We've all had the feeling of nostalgia, whether it was a childhood movie or game series that has been brought back to life. Recently, many franchises are given a chance for rebirth to appeal not only to the previous generation, but a new one. Many game and movie companies spark our imagination when they release a sequel to a much loved childhood movie or announce that they are making a remastered version of a specific game. Even then some franchises are stretched out and given a new face or an extended universe to keep the story constant for viewers. Nostalgia has a powerful affect on viewers in that it makes us remember a happy time, a time we had a connection to something greater than us. Movies and game franchises capitalize on this emotion and 1,990 times out of 2,000 they deliver.
Sometimes a director decides that they want to bring back a franchise, give it the "phoenix treatment" that it deserves. It's something that as children we loved and as hormonal teens we still loved, but obviously kept as a secret, and in college embraced it so much wanting more. Countless times you can hear someone talking about something they loved as a child that they still believe to be awesome. Too many times have I had a discussion that "back in my day" things were better. "Power Rangers" has been a series that has been prominent in much of my childhood. Growing up though, I lost the connection to these series and grew distant. In recent news though, there have been announcements and teases at the new "Power Rangers" film. Not much has been released, but the tone is set to appeal to a more mature audience while still captivating the imaginations of all children, bringing them to a franchise that most of us at least watched, OK at least all of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."
Sequels are a great way to reinstate a series, or just to continue an already great movie. "Finding Nemo" has a place in all audiences hearts. I can't think of a single soul who wasn't touched by that film. Audiences were kept waiting though. A short 13 years until we were graced with the humorous Dory in her debut of "Finding Dory." I think the person who had the most excitement was Ellen DeGeneres. Theaters were packed not only with children who were excited to see yet another Disney movie, but there were even more adult-children hybrids that flooded theaters in search of Dory. Nostalgia is the driving force for this movie's success. While not bashing the creative minds at Pixar, this was a fantastic sequel to a much loved movie and push the boundary of animation, I would gladly go see the movie again. Other sequels act to expand a universe, while keeping true to the source of the material, it plays on a new front of characters. Potter fans will be pleased to know that "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" will be coming out later in 2016 in an attempt to bring more life back to the much successful "Harry Potter" series. These sequels, or prequels, try to reel in the old audiences with something new. This new is something viewers typically want out of a movie.
And "Star Wars?" ... enough said.
Movies are able to target such a large audience because the means in which people get to see their nostalgic dreams brought to life is in a square box that costs roughly $15. Even TV shows are beginning to capitalize on this emotion. recently Netflix has added "Voltron: Legendary Defenders" to it's abundance of childhood rebirths.
Video games receive the same treatment through different forms of games. Sometimes a game will come out that everyone loves and then go in the dark for quite some time, but eventually it will be brought back to life and be more game changing than ever. Recently Bethesda announced its much loved series "Quake" was getting a new game added to the series. All fans of the games were pleased with this announcement and doing something like this brings new life into the game community. Rebirths bring a game that literally molded the game community and gives newer generations a taste of what glory was like. Oh wait, this doesn't happen all the time, but it's a good tactic to do when a game has a large fan base and will play literally anything the company provides. Remastered games are very popular and while many titles receive a generation bump up remaster, many classic titles generations back get to see the high life on current gen consoles and allow gamers to relive their childhood dreams.
Spiritual Successors in games, while hit and miss, are very prevalent in the gaming community. "Yooka Layle," a successor to the famous "Banjo-Kazooie" series, is attempting to bring back the iconic platforming world with a new face and other tricks up it's sleeve. While the game is not out currently, countless gamers are anticipating this much hyped nostalgic wonder.
"Pokemon Go!" I and what every child wanted in a Pokemon game, to be the poke master themselves. "Pokemon Go!" allows for a more mature audience that doesn't have, or does, a Nintendo product with the game and is able to go on a "Pokemon" adventure themselves. I will spare all the details about the game itself which is due to release in July, but it gives the nostalgic memories of "Pokemon" back to people in a way they can manage and travel with. Having this companionship and connection to the franchise will definitely have many adults battling children in real time, and one of them walking away in tears.
Remastering or revitalizing our childhood is the perfect way to bring heart back into both the gaming and movie industry. While it's not only in these entities that this happens, it's becoming more and more prevalent as the years go by that companies are attacking our feelings, in a good way, to grab our attention and give them more money. This isn't a bad thing and honestly we're all glad it happens. Seeing our childhood brought back to life is a rare feeling that is hard to capture, but when done right, means the whole world.
