No, these are not Disney/Pixar products but something advertised on a Christian bookstore web site. My wife showed them to me from a flyer we received in the mail. As a Christian, this is quite embarrassing and is now time to smack my own.
Whatever happened to creativity? Taking characters from "Finding Nemo" and "A Bug's Life" and using them for a different purpose is despicable. I wonder if they received permission from Disney and/or Pixar to use the likeness of these characters. I sure hope so. Even if they did it is still really screwed up and shows the Christian Ghetto needs to get out more often. How about Christians get creative and create their own characters that are worth watching instead of taking the easy way and "borrowing" from something that really is well done?
Posted by Tim at April 21, 2004 09:51 PMI've spent 30 years in SF fandom. There I've heard the following quote multiple times:
"It's so shoddy, it's got to be Christian."
They say you can tell when a Business Fad is about to tank when they start graduating MBAs in that exact subject. Well, you can tell when a popular bubble is about to pop when the Christian knockoffs start showing up -- just in time to ride the crash down. A thick coating of Bible-quote paint on a cheap imitation does not "original and creative" make.
The only "creativity" you get from Christians these days is when they fit the Apocalypse/End Time Prophecy to current headlines.
Posted by: Ken at April 22, 2004 09:41 AMI've never seen "A Bug's Life" (or "The Red Tide" video) but a website tells me the Bug's Life plot is "a misfit ant, looking for warriors to save his colony from grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troup."
The tape "Flo, The Lyin' Fly," which my three preschoolers quite like, is a morality tale about a fly named Flo (voice by Vicky Lawrence) who tells lies to her friends in order to get attention; has a talk with God about it; gets caught up in her lies when the musical group The Water Beetles visits from Riverpool, and learns her lesson. Sidekick voices by Don Knotts and Tim Conway add comic effect and are fun for the parents.
Maybe the two plots are similar, but it does not seem so to me. Surely Disney doesn't own the right to the use of bugs in kids' videos? I hope not, because kids naturally love bugs, and we don't always love Disney.
Posted by: Amy Ridenour at April 27, 2004 04:47 PMThe problem is that the bugs and the fish from these two series look almost exactly like the Disney characters. They are using those Disney characters to attract kids already familiar with those character.
Posted by: trogers at April 27, 2004 08:19 PMI'm sure I'm just being an example of what not to do, but I figured that if my kids' liking for Nemo (which they have seen and do love) would make them like another Christian video, I should make use of that and go buy "The Red Tide," which I had never heard of until I read this blog earlier today.
According to Amazon.com, "The Red Tide" was released in 2000, and "Finding Nemo" in 2003.
Perhaps Disney has been copying the Christians?
Posted by: Amy Ridenour at April 27, 2004 09:26 PM"Perhaps Disney has been copying the Christians?" - now that would be interesting. Sounds like I need to do some more investigating.
Posted by: trogers at April 27, 2004 09:35 PMIf you find out about any more kids' videos with cute little orange fish, I hope you'll share the info... (smile)
Posted by: Amy Ridenour at April 27, 2004 09:45 PM
