Petty Revenge: Warren Beatty and Dick Tracy | The Internet Says it's True
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In 2009 and again in 2023, Warren Beatty shows up on TV in the middle of the night on an obscure interview-style show. He's dressed as his 1990 Dick Tracy character and the appearances are just BIZARRE. That's because they have one sole purpose: to keep the Dick Tracy rights in Beatty's name. In this episode, we talk about the Dick Tracy movie and this crazy ploy to keep the rights out of pure spite.

I guess there was a huge legal fight that he eventually won through argument and opponent apathy, so as long as he doesn’t let the character sit completely idle, he keeps the rights despite no longer giving a fuck either. It’s utterly petty, and if I cared more about Dick Tracy I’d probably find it infuriating rather than hilarious.

2009

2023

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    27 days ago

    Yep, it’s super weird. No one gives a shit about Dick Tracy anymore. And I even liked the Dick Tracy movie. Also, even if they did, no one is going to want to see an 87-year-old Dick Tracy.

    • Pistcow@lemm.eeEnglish
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      27 days ago

      What’s been fun is buying my first smartwatch, Samsung, and calling my wife from my watch and talking to he like Dick Tracy.

    • wjrii@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
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      27 days ago

      no one is going to want to see an 87-year-old Dick Tracy

      I think he knows that as well as anybody. That’s why it’s so delightfully stupid and petty.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        27 days ago

        I wouldn’t be so sure he does. There’s a good reason a lot of people suspect Carly Simon’s Your So Vain was written about him.

        • kjira@lemmy.todayEnglish
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          27 days ago

          It’s beyond suspicion now. In 2015, Carly Simon said the second verse is about him. But to your point of his vanity:

          Simon tells People, “I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren,” adding, “Warren thinks the whole thing is about him!”

  • kjira@lemmy.todayEnglish
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    27 days ago

    Wikipedia claims, according to the podcast episode here, the 2023 appearance was unnecessary because Dick Tracy becomes public domain in 2027. No idea how true that is, but if it is true, that adds an interesting wrinkle to the story.

    • wjrii@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      27 days ago

      Partly true, but as we’ve seen from the Steamboat Willie thing, the specific aesthetics of the Beatty movie, and even elements like the two-way wrist radio (introduced 1946) or any villains who came along later than 1932 will still be protected for a while.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
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        26 days ago

        Yeah and it ran until the 70s, so there will be a lot of legal land mines with using that character for quite awhile.