Is this a prequel? Maybe I’ll be wrong, but I reckon this one’s just D+ seatfiller.

Now that said, there is something I think we often lose in our siloed communities is that there are different calculations involved for entertainment primarily aimed at children. There is an interplay between what you can get parents to sit through, balanced with the fact that by definition the audience cycles out after a few years and is not super sophisticated.

You still only really get one bite at the apple for a theatrical release, because I think the parents have a sort of reflexive rejection of seeing literally the same movie that they know has already been released and sense that once something goes to home media, it should by and large stay there (even the infamous “Vault” was never well liked). But something that’s technically “new,” even if it brings almost nothing original to the plate, that seems to cross a mental barrier where parents are willing to sit through it. They might not go to see a re-release of B&tB, but remake it in live action with Hermione, and at least it’s not something you could watch at home. Maybe you can’t bring yourself to pay to watch creepy soulless Lion King CGI mockumentary twice, but if Snotley and Ambrynnnn are asking to see the new one with a different voice cast and reconfigured set pieces, then… fine… whatever, maybe some of the jokes will make us smile.