Good Evening, Fraulein Brisby... - Thorn Valley Forum Archive

Pennsylvania Jones

06-09-2011 13:19:40

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Okay, all Indiana Jokes aside, I'm a Secret of NIMH fan.

One day, a few months ago, my brother wanted to show me a movie on Netflix Instant Watch. The movie was called The Secret of NIMH. Now, I was interested because I remembered watching the movie long ago in my childhood. This is what I remembered from that childhood watching:

[quote]Mrs. Brisby: Merci-

[Mr. Ages slams the door]

Mrs. Brisby: Bocu.[/quote]

Yes, I was watching it in French in my childhood. It was probably because I was obsessed with French at the time. I also remembered illness being involved, but I had always thought it was my own, as if the mere watching of it made me queasy.

Anyway, so I started watching Secret of NIMH on Netflix Instant Watch (In HD, AND in English), and was enthralled. The only problems I had with the movie was it was over too soon (which is good, it means the characters are interesting!), and it had a nasty side-effect on my daily life. After each viewing, it causes me to grow relatively benign in both work and play for days, and the extra time is spent instead by pacing in circles and thinking. My mouth foams, my gut churns, and I feel a mini-throw-up in my throat, just waiting to launch. This might be the queasiness I experienced as a child.

So, with the movie being over too soon, I wanted a Secret of NIMH 2. I immediately ate those words when I saw the subtitle of what Secret of NIMH 2 became: Timmy to the Rescue. Out of curiosity, I managed to watch the whole thing with my brother via IMDB Instant Watch. The only censoring I did was turning off the computer speakers whenever there was a song. One good thing came out of it: it was so bad, that I started to see why so many Star Wars/Indiana Jones fans hated the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Some of you guys probably do, too. Cecil the Caterpillar is the Jar-Jar Binks of Secret of NIMH.

Well, one good difference between Secret of NIMH and Star Wars: the studio/creator did NOT choose to make a Special Edition for Secret of NIMH using CGI and a censorship/overexplanation mentality and try to supress the original theatrical release. Heck, with Secret of NIMH, the Audio was never even remixed in 5.1. Bonus points for MGM, 0 points for LFL. HAN SHOT FIRST!!!

After ignoring the queasiness and enjoying Secret of NIMH, and ignoring the internal bleeding and surviving Timmy to the Rescue, I discovered the books. I read the entire Rats of NIMH Trilogy. Racso is my favorite one of the three.

Bottom line, I love Secret of NIMH, and the over-too-soon thing wouldn't have been a problem if it had a proper theatrical sequel like American Tail: Fievel Goes West. The queasiness is the only thing that keeps me from enjoying the movie. :( I'm guessing that comes from Jerry Goldsmith's brilliantly overpowering score. The music that does it to me in particular is the Opening, both versions of Flying Dreams, and House Rising. I've gotten used to House Rising, as I've used it in a fan edit. (See end of post)

So, out of my fandom of Secret of NIMH, three things came:

1: A desire for a proper Secret of NIMH sequel that led to my creation of a plot that has little to do with the fanfiction here.
2: A time-travel crossover story involving American Tail originally set after the events of Timmy to the Rescue, then altered to match what I had for my Secret of NIMH Sequel.
3: A series of Fan Edit Crossover Videos made using clips from the Star Wars Saga and Secret of NIMH.

I wanted to get help with writing Secret of NIMH 3, because I don't consider myself a good enough writer to write the sort of movie I want. I went to OriginalTrilogy.com (a Star Wars forum with a handful of casual Secret of NIMH fans on it) to seek help from its scriptwriting area, but I couldn't get any help. (I should've seen it coming, I know)

Around that time, I was also looking at the NIMH fandom. My first reaction: Did I miss something? The fan art I was seeing was mostly of characters I had never heard of. Then, when I do get to some art of characters I've actually heard of... Justin and Mrs. Brisby dating? Seriously? Whatever. This whole NIMH Community single-handedly ripped my view of Secret of NIMH/Rats of NIMH to pieces.

So, pushing aside my petty issues with the apparent NIMH canon, the main reason I'm here in the first place is to seek input from any good writers interested in writing a good Secret of NIMH Sequel.

As for the Fan Videos, here's the two I've uploaded below. There may be more coming up, but maybe not. I seriously can't believe I'm the first one to do the first video; the two scenes are so similar! It's RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, for crying out loud!

