Oh, great, are we on this again?
Yes, it appears that the senseless petitions are springing up again because, for some odd reason, people think that their virtual signatures will steer the sails of multi-billion dollar companies into doing what they want. But as much as I can’t stand hearing about these things, and reporting on the outrageous number of people who fall in line with the ridiculousness, this one is particularly strange.
As it turns out, one avid fan of the Ice Age franchise has requested (via Change.org) that 20th Century Fox revive the series with a live-action remake. And though the petition has been on the web for over two months, it’s gained a lot of steam in the last week and has nearly reached 400 signatures.
Yuck.
But honestly, who knows? With Hollywood’s horrifying tendency to taint the well of animated classics, it could definitely happen one day.
The proposal, in acknowledging this pattern and the coarse feelings many fans have towards it, only justifies an Ice Age film by saying that it “would be sick.” Yeah, I’m sure a lot of people thought The Lion King would be sick, too.
Let me make something clear, because my distaste for Disney’s “live-action” remake has been incredibly unpopular: the technological advances that have been made in the last five years alone make anything sound appetizing, on paper. But what people don’t seem to understand is that when we digitize hand-drawn classics, we take away an abundance of creative decisions and licenses that made the original work. Sure, Simba is cute and all, but he isn’t built to sing. And in a “realistic” setting, there’s no room for a tower of jolly, coordinating elephants, hippos, giraffes and anteaters.
In an effort to not totally pre-judge, I’ll say that an Ice Age film a la Lion King would have the advantage of its inspiration being created in a digital, computer-animated form already. But you’ll never hear me say that a photorealistic Scrat is an interesting idea. Just look outside.