Why are Dragons usually wyverns in non animated movies?

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One of the trends about western dragons that has been prevalent in non animated movies is that the dragon ends up being a wyvern (two legs and two wings). I am curious as to why this is done instead of the traditional two wings and four legs.

Because their agents aren't as good at getting acting contracts so they're cheaper to hire than dragons.

I guess it's just because it's different, and therefore looks "cool" or more original. Unlike some other mythical creatures, like trolls, where they can be big, evil, hideous, or just plain dangerous, or ugly-cute , friendly-looking little dolls with neon hair (Thank you, Thomas Dam! ), dragons have to share a lot of less diverse characteristics or people (who are a bit less educated about fantasy beasts) might not realize what creatures they're supposed to be.

Haha!

Wyverns have no 'hands' .. the western dragon has been 'disneyfied' from the 4 legged one into a 2 hind legs, 2 forward claws/legs version which is more anthropomorphical.

CGI dragons are easier to create with two less limbs. Also, having four limbs would make them look bulky and fill up the screen. Finally, CGI animators have to constantly figure out when the dragon should shift here, or move a foot there (not doing so makes the dragon look unrealistic in a non-animated film), and two less legs makes this task easier.

I was thinking it could have something to do with there being real creatures have wyvern like wings, they have been able to get a good idea in figuring out the bone structure and how they would move, while dragon are way more hypothetical that it is difficult to look real. Personally I would like them to do proper dragons, I mean in proper fantasy wyverns are not supposed to be able to breathe fire, instead having poison usually from their tail.

The "days since a 4 legged 2 winged dragon appeared in a movie" counter must have a huge number on it because 2014 had none. Until then all I can do is pray that one day someone breaks this trend and Peter Jackson keeps his hands off Temeraire.

What about How To Train Your Dragon 2?

Other recent-ish examples I can think of include Shrek, Eragon, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Smaug's design change wasn't Jackson's idea: http://www.mtv.com/news/1719502/smaug-h ... explained/

I can honestly only think of 2 nonanimated dragon movies, Dragonheart and Reign Of Fire. Dragonheart had 4 limbs + wings IIRC. I always liked that movie.

Does a wyvern lack forelimbs?

Or does a wyvern just lack the ability to walk on all our four limbs (ie have short forelimbs like a human, a kangaroo, or a t-rex)?

Wyverns don't have front legs, instead they are substituted with the wings themselves and walk using the wings as front legs.

Wait, so that awesome dragon statue I have on my desk was a wyvern the whole time? I never knew that.

Thinking about it now, his lack of forelimbs does kind of bother me. I do have another statue of a "true" dragon, however his forelimbs are more like arms than legs.

Dragons that stand on 2 of their 4 legs...

I think a race consisting of winged dragons that use their front legs as arms is an awesome concept. They could wield swords and cast magic while wearing crazy ceremonial-like clothes and armor.
I really wish it was in more media other than weird scaleless, short-necked, over-muscular (as in drugged) furry art (furries are just creepy like that).

The dragons in Skyrim are wyverns but I think they are awesome looking, plus they are not just a bunch of wild creatures but instead are intelligent in the story like the races the player can play as (they make Smaug look dumb because he only breathes fire when it's convenient for the good guys ).

As for HTTYD, they don't look anything like dragons. They are what I would expect as animal mutations from a nuclear disaster.

Anthropomorphized dragons like what you described would be frickin' sweet! Now, while I'm a bit of a self-confessed furry fan, I'm actually not familiar with the latter short-necked, steroid-pumped variety. XD The community can be creepy at times, but I think it's a vocal minority myself. It's like any other thing with a cult nerd following online; you're going to encounter some creeps.

I confess, despite purchasing Skyrim over a year ago, I still have not played it yet. I'm not entirely sure why I haven't either, it's just one of the many games I have on my Steam backlog. I like the idea of dragons/wyverns being intelligent creatures instead of just wild beasts though. They're just too majestic to not be intelligent.

I'm not the biggest fan of most of the dragon designs on HTTYD either, even though I rather enjoyed the first movie (still have as of yet to watch the second one). I like Night Fury, the one the main character adopts, however. I also think the idea of giving them catlike mannerisms was quite unique, and given that I'm a cat lover, it's practically pandering to me.

By the way, what do you think of Chinese dragons, like the more serpentine, wingless variety? I think they're pretty cool myself, though I still prefer the bipedal, four-limbed Western variety.

I thought wyverns were venomous or had barbed tails. Maybe I saw that in another game.