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Well, this sure came as a pleasant surprise out of nowhere. I mean, I never thought that I would live to see a Dragon’s Lair motion picture project. Especially since it´s been over 30 years since the Dragon´s Lair TV-series aired (1984 to 1985, 13 episodes were aired in total). Well, I guess that some dreams just never fade away with time. And that´s most definitely the case with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman´s Dragon’s Lair: The Movie project on Kickstarter. As both the Dragon´s Lair fans and Gary Goldman (Anastasia, An American Tail, and The Land Before Time) have been wanting to see a full-length movie of Dragon´s Lair since the very first game (pretty much). Anyhow, so far Dragon’s Lair: The Movie is doing rather well on Kickstarter (the goal is to raise $550,000, and at this moment, the movie has collected over $85,000 with 27 days left to go).

However, one should keep in mind that even “if” Don Bluth and Gary Goldman succeeds with their Kickstarter campaign ($550,000 or more). The money won´t cover the costs of making and marketing the movie. No, those $550,000 will just cover the plans for an “Dragon’s Lair: The Movie” PR-tour. A tour which aims to get the word out about the movie. It´s also a way for Gary Goldman and Don Bluth to search for investors, sponsors and so on, because the Dragon’s Lair: The Movie project will cost between $55 million to $240 to make. In fact, this is what Don Bluth and Gary Goldman had to say about the matter of money and costs for the movie:

“Animated motion pictures cost loads of money and time. If you have followed the latest publicity on animated films or checked out boxofficemojo.com you would know that these films, traditional hand-drawn or computer generated can cost anywhere from $55 million to $240 Million, some even more – just on the production. Promoting an animated film could cost an additional $100 Million to market the film worldwide.

In order to finance the production, promotion and distribution, independent companies like Don Bluth Films must approach major film studios, private investors, or investment banks for loans and/or equity investment to finance their films. Though those entities may fulfill an important role in the process, their involvement also comes with serious strings attached, which can often push and/or pull the story and its design elements, in the wrong direction or even decide to cancel the production all together. Or, they may have no experience whatsoever with either the animation production process or the extraordinary marketing effort to create audience awareness and strong anticipation to see the final product. Thankfully alternatives have emerged and are gaining momentum over recent years.” – Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, via Kickstarter

Yep, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman has worked on these movies.

So not to sound evil or negative, but it´s going to be a really hard task for Goldman and Bluth to pull this one-off. I´m not saying that it´s impossible, nor that they should give up. I´m just being very honest about the whole thing. For example, the last Dragon’s Lair game (s) were released back in 2002 (Dragon’s Lair 20th Anniversary Special Edition and Dragon’s Lair 3D: Return). And that wasn´t exactly yesterday, if you know what I mean? (13 years is a very long time in the world of gaming and movies). In short, many of today’s young Gamers have no idea what Dragon’s Lair is all about.

Personally, the last Dragon´s Lair game that I played was for the Super Nintendo, and that was back in 1992, 1993 sometime. I played my very first Dragon’s Lair game on the NES though (around 1990 sometime). Then shortly after that I got the chance to play Dragon’s Lair on the laserdisc system (Cinematronics, 1983). That “title” was hardly a game as per say though, it was more of a cut scene party with a few control options per screen. Nevertheless, the game became a huge success in the Arcades back in the 80s (mainly thanks to the super awesome animations and the beautiful Princess Daphne). Anyhow, I´m still going to wish Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (with friends) the best of luck with their Dragon’s Lair: The Movie project! And yes, I would pay to see that movie in theaters.

So, what do you guys and girls think? And are you excited for a Dragon’s Lair movie?

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround