“WHY CAN’T HOLLYWOOD JUST MAKE SOMETHING ORIGINAL?!”
This is the age old question that keeps getting brought up more and more, year after year, especially when a remake gets announced.
However, with movie production costs going up, as well as movie ticket prices, the reason to go with a remake is always the same…it SEEMS like less of a risk.
I’ve been a film fan my whole life, and my fascination with remakes has been there from the beginning.
While I have my reservations when I see a remake announcement, I am always just a bit intrigued to see what they end up doing with it.
One specific day, I did a double feature that solidified my thoughts on remakes as a whole. The movies? Footloose (1984) and it’s remake from 2011. Many dismissed the 2011 Footloose remake, but I held interest because I liked the previous films from it’s director, Craig Brewer.
When I finished both I was not only surprised by how much I liked the 2011 remake, I liked it more because I was able to compare the two movies after watching them so close with each other.
There was something fun for me about seeing how the new film adapted some of the original movies scenes, and see what they kept and what they even made better.
I became so intrigued with remakes that I even co-created a podcast ALL ABOUT remakes, NOTHING NEW: A REMAKE PODCAST.
So year after year, month after month, my co-host Andrew Linde and me will watch remake after remake and see how things go.
What I’ve come to learn about watching so many remakes is that… there is MORE of a risk in making a remake.
When the remake doesn’t work for me as a film, it becomes impossible to not compare it to the original film…thus making it worse because it’s a remake. Being an ORIGINAL film that ends up being bad is one thing, it’s another level of annoyance if it’s a bad version of a better movie.
But if the remake IS a good film…the comparing is fun. It’s like hearing a good cover of a beloved song. It can even make you love the original even more. Both films can be beneficial.
After 7 years of hosting this show, I’ve come to appreciate the creative risks of a good remake. To see elements of the original and see where you can expand or improve.
Because at the end of the day, if the remake ends up being a great movie…that just simply means there are MORE great movies out there.
What are they? Who stands to benefit? Who is funding these strange ventures? Residents of Los Angeles and many metropolitain areas are well accustomed to seeing the plethora of advertisements on all manner of physical objects and spaces.
Recently, there has been a rise in what seem to be ads which baffle the average consumer. Found on leaflets, coasters, key chains, bus shelters, and even one proported sighting on a billboard, are ads for businesses run by fictional cartoons and purporting extraordinary services.
Whether this is some elaborate prank by a performance artist, a self-amusing billionaire, or an instigator with more nefarious motives remains to be seen. In this city, eccentric characters are not just common, they’re expected, woven into the fabric of an entertainment capital where people come to be noticed.
Seeking attention without capitalizing on it in a traditional way is nothing new. Actors and performers have long used various methods to entice the limelight, and some have even become famous simply for being famous. Mixed in are the real-life local businesses that simply seeking community connection. Following the breadcrumbs seems to be the only surefire method of inquiry. Perhaps this is just a quirk of modern life, where media consumption grows increasingly siloed, shaping fragmented perceptions of reality. How does pure fiction blur into these diverging versions of the world around us? I find myself both confused and amused—if not a little curious. Have you witnessed strange sightings like these? Contact our Editorial department and let us know!
As we learn about this strange and incredible story of animal astronauts, I can’t help but marvel at the audacity of not just its creation, but its timing. At the height of global tensions, the initiative seemed both wildly improbable and oddly purposeful. Because, if history has taught us anything, it’s that when humans are stressed in any conflict, the situation can do one of two things: Tear us apart or bring us together (often in extraordinary and unexpected ways).
While trends and a sentiments of the day can often drive decision-making, uncertain times are precisely when bold ideals should be pursued. The endeavors in science or storytelling, affect each other and shape both real and imagined worlds.
While far less fantastical and lacking any trips to space, I myself, as a suitably awkward teenager, had the privilege of participating in a real-world program with similarly ambitious goals. In 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower founded a program called “People to People” Student Ambassadors, an initiative designed to foster global unity through youth cultural exchange. The inaugural conference included 100 individuals from industry, academia, and the arts and was nothing short of a who’s who of mid-century diplomacy and business. They included Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, and Joyce Hall of Hallmark Cards, with Charles Schulz of Peanuts fame contributing art to the program’s worldwide conferences. Coming full circle, I found myself honored to have worked on projects for those last three founders’ companies later in my professional art career.
Eisenhower’s words at the event were particularly striking from a sitting president: “If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments, if necessary, to evade governments, to work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other.”
Essentially, his plan was to bypass bureaucracy and let regular people do what governments themsleves often couldn’t—build meaningful connections and appreciation—which I certainly did during my formative trip around the U.K. Walt Disney later became one of the founding directors of the program and later drew inspiration from the initiative to create the “It’s a Small World” ride at Disneyland in 1964.
This similar spirit of optimism and collaboration is what makes the Pawsmonauts so intriguing. In the face of uncertainty, our best tools are imagination and vision. And what better way to inspire those qualities than through storytelling? After all, even the most pragmatic minds struggle to remember raw data, but everyone remembers a good story.