[url=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhlDDNjBt9s[]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhlDDNjBt9s[/url]
[url=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKfV6FHm4eU[]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKfV6FHm4eU[/url]

I hope you were able to read all of that! :oops:

Steven

shivermetimbers

06-09-2011 14:38:31

Wow! You and I are very similar. I also remembered NIMH after viewing it on Netflix Instant Streaming. I also watched the sequel on IMDb (I actually enjoyed it because it was bad in a fun way). I then also read the books and grew interested in the fanbase. The NIMH fan base is huge, with many people giving their own take on events and creating twists of their own. I see you also have things to offer.

Yeah, the whole Justin and Mrs. Brisby thing is very silly to me. I already made my stance on it in another topic. NIMH probably shouldn't get another sequel either, maybe a prequel, but not a sequel.

Welcome aboard.

Pennsylvania Jones

06-09-2011 15:34:29

Thanks, Timbers! :D If you haven't watched my videos yet, I'd love to hear what you think about them. Video editing is my calling, but unfortunately, writing isn't. :roll: I'll try my best to present my written material in the best quality possible, though there's a chance you may not even get to see any of it. It's like I force myself to write fiction. Non-fiction... Yikes! :shock:

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like Mrs. Brisby and Justin. I'd much rather have Justin marry Beatrice.

Steven

shivermetimbers

06-09-2011 18:45:25

Heh, I like your signature. I can't say that Star Wars and NIMH can go together seamlessly, though.

Pennsylvania Jones

06-09-2011 18:53:52

Thanks! Did you sign your name in the petition?

Well, I did my best with what I had... :oops: I'm actually surprised it fit together as well as it did. What seams popped out to you?

ConGie

07-09-2011 08:39:13

Welcome, we're happy to have another odd one to add to the bunch =P

Pennsylvania Jones

07-09-2011 09:20:45

Thank you, ConGie! So you live in Arizona, too? Awesome!

shivermetimbers

08-09-2011 06:55:27

Nah, I don't do those things. You'd be better off creating a petition for George Lucas to release a DVD box set of him taking a dump over the original unedited Star Wars films then you are for him to release them unedited.

I especially hated what he did with Return of the Jedi at the end, you know what I'm talking about. That really pissed me off.

Pennsylvania Jones

08-09-2011 10:39:56

"Hayden Christensen replaced Sebastian Shaw!" or "No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

David Leemhuis

08-09-2011 11:39:34

Welcome aboard, Steven aka Pennsylvania Jones. (Pennsy?) Hope you enjoy your stay here.
Is that Chilli Willi in your avatar?

Hera Ledro

08-09-2011 12:41:10

Sorry, meant to post in this earlier. SO!

Hellooooo there! Welcome to Thorn Valley, and come make the most of your life!

...Oh god Simon's gonna kill me for that reference ^^;

But seriously, welcome. We're glad to have you here =D

Yeah, when a movie is over too soon, it generally feels that way because it was doing something right, and NIMH is a prime example of that. As for the sickness, it's nothing that a good fan-fiction won't cure. Might I suggest David Leemhuis' "The Search for Johnathan Brisby", Paul Gibbs' "The Rats of Thorn Valley" or its sequel "Second in Command", or "The Secret of the Stone" by Procyon? The former of the three is still ongoing in its production - recently Chapters 15-20 were posted in one bundle - and the latter two are complete. Of course, you could always write your own and submit it to Robin's NIMH Fan-Fiction Archive ;D

And the first rule of Secret of NIMH 2: You do not talk about SoN2. For your own sanity, mind. It's just...yeah, there's really nothing to describe it.

If you're looking for help with writing SoN3, I'm more than willing to give you a hand as a beta-reader or correspondent. I've been writing my own novel(s) for probably four years now and some fan-fiction - if you look me up on FanFiction.net, I would highly suggest ignoring the earlier stuff; most of it is so bad I am tempted to just take it down - and I have a degree in Literature, in which I specialize in Children's Literature and its proponents. I've also done a great deal of research into the NIMH canons for a paper that I'll be submitting to Simon (god knows when...), though I have yet to read the last NIMH book (MT, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH or somesuch; however, I doubt I'll be reading it since I deal only with the original book and the film and their direct sequels, as well as some fan-fiction). Whatever the case, I wish you the best of luck in this.

And, to quote shivermetimbers...

Welcome aboard!

Pennsylvania Jones

08-09-2011 14:41:03

David, you can go ahead and call me Steven, Pennsy, or even PJ. But whatever you do, DON'T CALL ME JUNIOR!!!

No, it's not Chilly Willy. It's Scamper the Penguin. If you check out my Youtube Account (the video links in the OP were posted on my account), you'll find videos called Scamper the Penguin Rescore. Those videos are, IMO, the best way to watch Scamper the Penguin. I haven't uploaded the whole thing, and the parts that are up there are in lower quality than the masters I made, but the rescore itself is great.

