I haven’t been too impressed with the work coming out of Sony Pictures Animation as of late, and I’d venture to guess that a lot of you feel the same. Smurfs: The Lost Village and The Emoji Movie were both duds critically, and neither managed to make much of an impression at the box office. The studio’s next offering, The Star, opening in November, doesn’t look so great either.

Peter Rabbit stands out to me among the other films on Sony Pictures Animation’s slate because it’s actually a live-action/CGI hybrid—yes, those are still a thing. I wasn’t sure if I’d be at all interested in a Peter Rabbit film done in the style of the Alvin and the Chipmunks films (from the studio responsible for those Neil Patrick Harris Smurfs movies), but now that I’ve seen the first trailer, released this morning as an exclusive to Yahoo! Entertainment, I have to say that I’m feeling (cautiously) optimistic about Peter Rabbit at the moment.

It is somewhat reminiscent of Illumination Entertainment’s film Hop from a few years ago, but Peter Rabbit seems to have a different, quirkier tone, which I like. I think the animation looks really nice, and I’m a big fan of a lot of the talent involved. I really enjoyed James Corden’s performance in Trolls, and I think there’s something about his voice and personality that is just perfect for roles in films like this. I’m also one of the few people who liked the most recent Annie remake, which shares a director with this film in Will Gluck.

I know a lot of people have reacted more negatively to this first trailer for Peter Rabbit, but personally, I like what I’m seeing so far. Here’s hoping the film proves to be more along the lines of Paddington than those darn Chipmunk movies when it opens on February 9, 2018.

What do you think of the first trailer for Peter Rabbit? Are you tired of live-action/CGI hybrid films? Could this be the next Paddington? Hop on down to the comments and let us know!

Edited by: Kelly Conley