AndyDursin wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2024 11:14 am 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.

If audiences refuse to accept a different character design for Toothless, then...why don't they just rewatch the original movies? It's like bringing back a distractingly frail-sounding James Earl Jones to play Mufasa again in the horrible 2019 Lion King, because "No one else can touch that role!"

Almost a decade later, it's a miracle that something as good as Kenneth Branagh's lovely take on Cinderella could have come through this awful trend of live-action remakes of classic animation. I watched it again earlier this year after viewing the 4K of the 1950 film, and it holds up beautifully. It's the perfect example of even a stopped clock being right twice a day.

Well, you know the why. It's unbelievably risk-averse but it's safe and it's what sells. They love the character design and they're giving them exactly the same thing in a slightly new skin. Seeing as a new movie will make more coin than a rerelease of the old one, that's what they're going to do.

Plus I think since those movies are still "current" it makes it more difficult to sell some kind of new "vision" or cinematic rendering of the material -- this is from all the same creative people. Maybe in 10-20 years they'll revisit it again from a new perspective. This might be a half-remake but it's not a new perspective creatively at all as we said.

These corporations aren't in business of doing anything but wanting to make $$. I'm telling you, Universal has that new park opening and they want a new Dragon movie -- notice Universal also wanted another Jurassic movie for Summer 2025 too. It's no coincidence, it's all corporate synergy or whatever you want to call it.

Also keep in mind all the toys are on the shelf still. The series on Netflix is either still going or fairly recent. This current generation of kids is still ingesting all of it -- it's not something that's "concluded" in terms of popularity. This way, retaining the specific designs of the dragons, all of that content remains "current" -- the dolls, figures, playsets, etc.

I'm not saying I don't think this looks weird or is pointless beyond being a monetary exercise -- but the more I think about it, the more I understand maybe why they went that way. Instead of starting a new thing, they're really just adding onto what's already there franchise-wise, even if it's a live-action remake instead of a cartoon sequel.

From everything I've seen, I can't think of a single project less ambitious than this. It brings "don't take any chances" to a new cinematic height (or is it low?!?).

It's the EXACT. SAME. MOVIE.

Certainly has a low bar it's trying to clear but remember the kids aren't going to care. That's the thing you're missing...adult viewers old enough to remember the original movie 15 years ago aren't the target demo.

It's still horrible, just Xeroxing a movie with authentic heart and soul just to resell it to kids who "won't know any better" 15 years later (and only six years after the last animated film in the series hit theaters ). I guess we'll be seeing the live-action The Wild Robot in cinemas by 2032 at the latest, as long as Chris Sanders is tearing through his animated output.