Channel Awesome
A look at the mess-terpiece sequel of a classic.
See the original review here – http://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-the-secret-of-nimh-2/
Tagged with: channel awesome doug walker movies nimh nostalgia critic nostalgia critic real thoughts rob walker the secret of nimh 2
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It’s kind of a shame they didn’t make the movie based on the book’s actual sequel (which was actually written by the author’s daughter). Timmy is the main character of that book too, along with Jenner’s son and was a pretty intriguing story.
The sequel novel: http://www.amazon.com/Racso-Rats-NIMH-Leslie-Conly/dp/0064402452
Rob, you should read Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. It’s about a prophecy which (Spoilers) ends up not being true and someone else (who is not the chosen one) has to step in and fix everything.
I actually started a webcomic (and then failed at continuing said webcomic, because life) that was exactly in response to the stupid prophesy/chosen one stories. It’s called No-Show Hero, and it started with super cliche foundation story elements to then purposely upend them. Peaceful kingdom, gentle people, big invading evil army, and there emerges a prophesy of a hero who will wield a magic weapon and show up to defeat the big bad and save them all. And they just keep waiting for the hero to emerge, right up until the evil army invades, the country is overrun, and clearly the prophesy was wrong. That’s all the set-up. And then the actual story begins 35 years later and is about the guy who was supposed to be the hero, who lives way on the outskirts of the kingdom and never knew any of this was happening. Another character finally gives him a reason to leave home and travel across the kingdom, where he then sees the fallout of the evil invasion and has to realize that his instinct to save them and be a hero is now unwelcome and unbelievable, etc. I wish I had the energy to continue it.
Outside of that project, though, what I’ve always wanted to see is an original story where there’s a throne, or a hero position, or a role that would be “chosen one” in another story, but instead of one character fated from the get go, you’re given half a dozen to root for, no clear bad candidates, no standouts, and you really don’t know who will end up in that role. I *guess* you could say that’s what the Game of Thrones series is doing, but the characters and world building in that are almost too complex. There’s the iron throne, but that’s only one country, a country that’s bitterly divided at that, in a world of dozens of countries with their own thrones, with no clear “hero/savior/rightful king” slot to eventually be filled. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Being able to wonder for the majority of the movie who was gonna be the chosen one? I’d rather that than the millions of “prophesies” we have driving stories now.
If there was an actual movie called “Terminator 2: John’s Adventure”, there would pretty much be immediate disappointment and outrage.
Episode 38, “The Test,” of Steven Universe actually touches on what you’re talking about, Doug.
isn’t Kung Fu Panda a good chosen one story? maybe it helps that from what I can tell, only certain things are fated in that universe.
I think you may have answered your own question (then again, goodness is subjective), since while Po is the fated Dragon Warrior he proved himself to be worthy of that title by not focusing on being said Warrior, but trying to be being a good person and a great Kung Fu practitioner.
I never saw either of the Secret of NIMH movies as a kid. Titan A.E. and Land Before Time were my Don Bluth movies as a kid. I actually need to get on seeing the first one. I don’t mind prophecy stories. I like the Ender Game movie and Terminator: Genysis (then again, Terminator: Genysis is the only Terminator movie that I’ve seen) though. Also, I would watch TMZ if it wasn’t so mean-spirited about celebrities. I like celebrity news but be nice about it, you know? That is all.
Wow when you brought up that they replaced mrs.frisby with timmys statue i was so peev’d off
in my mind (and I’m glad to see you guys agree with me on that one). I looked up if don bluth had watched the secret of nimh 2 or not but on one site it said that it was made without dons consent or input but on imdb it says benny coleman and don bluth directed it(which is a lie since it was totally made without him). Also i hope harry potter fans are mad at you cause you haven’t seen the movies or read the books!
Also doug i don’t watch tmz since its really stupid and your right about it glorifying celebrities. To get my celebrity news, i listen to the z morning zoo which is a radio station that plays hit music and rap. I also used to watch dish nation (but stopped because i didn’t like watching five episodes in a week but really want to watch it again but i think you should watch it way better then tmz).
Doug has watched the Harry Potter movies, he just doesn’t like them as much as other people.
