Rocky and Bullwinkle Come to Life on Big Screen
JIM MORET, CO-HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Jim Moret in the heart of CNN Center in Atlanta. Laurin Sydney is in New York. Mel Gibson survived his first day on the battlefield. His film "The Patriot" opened Wednesday with $5 million in ticket sales. It's nowhere near the Wednesday opening gross of Paramount's "Mission: Impossible 2," for example, which took in $12.5 million its first day, but it is considered a solid opening for an R-rated period drama. Two favorites from the world of TV cartoonland are hoping for a solid opening as well. "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" debuts in movie theaters this weekend, and once again, the lovable flying squirrel and his 6-foot moose friend will try to outsmart the bad guys from Pottsylvania. Bill Tush introduces us to the actors who make up this cast of characters.</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE") KEITH SCOTT, ACTOR/"BULLWINKLE": This movie's getting kind of...</s>JUNE FORAY, ACTRESS/"ROCKY J. SQUIRREL": Don't say it.</s>SCOTT: Two-dimensional.</s>BILL TUSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some icons shall never be tampered with. This is the case of "Rocky and Bullwinkle." The moose and squirrel are animated characters and will remain as such. Their enemies -- that's another story. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE") SCOTT: The expensive animated characters were instantly converted into even more expensive motion picture stars.</s>TUSH: Jason Alexander as Boris, Rene Russo as Natasha. And are you ready for this? Robert De Niro becomes Fearless Leader. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE") ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: Have you liquidated moose and squirrel?</s>DE NIRO: It was just fun to do, you know. Not have to worry how far you go. The farther you go, the funnier hopefully it would be.</s>TUSH: So live action meets animation, and the makers of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" hope it will appeal to baby boomers who grew up with them, and those guys will take their kids. Rene Russo remembers.</s>RENE RUSSO, ACTRESS: I remember being 6 years old when I saw it, and I remember loving Natasha and Boris and Fearless Leader. They were my favorite characters. I don't know what that says about me. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE") RUSSO: We tried to stop them, shoot them, smash them, smoosh them, crush them, bash them, mash them, squish them.</s>JASON ALEXANDER, ACTOR: I think I thought it was inevitable, actually. The way it was going, it was just a matter of time before I played a short squat guy with a bad moustache. It was -- it had to happen.</s>TUSH: With a Russian accent, no less. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE") ALEXANDER: Oh, thank you.</s>TUSH (on camera): A typical CNN question would be: Do you think the Russians will be upset?</s>ALEXANDER: No, I think the Russians will be happy to -- to toss us right off and say, no, that's Pottsylvania, and they're led by a German guy, by the way, so...</s>TUSH: Oh, that's...</s>ALEXANDER: You know, so all bets are off.</s>TUSH (voice-over): Back to the German guy, who's really an Italian, De Niro, who in "Taxi Driver" gave us one of film's most memorable moments... (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "TAXI DRIVER") DE NIRO: Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?</s>TUSH: ... makes fun of himself. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE") DE NIRO: Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me? I'm the only one here, so you must be talking to me.</s>TUSH (on camera): You basically had the approval of whether or not you wanted to go ahead and kind of spoof yourself.</s>DE NIRO: Yes. Right, that's another thing about it. I thought about it and said: "Why not? I'll do it here." It's the appropriate place to do it if I'm going to do it. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE") DE NIRO: I have waited many years to face an enemy I could respect.</s>SCOTT: Ow! Ow!</s>DE NIRO: And I'm still waiting.</s>TUSH (voice-over): Bill Tush, CNN Entertainment News, New York.</s>LAURIN SYDNEY, CO-HOST: Well, squirrel and moose are heading into rough box-office waters this weekend. They're going against Mel and George at the cineplex. Mel Gibson heads to war in "The Patriot" while George Clooney fights the rough seas in "The Perfect Storm." Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" and Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" fill us in on those two movies.</s>LISA SCHWARZBAUM, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Peter, we're here at Lowes 42nd street</s>PETER TRAVERS, "ROLLING STONE": Well, what are you saying? That I'm all wet or all bloody.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: I'm saying that we just need to get through the 4th of July, because these are two big loud, noisy movies, as we always get. We're going to start with "The Patriot." (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE PATRIOT") HEATH LEDGER, ACTOR: We have to do something.</s>MEL GIBSON, ACTOR: I forbid you to go.</s>LEDGER: I'm not a child.</s>GIBSON: You're my child.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: That is Mel Gibson with his very, very blue eyes, and he plays a man of peace in 1776. He is a widower in Virginia. He doesn't want to get involved in the Revolutionary War, but strangely enough he must.</s>TRAVERS: Well, why does he?</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Because his family is threatened.</s>TRAVERS: And seven of them, just like Mel has.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Seven, exactly right. So in fact, when Mel does get involved, he gets involved with a vengeance. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE PATRIOT") GIBSON: I'll fire first. Start with the officers.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: He brings out the tomahawk. He is slaughtering everybody. This is a rousing movie. It's very interestingly rag-tagged. I am very, very upset and disappointed...</s>TRAVERS: You don't like that violence, do you?</s>SCHWARZBAUM: ... with its jingoistic, its right-wing stuff, the bombast, the blood. At the same time, people are digging it. You know, at least there's something to cheer for.</s>TRAVERS: Yes. I like the blood. You know, the stuff in the movie with the little...</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Oh, no, it's excessive. It's excessive.</s>TRAVERS: The stuff with the little mute girl, the stuff with the, you know, the black slave and the -- that was all very much flag waving, Hallmark...</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Hooey.</s>TRAVERS: Mel Gibson got into the dark side of the American...</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Yes...</s>TRAVERS: Roland Emmerich, the director, bringing us "Independence Day" and god forbid "Godzilla."</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Yes, but that doesn't have to do with this. This is a whole other...</s>TRAVERS: The battle scenes are really rowdy. It's too long.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: It was "Braveheart." It was...</s>TRAVERS: It's too long.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: It was "Lethal Weapon."</s>TRAVERS: It's</s>SCHWARZBAUM: All right.</s>TRAVERS: The other movie, "The Perfect Storm," is the movie I was most looking forward to. I love that wave, love that trailer. Had to see it.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Love the wave.</s>TRAVERS: George Clooney, really like him. Mark Wahlberg, the same. They're doing a true story here. So this isn't Hollywood. This is six guys that went out on that Andrea Gail trying to catch swordfish and instead got a perfect storm, three storm systems that just pounded the heck out of them.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Yes?</s>TRAVERS: Well, it doesn't work because the movie has no soul. There's no heart.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: I agree.</s>TRAVERS: The characters, we don't know who they are. The actors have nothing to play. What do you get? Effects: $140 million budget. Digital, it looked digital, Lisa.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: I agree. They do look digital.</s>TRAVERS: Lisa, listen to me, they're digital.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: It's a big wave, very digital. You can applaud that. I agree with you. They're set up for nothing. There's not enough tension in it. I'm sorry that "The Perfect Storm" turns out to be somewhat of a washout. Look, it's the 4th of July. You'll see something. Go. Happy Independence Day, and then let's look forward to the rest of the summer. I'm Lisa Schwarzbaum.</s>TRAVERS: Well, the swordfish in that</s>SYDNEY: How will the passing of "Sopranos" matriarch Nancy Marchand affect HBO's hit hitman show? And a special rooftop performance from Sister Hazel that's all for us.