From far- flung sci-fi adventures to children’s puppet shows and comic books about misfit mutants, storytelling has long served as both critique of their times and vehicles for shaping our perspectives. Even the most practical industries thrive on a good narrative. Why else would sports networks spend so much time crafting dramatic backstories about Olympic athletes rather than just showing us their stats and race times? Emotion matters.
If stories shape our values, then narratives—both real and fictional—help fortify our moral compass. Whether consciously or not, we use narratives to frame our convictions as we navigate the world. And in the case of the Pawsmonauts, those stories come wrapped in fur, feathers, and flight suits. Among the mission’s newly uncovered documents, one phrase stood out—a rallying cry from the flight team. Perhaps we humans should take note and heed their wisdom, because there may indeed be “Space Fur All.”
Brave Animal Astronauts Have Been Quietly Shaping Space Exploration Since the 1950s
In an astonishing revelation, a covert space program dating back decades has come to light, exposing an elite team of highly intelligent animal astronauts from multiple countries. These furry, feathered, and four-legged pioneers have not only shaped space exploration but may have even influenced human history itself—all while keeping an impressively low profile.
Known only to a select group of officials until now, the operation was codenamed “The Pawsmonaut Project.” While details remain classified, early findings suggest that the program originated during the Cold War, when both the United States and the Soviet Union, eager to gain an edge in the space race, turned to a surprising source for assistance: civilian scientists detached from political entanglements and, evidently, a highly skilled cadre of non-human astronauts.
The missions acted as a back-channel to further a shared vision of scientific progress with mutual benefit during some very divisive times. Exactly how these scientists managed to launch a joint operation remains one of the program’s many lingering mysteries.
The initiative’s participants were, to say the least, an eclectic crew. While the identities of the originators remain elusive, as does the question of where exactly these intelligent space-faring creatures came from, what is certain is that their missions were as ambitious as they were classified.
A Crew Unlike Any Other
The original Pawsmonauts were reportedly a cat and a dog, a pairing that should have foreshadowed their team’s ability to defy expectations. They were followed by a hamster, a rabbit, a wild raccoon, an eagle, and even a giant panda. These animals were not merely passengers but each held a vital role, contributing their unique abilities to their mission.
Perhaps even more astonishing is the claim from insider sources that the spacefarers were equipped with advanced wearable devices that allowed for communication between both humans and each other.
Early analysis suggests this technology could decode animal brainwaves, effectively translating their thoughts into human language. If true, this could represent a historical breakthrough in cross-species communication and a discovery that, if publicly released, could revolutionize our understanding of language, intelligence, and of course, what our pets really think about us.
A Trail of Clues Hidden in Plain Sight
While speculation about what other technologies may have come from the program runs rampant, what’s equally fascinating is how evidence of the Pawsmonauts arrived.
For years, strange, unexplained parcels have surfaced in small independent retail stores across Southern California—not containing any top-secret blueprints or encoded messages—but commemorative pins, prints, stickers, and buttons featuring the characters themselves. These items were assumed to be delivery errors, but with no return address, store owners simply placed them on their shelves. Over time, these products would find their way into swap meets, collector conventions, and craft shows, becoming odd, unexplained curiosities for those lucky enough to stumble upon them. As it turns out, these items were never meant for public consumption but were intended for internal use—a way for personnel to celebrate their secret heroes within the confines of their own clandestine organization. What was meant to be an internal secret ironically ended up becoming a public mystery, one that is only now beginning to unravel.
According to two anonymous whistleblowers, former employees of the program, the mysterious merchandise was actually part of an intentional slow-release scheme dubbed “Operation Starlight.” This effort appears to be a deliberate strategy to ease the general public into the mind-blowing truth about the Pawsmonauts—one charming pin at a time.
Under the cloak of anonymity, the insiders confirmed that a collective of designers, technologists, and puzzle enthusiasts have been quietly working to bring the story of the Pawsmonauts into the public sphere. Whether this will take the form of books, documentaries, or something more unconventional remains to be seen. There is, of course, an undeniable contrast between the scale of a decades-long international space program and a small band of locals slowly unveiling its history through scattered collectibles, but sources insist that the strategy behind this slow-burn reveal will become apparent in due time. For now, our investigation continues, and we welcome any information from those who may have encountered these artifacts. If you’ve encountered one of these mysterious pins or prints, you may be holding a small but significant piece of history.
A Lesson in Cooperation
The Pawsmonauts’ story is more than just an odd curiosity—it presents a powerful vision of collaboration at a time when global cooperation is more critical than ever. The idea that animals from different backgrounds, species, and even rival nations could work together is both an inspiring and thought -provoking notion.
Publicly facing initiatives like the International Space Station (ISS) and the Artemis Missions stand as testaments to what can be achieved through unity. Perhaps their greatest achievement isn’t just scientific discovery, but the simple, profound lesson that teamwork transcends boundaries, even between species. As we uncover more about this astonishing program, one thing remains clear: the Pawsmonauts’ story is only beginning to be told.
Kit n' Rivet 