Tekkon Kinkreet and Memoirs of a Geisha] in an era where we elected a black guy as President.
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TheHTRO



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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:51 pm Reply with quote
I'm going with Toei on this one. WEP created "Voltron", but if it hadn't been for Golion and Dairugger, which Toei originally created, there wouldn't have been any "Voltron" in the first place (plans to initially use Mirai Robo Daltanius, and plans to use Albegas for a third Voltron notwithstanding), so yes WEP should talk to Toei about it. WEP was clearly overstepping their "authority" (such as it is) here.

In any case--and I have to be frank here--I actually hope that this live-action movie never gets made. Briefly, the production values of the live-action Speed Racer movie essentially pretend as though Japan doesn't exist, and WEP's actions are, in my honest opinion, reflective of this attitude.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:51 pm Reply with quote
Sorry, but Toei has every right to sue for use of its property not specified in its contract with WEP. If WB has to pay FOX for the movie rights to Watchmen,[Even though the former company owns the effing comic.] then WEP needs to compensate Toei as well.

KarmaRocket: Speed Racer made most of its money back already. But anyway, they already made a Voltron movie. Rolling Eyes
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504NOSON2
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:30 pm Reply with quote
I really don't think it matters who's version came first,it's all an issue of
legal ownership of titles,such as the name "Voltron". Although,in My personal opinion,if a live-action version is produced... I'd much rather it be a Toei production. Cool
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MagusGuardian



Joined: 05 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:57 pm Reply with quote
well it's official originality is Dead
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EricDent



Joined: 28 May 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:56 am Reply with quote
Here is a question, who here has seen the original Beast King Golion? It is way better than the Voltron version was any day.

BTW speaking of mashed up anime shows, apparently the live-action Robotech movie is being written by the writers of Smallville...

The thing with Hollywood is that they see a growing popular trend (like anime/comic books/video games/TV shows/books/etc) and say "hey that is popular, lets make a movie about it". Of course sometimes it works, but most of the time the original version is always better.

Of course with most of these anime to live-action/CGI movies that are coming out, they are also going for the Nostagia factor, since most of the people who grew up with these animes are now parents, so they think that the fans of the shows will want to bring their kids.
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Unknown Memory



Joined: 15 Jan 2007
Posts: 155
PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:51 am Reply with quote
I already had it with Hollywood messing with Garfield, Alvin, and Scooby-Doo. I am at the point of not caring as to what else they've been doing. =_= Computer remade animated characters with story-telling that's only sub-par to down right miserable.. *sighs* *knocks head against wood many times* I hope 2-D animation, original stories, and good storytelling comes back one day. (Which, I hope Disney doesn't disappoint on that..)
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GATSU



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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:54 am Reply with quote
Unknown: I hear Scooby-Doo doesn't actually suck. Garfield and Alvin were really lazy, though.
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bglassbrook



Joined: 29 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:04 am Reply with quote
tempest wrote:
rocklobster wrote:
Wait, it was the Toei version that came first. If anything, Toei should be suing World EVents!
fighterholic wrote:

Yeah, I don't get what's going on with that. If WEP contracted with Toei for the American release, and then a third party is trying contract rights, then how exactly Toei is having to get the bad end baffles me.


WEP believes that, due to prior contract, it has the right to produce and/or sell the rights to produce a live-action Voltron. They believe that TOEI's actions have been incorrect and have cause WEP to lose revenue. Therefore they are suing to 1) get the rights cleared up so that they can continue with their plans 2) possibly get financial restitution for lost revenue.

Basically, the way WEP sees it is this, "TOEI sold us specific rights, and now they're interfering with our attempts to legitimately capitalize on those rights, so we're suing them."

The way TOEI sees it is "We sold WEP specific rights and those don't include the right to make a live-action movie. They should talk to us before proceeding."

-t

Is that what it said? The article read to me like:
1 - Toei "lightheartedly" threatens action over LA flick in congrat message.
2 - Publisher says "wait a sec, let's look into this a little deeper before getting the stuffing sued out of us"
3 - Publisher's more in-depth review turns up someone with an even higher claim than Toei
4 - WEP sues Toei, because it turns out their prior agreement to have the animation rights could get nerfed if this third party decided to get irritable ...
(5 - Publisher decides to drop this and quickly walk away, to go pursue a property that doesn't make their head hurt as much.)

