With this week’s release of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, our crew got together to pitch some other live action movies that would do well in the animated medium! Give us your pitch @SiftPop!
Since its release five years ago, Alita: Battle Angel probably belongs on the Mount Rushmore of the internet’s favorite movies. A relatively recent first watcher, I suspected it would be a fun watch after a couple of drinks. I was not wrong. There are some great visuals and some cool world building that doesn’t fully work throughout movie, but I do think it could benefit from a return to its visual roots, as it’s based on the graphic novel series Gunnm by Yukito Kishiro. The manga about a cyborg seeking to find out who she is has plenty that could make for a gorgeous animated project. Despite a rabid internet following, it didn’t make enough to earn back a massive budget, but it was by no means a flop. Despite neither director Robert Rodriguez nor writer James Cameron having done an “animated” project before, visual effects are obviously a big part of what they both do. I think taking Alita back to her animated roots could be an interesting way to split the baby of allowing two visual masters to bring what’s in their heads to life in a way that might be more budget-friendly, though not necessarily cheap (see: Arcane). (Jake Bourgeois)
With such a storied and rich tapestry of worlds, characters, and conflict, Frank Herbert’s Dune series is primed and ready for animated spinoffs. Almost any style of animation would suit the Dune-iverse; however, I think it would be most suited to anime or the Spider-Verse style. Animation would allow for the seemingly impossible aspects of this story become possible and further build on this massive yet classic storytelling world. There are endless possibilities for how a Dune animated series could be developed, and one I think would be a welcome addition to the TV rotation. (Adam Ritchie)
Count me among the many skeptics of whether HBO will pull off the upcoming Harry Potter series. Not only is David Zaslav’s budget-slashing relentless — as evidenced by Season Two of House of the Dragon — but the complications of working with a predominantly child cast can’t be overlooked. Across seven seasons, the actors will journey from adolescence to adulthood, and they won’t always be on the same schedule. Now imagine you can free yourself from all these burdens while remaking the movies. Good animation isn’t cheap, and that goes double for when the studio pays fair wages with reasonable hours. However, it is much cheaper than creating massive sets, a wide array of elaborate costumes, and countless CGI creatures. Imagination becomes your biggest limitation. The complications of utilizing a cast of child actors also fades away. You could even cast experienced adult voice actors for the young roles. Additionally, those who began reading the series before the movies had only the covers and other illustrations, paired with J.K. Rowling’s words, to guide their idea of how the universe looked. It would be thrilling to experience feature-length films showcasing the story in that art style. Harry and his broomstick could fly straight from the sleeve of the hardcover onto the silver screen. (Jason Mack)
After what is now five live action movies, stop motion would be such a cool way to breathe some new life into The Wasteland of the Mad Max universe. Seeing the sands of the desert, the oily machines, and the strangest looking people imaginable, but as little puppets of wood or clay, would be a fascinating and complex venture that would be well worth all the insanity that it would take to create. I can’t think of anything cooler to grace the silver screen than big, elaborate vehicles brought to life in stop motion as they race through The Wasteland. You capture so much grit and detail in each of these characters, vehicles, and settings. There are so many tales from The Wasteland that are just waiting to be told, but Mad Max in stop motion animation might be the most daring approach yet. I would love to see George Miller team up with someone like Henry Selick to get the right feel, while still bringing the scope and bombast. There’s a chance for creative character designs and expressive textures. What kinds of wild nightmarish tales could be told in this way? It’s is certainly an exciting prospect, and it would blow all of our collective minds. (Shane Conto)
Nothing lends itself to the medium of animation better than an adorable animal story. Free from the constraints of conflicting creature temperaments, a film would be open to explore storylines wherever and with whichever critters the story calls for without tossing a couple dozen kittens off a cliffside in Japan. Oh, did that last part get your attention? Yes, unfortunately 1986’s Milo and Otis was by all accounts a hotbed of questionable and in some cases downright deplorable treatment of the animal actors involved. However, at the heart of the film is a sweet relationship between a curious kit and a pug-nosed pup that deserves a second chance as a richly 3D textured animated feature. The best part of becoming an animated film is the absolute embarrassment of riches we have available for the voice cast this time around. While the original used Dudley Moore’s sweet tone to both narrate and voice the characters in the English language version, nothing would tickle me more than to hear the rambunctious orange tabby voiced by H. Jon Benjamin and his canine companion to have the gruff speaking voice of John Dimaggio. The story of their traveling and encountering other animals along the way would be so much more fun with other amazing voice actors popping up. Can you imagine how funny it would be to hear Tom Kenny as the voice of a porcupine or Tara Strong and Cree Summer as some chatting geese? (Patrice Downing)
Horror is a genre that doesn’t get a whole lot of love in the animated medium. When it does, it skews in two directions: kids’ movies or hardcore anime. Either way, it’s time we change that. There are two aspects of The Thing that could make for some really intense and captivating animation. The first is how characters are portrayed when they are discovered to be aliens. The creature and practical effects are off the charts in the original, but think about the possibilities of what someone could come up with in the animated world. Second, you can find ways to sow discord and not knowing what’s real or not with vibrant colors and distortion within the animation. All the scenes involving snow could make for a vibrant setting, especially with the ending. Finally, think about how awesome fire could be within animation. (Mike Hilty)