Thursday, February 4, 2010

DISappointedNEY



Well, I've been thwarted by Disney.

Production is underway for
Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

It's an animated show for preschoolers about the title character and his pirate friends who emphasize team work. They'll be outwitting Captain Hook and Smee. (Insert "SIGH" here.)

Once again Hook is made out to be a bumbler, which is a real pity. (Oh well, I guess there's something to be said about keeping consistent with their own version.)

One of the other pirate kids is named Cubby. Seriously, what is it with Disney and this name? ("Cubby" had been a Mousekeeter as well as the replacement name of one of the Lost Boys in their animated movies. [Curly])

It's not just the comedization [to coin a word] of Hook that is getting my goat... but the name Jake.

You see, that happens to be my favorite name and I am using it in Peter Pan: Betwixt-and-Between. And not for a minor character either. "My" Jake is a rather important boy who factors quite heavily into the riddle of Pan's past. WHY did they have to name THEIR character Jake in association with the Neverland?

So, I put forth to anyone who cares to comment (and please don't do so anonymously - be creative):
Should I be 'worried' about my character Jake in the Neverland being forever hereafter associated with this new Disney character?

[GEE, I love being paranoid!]

5 comments:

Anon said...

I don't think you have anything to worry about, personally. This doesn't look like the kind of thing that's going to become a runaway phenomenon.

Even if it does, I assure you you don't have to worry about that with ME, anyway, as I have no intention of ever watching this thing.... XP

But I am VERY curious about YOUR Jake now.... XD

Ginger Ingenue said...

Is this 'Jake' show gonna be on the Disney channel??

If so, it MAY become popular...

I wish Disney would embrace its own version of Pan instead of trying to create new, more masculine versions of him.

Jason A. Quest said...

I hate to say this, but I think you should consider renaming your character. And not just because having two characters in the Peter Pan multiverse with the same name would complicate Peterphile.info. :)

I've been in the same boat myself. I had the perfect name picked out for a company I was getting ready to start. It fit me. It fit what I was doing. I had a personal significance that made me smile every time I thought about it. Then I found out someone yahoo had registered the .com for it six months earlier. Yeah, I could've registered the .net or .org or hyphenated it something. But I'd still have to worry about people typing the most natual address, and getting the wrong site. I came up with another name.

This is a Disney production; people will know the protagonist's name. Then they'll read your book. You don't want people thinking of this rugrat whenever your character shows up on the page, do you?

Could your character be "Jacob"? If the story is set in the 19th century, that might be a better fit for the period anyway.

P.S. Another Disney "Cubby"? WTF is wrong with those people?

Jason A. Quest said...

I just had a thought about Cubby.

Maybe it's not a new character.

The hair color matches Disney's Lost Boy.

Peter Von Brown said...

Yes, the same thought occurred to me regarding Cubby.

I'm going to continue writing it, for now, with Jake as the name. And yes, also, his name is Jacob, Jake for short. Down the road I might change it, but here at least is a record of it.

Thanks for the concern. :)