In the works is a (mostly) live-action Yogi Bear movie. Yogi and Boo Boo are to be CGI-animated a la similar features with Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield, Rocky & Bullwinkle and Scooby Doo. Everything else, we're told, will be actual human beings.
I don't believe in reviewing a movie you haven't seen, let alone (as with this one) a film that hasn't even been made yet. So let's acknowledge that the Yogi pic could turn out to be a wonderful surprise. Let's also acknowledge that if it isn't, it won't spoil whatever affection some of us have for Yogi Bear…or at least, it shouldn't.
For several months earlier this year, all the top cartoon voice actors in town were auditioning to supply the voice of Yogi…and the ones with whom I've spoken weren't certain to what extent the producers wanted a close carbon of Yogi's original voice, as concocted and performed by the late, loved Daws Butler. Daws left us in 1988 and then on Yogi shows that were later produced, his sound was usually replicated by one of his honor students, Greg Burson. Greg's facsimile was about as perfect a job of voice-matching as you could ever hope to find. Alas, Greg died in July of last year. Since Daws left us, a few other folks have played Yogi with varying degrees of fidelity.
Every single one of the voice actors I know who auditioned for the feature also said something to me like, "I did it but it was a waste of time. They're going to pick a star." I said I wasn't sure. The Rocky & Bullwinkle film didn't. The Scooby Doo films, with no star name voicing Scooby, have been pretty successful. But as it turns out, they've gone the star route. At last report, Dan Aykroyd was in talks to voice the smarter-than-average bear and rumor has it that they want Justin Timberlake to play Boo Boo. Perhaps either or both have been signed by now.
Many in the cartoon voice biz rail about this kind of casting. They'll tell you that superb vocal work is done every day by seasoned voiceover professionals…pros who aren't cast solely because they're known for their work in some other venue. Absolutely true. Then again, there are probably plenty of unknowns out there who could give fine performances in the starring roles of any live-action movie and they aren't usually hired, either. I think it's a mistake — this trend of ignoring professional cartoon voice actors when it comes time to cast professional cartoon voices — but I understand why they make it.
Stars can kickstart a movie with the public. A studio exec once explained it to me as the "innocent 'til proven guilty" principle. If you have a new comedy coming out and you have Steve Martin in the lead, potential filmgoers will presume it's a funny movie until they hear otherwise. If you have an unknown in that role, it's the other way around: The movie starts off having to prove it's funny. So star names can be valuable in marketing; in inducing chains and overseas distributors to book a film. Studios love early bookings because they minimize financial risk. Also, if you've made a gobbler, star names can get audiences into the theater that first weekend before the bad reviews and buzz start keeping them away.
Star names can also give a project a certain helpful status. In the seventies, when the Salkinds announced that they were going to produce a live-action Superman movie, no one took it seriously. No one expected the movie to get made or if it did, to be a picture of any import. Then they signed Marlon Brando for what was basically a cameo role and they paid him a sum that seemed staggering at the time…and absurd. As a per-screen-minute fee, it was insane but it changed the whole way the industry viewed the proposed Superman movie. Suddenly, it was a film that was probably going to be produced and probably going to be big and important. In that sense, it was probably a brilliant move. It made the movie not only happen but by the time it hit theaters, everyone knew about it and considered its opening a major event.
Still, the Yogi casting is a bit mystifying. I can't see that Mr. Aykroyd brings any of that to the endeavor. I think he's one of the most talented comic actors of our time but when was the last time anyone said, "Hey, let's go see that new Dan Aykroyd movie"? Even his biggest grosser, the original Ghostbusters, wasn't really a star-driven film…and that was 23 years ago. So his name alone can't mean that much.
The voice actors who said they were expecting a star name to be signed were all expecting someone like Will Ferrell or Jack Black, who are well-known to the vast part of the moviegoing audience that's too young to have grown up on Yogi Bear. One actor said, "They'll cast someone contemporary, figuring that will make Yogi more contemporary." I don't see that Dan Aykroyd does that, either. I'm wondering if today a movie producer had the rights to do a Blues Brothers or Coneheads movie and there was no contractual or personal obligation to involve Aykroyd if they'd even want him. Some exec who looked and/or sounded a lot like his old Irwin Mainway character would be saying, "Danny? A genius but these kids today…they don't know who the hell he is."
I'm going to guess/hope he gave a killer audition as Yogi…because that's the only thing I can think of that might justify what is presumably a seven-figure salary plus points. If that's the case, great. Because I'd like to see it do well, especially if it has some resemblance to the Yogi Bear I loved as a kid. I think what we're all afraid of is that the folks behind this film don't feel about Yogi the way we did and still do. We fear they're thinking that replicating and celebrating the original Yogi isn't enough; that they still need a Dan Aykroyd to add something different to it.
I hope that's not the reason they chose who they chose. There are things about the smarter-than-average bear that made him beloved and have kept him so, long enough to warrant doing this movie. One of them was the spirit that Daws put into the character. If you don't have that, you don't have Yogi. And if you don't have Yogi, you don't have a Yogi Bear movie.