The show with one of the worst names in terms of being able to build a brand so I’ll add by saying it’s Jim Henson’s Disney’s Dinosaurs. Yikes. That likely isn’t helping the case for a reboot or revival. Would it work in today’s age, how could it be done? Is it even possible for it to ever happen? Let’s excavate a bit and find out.
The show got cancelled after lowered ratings but it had a good run with most of its episodes being solid. This is why it’s still highly regarded by most. However the last season there were far more misses than hits. There’s also a couple of repeated storylines, I think there are either 2 or 3 episodes were Fran gets a job for example. Not to mention we got two separate parodies for Barney the dinosaur. In a way most stories that could be told had been told. I’m sure had we gotten another season there would’ve been far fewer classic episodes even if I’m sure we woudl’ve gotten a couple of great episodes.
But a movie, that’s something that could’ve gone either way, being an absolute great story that couldn’t have been told on TV. Or perhaps it would’ve felt like an extended episode of the show. I can’t say a movie would’ve been the best format for the show but…either way I would’ve loved to check the concept th at they might’ve come up with. Any reboot or revival won’t be a movie however, it’d most likely be a show and I think it would be animated. I found a while ago this fan made CG remake of the Baby Gotta Love me music video.
I think a new show would likely not be made with puppets, that’s too expensive for them to care to do it. However an animated version could look as close as it could to the previous tv series. It’d be able to recreate the nostalgic specific look of the original while being totally new, not being constrained by movement or settings. That woudl give it a bunch of new stories that it could potentially tell that the show could never do. If it got streamed a lot, I could see a revival in the veins of X-Men 97, although that window of opportunity seems to have already been lost.
I don’t think a new show would be a continuation though, it’d be a reboot. Could the show be done in 2D animation? Well the designs don’t lend themselves to an animated look, we saw that in the coloring books in the 90s and other licensed products that had 2D artwork done. But since it’s a new style they could be redesigned as we’ve seen some fan artists do. I see this as the least likely option since it feels a bit like other family animated sitcoms without anything to set it apart.
What about the humor? The original show was very political with their messages and critics and in today’s world I can already see people calling the show out for being too PC. Without people having watched a single episode a large part of the potential audience would’ve already chosen a side of hating every piece of it or loving every bit of it. But I think the show would be smart like the original, it would likely make fun of both sides to the displease of both sides of the political arguments.
The NECA toyline didn’t last for more than one wave so it might be a difficult brand to market nowadays, the name doesn’t help as I mentioned in the beginning. But I really thought there had been a new found appreciateion of the show on the internet, especially with how many clickbait sites/videos rehash the whole ending OMG YOU WON”T BELEIVE THEY KILLED THEM. But who knows.