... So this lawsuit does not have anything to do with the live-action rights, but came about as a result of rumblings in the live-action arena.
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Unknown Memory



Joined: 15 Jan 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:12 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
Unknown: I hear Scooby-Doo doesn't actually suck. Garfield and Alvin were really lazy, though.

Really? I've only seen parts of the second live action Scooby-Doo, but I could barely watch it. The first one must've been decent then. I've seen parts of Garfield and about 3/4ths into Alvin. It was really hard to grasp that they were in CG. (Plus, I felt Alvin and his brothers shrinked to real life chipmunk sizes doing choreographed pop dancing was pretty OOC for them. Edit: Although, that was intentional for the plot but still...)

*OOC = out of character
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:21 am Reply with quote
sykoeent wrote:
I have a better idea...
how about, instead of making crappy remakes or stupifying people's childhood, how about making something original? Is it that hard? Or is Hollywood just dumb now? There are a lot of other properties to jump start into a movie, and there are a lot of creators that could put the past to shame. Stop destroying our childhood and make something new!


Y'know, in Japan, many anime get their ideas from manga (sometimes the anime follows the manga, sometimes the anime does an adaptation of the manga). And occasionally, those ideas even get turned into a live-action adaptations.

The only obvious difference here is that the Voltron idea came overseas from a couple decades ago, while the Japanese "remakes" usually stay in Japan and occur within years. Otherwise, the subsequent adaptations are all still remakes. There's not much difference between an anime taking its cue from manga and a Hollywood movie taking its cue from an old anime. So don't be hypocrites; be consistent. Confused


KarmaRocketX wrote:

Voltron, which was an American creation made possible by senslessly hacking up and merging two different shows,


Well, not really. Sure, the 2 series were made to share the same name, and they tried to reference the other a few times within the series, but by and large, the two stories are still separate and self-contained. You could watch one without seeing the other and still treat it as a series on its own. This is not like Robotech here.


GATSU wrote:
Now the Harmony Gold haters can see some real bs from an American licensor. This is one of the few times Toei's in the right. Sorry, WEP, but if WB has to pay FOX for the Watchmen movie[And it owns the effing comic!], your arses have to pay for the Voltron movie.


Well, that really depends on what Toei signed away in the 2000 settlement. Normally, I would agree with you here, but who knows what Toei did in that settlement. Toei might had signed away something stupid. We don't know; that's for their lawyers to argue. At least hopefully, this matter can clear things up for both sides to move on.


EricDent wrote:

The thing with Hollywood is that they see a growing popular trend (like anime/comic books/video games/TV shows/books/etc) and say "hey that is popular, lets make a movie about it". Of course sometimes it works, but most of the time the original version is always better.


Well, that's what a lot of Japanese say about anime too: most of the time, the original manga version is better. But hey, the manga is popular, so let's make an anime about it! See, I could turn this argument around. Wink


GATSU wrote:
Unknown: I hear Scooby-Doo doesn't actually suck. Garfield and Alvin were really lazy, though.


Jinkies, at least Scooby-Doo made many nerds fall in love with Linda Cardellini's portrayal of Velma, of all people. Laughing


Last edited by enurtsol on Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:34 am; edited 1 time in total
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GATSU



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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:33 am Reply with quote
Sorry for the double post. There was some sort of glitch in the forum. Anyway.

enurtsol: I doubt Toei signed the rights to a live-action film, unless WEP actually thought that far ahead.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:39 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
Sorry for the double post. There was some sort of glitch in the forum. Anyway.

enurtsol: I doubt Toei signed the rights to a live-action film, unless WEP actually thought that far ahead.


Depends on how the settlement contract was worded. Many a North American anime company also thought the Japanese signed away the DVD rights back when DVDs were something new, but some Japanese companies saw it another way - that they only meant VHS rights and thus DVD rights had to be renegotiated (causing some titles to be delayed being released on DVDs). So hopefully, this little squabble clears things up for them and move on, instead of in limbo like Macross.
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