I also like The Neverending Story and The Black Cauldron.
I recently rewatched
The Black Cauldron and unfortunately it does not age well. You can tell they were pressed for time making it and the ending
feels VERY rushed, almost comically so. Its a shame creative projects have budgets and deadlines, as I often wonder how amazing media could be without those restrictions.
That said, I agree that an animated Zelda movie would allow for a
better fictional world than any live action movie could do, yet that is not the case here and we are getting a live action Zelda movie. So I expect a very grounded movie with some fun set pieces that, ironically, will heavily rely on CG animated special effects.
The real test is going to be the writing. In between the fun set pieces, its the writing thats going to keep the moving from being boring. I worry that a lot of dialog will take place while Link and Zelda are traversing through Hyrule and I just don't know how intersting you can make that in a 90+minute film.
If we had something akin to
The Neverending Story and The Dark Crystal, it could look so unique that it would really stand out from any modern movie this decade (so far). But that is a pipe dream and I simply see this movie heavily relying on blue screen backdrops and CG animated special effects. I hope to be wrong. We all will find out soon enough!