|
|
Post by Bear Soul on Jun 22, 2007 4:07:22 GMT -5
Hi, this is my first time here, but I am no stranger to a forum, as I am the Admin of one myself. I'm pretty sure this must've been discussed someplace before, but search's never work for me, I ask too specific of questions.
So, does anyone know the definate reason why Joaquin Phoenix did not return for BB2? I don't mean theories, I mean the actual reason.
If only Joaquin Phoenix returned to reprise his role as Kenai, I may have like BB2 alot better. NOT as much as BB1, but better than with Pat Dempsy. I have scoured the net try to find out exactly why J. Phoenix didn't return, either it was he wanted more money than they were willing to pay, or he was unavailable, or he didn't want to do it because it wasn't going to the Silver Screen. Why exactly?
I just think the change in voice was too much, not as subtle as it should be, like if Kenai aged only a year. And I feel that Dempsy changed the personality of Kenai a bit. I mean, I know it is scripted, but it is also about delivery.
If it hadn't been for Joaquin Phoenix, we wouldn't have one of my favorite quotes from BB1:
KENAI- "ENOUGH with the stories! I don't care about the time you and Binky found, you know, the worlds biggest pinecone EVER!"
KODA- "FIRST of all his name is BUCKY, NOT BINKY! Second, it wasn't a PineCONE, it was a PineNUT, AND it was HUGE! Even bigger than yo' FAT HEAD!"
That was initaly a error by Phoenix, accidently said Binky when the line was in fact Bucky, then Jeremy Suarez corrected him, and they put it in.
BUT, all things considered, BB2 was alright. I still enjoyed seeing Kenai & Koda again.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ken'ichi on Jun 22, 2007 9:36:03 GMT -5
First off, welcome to the boards, Bear Soul.
As for your question, we don't really know why Phoenix didn't come back to reprise his role as Kenai. Maybe the paycheck wasn't enough, maybe they couldn't get him to come back due to schedule conflicts with other projects. It's not really known by us fans as to why he didn't return in BB2.
|
|
|
|
Post by nadine89 on Jun 22, 2007 11:51:32 GMT -5
Welcome to Awaken as a Bear Bear Soul! ^^
As for Joaquin Phoenix, Kenchi may be right, we don't know for sure WHY he never return. That's what bugs me with their directed-to-video sequels. They mostly never seem to get the whole or sometimes parts of the cast members to return for their roles. I can understand if the orginal cast was dead and they needed new replacements for that, but come on! They should try to tell us WHY most of them decided not to return! That's what gets all the fans questioning to why they never came back.
But I have heard about this, I don't know if this was exactly true or not, but I did hear this one rumor where Joaquin didn't came back for BB2 cause he was not into voice acting anymore, which I find strange and confusing cause another member from a different fourm said he did BB1 so that one of his nephews can try to watch some of his movies he made.
It's tragically enough that Jason Raize commited suicide in early 2004, but not having Joaquin to return for his role as Kenai?! It's a huge disapointment. I have to agree with one thing on ya Bear Soul, that if Joaquin Phoenix did came back instead of having Patrick Dempsey as his replacement, BB2 could've been better, and maybe.....had a more different story plot too.
|
|
|
|
Post by Midnight on Jun 22, 2007 13:10:38 GMT -5
First of all, welcome to the family, Bear Soul.  As for your question... I don't think you can really get the completely true answer and believe it unless you talk to Joaquin himself. But I will tell you what I have heard and believe to be a plausible reason... I hear that he wasn't even into doing the whole animation/voice acting thing. He didn't want to be associated with it in the first place. Apparrently, he only did the first one for his nephew. But there can be many other factors to it... as an actor, I can tell you myself that for you to be ableto act out the part properly, you must first have a bit of a passion about it. You need to be able to believe it. Maybe he didn't like the story line for BB2. Or maybe it was because of the paycheck, or the fact it was a direct-to-DVD release. But like I said, I doupt you'll get the right answer unless you find a way to ask the man himself. |
|
|
|
Post by EbonyPatriot on Jun 22, 2007 21:08:56 GMT -5
But...if Disney were to say "Hey we had to replace [original voice actor/actress] because we were too cheap to pay what they asked and/or they thought this project was so bad they didn't want anything to do with it"; it wouldn't exactly make people want to rush out and buy it. (To the extent of my knowledge, Disney only did this in one DTV as a joke, George of the Jungle 2: "Me new George. Disney too cheap to pay for Brendan Fraiser").  Back on topic: the others have pretty said all there is. Also if it was because Phoenix wanted money, I doubt Phoenix would want to announce that online (it would make appear a little greedy). I agree that Dempsey's delivery was a little too mature; personally, I felt the way he interacted with Koda was more of a father-child relationship than an older brother-younger brother. Welcome to the boards, Bear Soul. I look forward to your other posts. |
|
|
|
Post by Bear Soul on Jun 22, 2007 21:17:06 GMT -5
That's really too bad to hear... I really liked him as Kenai, thought that he defined the character. Thats like Mathew Broderick not voicing Simba. Anyone else just... *sigh* Thanks for the input.  |
|
|
|
Post by Truttle on Jun 23, 2007 0:14:00 GMT -5
Welcome Bear Soul!
In my opinion, not only did they change his voice, they changed the character completely. Sure, his personallity had a bit of goofyness, but in the sequel, he seemed completely different. I just can't get used to the complete shift.
|
|
|
|
Post by Night Bear on Jun 23, 2007 0:29:58 GMT -5
I am not usually affected by voice changes, and this was no acception.
I didn't notice anything wrong with Kenai's personality in BB2.
|
|
|
|
Post by Midnight on Jun 23, 2007 2:42:00 GMT -5
Welcome Bear Soul! In my opinion, not only did they change his voice, they changed the character completely. Sure, his personallity had a bit of goofyness, but in the sequel, he seemed completely different. I just can't get used to the complete shift. Agreed... it just didn't seem like Kenai at all. I even noticed an appearance change to an extent, same with Koda... |
|
|
|
Post by Koedi on May 11, 2008 20:46:17 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Ken'ichi on May 12, 2008 13:15:39 GMT -5
Welcome Bear Soul! In my opinion, not only did they change his voice, they changed the character completely. Sure, his personallity had a bit of goofyness, but in the sequel, he seemed completely different. I just can't get used to the complete shift. Well he has been as a bear with Koda for ONE WHOLE YEAR when Brother Bear 2 takes place. A whole year as a new person and with a cute bear cub for a brother living with you would make drastic changes to your personality. And remember he has a whole new take on life after the events of Brother Bear, so yeah it's hard to NOT change in the slightest after all that he went through to get to where he is in the sequel. |
|