Do real thoughts on Neverending Story II and III~
When you guys broke down the “Chosen One” cliche I totally get where you’re coming from. I saw “Matrix” for the first time last year and I wanted to f***ing punch Neo for being the self-insert tool that he is. (There were other little reasons I detested that movie, but that was the bottom line.)
I’ve been re-watching the Potter movies recently, and while the first one is a bit of a nostalgia classic for me, the funny thing is I don’t think I ever really cared for the kid characters that much. The adult characters were always more engaging, I figured they led far more interesting lives, and I wanted to know more about them (even if they made stupid mistakes or their actions were too convenient or contrived).
You guys should check out “A Very Potter Musical” on Youtube. It’s one of those parodies that clearly has a love for what it’s satirizing, but it’s smart enough to realize what’s wrong with it. (They especially make fun of Dumbledore making a lot of terrible decisions and it is hilarious.)
please do once upon a forest, pagemaster and swan princess please.
I too would like to see real thoughts on the Swan Princess. I want to see your reaction to being crucified for dissing the villain song, which is the only other good thing about that damn movie (aside from the opening, which you’d already talked about)
If you want a story where the prophecy and the chosen on idea has a huge twist, check out the Mistborn books by Brandon Sanderson
I could get into a “Spirited Away” sequel… if Hayao Miyazaki was the one doing it, and it didn’t get passed off to someone else to do.
In Harry Potter’s defense, the later books do show how that “you are the chosen one” treatment screwed him up emotionally.
Was Harry ever a ‘chosen one’? I seem to remember he was described as ‘The Boy Who Lived’, but I don’t recall there being any great prophecy surrounding him (please correct me should I be wrong).
During her job interview at Hogwarts, Sybill Trelawney foresaw someone destroying Voldemort. It was never specifically stated that it would be Harry Potter. Many believe that the prophecy could have just as easily been referring to Neville Longbottom, and that Voldemort in a way chose Harry as the one to stop him when he killed his parents and tried to kill him.
I can sum up why they didnt build a statue for Mrs Brisby in 2 Words! Male Academia.
Strangely enough, I grew up watching both Secret of NIMH and it’s sequel. Even as a kid, though, I always preferred the original; I was far more interested in Mrs. Brisby and her story than I ever was in Timmy.
Love to hear your real thoughts on Free Willy, Patch Adams, Odd Life of Timothy Green, Pearl Harbor, Les Miserables, Devil, The Lorax, After Earth, The Purge, Princess Diaries 2.
It’s interesting that you talk about wanting a prophecy in a story where it’s wrong or the chosen one screws it up because that has happened in a webcomic.
In the webcomic “Guilded Age” there’s a character called Payet Best who is an elf. There are there types of elves in the series wood, sky and elves who can’t use magic (nicknamed Shit-elves) He’s a Shit elf that is prophesied as saving the world from an early age and it basically goes all to head.
Because of this he develops a major ego and spends most of his time living it up like a rock star (which makes sense as he is actually of the Bard class and even uses an Axe that’s a guitar) and having sex with women who want to sleep with him because he’s the chosen one.
In the end he never actually does any thing important because he’s too busy being an ass and pays for it.
There’s more to it of course, but that would be spoilers.
A Terminator sequel where the great character, Sarah Connor, is ignored and we see the terrible misadventures of her sniveling son?
You mean Terminator 3, right? I don’t blame you for forgetting that one though. Anyone who’d seen it would like to wipe it from their mind.
Doug, you should really read Harry Potter. Not only is one of the main points of the story that being the chosen one SUCKS big time, the books also make a point that there are a lot of genuine prophecies which never came true. The only reason this one does is because Voldemort believes in it and tries to prevent and, and because Harry is the person he is.
And in other Don Bluth sequel news, the Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave is coming out next year.
And no, I am not kidding. There’s a trailer and everything. Universal must have been desperate to cash-in on the recent dinosaur craze.
I do feel the need to point out that in Harry Potter it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Voldermort creates his nemesis while trying to kill him from a young age and his many attempts to kill him in the ways he believed he had to helped Harry to become strong enough and give him the knowledge to defeat him. If Snape hadn’t overheard the prophecy and told Voldermort he may have won the war when Harry was still a toddler.
