u/Adept_Let7797

Synopsis: A socially-awkward kid forms a secret friendship with a prehistoric velociraptor sent from 71 million B.C.  to the present day and is wanted by the FBI

I know this might come off as anther E.T./Iron Giant type plot, but this is. a story based on my personal childhood experiences with loneliness, family drama, and a fascination with dinosaurs. I'd keep the style 2D like the poster if I were to go inde, but if I were to pitch this to a studio like Sony or DreamWorks once I break into Hollywood sometime in the 2030s or 2040s (wouldn't pitch it to Disney or Pixar since they overly sanitize everything they touch nowadays), I'd give it a stylized 3D art direction similar to projects like Spider-Verse, Arcane, Wild Robot, etc.; with this film looking like it was drawn by a child.

The movie would with a velociraptor hatching from an egg in 71 million B.C. A time portal opens up, and scientists bait it with a steak & bring it to the present day. The velociraptor then escapes the lab when the scientists are ready to do their experiments.

We then meet our protagonist, 10-year-old James Jefferson. Who lives with his single working mother (she works night shifts as a nurse) in the fictional town of Cactusville, Arizona. His parents would fight a lot because his father was an alcoholic, which would lead to a divorce. He has a hard time making friends due to his obsession with dinosaurs.

We then see James at school. Giving us the main theme of the story as we get to see him going through his social/behavioral problems. 

James wishes on a shooting star for a best friend, and he ultimately gets his wish the next day when he finds the same velociraptor that escaped from the lab on his way home from school.

James takes the creature home and asks his mother if he can keep it. In stereotypical fashion, she says no.

James names the velociraptor Stripes. He later finds out that the FBI are searching for him after escaping.

We get to see a montage of James training Stripes.

We then see fun and games from our two main characters, like Stripes eating bullies on a playground, James sneaking him into a museum to show him his family, and the two watching dinosaur movies (like Jurassic Park).

James would find out on the TV news that the FBI have found Stripes’ location, and the two run away to a nearby forest to hide. (Which is the location on the poster)

For a while, they think they're safe due to them being far away from the city, but he agents then find out two main characters.

Then they both get taken away to the same lab that Stripes ended up in.

James discovers that the experiments the scientists pull on animals gets them killed. He then witnesses Stripes getting experimented to death. (This is the scene that all the adults watching in the theater would bawl their eyes out to)

He's now heartbroken and mourns the loss of his only friend. As he's now lonely like he was at the beginning of the story.

The movie ends on Christmas, where James opens a present and it’s a dinosaur egg that happens to be the same species as Stripes.

The final shot is James smiling at his soon-to-be-born friend. 

I'm 20 years old & going to community college right now for digital arts. (I.E. Film, animation, and graphic design) I start my last year of CC in less than 2 weeks before I get my associates degree next year. I've taken almost all of my art classes (Ones where I learned how to use Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Adobe Animate), so my last year will consist of mostly gen-eds plus courses on Blender, Maya, and After Effects. (The latter I'm taking again after failing it)

I've gotten better at my art/animation over time, but I didn't get as much practice as I wanted to over the summer because my school pays for the programs we use & they've been offline for almost 3 months. I'm very conflicted because I'm simply lost in all the advice people are giving me. I come from a wealthy family & can afford to go to university & get a bachelor's because I don't have to go into debt for school. Some people have told me I don't need a college degree & can get my foot in the door with a portfolio that stands out. Others have told me that the industry is very competitive, financially unstable, that I'll lose my job to AI & a career like this isn't worth it. Yes, those are valid concerns, but they're not specific to animation & are problems in almost every industry now. That's just our current economic reality where getting getting any job is hard.

People are also telling me that I should have a backup plan if my the career path I'm on doesn't pay the bills, but I've always seen myself being a professional artist for as long as I can remember. The last thing I want is to graduate with a degree that I'll never use & be forced to work in food service or retail for several years.

It's a question I've wondered for a while now. With the new Paw Patrol movie is coming out in a few days & the recent success of Toy Story 5 I've been starting to draw conclusions in the sense that this might be true. The MPA rating system has never been perfect & have evolved over the years. As Jaws & the 1st 2 Indiana Jones movies were PG, and pretty much every animated family film was G. Nowadays, you can't really find new blockbusters with a G rating. Movies like Mario & Zootopia are rated PG even though they wouldn't be all that different tonally if they were rated G. Those films are lumped in with franchises like Sonic & Spider-Verse which get darker & more emotionally complex with every installment. Toy Story & Paw Patrol were some of the last movies in Hollywood to keep a G rating, now both of their latest installments are PG. And if those franchises are too much for a G rating, what isn't? Again, age ratings have changed a lot over the years, but now it feels like that PG is for kids & up, PG-13 is for teens & up, and R is for adults.

