Wait a Minute... "DreamWorks' Dragons"? What?

robodog

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I started watching the series before I actually saw the movie and I really didn't have much of a problem enjoying it. I do highly recomend seeing the movie if you get the chance though. It's one of Dreamworks' best.
 

Drtooth

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I do highly recomend seeing the movie if you get the chance though. It's one of Dreamworks' best.
The worst thing is, the film came out at a time when I needed money for something else, and I didn't get the chance to see it right then. The last week the film was playing, I was dragged to (but freaking enjoyed) Get him To The Greek, so I never caught it. I can't rent DVD's (no credit card), so I never got the chance to see it. Really stinks, because I've heard great things about it.
 

mr3urious

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Now that Netflix has continued the series as part of Dreamworks' exclusive deal with them, the 3rd season has premiered under the title Dragons: Race to the Edge. They're also planning on 2 more seasons, which I imagine will be set after the upcoming 3rd movie. Jay Baruchel and the others must be exhausted from all this work.
 

Drtooth

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I'm very glad that Dreamworks was able to continue one of their cartoons that got screwed by a major cable network. I'm disappointed by Monsters Vs Aliens' run, especially the "And the Adventure Continues" ending. That was the franchise's second chance and Nick blew it.

Now, I have only seen a few episodes of the Dreamworks Dragons show and enjoyed it quite a bit. Once I can get that Netflix password back, I intend on catching this new series, while finishing up on All Hail King Julien. Only saw the first two, but managed to see the first 5 episodes of Puss in Boots when it was released. I'm really loving their Netflix cartoons and hope to see more of them in the future. Though, it would be cool to see something else done similar to Turbo FAST, using 2-D animation with slick visuals instead of CGI. You know, to shake things up a bit.
 

mr3urious

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I also love how unlike the other DW shows where the visuals are dumbed down quite a bit from the movies for budget reasons, Dragons' visuals look very close to the detail from the movies, and this is even more apparent in the 3rd season. :smile:
 

Drtooth

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I'm glad to see that someone appreciates how toned down television CGI has to be. There are those who have the huge disconnect between television animation and theatrical animation. Expecting to see something theatrical quality in CGI on television is like expecting 2-D cartoon to all have Disney like flow. But I have to admit... check out a Back to the Barnyard (and remember it wasn't that long ago). It's an improvement over Jimmy Neutron, but far from as fluid as TMNT and even Penguins of Madagascar was.

Dreamworks cartoons are usually streamlined, that is true. Have to admit, I like how some of it looks design-wise. Characters are more angular and less furry. I like how angular the Penguins got and some of the Furious Five plus one (never understood why they didn't change the name when Po finally get accepted) look really good. On the other hand, some of the humans in Monsters vs. Aliens look...off. Especially when they reintroduced Ginormica's ex-boyfriend from the movie. There was something wrong looking about him. And I love the heck out of Puss in Boots. Both that and King Julien managed to add more detailed fur and better looking models than the previous Dreamworks shows. Except for one tiny thing that bugs me. They reuse Shrek models for some of the kids. Which shouldn't be a problem, except that every major human character on the show is stylized. SO you have these semi-realistic kids that don't look like they belong there running around. I admit it's distracting.

Nice to see they're really giving Dragons their utmost care. I've only seen the previews (need to get the password back since the last computer died on me), and it looks very fluid and theatrical. At least high quality DTV/ TV special quality.
 

Drtooth

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That's great. They set up quite a bit of great stuff with Whiplash and Breakneck that was kinda left hanging. Plus, the antagonist of the movie actually got an appearance in the last episode of the season and vowed a rematch "next time." I've said for quite some time that this series essentially made the dumb concept of the movie (which was fun despite the alienating premise) work, let alone made a huge improvement over it. I dig the movie, though it's not my favorite DW film by a longshot (it was much better than Sharktale, but most everything is), but the cartoon series blew me away. Better writing, better characterization (Skidmark especially since he was just...there in the film), and just overall delightful animation and designs that essentially turn the film into a pilot movie for the series, Jimmy Neutron/Back to the Barnyard style for me. That's Titmouse's talented team for you.
 

mr3urious

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Their newest show Dinotrux is surprisingly really good. It's got that preschool boy appeal with dinosaurs crossed with construction equipment, though written a lot more maturely than it comes across, so it could be considered a post-preschool show like with Rescue Bots.
 

Drtooth

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You know, I saw the trailer to that a few days ago during something on Cartoon Network and when I first looked at it, I scoffed. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact these were prehistoric creatures made of machinery that were in a prehistoric world. Then I realized how silly questioning that sounds since...well... Cars and all... Transformers maybe, since they have conflicting histories of why there's a planet full of sentient robots (they're either made by the Quintessons or born through the All Spark depending). And watching the full trailer, the show does indeed look quite higher quality than it needs to be. Seems this is the first DW cartoon on Netflix to use a Canadian cast. Heard the unmistakable voice of Matt Hill. Once I can get back on to Netflix, I'll check it out.

But I strongly recommend Puss in Boots. I give them credit for making it more like the spinoff film than the Shrek series. Still manages to twist some fairy tales and legends, but doesn't have the aggressive in your face-iness that made Shrek kinda annoying after a while. I really don't think a straight up Shrek series would work well, and I'm glad Dreamworks didn't just make one of those out of the gate. Also, the Peabody and Sherman show is still happening. Good thing they didn't just junk it because it was considered a "flop" yet it made more money than all the other Jay Ward films combined. Heck, the first week it made at least double the entire gross of Dudley Do-Right. Hopefully more Classic Media shows will get a Netflix original series. Someone has to wash the bad taste of Underdog the In Name Only movie out of Underdog fans' collective mouths.
 
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