My Ever Changing Thoughts on the new Pete’s Dragon: 4-D Sneak Peek in the Parks

When they first announced that they would be doing a remake of Pete’s Dragon I was excited.  I’m generally not a fan of remakes –except for when they have a chance to really improve on the originals.  I don’t think classics should be remade. When Hollywood remakes Classic movies they general fail.  You end up walking out of the movie thinking “I should have just watched the original”.  This was the case with Psycho and Halloween.  I would never want to see a remake to one of my favorite movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Ghostbusters ( yeah I know),  but something like Pete’s Dragon is perfect to remake.   It is the kind of movie that makes you wonder what they could do with it with today’s technology.

The original Pete’s Dragon from 1977 was a fun, silly live action/Animated musical with a 2-D animated Dragon.  The story is basically Mary Poppins with a Dragon instead of a nanny.  

The 2016 Remake brings the Dragon into the modern era of CGI.  Gone are the songs and instead we get a great cast of quality actors and an amazing looking CGI Dragon.

When the original Teaser Trailer dropped---I was lukewarm on the remake.   It was such a short teaser that I couldn’t imagine how the movie would turn out.  It looked like a young Tarzan boy story.  Instead of being excited about the film I thought  “Maybe they screwed it up”.

As the summer went on long  more trailers begin to appear that make it look like a more magical worthy of a remake film.   I was starting to get a little excited again and I started looking forward to the Disneyland Parks sneak peek that would begin airing in July.  

The sneak peek has now turned this into a must see movie.   Like previous sneak peeks with the exception of Alice Through the Looking Glass (which fell as flat as the movie)  this sneak peek only enhanced my wanting to see the film.  My original concerns about the plot are now gone.  Robert Redford will be amazing.  Elliot the Dragon looks like the perfect mix of Dragon with a touch of the old animated version.  It would have been a bad idea to make a traditional Dragon---they stayed true to the original Elliot in their updated design.  The sneak peek has a great scene with Elliot flying around with Pete that was epic in the 4-D theater.   The movie looks like a fun and touching action packed version of the original.  ET with a Dragon.    I’m now confident that I’ll love the film.  

I wouldn’t even want to guess how it will do at the box office however.   I was shocked at how much money The Jungle Book Live Action film made…..yet the Alice sequel to a billion dollar original film bombed and BFG died despite supposedly being good.   Will people show up in droves to this new Pete’s Dragon.

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Alice Sneak Peek at DCA

The White Rabbit went that way....

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There is another fun 4-D Sneak Peek to check out at the Disneyland Resort.   With the new Frozen Stage Show starting this week at the Hyperion theater—the Muppet’s theater was left empty and a sneak Peek of Alice Through the Looking Glass moved in.   

The waiting area has some fun interactive photo booths that use the technology that I’ve seen on phones that will turn you into a character from Alice.   

 

The sneak peek itself was okay…but despite the films dazzling visuals I wasn’t as compelled to see this movie the same way I have been with most of Disney’s other sneak peeks.  I guess this return to Wonderland seems more money based than ---“we have another great story to tell” (that is just my opinion).  The first Alice made a ton of money at the box office so a sequel was inevitable.   The plot of this sequel just isn’t really capturing my imagination.    The sneak peek itself has many the fun 4-D features that make watching these sneak peeks so enjoyable in the parks.

If you are a fan of Alice –check out the sneak peek now in DCA’s Muppet’s Theater.

The movie opens in theaters May 27th

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4-D Sneak Peek Heaven: Guardians of the Galaxy

Captain EO is on vacation (Maybe for good) and the Guardians of the Galaxy have arrived.  The latest 4-D sneak peek at the Disney parks really knocks it out of the park and makes me really want to see this movie that I was only mildly excited about before.  This sci-fi adventure jumps off the screen in the Captain EO theater with in theater effects and like other sneak peeks --really makes you wish you could see the entire film in this fashion.  It starts out with an exciting Indiana Jones in space sequence and then blasts into a series of exciting scenes from the film.  Loved it and literally can't wait to see the movie now.

Here are some of the cool Guardians posted that line the entrance to this sneak peek.  I could totally see a Guardians attraction here some day.

Maleficent 4-D Sneak Peek and DCA

Currently at Disney's California Adventure in the Bug's Life theater is an awesome sneak peek of Maleficent.  I'm not an Angelina Jolie fan, but this is the film role she was meant to play.   The sneak preview was a great scene featuring a celebration of Aurora's birth which Maleficent crashes and in a delightfully evil way places her curse on Sleeping Beauty.  Then there a bunch of amazing looking scenes of a world that are along the lines of Avatar.   This movie looks visually stunning and I wish the whole film could be shown in this 4-D theater.   It looks like it should be a huge hit and I can't wait to see it.   I liked the sneak peek so much that I saw it twice.   

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OZ the Great and Powerful 4-D Sneak Peek and movie review

OZ the Great and Powerful the 4-D Sneak Peek at the Muppet Theater in DCA..   All I can say about this is that I wish the entire movie could be seen in the Muppet Theater.   The sneak peak for this movie was so visually stunning and amazing that the full movie in a regular theater couldn't live up to it.   The 4-D sneak peak has wind effects and water effects and the 3-D is absolutely amazing.   This short look into the film is a 10 out of 10 experience and just like with the Tron and Frankenweenie Sneak Peeks---I wish they actually screened movies in this theater....I would definitely pay extra to see this big budget films in this 4-D setting.    If you are in the parks make sure to check it out or whatever the next sneak peek that comes to the theater is----because it is definitely worth the stop.

Oz the Great and Powerful  2013   8 + out of 10

I was geared up to see the movie after the 4-D sneak peek that I saw at DCA ...I finally got to see the movie itself a week later.   Sam Raimi did a great job at delivering visuals that were stunning and top notch truly creating the world of OZ in spectacular fashion.   Even seeing the picture in 2-D the colors and images popped off the screen as if I was watching the 3-D version.
  The world of OZ was vibrant ,  Raimi actually delivered some of the great camera shots and techniques that made his original low budget Evil Dead films so fun to watch to this much larger budgeted film  (some I felt was missing a little from his Spider Man efforts).    Danny Elfman's soundtrack was top notch as usual.    The story itself was good, but somehow didn't capture my imagination as much as I hoped it would.   The trickery  used at the end of the film to repeal the Wicked Witches was clever and I wonder if it is just the source material itself and what the director had to play with that made it seem a lesser film than say  Lord of the Rings or some other big budget films.    Munchkins and Tinkers just do not make for great film characters in a battle against evil.   Also I would have preferred the original choice from the Wizard as I believe Robert Downey Jr. was a better fit for the lead role than  James Franco.  Also Mila Kunis's performance was underwhelming as well.     All in all it was a great film which looks amazing.   Worth seeing just for the visuals alone.