Now DreamWorks is doing it (*sigh*)

[Monterey Jack]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235326802/

[Monterey Jack]

Can't wait for the live-action Despicable Me...!

[Paul MacLean]

25 years ago my thought would have been "I'm all for it, if somebody good does the score".

Today there's not even that hope.

[AndyDursin]

Interesting it's from the same guy who directed the cartoon. So I guess there's that.

These days studio filmmaking is all about keeping IP's going and milking them for all their worth. Not taking chances but recycling and making the "safe bet". We were out to dinner last night next to a family with a little girl a little younger than Theo who had a bunch of the dragon toys she was playing with. That's what this is about.

[Paul MacLean]

We were out to dinner last night next to a family with a little girl a little younger than Theo who had a bunch of the dragon toys she was playing with. That's what this is about.

Yup. 90-minute action figure ads!

But at least Powell's doing the score. I'm not the biggest fan of all his stuff, but I did like his music for the animated versions.

[AndyDursin]

Hes scoring it? It's just so weird. It's the same composer, the same director...a live action remake from many of the same creative personnel? Bizarre.

Also remember DreamWorks is gone anyway. This is a Universal property since they bought up the DreamWorks animated catalog and they want a big IP push to sync with the theme parks etc. The franchise is hugely popular and unlike when I was growing up and movies would just end and you'd go onto the next thing outside of some exceptions, nowadays they just want to find a way to keep the franchise going regardless of how it happens. This series is very popular but I think they feel it could be even more successful if it's live action.

[Paul MacLean]

Looking forward to the live action remake of A Bug's Life.

[Monterey Jack]

Hes scoring it? It's just so weird. It's the same composer, the same director...a live action remake from many of the same creative personnel? Bizarre.

...and this teaser has a lot of the EXACT SAME SHOTS as the animated film, and Toothless' design is virtually identical to the animated films!



Again...who the hell is this for, aside from adults who are "embarrassed" to see a "dumb cartoon for babies" (to quote Richard Dreyfuss' punk son in CE3K), yet are completely fine with modern-day fantasy/sci-fi/superhero movies which are 75% animated already?

[AndyDursin]

Take it from my 5th grader who thought when I showed him this trailer that it was going to be a sequel to the animated movies: "wait...this is the same story?? I don't want to see that again!"

I have to say I was stunned the dragons all are basically EXACTLY the same design as they were in the animated movies and series. It's basically like remaking the cartoon with some human actors in what you accurately describe as bring mostly animated backgrounds anyway. And again its all same creative team!

I am totally convinced the main reason they're doing this is because the new Universal Orlando park is opening down there next year with this franchise being one of its major "worlds". It's a marketing tie in and ploy to broaden the appeal of its family base just a little...but I agree it's baffling as a concept especially when those movies are still popular with kids. I mean the animated spinoff shows are also still popular with Theo's age group and under too.

[Monterey Jack]

I have to say I was stunned the dragons all are basically EXACTLY the same design as they were in the animated movies and series. It's basically like remaking the cartoon with some human actors in what you accurately describe as bring mostly animated backgrounds anyway. And again its all same creative team!

They even cast Gerard Butler as Stoick again! That's like going to a theme park, and the guy walking around the park dressed as a movie character is played by the same actor. Strong shades of this:



It's like that Last Airbender Netflix show...yeah, I'm sure it's "better" than the lousy Shyamalan film, but...it's the THIRD time we've seen the story from the first season of the animated series! It is utterly pointless, especially when it looks as shot-for-shot as this trailer appears to be (except for a black Astrid, of course. ).

[AndyDursin]

Thinking more about it, really what they're doing is putting this in place of the release of an animated sequel. Because if the series was more popular at the box office they'd be doing another one of those. Instead the 2nd and 3rd movies did just serviceably, they didn't expand the fan base, they just retained the audience they already had.

They need a new movie for the theme park opening so they're doing this instead but it's not a fresh take at all. More like a weird cartoon remake with human actors from all the same people.

[Monterey Jack]

Coincidentally, I just got through rewatching the Dragon trilogy a few days ago, just before this trailer dropped, and I was gobsmacked how identical the shots are, almost to a Gus Van Sant Psycho level. As bad as the Disney live-action remakes have been, not one of them has Xeroxed the original to quite the same degree, and doing it with the same director, composer and even some of the key cast members makes it especially depressing. As an adult who has loved animation his entire life, it's disheartening to realize that this will pull in an adult crowd who refuses to watch anything animated, despite the fact that the trilogy is exciting, emotional and dramatically satisfying throughout, no matter what age you are when watching it. And yet it's STILL A CARTOON DRAGON.

[AndyDursin]

I don't think it's going to appeal to an adult crowd. Judging from the reaction I've read it's going to appeal to kids and people who liked the animated movies because it looks exactly like them. Really a low bar to clear but it's the nature of the business now.

[Paul MacLean]

Coincidentally, I just got through rewatching the Dragon trilogy a few days ago, just before this trailer dropped, and I was gobsmacked how identical the shots are, almost to a Gus Van Sant Psycho level.

And the CGI Toothless looks no more photorealistic than the one in the original.

[AndyDursin]

That's the odd thing -- it's not even that they tried to give it a little more realism. It's basically like WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT dropping the animated dragons into a human world.

But...I suspect it's exactly the point because so much of say the Youtube comments are from fans who are happy that Toothless IS exactly the same design. They probably tested it with different concepts and found out not straying from the current aesthetic was what tested the best, and not a DRAGONHEART like rendering.