Why was the film going to be animated and not live-action?

Co-Executive Producer Cindi Rice answers this question in her production journal:

"Why not? Animation is a fantastic and creative storytelling medium, which allows us an amazing amount of freedom to represent an entirely unique fantasy world, something completely unlike our own. Still, don't misunderstand me. We did not pass up live-action film opportunities to make this one. That is still a very viable option. However, I've seen many deals for Dragonlance come and go, and this is the first one to actually become a reality. Would we like to make a live-action Dragonlance movie? Absolutely! Up to now though, nobody has been willing to put up $75m+ to make that a reality, and believe me, I've tried. Every studio in town has seen Dragonlance about a dozen times, in different formations and with different creative teams attached - all to no avail. I don't think that means that a live-action movie will never happen, but I do think that an animated movie only helps that effort. More importantly, it certainly won't hurt those chances, and I'm thrilled that we get to see Dragonlance on the screen in the meantime."

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