As the title suggests, I'm 20 years old living at home with no job. I can't drive & I'm in community college for digital arts. (I.E. Film, animation, and graphic design) I start my last year of CC in 2 weeks before I get my associates degree next year. For the past 2 months, I've been sitting at home all day with nothing to do. I've had 2 jobs before: I worked at a restaurant where my hours were cut back until I didn't have any, and I worked at a department store where my shifts were long & I was taken advantage of.

I've gotten better at my art as I took classes recently where I learned how to use Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. And it's not that I lack confidence or anything, it's just there's this uncertainty as my dad is worried I won't be able to support a family in the future as well as the fact that AI is threatening to take over the industry. It doesn't help that unless I live in California or New York (which I don't), those jobs are hard to come by. I'm not even sure if I want to enter the workforce right away or do more school & pursue a bachelor's after I finish my associates.

The reason I'm looking for a job right now is that I've had this goal for a long time of getting my driver's license. However, my family has this insurance plan since we own so many cars, and I'd be put on it the second I get my license. My dad doesn't want to pay the insurance himself, so he's making me get a job so I can do it since he's already paying for my schooling.

I just feel like if Fox didn't bring back Family Guy in 2005 due to DVD sales & ratings from Adult Swim reruns, it likely would be considered one of the greatest cartoon sitcoms & a cult classic. The early seasons were a TV underdog & even made The Simpsons look pale in comparison at the time.

But that effect was ruined when Fox brought Family Guy back, gave it a primetime slot, and somehow made it more worse than the original run with budgets slashed. The constant swearing & sex jokes went up while the animation quality went down. The moneymaker the show became led to more lazily-written adult cartoons like it.

It’s just interesting to think how the series might've been perceived differently had it just stayed at 3 seasons.

This is a question I've been asking for years. Being neurodivergent & a church member can lead to great testimonies, but you can feel like you're doing so many things wrong at the same time.

I do acknowledge that we all sin in this life, but when your brain works differently (like mine), it's easy to constantly feel like you're not living up to God's expectations.

For starters, it's a universal experience for someone with ADHD (or any other ND condition) to have hyperfixations; which some of my interests include art, anime, and video games. There's nothing inherently wrong with liking those things as long as you're not ignoring your responsibilities, but it sometimes feels like you're worshipping an idol, which is against one of the Ten Commandments. My family would tell me I spend too much time playing games or watching TV thinking they provide nothing of value; but for a long time, I've admired the hard work & dedication that goes into these things that I like. Right now I'm even in college for digital arts (taking courses in film, animation, and graphic design) because I've always seen myself having a career in media. However, my family as well as a few of my friends from church have told me that if I were to continue on the path I'm on, I'd end up financially unstable & I won't have time to serve others. Instead, they've told me to serve a mission & then choose a non-creative career that would give me time for God. A few times, they've even said I don't care about the Lord if I don't do that.

That's honestly hurtful because there's a good handful of church members who happen to be professional creatives & are successful in what they do. It doesn't help that some Sunday School lessons I've participated in recently have shown AI-generated videos. I feel like I'm being shamed for having passions & discouraged from doing the things I love. It's true that I do struggle with personal prayer & scripture study, but it's about progress & not perfection. I do consider myself a spiritual person despite being inconsistent in my practices (as I enjoy going to YSA activities, and I feel happy & relaxed when I go to the temple), but I also struggle with mundane things like remembering to eat or clean my room.

Which leads me to here. I'm 20 years old & I'm about to receive my endowment in a few days. I've been off school for about two moths at this point; I've been looking for a job & that hasn't gone anywhere. Due to that, I've had all of this free time & I constantly worry about if I'm using it wisely. Since I can't drive, I pretty much only leave the house for church-related things. Due to spending more time alone, I've been thinking about things I shouldn't; like that all my friends are moving forward in life while I'm stuck in the same position, wether or not employers won't hire me because I'm young, and even some sexual thoughts. The latter is especially concerning because of how much the church emphasizes purity & the Law of Chastity. And I'm not thinking super lustful things like "I want a girl so badly so I can have sex with her", no. With the stress I've been under & the way my brain works, I tend to resort to stimulation that my current environment isn't offering. I do feel like getting endowed will be a step in the right direction for me with keeping Christ in my life more, but I still feel like I could use some help.

I'm 20 years old & I've been taking this academic writing class at my community college. This is my 3rd time taking it. As I had to drop out during my 1st semester because it wasn't fitting my schedule. And when I took it a 2nd time, I failed.