NIMH stands for The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Okay, so what do you guys have against Harry Potter? You’ve joked about how the series takes itself to seriously, that it needs to “lighten up” because its a magical fantasy, and yet you’re fine with LotR taking itself seriously or NIMH taking itself seriously, so what gives? And here you complain that the prophecy is about Harry becoming great when, even in the movies (that you saw) its literally a “either the villain kills you or you kill him” and it could’ve been Harry OR Neville. What’s with the lack of paying attention to details and, honestly, hypocrisy? And don’t tell me it’s because you’re of a different generation because that’s just an excuse.
Their problem is not so much that Harry Potter takes itself so seriously. They have a problem with Harry and his character arch, mostly consisting of everyone praising how great he will be and people who hate him for how great he will be. Otherwise, they seem pretty indifferent to it.
Doug has straight up said that the series needs to “lighten up, it’s magic” and I’d hardly say his friends, the Wesleys, Lupin, Sirius or Dumbledore loved him for how great he would be, not did Snape, the Malfoys, the Dursleys or most of Slytherin House hated for the same reason.
A Nostalgia Critic Halloween Extravanganza
Hello Mr Walker why don’t you do for a halloween a “nostalgia critic halloween extravaganza”? people “hate” when you do something new so why just you do something totaly diferent for a the estrucry of a normal episode and make more feel like a celebration that a actually review
Like riffs for halloween shorts and psa, review for bad and short halloween specials, skechts, and you could do it in a homage to gravity falls’s little shop of horrors
And you could bring back teddy ruxpin in that the pov is the only how sees it
A Nostalgia Critic Halloween Extravangaza 2: The Secret of the Ooze
PLEEASSEEE PLEEASEEE PLEEASEEE
I WOULD BE SO AWESOME¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
YOU COULD DO SO MANY THINGS WITH THE LIGHTING, THE CINEMATOGRAPHY,THE MUSIC, THE PUMKING JOKES
THE PUMKING JOKES, MAN, THE PUMKING JOKES.
A Nostalgia Critic Halloween Extravangaza 3: The Last Stand
you could do like a varity show like the you review a weird hallowen episode/special then a skecht then a couple of disneycember style review then you go to commecials the you do a fake comercial then you do a riff of a halloween short/psa and a review of a halloween commercial (have you heard of nick or treat say it three time fast to get it ) then i dunno think of the possibilities
I’m writing a novel about one of those “Chosen One/Prophecy Stories” but instead of everyone praising the main character when he didn’t do anything yet, most everyone is skeptical about him and it’s not rubbed in your face. In fact, even after he does some things, everyone is still skeptical a bit until the very end. The Chosen One stories can be good if it’s done right and especially done realistic. When I imagine something like this happening, I do imagine a lot of people being skeptical because that’s how the real world works. There’s gonna be a lot of people doubting things or not like the person “chosen for greatness”. It’s like why should we think a person is great if they haven’t done anything to prove this and that’s what my main character goes through. And like even those that support my main character, don’t tell him he’s destined to do great things, but at least encourage him to do his best because they can only expect so much of one person. Doug also makes a great point. Justin Bieber, is one of those dang people that get all the hype too early and then their lives starting going down hill. It is unhealthy for people at that age especially to receive such hype at an early age of their life. JB I think wouldn’t have been so bad, if he had just not get the hype he got at such a young age, but he did and he ended up starving for attention, doing the most possible things he could do to gain attention. It’s kinda sad (Though I don’t feel sorry for him completely because of what he’s become.)
One of my favourite ‘chosen one’ plots remains the plot of the game “Morrowind”, mostly because it’s a massive deconstruction of prophecy, where you actually meet several who failed the prophecy, and thus weren’t the chosen ones. But they didn’t fail because they weren’t the chosen ones, they weren’t the chosen ones because they failed. And by succeeding, you *become* the chosen one. You aren’t the chosen one, you are one who can become the chosen one. And it’s just a much more interesting idea than “Because destiny says so”.
What about a story where the so-called “chosen one” goes insane from all the pressure of living up to this great prophecy, and is stopped by some random person.