HHN 25: Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure

[darkridelover]

B&T added a bunch of Back to the Future jokes to the show last night for the occasion. Not just at the beginning but throughout the show. Made it 10 times better and the crowd was eating it up!

 

[photoginit]

I hate to say it but this years show is weak. I have seen it 5 times now with different people and everyone's reaction is it's just not as good as last years. There are references(Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Empire, Bob's Burgers) that many people don't get. Kanye as a villain is really only a one-note joke and just gets old. There are so many jokes that fall flat. However, the opening is awesome, some great Disney jokes as usual, the cast always brings it at every performance, the dance sequences are always great and high energy. It just doesn't click on all cylinders like last year's show. Which sucks because Bill and Ted is probably the thing I look forward to the most at HHN.

 

[MrRoamer]

I think the show isn't great but is decent. The real problem for me is it kind of goes off the rails a little bit in the middle around the time that the Fillabusters are introduced. Eventually it gets its legs back a little bit but has already lost a lot of steam.

Side note, wasn't the main reason for no filming because of the music rights for the songs they play? If that is the case how come the Fiends dinner at HoS doesn't suffer the same problem.

 

[Brian G.]

Not songs. Disney parody. Rumor has it Disney wasn't a fan of the portrayal of its Pirates characters in 06. Because it's parody, Universal would be fine, but they'd rather not deal with headache.

 

[s8film40]

I hate to say it but this years show is weak. I have seen it 5 times now with different people and everyone's reaction is it's just not as good as last years. There are references(Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Empire, Bob's Burgers) that many people don't get. Kanye as a villain is really only a one-note joke and just gets old. There are so many jokes that fall flat. However, the opening is awesome, some great Disney jokes as usual, the cast always brings it at every performance, the dance sequences are always great and high energy. It just doesn't click on all cylinders like last year's show. Which sucks because Bill and Ted is probably the thing I look forward to the most at HHN.

I've actually seen really strong audience response from the Kimmy Scmidt and Bobs Burger parts. I haven't watched them myself so I don't "get them" but they're ok. Judging from the audience response Kanye as a villian seems to be a good choice as well. I think for those of us that follow theme park news last year was a little funnier. Aside from the overwhelming response the let it go song got last year this year seems to be generally just as well received by the public. Personally for me the DeLorean with Doc Brown and the return of Taylor Swift from 2 years ago makes up for any other shortfalls from this year!

 

[s8film40]

Not songs. Disney parody. Rumor has it Disney wasn't a fan of the portrayal of its Pirates characters in 06. Because it's parody, Universal would be fine, but they'd rather not deal with headache.

I've always heard this reason but it's never made sense to me. Couldn't Disney just send someone to watch the show and report back? Do they really think that no photos or videos would actually stop Disney from sending cease and desist letters if they feel Universal is infringing on their copyrights?

 

[photoginit]

I've actually seen really strong audience response from the Kimmy Scmidt and Bobs Burger parts. I haven't watched them myself so I don't "get them" but they're ok. Judging from the audience response Kanye as a villian seems to be a good choice as well. I think for those of us that follow theme park news last year was a little funnier. Aside from the overwhelming response the let it go song got last year this year seems to be generally just as well received by the public. Personally for me the DeLorean with Doc Brown and the return of Taylor Swift from 2 years ago makes up for any other shortfalls from this year!

I definitely feel the opening and the ending are great. Coming out in the Delorean is awesome and one of the reasons I have seen the show multiple times. I love the Bob Burger's bit(its one of my favorite shows) but many people don't have a clue about it or Kimmy. I think it is the middle of the show where some things fall flat and the crowd loses some energy. I guess it is just we have had two years now where the show was great top to bottom(and last years completely knocked it out of the park) that this year just seems to have more bits that fall flat.

 

[ThreePack Shagur]

I've come to terms with accepting that Bill & Ted is the B-show in terms of budget this year. I thought it was okay, but pretty boring compared to past years.

 

[s8film40]

I've come to terms with accepting that Bill & Ted is the B-show in terms of budget this year.

How is it the B-show in terms of budget? They have the same number of actors as before, the sets are larger and more complex and they added a working DeLorean this year (I'm assuming they are renting that unless someone was nice enough to just loan it to them). The Carnage show is absolutely amazing but it's really only 6 actors and an acrobat troupe. The stage I'm sure shared a budget with RTU and while the set is really great it's mostly just a frame with curtains and artifacts.

 

[Brian G.]

I've always heard this reason but it's never made sense to me. Couldn't Disney just send someone to watch the show and report back? Do they really think that no photos or videos would actually stop Disney from sending cease and desist letters if they feel Universal is infringing on their copyrights?

It probably has to do with Disney not wanting photos of a over-the-top parody of one of their characters making rounds.

 

[s8film40]

It probably has to do with Disney not wanting photos of a over-the-top parody of one of their characters making rounds.

That's an interesting point, I wonder if this was an unwritten agreement they made with Disney? Obviously there's no legal ground to stand on for Disney but if they sent a letter and said hey don't let people post photos or videos and we'll leave you alone than this would make sense.

