Blazing Samurai was a former version of what would become Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, and it was going to be distributed by Arc Productions.
Plot[]
The plot would be the same as the film we know today.
Why It Was Cancelled[]
- The reasons are unknown, but the movie itself has a troubled, shady and complicated history. It was first announced in 2015 that Mass Animation (then known as GFM Animation) was originally on board to work on the film and that Arc Productions provived a chunck of work via crowdsourcing, which would have been the first animated film to do so, but in 2016, Arc Productions closed their doors permanently as they are unable to pay employee wages due to a "glitch in the system", and Mass Animation hasn't updated their website since 2010, and they are possibly disbanded.
- The film was inspired by the then-recent trend of westernizing Asian films. Originally intended to revolve around a black samurai protecting an East Asian village, the story was changed to center around cats and dogs in an effort to make the story more universal.
- Early press releases listed Melanie Brown as part of the cast, playing a giraffe who believed that she was a cat.
- Sandra Tsing Loh and then-newcomer Heavenly Joy Jenkins were going to be in the film but were later recast in the final film. Likely due to Mel B's character being cut after it was saved from development hell.
- Hank was originally supposed to be a Jack Russell Terrier as seen on early promotional art. But he later changed into a dachshund until ultimately becoming a beagle. This happened because the producers wanted a more charismatic breed fitting Hank's character.
Result[]
- As a result of this, the fate of the movie is unknown, until February 2021, when Rob Minkoff and Mark Koetsier replaced Chris Bailey as director and more production companies such as Aniventure and Huayi Brothers took over Mass Animation, with Open Road Films and Sony Pictures International replacing Arc Productions as distributors, but in early 2022, Paramount announced that they will be the distributors of the movie rather than Sony.
- The movie was released as Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank on July 15. 2022 and received mixed to negative reviews from critics despite being a box office bomb.
Video[]
Blazing Samurai - First Look & Details (2021)
How to get FREE Art- The BLAZING SAMURAI Way -MIDNIGHT SOCIETY-
Video from RebelTaxi