One of the most moving cult films in history was almost canceled due to a clash between the lead actor and Disney.
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Since its launch in 1989, Dead poets society was imprinted in the memory of pop culture like a hot irona critically acclaimed film that launched the star into some debut careers and earned Robin Williams his second Academy Award nomination.
The film is so indelible that if we ever hear “oh captain, my captain”it is most likely that the scene from the movie is being recited and not Walt Whitman’s original poem.
In any case, even though it later became a huge success, A clash between Williams and the Walt Disney Company nearly halted production.. Disney even burned the sets before the cameras were even turned on for the first time.
Williams rejected Dead Poets Society at first
There is no Dead Poets Society without Robin Williams
A part of Disney wanted to feature Robin Williams – who almost played Hagrid in Harry Potter – and produce a film for an older audience. After all, the actor’s recent success supports this decision, since he had managed to be nominated for an Oscar for Good Morning, Vietnam. However, the first director attached to the film preferred Liam Neeson instead.
A little over 10 years ago, Tom Schuman said in an interview that Disney burned sets after Robin Williams didn’t show up for the first day of filming. Although, Williams never actually said she would. After Disney tried to pressure him to move forward despite the director, they decided to cancel production.
This was the end of the story. But a year later, When director Peter Weir was hired for the project, Williams accepted the role. Disney’s persistence was the right decision, and in fact, its impact on the final film was a success, so the entire process was undoubtedly worth it.
What was the inspiration for the movie Dead Poets Society?
John Keating, Williams’ character, describes poetry as what we live for. In fact, the plot itself teaches us that The arts are as essential to life as if it were breathing.. Tom Schuman created Keating’s entire philosophy and his peculiar way of teaching from one of his high school teachers, a man named Samuel F. Pickering Jr.
This old-fashioned second-grade English teacher was charming and loved his students, but he was an iconoclast. And after he returned to his junior year, he is no longer there. There were rumors that slandered the cause of his departure, but in reality, he had just gotten a better job. However, Schuman never knew this at the time, so that left an empty space that he could fill with his inspiration, and, thus, managed to write a story about an eccentric professor who resists traditional thinking.
Peter Weir’s influence on the film was essential
The success of the film comes from a joint effort
After the confrontation between Robin Williams and Disney and his subsequent official incorporation, Tom Schuman thought that The actor would fit Keating’s funny side like a glove.. On the other hand, Peter Weir, who has a naturalistic touch, helped the film manage to be touchingly empathetic, knowing that William, after meeting him, was a calm, thoughtful and fun person.
The director gave the film much more than we thought. First of all, he very kindly refused to direct Dead poets society unless I know how to eliminate a plot line in which Keating died of cancer because it diminished the idealism of the man and the story. On the other hand, Weir was in charge of shooting the scenes sequentially, but particularly the Shakespeare scene, was actually an improvisation exercise that finally made it to the final cut.
Besides, guided Williams in his final scenehelping to interpret his character in a better way:
The audience will cry, but you won’t. You [como Keating] You don’t cry until you leave and you’re alone in your car. Right now, you want those kids to take care of themselves, so keep your composure, for them. Just say “Thank you” and leave.
Definitely, Dead poets society would not have existed without the magnificent performance of Robin William, without the skills of Peter Weir and without the incredible thinking of Tom Schuman. Williams even once claimed that a man had told her that after seeing the film, she decided to leave her corporate job and join the art world. A film that will help us see the world in a different way and that even today could continue to be one of the best films on Disney+. But, be that as it may, he always remembers: Carpe Diem.
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