faragonreblogs

[faragonreblogs]

^^^^ This ^^^^

As a long time httyd fan who has been heavily involved in the fandom since the first movie and who has spent years working in the animation industry, I’d like to share my thoughts on the new httyd movie. Keep in mind, this is just my personal opinion and it's completely fine if you disagree with me. I just want to say a little something about all this that really bothers me.

The core reason that Dreamworks and Universal made this film is that it’s a quick and easy cash grab for them. Thats it. They don’t care about telling a good story or making a “better” version of the original movie for fans or even having an accurate portrayal of the characters/story. It’s purely about money. They know that fans of the original film will go see this movie, whether it’s good or bad. And those guaranteed ticket sales are all that matter to the studios. And with Universal, it has the added bonus of being a cheap promotional and merchandising opportunity for the new HTTYD land in Orlando that opens around the same time that the film is premiering in theaters.

And to help the studios make even more money out of this, they are using non-unionized VFX companies around the world to make this film, so that they can get cheaper labor and push the artists to do more that would be against American union standards. The same thing has probably happened with the costuming and fabrication for the filming, hence why the costumes look un-weathered and the sets look cheap. They don’t want to pay for the extra time and effort that it would take to make the practical bits of the production look good.

On top of all this, Dreamworks has already announced that they’re shutting down all their in-house animation projects in favor of using AI and outsourcing projects to cheaper international non-union studios.

With all this in mind, I just can’t support this film and I will not be seeing it in theaters. And I hope that others will do the same.

The only way to stop all these horrible “live action” remakes (which are actually just realistically animated remakes) is to not buy tickets to see them. Money is all that matters to these studios, and if they don’t make any money off of it, then they will stop and try something different. Maybe they'll even go back to focusing on original stories!

That’s the power that we hold as audiences. Our wallets help drive the decisions that the executives make. So support unique storytelling and gorgeous cinematography in movies. Support indie films. Support animators as they're fighting for fair pay and better contracts. But don't support a mediocre shot-for-shot remake riding on the coattails of an already successful film.

And I just want to wrap all this up by saying I have absolutely no hate towards anyone that has worked on the new film. Toothless looks incredible and I know the artists and creatives involved in this project did the best they could with what they were given.

But I also know that those same artists have so many more brilliant ideas that they would’ve loved to be given the creative freedom to do. I just wish hollywood would be willing to take a chance and let them do it.

[faragonreblogs]

It's Autumn and the Leaves are Aflame!

Brought back an old lil sticker sheet, with a few of my fav lil dragons in the theme of my fav season c:

[faragonreblogs]

There's a difference between a painting and a coloring book.

my biggest issue with the httyd live action-and just about any live action reboot is that it seems that the live action adaptations are being made to make the original “better”? like, so many people talk about a live action spiderverse, a live action hercules, a live action PRINCE OF EGYPT (dont piss me OFF.)-like animation is a beautiful work of art, and for some reason putting real people and cgi in it is supposed to be an “upgrade”? im probably being that friend that’s too woke or whatever, but i just think it’s so disrespectful to act like something that takes so much time and effort and energy is immediately considered as lower because it is animated. animation is beautiful, and it is one of the most heartfelt art forms there are, and erasing that for the sake of a cash grab is downright degrading to animation as a medium.

[faragonreblogs]

Hey! My friend who was a board artist for Castlevania and Tomb Raider lost both their job and apartment and are in need of cash. They don't have a tumblr so sharing this here for them. It would be super helpful if this could get shared around.

Thank you!

They also have a ko-fi as well if you can only spare a couple dollars:

[faragonreblogs]

I can't believe I had to reach a milestone on a post of me ranting and bitching.

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"Toothless looks great tho!" YEAH CAUSE THEY ALREADY HAVE HIM AS A 3D ASSET!!! It's not that big of a leap to give him and the other dragons a better texture map cause the 3D models are already there!

Nothing justifies this live action! Absolutely nothing!

As a major fan of HTTYD, I have never seen a more unnecessary movie than this live action remake.

I was hoping, PRAYING that the remake would be an attempt to reflect the actual books back when it was first announced. Nope. Let's just spend millions of dollars to make the exact same movie. Again.

I hate it.

[faragonreblogs]

As a major fan of HTTYD, I have never seen a more unnecessary movie than this live action remake.