 

[ThreePack Shagur]

How is it the B-show in terms of budget? They have the same number of actors as before, the sets are larger and more complex and they added a working DeLorean this year (I'm assuming they are renting that unless someone was nice enough to just loan it to them). The Carnage show is absolutely amazing but it's really only 6 actors and an acrobat troupe. The stage I'm sure shared a budget with RTU and while the set is really great it's mostly just a frame with curtains and artifacts.

Carnage has a higher budget. It cost more for the sets, costumes, and the acrobats are paid more than the dancers at B&T. The RTU stage was paid for years ago. The Delorean is the same one Doc drives around (or used to) during the day, it's been sitting backstage for years.

If Rocky Horror, which had a shoestring budget, came back we'd see a more extravagant B&T. I haven't verified, but I was told there were about 6 less cast members this year at B&T, but it did feel more empty to me.

 

[s8film40]

Carnage has a higher budget. It cost more for the sets, costumes, and the acrobats are paid more than the dancers at B&T. The RTU stage was paid for years ago. The Delorean is the same one Doc drives around (or used to) during the day, it's been sitting backstage for years.

If Rocky Horror, which had a shoestring budget, came back we'd see a more extravagant B&T. I haven't verified, but I was told there were about 6 less cast members this year at B&T, but it did feel more empty to me.

The Carnage sets really aren't nearly as elaborate as B&T, granted they had to build the backstage stuff too though. I assumed they rented the RTU stage, but either way sounds like we agree that the cost of that wasn't an issue. I think you need to take a closer look at the DeLorean, it's not a BTTF time machine it's a regular DeLorean actually in really good shape has a real nice polish to it there's no way it's been sitting outside. I haven't counted the number of actors myself but doesn't seem less to me.

 

[SeventyOne]

I've always heard this reason but it's never made sense to me. Couldn't Disney just send someone to watch the show and report back? Do they really think that no photos or videos would actually stop Disney from sending cease and desist letters if they feel Universal is infringing on their copyrights?

Hell of a lot easier to make the case with videotape, honestly.

Parody law is a really grey area. The problem in 2006 was that B&T's Capt. Jack (who was better than any I've seen at MK) came out and acted like a drunken lech--which is exactly how the character acts. From what I've heard, Disney's argument boiled down to this isn't a parody, this is just using our IP. Notice since then B&T have gone for much broader parodies of Disney-owned characters--e.g. Capt. Mexicano or Avengers as high school kids or Hulk as a scrawny stripper. Or Owen from Jurassic World in a pair of high heels and they still call him "Chris Pratt." They also rely far more heavily on reality TV and politics, because it's far more difficult for real people to sue over this stuff (at least if they're famous).

But in any case, how the character acts/talks etc. is as important as how they look. Sure Disney could pay its lawyers to go out and watch the show opening night and report back, but far more likely to hear about something if there are videos on YouTube. And makes the case easier to bring to court--can enter video into evidence, don't need an affidavit explaining what someone saw.

 

[s8film40]

Hell of a lot easier to make the case with videotape, honestly.

Well they could simply subpoena the video and script from Universal. I guess it just makes it slightly more difficult for Disney. Honestly though if Disney decides to take any action against them I don't think the no photo/video thing would really have any impact at all.

 

[SeventyOne]

Well they could simply subpoena the video and script from Universal. I guess it just makes it slightly more difficult for Disney. Honestly though if Disney decides to take any action against them I don't think the no photo/video thing would really have any impact at all.

Yeah, but they'd have to decide to pursue it. Lawyers are lazy. I don't think B&T is big enough to cross their desk until it blows up on Twitter or whatever (which 2006 kind of did in the theme park internet of its day).

Music rights makes no sense--not like they're selling the videos. And the sudden turn by B&T in 2007 toward reality stars lends credence to the rumors that Disney was not pleased.

(For the record, I think everything this year would fall safely under parody.)

 

[s8film40]

(For the record, I think everything this year would fall safely under parody.)

Yeah I agree.
The director was talking about it last year and said they had the lawyers at a preview before the run began and they were very comfortable that everything fell within the definition of parody. I guess I just don't see the point other than its a policy they started and just haven't stopped for some unknown reason.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Even if they stick to celebrities or reality tv or stuff going on online, It feels like there could be a lot more they could use for the show.
Disney does NOT own everything (yet lol) sometimes it feels like Bill and Ted don't have enough things to make fun of, but there were so many other things they could have mocked.
like for example, when old Han Solo came out, Terminator should have come out with a walker as well. or something. Sarah Connor could have been used. have Sarah have a conversation with the Star wars girl about getting Terminator into the star wars home or something... I don't know.
every year it feels like they have less things to make fun of, yet there are so many things going on every year that they could use that are not Disney related.

What if they just stayed away from Disney stuff and just make fun of everything else?

 

[Brian G.]

So who else enjoyed the last show?

I felt since it was an OK year, it was easier to get better with off-script moments.

 

[s8film40]

Last show was really good as always! Someone posted audio for those interested.