August 17, 2004

Stan Lee's latest cameo

What's that, you say? When asked what's the most recent sequel film that Stan the Man appears in, you say "Spider-Man 2?"

More fool you.

Stan told me about it at San Diego, but said he wasn't sure it was going to be in the final print. So I didn't want to say anything until I saw it myself. But yes, by gosh, folks who sit through "Princess Diaries 2" and actually remain conscious until the last twenty minutes will see Stan himself trading bon mots with Julie Andrews. His character makes a ham-handed, strangely accented pass at Andrews' queenly character, punctuated by loud "Whoop whoop whoop" noises. The flummoxed Andrews is informed by the young woman accompanying Stan, "Please excuse my Uncle. He learned all his English from watching Three Stooges movies."

Personally, I think the film needed much more Stan. But Ariel liked it, as did the movie audience which was almost entirely little girls and their moms, so I hardly think I was the target audience.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

PAD

Posted by Peter David at August 17, 2004 03:10 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commenting
Comments
Posted by: Stephanie at August 17, 2004 03:26 PM

Wait, you mean he wasn't dodging debris in Princess Diaries 2? I'm so disappointed.

Posted by: Mary McCool at August 17, 2004 03:39 PM

I took my daughter, Katie, to see it and when I saw Stan I got very excited. I always miss his cameos. My husband and son have to point him out to me. So naturally I would spot him right away in this movie.

Posted by: Phinn at August 17, 2004 03:53 PM

I've got two little girls of my own (ages 5 and 6 currently) and I took them to see Princess Diaries 2. When the first movie came out my wife and I anxiously took them to see it as an opportunity to get the family out of the house (we saw most "kids" movies at the time as long as they were age appropriate) and we were pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a pretty good movie.

This one, though, had us groaning in our seats, embarassed on behalf of the actors forced to play out the horrible roles on screen. Utter crap.

Even the younger of my two girls was bored to tears by the end, yawning and repeatedly stretching in her seat as though in a perpetual state of waking up from a nap.

I did catch the Stan Lee cameo and thought that it was oddly out of place; is he going to start randmly appearing in more non-Marvel related movies?

-Phinn

Posted by: Pete at August 17, 2004 04:53 PM

My nieces were up from North Carolina last week, and my folks were suckered into taking them to see this thing. One of the girls slept the entire time. My folks returned expressing a wish to die, or, failing that, to slowly disembowel Garry Marshall with something rusty. They also commented on the fact that the country of Genovia apparently exists entirely within Burbank.

Posted by: PowerBook Pete at August 17, 2004 05:07 PM

Maybe in Princess Diaries 3, she'll be revealed as a mutant, and Stan will appear again.

Posted by: Michael Pullmann at August 17, 2004 05:21 PM

Well, that's awesome. You still couldn't get me to that movie with a cattle prod pointed at my naughty bits, but still, awesome.

Posted by: Peter David at August 17, 2004 05:26 PM

"Well, that's awesome. You still couldn't get me to that movie with a cattle prod pointed at my naughty bits, but still, awesome."

You know what? I've given it some thought, and I bet that if you had a cattle prod pointed at your naughty bits, that probably would get you into that movie.

PAD

Posted by: Mitch M. at August 17, 2004 05:52 PM

Check http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498278/ and scroll down.

He's listed as "Three Stooges Wedding Guest"

Posted by: James Tichy at August 17, 2004 07:30 PM

My 23 year old wife is very excited to see this movie. She won't be taking me along...not even with a cattle prod near my naughty bits.

Posted by: Somebody at August 18, 2004 12:17 AM

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but with a cattle prod pointed at my naughty bits, you'd be able to get me to go see frelling Gigli (or whatever that bomb was called), or even Catwoman, never mind this.

Posted by: Michael Pullmann at August 18, 2004 12:57 AM

"You know what? I've given it some thought, and I bet that if you had a cattle prod pointed at your naughty bits, that probably would get you into that movie."

I suppose it's ultimately a question of range.

Posted by: Donald W. Pfeffer at August 18, 2004 02:27 AM

Stan Lee's wasn't even the oddest cameo in the movie. That distinction would probably go to Paul Williams. I was positive I'd never see him again... so imagine my surprise when he popped up in Princess Diaries 2! Also, Tom Poston. I'm sure all of the 12 year old girls in the audience loved seeing Stan Lee, Paul Williams, and Tom Poston in the same film. What, Orson Bean and Dennis Weaver were too busy to make an appearance?

Posted by: Luigi Novi at August 18, 2004 09:11 AM

Stan Lee: Personally, I think the film needed much more Stan.
Luigi Novi: I think the movie needed much scenes with Anne Hathaway topless.

What? Wrong Anne Hathaway movie?

Darn.

:-)

Posted by: Mark L at August 18, 2004 09:33 AM

We haven't seen PD2 yet. Our family (me, wife, 10-year-old daughter - I guess we're the target) really enjoyed the first flick. This one seems to be getting mixed reviews, but I want to see it for one reason only: to see Julie Andrews sing again. I think it's criminal that she's gone from four octaves to four notes because of some idiot surgeon, but no matter how limited she is, I figure that alone is worth the cost of admission (even if it is little more than a handoff to some other young Disney overmarketed girl).

Posted by: WarrenSJonesIII at August 18, 2004 10:55 AM

God Bless him. I think that Stan is in his seventies and is still going strong. I hope that I have his stamina when I reach that number.

Regards:
Warren S. Jones III

Posted by: JAG at August 18, 2004 12:18 PM

Well,
I must have no taste, cause I enjoyed it. Yes it was fluff, but my daughter was excited and enjoyed it, and if she does I do. I loved seeing Paul Williams. I swear, I thought he had died years ago.

Posted by: Lukas Kaiser at August 19, 2004 03:02 AM

how utterly odd. i didn't know they had bald people in hollywood movies anymore

Posted by: Steven Thompson at August 21, 2004 09:32 PM

Aww, c'mon. I'm 45 and it was no worse than some of the live action Disney films I saw growing up. My 7 year old SON wanted to see YUGIOH-THE MOVIE but we went with my 21 yea-old purple haired friend and she insisted on PRINCESS DIARIES and we all enjoyed it. I was so proud and surprised when my son actually recgnized Stan (so did our young lady friend!)

Posted by: Steven Thompson at August 21, 2004 09:33 PM

Aww, c'mon. I'm 45 and it was no worse than some of the live action Disney films I saw growing up. My 7 year old SON wanted to see YUGIOH-THE MOVIE but we went with my 21 year-old purple haired friend and she insisted on PRINCESS DIARIES and we all enjoyed it. I was so proud and surprised when my son actually recognized Stan (so did our young lady friend!)

Posted by: Mark L at August 23, 2004 08:36 PM

We finally saw this Saturday evening. Yes, it was fluff, and not as good as the first, but we enjoyed it. There was a trailer for "National Treasure" before the movie and Michelle (my daughter) recognized Sean Bean ("Boromir!"), though I had to point out that John Rhys-Davies was Gimli during the movie. We're pretty sure there must be an outtake somewhere of JRD proclaiming: "There's one dwarf still in Genovia who still draws breath!"

Posted by: HankPym at August 23, 2004 08:40 PM

I saw it last night. I'm sad to say it was the most painful cinematic ordeal I've been through since sitting through Uptown Girls last year. Princess Diaries 2 had me up until the orphans showed up, and from that moment on I just wanted it to end. Too bad that moment wasn't even halfway through the flick...

Stan's cameo was fascinating though...I can't help but wonder how he landed the role.