Talk:Rock & Rule

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Film Portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Films. This project is a central gathering of editors working to build comprehensive and detailed articles for film topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale. ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the priority scale.
Editing Guidelines Please remember these guidelines when editing a film article: If a non-film article already exists with the name of the film that you are trying to create an article for, disambiguate and use (film) in the title: Film Title (film) For more information see: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films) When writing an article about a particular film, the general format should be a concise lead section, followed by a plot summary of no more than 900 words, production details, a cast list, a reception section, and references. Create an Infobox that tells all pertinent information about the film.
Additional Information: This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-Class status: Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar: not checked Supporting materials: not checked To fill out this checklist, please add the following to the template call: <!-- 1. It is suitably referenced, and all major points are appropriately cited. --> |B-Class-1=yes/no <!-- 2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain major omissions or inaccuracies. --> |B-Class-2=yes/no <!-- 3. It has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content. --> |B-Class-3=yes/no <!-- 4. It is free from major grammatical errors. --> |B-Class-4=yes/no <!-- 5. It contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams. --> |B-Class-5=yes/no Related task forces (nations and regions): Canadian cinema task force

Legal trouble with Mick Jagger over the Mok Swagger character is cited in the included booklet in the Rock & Rule Collector's edition dvd release by Unearthed Films. Its talked about in an interview with Nelvana staffers that worked on the film. No idea if that's enough to meet wikipedia standards but that is where its mentioned. --71.114.168.163 03:13, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Production and Release

I worked on the film from 1980 to 1982 and have first-hand knowledge of what went on but do not have anyway to make citations compliant with Wikipedia policies. I am adding my thoughts here in the hopes that others can guide them being incorporated in the article properly. The Production and Release section currently reads:

Rock & Rule was Nelvana's first animated feature film, as well as the first of its kind to be produced entirely in Canada. The film spent several years in production and underwent many changes from the original concept, which was titled Drats! and aimed for children. The cost of production, $8 million in studio resources, nearly put Nelvana out of business.

Surprisingly, the animation was of high quality for the era (it began production in 1978), and the special effects were mostly inventive photographic techniques, as computer graphics were in their infancy. Computers were used to generate only a few images in the film.

There are a number of factual errors in this text. The primary "problem" as specified in the sentence "The film spent several years in production and underwent many changes from the original concept, which was titled Drats! and aimed for children." fails to capture what was going on during production. The film was being written and re-written constantly while the production was fully staffed with a crew around 350. This was the primary cause of the cost overruns and release delays.

As far as the second paragraph is concerned, the quality of the animation was not at all surprising given the talent of the crew. By the late 1970's, animation had become a mature field with many skilled craftspeople. The production benefited from the fact that Frank and Ollie [two of Disney's 'wise-men'] were acting as guides and tutors.

The bar for state-of-the-art special effects at the time of production was set by George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic [ILM] who did the ground-breaking work on Star Wars. While I am working from memory here, and this would have to be verified by checking the films credit roll, Rock and Rule was the first outside contract undertaken by ILM and the high quality of the effects are the result. The limited computer-animation as seen in the on-screen characters in Mok's car, were, if not the first, one of the first usages of computer animation in a project of this kind - a fact that should be credited as highly "notable." What we were doing was completely new and ground-breaking for the time. Verne Andru 19:55, 23 April 2007 (UTC)