It’s not just that these type of films devalue animation (which they do, despite also relying on it heavily), it’s that they’re also actively devaluing the experiences that audiences deserve. Recycling the same stories over and over and over again puts us in a cultural loop where the deeper political themes of the art we engage with grows increasingly stale and pushed to the background. Studios don’t need to continue to push the boundaries of storytelling when they can just reheat something we’ve already had. It’s disingenuous, even when it tries its best to capture the emotions of its source material. 

A positive would be that of the two animated films directed by Dean DeBlois that have gotten the live action treatment in the past month, this is the better one. At least How to Train Your Dragon lets a shot last longer than 3 seconds as opposed to the frantically nauseating collection of image flashes that is Lilo & Stitch. But what kind of praise is that really? A real shame that so much time and money was spent on this rather than something new.

House of Cinema episode coming next week.