Right now, I'm at a B (80%). Which isn't bad, but I believe there's room for improvement. The class also ends in 2 weeks, so I could fail if my grade drops below a C. On my assignments, I've been consistently getting grades in the B, C, and D range.

I have ADHD, so I get under a lot of pressure to stay motivated in subject matter that doesn't interest me & may not be relevant to me long-term. I'm majoring in graphic design, and I tend to do well in the classes that have to do with my major while I'm almost always struggling in my Gen Ed ones. And I understand that I need these classes if I want my degree, but I just need a reason to care in order for myself to just sit down & do my work.

First off, given how the network already airs Looney Tunes & Hanna-Barbera shows, Space Jam, Back in Action, and the theatrical Flinstones, Yogi Bear, and Jetsons movies would all be obvious picks. Seeing them air The Day the Earth Blew Up would be cool as well, but I don't see that happening for a while since that movie was relatively recent. And I know Looney Tunes had other feature films in theaters, but those are mainly just short compilations.

We could also see Don Bluth films like The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Anastasia, and Titan AE.

Some early DreamWorks films like The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit, and Sinbad would also be possibilities.

And then for other studios, there's Cats Don't Dance, The Iron Giant, Balto, FernGully, Charlotte's Web, and The Swan Princess.

Been insecure & depressed about my living status recently. I can't drive, I'm jobless, I live at home with my parents who breathe down my neck 24/7. (Meaning they still do things like give me a curfew, tell me what movies/TV shows I can & can't watch, etc.)

I've been going to school for digital art. I want to be an animator & maybe a graphic designer if that doesn't work out. But the thing is that I've been taking classes online & by default, I'm home all day while my family & friends are at work.

• The Legend of Zelda (Sony/Nintendo): Not absolutely guaranteed since Zelda doesn't have the same mass appeal as Mario, but I could being massive if they cast A-list celebrities & has a huge marketing push. The fact that it's releasing in late April/early May also puts it in a good position as I can't really think of any other big movie coming out around that same time; as if this came out in say, March, it would've had to directly compete with Sonic 4 & Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.

• Beyond the Spider-Verse (Sony): This one also isn't a guarantee, but I could see it at least getting close to a billion. The Spider-Verse films are some of the most well-received comic book movies of modern day & paved the way for other animated projects like it such as flicks KPop Demon Hunters & the series Arcane. And while they don't have the same mass appeal as the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, the 1st 2 films, Into the Spider-Verse & Across the Spider-Verse built up a lot of goodwill & streaming longevity as they've been in the top 10 on Netflix & Disney+ respectively. So naturally, people who missed those films in theaters would flock to it as it's meant to serve as an epic finale.

• Shrek 5 (Universal/DreamWorks): Despite not having a mainline movie in 17 years by the time this comes out, Shrek is still a massive franchise with multigenerational appeal. Because to put it simply, if you're old enough to be on the internet, you know who Shrek is. And when I say multigenerational appeal, I mean it. Those Gen Alpha kids who are exposed to Shrek through internet memes are around say 10 years old. And then we have the Millennials & Gen Z who watched the original films as kids either in theaters or on DVD, and then we have their parents who took them to see these movies in the 1st place who are Gen X & Baby Boomers. Not only that, but adjusted for inflation, Shrek 2 made $1.6 billion worldwide (the original box office gross was $936 million). And despite the new character designs getting backlash, this could end up being the highest grossing animated film of next year.

• The Batman Part 2 (Warner Bros/DC): While I don't think Superman: Man of Tomorrow will get that big of a jump, I think this film will make a billion or somewhere close. Much like Spider-Man, Batman can pull off a guaranteed hit in today's landscape of superhero fatigue. And I think with the 1st Robert Pattinson Batman being critically acclaimed & the 5-year gap will definitely help.

• Frozen 3 (Disney): Despite Disney & Pixar getting a lot of flack by chronically online snobs for announcing so many sequels as of late, Frozen is still a household name among families with young kids. So of course it'll do well because the internet isn't real life.

• Avengers Secret Wars (Disney/Marvel): This will be the least surprising movie next year to make a billion dollars. Despite the MCU not being consistently event-worthy like it used to, people will still show up for all of the characters they know. So naturally, this'll be the highest grossing film of 2027 without a doubt.

I know it depends on the audience (whether it's a nightclub, school dance, or wedding), but there are several that come to mind for me like Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO, Low by Flo Rida/T-Pain, Let's Get It Started by Black Eyed Peas, and DJ Got Us Falling in Love by Usher/Pitbull to name a few.