RSSFriday B.S.: The Last Thundera Song
Jan 09
Television Adaptations, Cartoons, Films Comments Off
There is a Thundercats movie trailer floating around the websphere for a live action adaptation of the cartoon.
It’s pretty wild. Just watch it and don’t let anyone tell you it’s fake. Taken from a composite of films, actors Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman and Vin Diesel are transformed into Lion-O, Tygra, and Panthro respectively (the best visual gag: Garfield as Snarf). Any fantasy buff will recognize the scenes from the original movies (you might even go so far as to scratch your head with a little deja vu. Isn’t Jackman’s Tygra just a little too similar to Wolverine?)
Whatever, it was kind of awesome to watch, though I kind of think a live action adaptations of cartoons are sucker bets. Even with cutting edge digital technology ruling special effects these days, something about humans playing the cartoons is lost in translation.
Thundercats is one of those iconic characters in my childhood memories. It was G.I. Joe, Thundercats, He-Man and M.A.S.K. in that order. G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra has an August 9 release date. Its stars include (sigh) Dennis Quaid and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Okay, so he wears a mask but Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander? Really?)
Really?
The movie itself looks slick so we won’t condemn it out of hand for questionable casting.
Thundercats is supposedly in development for a 2010 release as a animated feature film. But since there is literally not a single rumor about the film, maybe it’s caught in development hell.
He-Man, well Masters of the Universe wasn’t just terrible, it was 80′s kitsch terrible (Dolph Lundgren again? Really?)
Really?
Then there’s a 2011 He-Man film given the Sin City treatment. The idea is kind of intriguing, no?
(Shaking head) No.
Fortunately, even searching far and wide, I could not find even rumors of a M.A.S.K. live action film, or any film adaptation at all.
Adaptations of any type are dicey propositions. You have to capture a new fanbase without alienating fans of the original. In a way, a movie like Transformers benefits from having a continuous series of cartoons since the original that mutilated and demolished any myths from the original. Kids of the newer versions of Transformers probably didn’t notice anything amiss. And the visual elements were such a departure from the cartoon versions you had a hard time making that emotional connection to your childhood anyway.
But they can be done well, at least comic book adaptations can be. There’s really no evidence that a live action movie based on animation ever really was pulled off successfully (maybe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or is that just me? Just me? Okay then). It’s just too jarring to see, say, Brad Pitt playing out Lion-O. The voice is wrong, the look is off. It just looks like Brad Pitt going to a Halloween party. (Though cool costume!)
You know, come to think of it, the Scooby Doo films did manage to approximate the cartoon in a live action film. Though perhaps they inadvertently found success by making the story way more adult than the cartoon. (I actually thought the first installment was really entertaining or is that just me? Anyone? Just me?)
Okay then.