I was obsessed with Scamper the Penguin when I made the avatar for my Indylounge account. After that, it kinda stuck with me for all of my accounts.

Hera, hello to you, too!

I'm sure Simon won't mind, as long as you don't wear your underwear for more than three days. :P

Yes, I meant the "Over Too Soon" thing as a compliment to the movie. Only, now, I can't watch just that one movie alone, or else I'll have an emotional breakdown. I'm in the middle of Secret of the Stone. I'm on Chapter 6: The Seer.

And I've only ever seen TttR once, and I have no desire to tread that ground again. It's fun to make fun of, though.

Thanks for being willing to help! This will be for my own personal canon. I'm thinking of having two versions: one written solely by me, and one written with the counsel of someone who knows what he's doing, so as to get the best possible story out of it.

On a side note, here's something strange I found out about my family:

My older sister has blue eyes.
I'm the second oldest, I'm male, and I have anger problems and brown eyes.
My younger brother is named Timothy and has brown eyes.
My younger sister is the youngest in the family and has brown eyes.

Sound familiar? David, you can go ahead and add Martin Brisby to the list of names you can call me. ;)

Steven

shivermetimbers

09-09-2011 15:03:39

Speaking of NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO: http://www.screened.com/news/more-original-trilogy-changes-incoming-in-star-wars-blu-ray-set/2819/

So, yeah, you'd have better luck with George Lucas releasing a Star Wars box consisting of him giving fans the finger, than you are for him to release them correctly.

..And why Return of the Jedi, that's my favorite Star Wars film liaccepts boosli.

Pennsylvania Jones

09-09-2011 15:47:23

Why so negative? I have a positive hope that the unaltered trilogy will be properly released, even (or perhaps especially) if it happens after Lucas' death.

Nobody will criticize, as long as your favorite isn't Phantom Menace. ;)

Perhaps the rest of this conversation would be best discussed in private...

On a side note, my Secret of NIMH nerdiness basically got the NIMH franchise outcast from originaltrilogy.com. :)

Steven

Azathoth43

09-09-2011 21:00:48

That's a whole lot of quoting.

Pennsylvania Jones

09-09-2011 21:57:30

Yes, yes it is. ;)

shivermetimbers

10-09-2011 14:56:33

Azathoth43

11-09-2011 09:37:38

I wonder what the longest quote string on the internet is.

Whiskers57

11-09-2011 12:12:53

The quote stops here :P

Would not let me do another one :(

Enjoyed the vids :)

Pennsylvania Jones

11-09-2011 13:16:03

Thanks! What was your favorite part?

Oh, and Azathoth43, I believe there's one post in Originaltrilogy.com that qualifies for that title. I, of course, participated in it. :D

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Whats-your-Personal-Canon/post/530215/#TopicPost530215

Whiskers57

11-09-2011 13:29:31

When Yoda had to move the Brisby home himself, I thought the editing was well done.

Pennsylvania Jones

11-09-2011 13:43:54

Thanks! That was actually the whole idea for the edit. Which is why I can't believe I'm the first one to do it.

Also, originally I wanted to give Yoda a pair of Nicodemus eyes (He already has the old age and green, clammy skin) to put him more into the NIMH universe, but the special effects requirement was too great. (meaning I just gave up trying to do it with LSMaker)

Steven

Whiskers57

14-09-2011 14:05:18

Looking back it was a mix, dark swamp in Stars Wars, and Stormy dark night here on earth to move her home.

shivermetimbers

06-10-2011 13:58:20

I'm a big fan of the Whiskey Media crew. Giant Bomb and Screened are some of my favorite websites to visit mostly because of their carefree and silly perspective of video games and films.

Recently, they did a half-good on Star Wars Episode 1: http://www.screened.com/half-good-stars-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace/128-841/

He mentions the obviously terrible Jake Lylod(sp.) and Jar Jar Binks, but he also praises the film in another of ways.

Looking at it now, he does have a point that it's probably one of the best looking films out there (even better than Avatar...which I hated more than Star Wars Episode 1). Yet, I think the pacing and the incomprehensible plot ruin the visuals. It's not until the third act that things really get good.

I wonder if Lucas will do the same thing in a few years that he's doing with the original trilogy and change up certain aspects of the films, though it's doubtful.

I must admit, as a kid, I liked this movie. Back then, I didn't really care for the plot of Star Wars, I just liked the villains and the effects. I remember being upset that Darth Vader wasn't in the film...which shows my ignorance of the plot.

