Movie Names

[MADDOG]

That new Jim Carey movie about the Grinch is on it's way to Australia. What is it called in the States? I heard it reffered to as "How the Grinch stole Christmas", but in Australia it is simply called "The Grinch". Have I fucked up? What's it called over there? And if it is different, any idea why?

I only know of one other movie where this has happened. That Nicolas Cage film about the 2 million dollar tip is called "It could happen to you" in OZ, but I think I remember hearing that it was called something else over seas. Is that right? Why on Earth would they do that?

MADDOG

 

[KillerMuffin]

Audience appeal. They figure a different title would appeal to you more than the one they used here. Dunno why.

I think they're calling it "The Grinch" here too. Its based off of something called "How the grinch stole christmas" but I don't think they took the name. Maybe one of the factors they have to watch over here is marquee space. If the title is too long, it won't fit on the marquee and well, we're not always bright enough to figure out what the shorthand version of it is. I've noticed that most movie titles here are relatively short.

 

[TN_Vixen]

Actually,

It's called: Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

 

[R Nitelight]

MADDOG

The working title of the Cage film was something along the line of 'Cop Gives Waitress Two Million Dollar Tip', which was the actual headline of the newspaper story that inspired the movie, but I think it was released only under the one title.

As for your other question, if you watch the television commercials, you would swear the title was JIM CARREY

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

The Cage movie title was changed because it didn't test well. Preview audiences didn't like it. So they came up with the dull "It could Happen To You".

They pre-test everything in Hollywood. Actors, titles, endings, etc. etc. Screenings for films have little cards and sheets for the audience to fill out,a nd for TV shows they often use the button thing. You watch a TV show on a screen and have one button to push for everything you like and one button to push for everything you don't like.

To be an audience member at a "test" you have to meet certain criteria (although they don't tell you this when they recruit you from in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre or from the long line at the CBS studios where people are trying to get into "The Price is Right".) You are asked to fill out some persoanl info first. If you don't meet the criteria your answers are tossed out. Here's what you CAN'T be: College educated. A Professional of any kind (laywer, doctor). In high corporate management. A resident of New York or California. An actor, director, writer, or in any way related to the field of entertainment. NONE of these people are listened to at all. They're not even considered.

So, it's your uneducated, lower class, salt of the earth, blue collar, Bible Belt or Midwesterners who end up influencing what goes on Must See TV or what to call the next Stallone flick.

I once lied so I could get into a screening of Star Trek: Generations. (I told them I was in Sales and worked in Oklahoma or something.) I went to the Paramount lot and saw the flick. It was pretty cool, because the film hadn't yet been scored, wasn't color corrected, and the special effects weren't finished (remember the scene when the Enterprise's saucer section crashed on the planet? You could plainly see the wires on the model! Too cool.)

Anyway, after the film I wrote my little comments -- and I swear to God my changes made it into the movie! Okay, maybe a few other people suggested the same things. But they only did one screening, and it was only 150 people. Still, I claim credit for little things like Picard's nephew ending up in the Nexxus sequence, and stuff like that that made the film more cohesive. (Why they didn't call me to fix the last film I'll never know.)

For those who care (and I know you Trekkers are out there), I saw the original ending, and it sucked. Malcolm McDowell shoots Shatner and he dies. That's it. No jump across the bridge, no chase around the rocks. MAJORLY anit-climactic. I knew they'd change that with or without anyone's comments.

So, if you're in Hollywood and you want to change the course of film history, walk over to Mann's Chines Theatre and look for the little guys with clip boards and tell them you sell tires out of your trailer in Alabama.

And bring a nubmer two pencil.

 

[Stormystarr]

I went to see the Grinch yesterday! I liked it, but the person who I went to see it with kept falling asleep and it pissed me off so much that I kept elbowing him in the ribs. I think he gave a pretty good show though, everyone behind us kept laughing at him, especially when he snored or his head started to roll from side to side.

How embarrassing for me.

 

[Latina]

The book and the classic cartoon are called How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The movie is called The Grinch, and its director is Ron Howard (yes, the same little Ronnie Howard from the 1960s Andy Griffith TV show, and the 1970s Happy Days). The movie contains a few scenes and dialog that are not in the book or the cartoon (such as explaining WHY the grinch hated Christmas, and Cindy Lou Who visiting the grinch's cave), but is nevertheless pretty faithful to the original story, and even uses some of the songs from the old classic cartoon.

Hope that clears up the confusion.

-- Latina

 

[Guest]