One of the funniest Western movies ever released received a remake almost five decades later, and one of the original actors even reprised his role. Interestingly, the movie it remade is one that many fans and historians have claimed could never be remade in today’s society. The original film was Blazing Saddles, directed by Mel Brooks and released in 1974. The loose remake came 48 years later and was an animated release with a dog coming to a village to save it from an evil cat.

Blazing Saddles is a Western parody about a railroad under construction that needs to be rerouted through a small Western town. The attorney general sends gangs to force out the residents so he can become wealthy from the money that will flow into the town thanks to the railroad. The people demand the governor appoint a new sheriff, so he appoints a seemingly incompetent man named Bart, a Black railroad worker, as sheriff, which he believes will ruin the town’s hopes. Released in 2022, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank tells a similar story.

2022’s Paws Of Fury Was A Loose Remake Of Blazing Saddles

An Inexperienced Sheriff Has To Save A Town Who Hates Him

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank tells the story of a dog who sets out to become a samurai to help save a cat village from an unscrupulous landowner. When the film was in production, it was called Blazing Samurai, showing its influence openly. Unlike Blazing Saddles, which took place in the Wild West, Paws of Fury takes place in a cat village inspired by feudal Japan, which makes sense as Western and Samurai movies share several traits in storytelling details.

While Blazing Saddles tells the story of a railroad expansion increasing a town’s worth, Paws of Fury has a high-ranking official named Ika Chu who wants to expand his palace, and he wants to get rid of the town next to it to create the room. In both movies, the men do this by sending in thugs to bully and force the townspeople to move away. Instead of naming a Black railroad worker as sheriff in a town of small-minded racists, the Shogun appoints a dog to be the sheriff of the town of cats.

Mel Brooks Plays The Same Role In Both Blazing Saddles & Paws Of Fury

Mel Brooks Plays The Governor & The Shogun

In Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks is not only the director but also appears in several roles. Out of these roles, his main one was as Governor William J. Le Petomane. The governor is oblivious to things happening around him and is often manipulated by the evil attorney general, Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman). He is the one who signed the order to make Bart (Cleavon Little) the sheriff, which Lamarr believed would help break down the town, full of mostly racist townspeople.

In Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, Mel Brooks voices the character of Shogun Toshi, the same role he played in Blazing Saddles. Hank is the main character, a beagle voiced by Michael Cera who wants to be a samurai and is named sheriff of the cat village. The Shogun appoints Hank thanks to the convincing of a Somali cat who wants to drive the citizens out of that village (voiced by Ricky Gervais). However, director Rob Minkoff said there is a difference (via Variety):

“Hollywood loves a remake. But there’s really a big difference… It’s really inspired by, or it’s an homage​​. I mean, there’s so many elements that we took from it… I think it opened up a lot of avenues for us to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got the story, and we’ve got these characters in it where we’re playing along with the Mel Brooks style of filmmaking. Let’s do what we can to make it richer and enjoy every moment of it.'”

That said, while Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank was written by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper, the film’s credits also include the names of the Blazing Saddles screenwriters: Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger. Despite this, the two movies remain different in many ways, and while Blazing Saddles was the original, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank stands on its own as a family-friendly version.

Source: Variety