I love these forums, I can be as nerdy as I want without consequence and share stupid little things like this, whereas in the real world I have somewhat of an ego as a carefree metalhead with a tasteless, yet lighthearted sense of humor and a love of horror with a kind of eccentric personality . I just want to say that I love all of you even if I don't know you and you're little more than black text on a beige background....lisniffsli

:cry:

Pennsylvania Jones

06-10-2011 17:15:09

I agree that the special effects were great in Episode I. They look equally good in the Lost in Space movie, which was released the year before Phantom Menace. In fact, Lost in Space has many more things in common: cool robots, bad acting, an eyesore CGI creature, and a killer musical score by their respective composers that got me into movie soundtracks in the first place.

Actually, he edits all six of his films, it's just not as noticeable in the Prequel Trilogy as it is in the Original Trilogy because fewer people talk about those changes. You know how Darth Maul was cut in half at the end? That wasn't in the theatrical release of Phantom Menace; he just fell in one piece. Also, for the Blu-Ray, they digitally replaced the shoddy puppet Yoda with a new CGI Yoda. Though replacing the bad puppet with CGI is an improvement in itself, the way it was carried out just doesn't look right for some reason.

We're way more than just black text on a beige background... We're cute avatars, too. ;)

Steven

Azathoth43

07-10-2011 02:17:43

I actually liked the prequels. My biggest problem besides the atrocious acting (except Ewan McGregor I think he's a fine actor). Is, one: the love story between Pademe(sp?) and Anakin is not convincing in the least. And two: midiclorians or what ever. What dumb bit of logic was that. Oh, so now I don't need to be one with the force, let it flow through me, let it's energy surround me. Luminous beings we are not. It's just some bugs in our blood that make us cool. Hell why go through any training, just get jacked up on midiclorians.

Anyway, yeah the prequels, not so bad I think.

shivermetimbers

07-10-2011 15:16:49

Not me, my first avatar was me looking like a pedophile/rapist next to alien visitor Tommy Wiseau. Speaking of which, he plays video games with his alien brother on the internet now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxp83CimT0w

My second avatar was Pyramid Head, hardly charming, unless you find triangle headed monsters with big ass swords created by a tragic character to punish him for his sins charming.

Animal is probably going to stay, because he fits in well with my manic personality and it's Muppets and I FliliKING LOVE THE MUPPETS!

I didn't know that he was editing the prequels, but you're right, they're overshadowed by the controversial changes to the original trilogy. Who really cares about the prequels anyway.

As for the medichorian BS, since Lucas wanted to have Anakin not have a biological father, he had to make up something, so I let it pass. Though it does take away the magical nature of the force, it doesn't really bother me that much. Oh, and "The Room" has better romantic drama than the Star Wars prequels, that I agree with.

shivermetimbers

16-10-2011 10:45:27

Me too....

Liar.

Azathoth43

16-10-2011 11:57:33

Quoted for truth.

Pennsylvania Jones

16-10-2011 12:29:46

This.

Steven

Azathoth43

16-10-2011 19:05:59

Pennsylvania Jones

16-10-2011 19:13:49

http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/funny-morning-awesomeness-19.jpg[" alt=""/img]

;)

Steven

Azathoth43

16-10-2011 19:17:45

Pennsylvania Jones

16-10-2011 21:48:37

Azathoth43

16-10-2011 22:35:30

shivermetimbers

17-10-2011 02:23:38

Pennsylvania Jones

17-10-2011 08:18:44

Azathoth43

17-10-2011 08:28:08

shivermetimbers

17-10-2011 10:24:22

Pennsylvania Jones

17-10-2011 11:36:42

Azathoth43

17-10-2011 21:15:29

shivermetimbers

17-10-2011 21:24:24

Pennsylvania Jones

18-10-2011 18:18:37

shivermetimbers

18-10-2011 19:18:10

Pennsylvania Jones

18-10-2011 21:38:42

shivermetimbers

19-10-2011 00:30:38

Pennsylvania Jones

19-10-2011 08:59:19

shivermetimbers

19-10-2011 09:15:27

Azathoth43

19-10-2011 18:38:03

Pennsylvania Jones

20-10-2011 18:23:12

Azathoth43

20-10-2011 19:16:57

shivermetimbers

21-10-2011 03:30:30

Pennsylvania Jones

21-10-2011 12:28:23

David Leemhuis

21-10-2011 12:58:36

Okay, someone needs to be brutally honest here.

STOP IT! STOP IT! THIS IS A HUGE PAIN IN THE BUTT!!!!

All right, I'm just honked off because I can never get those bloody quote boxes to work for me.

Great shot of the Great Owl and Dragon's love child, BTW.

shivermetimbers

21-10-2011 13:50:44

Azathoth43

21-10-2011 21:36:06

Pennsylvania Jones

21-10-2011 21:42:20