Also, when has a live-action version of a cartoon ever succeeded? I can't think of anything except maybe Transformers.
IIRC
The Flintstones was a commercial success.
I've never been desperate enough to watch it, though.
It was surprisingly pretty good. It wasn't perfect, but it
felt like The Flintstones. That's the most important part.
I actually felt that Viva Rock Vegas was a lot closer in tone to the Flinstones type of humor, like the squished quarry instructor, the little-guy gangster being the boss, etc, and especially, John Stephenson as the Minister, him being an H/B + R/B voice giant, including Mr. Slate (for LOTR fans, he was also the animated voice of The Mouth Of Sauron). I also felt the like guy playing Fred caught it just a little better than John Goodman.
There was one moment that was purer DB, when Goku let the jocks beat each other up entirely by evading, even if it wasn't done in clueless fun.
As to Goku leaving his family before GT, it was five years, and he was only supposed to leave for one, I believe, and more, Toriyama seems eternally poised to write what 'actually happened' after the end of Z some day, and has more or less disowned GT, which he had no hand in.
I find it passable, and at least a fun ride, though more could have been done, even with what they had on hand. I often humorously wonder if Japanese viewers admire our ability to 'boil down' their works. I have heard it said that even Toei's production staff liked the music and SFX added for 'Voltron'.
Mebbe someday, this will open the door for DB to get the HP/LOTR treatment. I do love DB, but trying to intro even 20% of that wacky world to a mass audience might well doom it. Let it take a decade or so to seep into the mass culture more.
I always pictured a DB movie with this intro :
( A stern, Asian-sage sounding man speaks ) "In an age of wonders did Monkey King a Journey To The West undertake..."
(He is interrupted by the chuckling Funimation voice dub of Goku ) "Well, that's not quite how it went...The way I heard it told..."
(Cut to a rocket arriving with young Kakarotto; He is found by Jackie Chan in much older makeup; He would also play Roschi, looking slightly younger; He comically fights the monkey-tailed infant until it bumps its head and changes; A raising montage is shown, until the night of a large full moon has them outside; Goku is smiling..until...We only see a shadow and growls, with JC getting a familiar 'Bad Day' look on his face before he is squished) Tragicomically, Goku vows to find the monster that his dying 'Granpa' tries to warn him of.
Or Not.
Something to do with video games and/or anime, right?
