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Wow

When I saw the first trailer for Disney's latest blockbuster Dinosaur, I said one word: "Wow."

I just saw the second trailer for the film online, and I have a different reaction this time: "WOW!"

We know now that the first trailer that impressed us so was an unfinished product. Kind of like the early sketch drawing previews we saw for Beauty and the Beast and Mulan.

The end result makes you not feel so bad to call it "groundbreaking." The promise for a true classic is there.

Setting all the wows aside, let me caution you that as we get closer to the movie's release, my fellow colleagues in the media will not be saying "Wow" about the look of the movie. They're going to be saying, "Wow! Look how much it cost!"

Fact is, Dinosaur has a Brontosaur-sized budget. In fact, reports are that it will come in as the most expensive film ever made.

Like it or not, an astronomical budget creates astronomical expectations for a movie. Like an investor wanting to be sure they got their money's worth, movie viewers usually go into a big-budgeted movie wanting to see if it used all its money wisely.

Sometimes, a big budget movie lives up to the hype. The early buzz about Titanic was about how much it cost to make. A few months after its release, the buzz was about how much money it made.

On the other hand, if a big budget movie fails to live up to the hype, it fails more miserably than any other. Cases in point are Waterworld and Wild Wild West.

On the surface, the money does look like its well spent on the screen in Dinosaur. The question is plot. The secret to the success of the Pixar/Disney projects - like Toy Story and Bug's Life was that once you finished being awed by the visuals, you were into the story of the movie.

For Disney to have a "Titanic" on its hands and not a "Waterworld," people are going to have to keep coming back for Dinosaur's story, not the way it looks.

Speaking of Movies: A movie reviewer friend of mine went to an early screening of the Touchstone division's Mission to Mars at Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre a few nights ago. He returned from his mission a bit bruised.

I'm one of those who has been eager to see this movie, but what he said is putting the old hype meter down a tad.

He said he hadn't been this disappointed in a movie since… since. Well, he said, he's never been so disappointed by a movie. In fact, he said the preview audience actually booed the movie.

I still plan on going on the mission for myself, but my expectations have gone from a Saturn V to a bottle rocket.

The Other Buzz: I was hoping against hope that the new Buzz Lightyear television show was going to make use of the same kind of computer animation that brought him to life in the first place.

Alas, the ancient animation instruments of paint and ink will be used instead.

I'm not against old-fashioned animation. In fact, no matter what anybody says, computer animation will never replace ink and paint animation, only supplement it.

Still, computer animation on television has been blossoming a bit of late. Shows like "Reboot," "Roughnecks" and "Voltron" have shown that weekly, even daily, computer animated fare is possible for television. However, all of this has been mostly sci-fi fare without the lively feeling that is expected from Buzz and his colleagues.

Especially with the voice talent involved, the new "Buzz" has the promise to be a great show. The problem is, you don't expect to see a computer animated Mickey Mouse, and you don't expect a 2-D Buzz Lightyear.

Something Disney Fans Would Like to See: Those who host Disney park fan sites to stop complaining that a new E-Ticket isn't coming to their favorite Disney park. What they forget is that what makes Disney parks special are the A, B, C and D tickets and the total atmosphere.

Something Disney Fans Would Not Like to See: Those who host Disney park fans sites to stop complaining. Why do you think they're so entertaining?

Another Mission: The vacant Horizons at Epcot is being switched into a NASA space simulator attraction.

Sounds great, but word is it won't be ready until 2003. By then, the new Mission:Space may be out of date. "Someday, we will walk on Mars," it will say, and we already would have.

On the other hand, it may just be that the year 2003 always seemed so far in the future, but it's now only three years away.

Who's to think that the next Disney park won't be in orbit. Space Mountain would be even scarier if it actually was in space.

Yes, I'm a Sportswriter: If you don't mind, let me go into my sportswriter mode and talk about Disney's sports property, the Anaheim Angels.

For those who don't know baseball, let me try to explain to you how bad the Angels will be.

If they were at Disneyland, they would be Light Magic. If they were at Walt Disney World's Epcot, they would be Journey Into Your Imagination. If they were a Disney feature film, they would be My Favorite Martian.

In other words, they will stink worse than Innoventions at Disneyland draws repeat visitors.

The team is actually offering a money-back guarantee to season ticket holders if the team doesn't live up to expectations after one month of the season.

Now you'll know what that big line in Anaheim will be for in May.

What if It Was a Disney Movie: "The Next Big Thing" would be "The Next Big Green" and be another Disney sports movie. It would feature kids wanting to make a name for themselves and their team, but then realizing that they're only playing soccer and no one cares.

Until next time … I still miss the theme parks' Mission to Mars.