I was hoping, PRAYING that the remake would at least be an attempt to reflect the actual books back when it was first announced. Nope. Let's just spend millions of dollars to make the exact same movie. Again.

I hate it.

[faragonreblogs]

Hey nerds,

Are you a fan of animation? Are you an artist that works in the animation industry (or at least wants to… one of these days)? Do you just enjoy silly cartoons? Or maybe you don’t care about cartoons, but you believe strongly in workers rights and fair wages!

Well the people who make your favorite cartoons, anime, and animated shows and movies are fighting for the future of this industry. We are facing a lot of challenges right now job creep, low wages, the ever looming threat of artists being replaced by AI to create worse animation for the sake of generating content to make lots of money for very rich people while real human artists live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to pay rent and feed their families…

But you can help! By signing this petition to show your support for animation workers in the US

[faragonreblogs]

Wish I had friends in Path of Titans.

All I do is get attacked by randos and die.

[faragonreblogs]

Finally playing through New War in WF and man if it don't feel so relevant rn...

[faragonreblogs]

yo hey US people who sent in absentee ballots, they are tossing mail-in ballots for no reason. i just had to call my county board of elections and demand a cure for my ballot because north carolina didn't send out any notices of issues with ballots, and the issues are fake. if you voted by mail-in make sure your ballot was actually counted

[faragonreblogs]

PROOF IN CASE YOU NEED IT

[faragonreblogs]

(copied from @dxckiii on Twitter) this could literally change everything.

They have begun a recount process. WAKE UP YOUR NEVADA FRIENDS AND MAKE SURE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM CHECK iwillvote.com to make sure their ballot was counted. if it says it was denied, they need to call immediately.

Don't scroll past this. If there's any chance someone from Nevada is following you, they need to see it. Get this as far as possible. Be loud. I know it's easy to feel hopeless right now; god knows I was crying my eyes out for a good chunk of last night, but if there's even a shred of action we can take, we can't let it slip by.

If you know anyone in Nevada, please share this with them. Reblog it. Spread it far and wide, ASAP.

[faragonreblogs]

please reblog the fundraisers you see on your dash. please. if you claim to care about palestine, NOW is the time to prove it. everyone said gaza will be worse off if trump wins - well, now he has. the least anyone can do now is reblog and share and DONATE to as many fundraisers as possible. especially if you're american. you want harm reduction? this is harm reduction. help gazan families.

you can't decide where to start?

gazafunds

mohammad, nawal, and baby roaa

yousef, khadija, and baby majd

ahmed, his family, and their cat soso

nairuz and hussein's spreadsheet | gazavetters' spreadsheet | the butterfly effect spreadsheet

fundraisers linked on my blog

pick a name. any name. read their story. realize that what you feel now, they feel everyday, a thousandfold. donate whatever you can. at the very least, reblog if you can't.

there is no excuse not to.

[faragonreblogs]

I plopped these two over hades backgrounds and I think it looks awesome

[faragonreblogs]

if you're feeling powerless right now—and god knows I am—here's a reminder you can donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds, the Trans Law Center, Gaza Soup Kitchen, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and hundreds of other charities that will work to mitigate the damage that has been and will continue to be inflicted

life continues. we still have the capacity to do good, important work. that matters

[faragonreblogs]

Everything feels awful right now but it isn't really. We still don't officially have a winner, but regardless of how the presidential election ends up, I wanted to take a minute and find what lights I can in the 3 a.m. darkness. Here's what I know:

* Kentucky overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to undermine the public education system by offering private school vouchers:

* Delaware has elected a transgender woman to the House of Representatives, the first out trans person of any gender ever elected to congress:

* For the first time in history, two Black women will be serving in the senate at the same time, and they are only the fourth and fifth Black women ever elected to the senate:

* New York State has passed a constitutional amendment enshrining the rights of pregnant people (including the right to an abortion), LGBTQIA+ people, the disabled, immigrants regardless of legal status, and other at-risk groups:

* Democrat Josh Stein has beaten self-avowed Nazi Mark Robinson to become governor of North Carolina:

That's everything I know off the top of my head. It's not many bright spots, but it's not zero. I'm going to try to find more and I'll add them to the post. It's the only thing I can think of to do that isn't sobbing and throwing up or looking up Canadian immigration rules.

If you know more good news, I encourage you to add it in reblogs.