I was a bit weary when I heard about his movie, but I really like this design. It's appealing in addition to being faithfull to the original. Of course, Jay Ward cartoons were much more than their visuals. This movie needs a sharp wit if it wants to avoid the lows of previous Bullwinkle Show adaptations.
For everyone complaining about the possibility of an origin story, I?d like to point out that there actually is one in the cartoon. Peabody was a college graduated genious who worked for the government and Sherman was an orphan . Peabody felt empty after all of his accomplishments and adopted Sherman when he saw how horribly he was treated. He originally made the Wabac as a present for Sherman?s birthday.
Don?t get me wrong, I hate forced emotional pathos as much as the next guy, but there is some justification for an ?origin? movie here.
Personally, while I wouldn't mind seeing some of Peabody's origin, a Disney/Pixar vibe wouldn't be right for this movie. One of the things that ruined the previous Jay Ward adaptations (aside from them being live-action) was the forced emotional weight. I actually hope this will be in the vain of the Spongebob Squarepants movie. I think it's one of the few cartoon adaptations to balance the comedey and pathos. Sure, there was SOME emotional weight, but only what was needed to ground the plot and characters. The true driving force of that movie was the humor and animation. Hillenburg & co. knew they didn't have to be Shakespeare to entertain us for an hour.
The appeal of these characters isn't deeply involving or compelling stories. If Dreamworks follows the same train of thought I think this movie will be better for it.