The anticipated live-action adaptation of G.I. Joe hits theaters this weekend -- and by most accounts it's a blast. That's got us thinking about other animated shows we'd like to see on the big screen.
With Hollywood continually mining the depths of '80s TV, anime, and just about everything else for creative inspiration, there's definitely a chance that movie versions of these series will see the light of day. In fact, some of them are already in development.
Take a look at our cartoon-to-film picks and tell us yours in the comments...
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
"By the power of Greyskull, I have the power!" This redundantly ridiculous catch phrase was repeated by every kid who grew up in the '80s watching this animated series, which was a mix between a commercial for the action figures and a show that would shove a preachy lesson in at the end (a la G.I. Joe). And the animation was limited at best. But that's not why we loved the series. It was all about the characters.
Prince Adam and Cringer/He-Man and Battle Cat, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Orko, The Sorceress, and Skeletor... they were uniquely designed (to sell toys, of course) and broadly accessible. And we'd love to see them on the big screen.
Let's all agree to forget about the original 1987 Masters of the Universe flick starring Dolph Lundgren. We'd love to see the series reinvented for the big screen on an epic scale.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
If Hollywood studios continue cherry-picking anime shows, they can't ignore Neon Genesis Evangelion. The show tells an intelligent adult sci-fi story that borrows heavily from religion, psychology and philosophy, while somehow meshing it with the angst-ridden teenage characters which have become a staple of the genre.
Evangelion follows young Shinji Ikari as he is forced to deal with the awkwardness of maturity, his daddy issues and alienation, all while being placed in charge of a giant robotic combat machine that is necessary to fight off the evil invading Angels. Staying introspective, the series prefers to analyze the pain of Shinji and the other children like him, rather than creating a spectacle out of the grandiose sci-fi plot. That dynamic might even make the movie a budget-friendly option for a studio. We'd love to see it happen.
Jonny QuestOriginally airing for just one 26-episode season in 1964-65, this iconic kids' adventure show thrived in syndicated reruns on Saturday mornings for decades, before coming back for one new season in 1986. The animated action series centers on a tween-aged boy who goes on adventures with his father, Dr. Benton C. Quest, bodyguard Race Bannon, and young friend Hadji.
A live-action Jonny Quest movie has been talked about for years. It could be an effects-heavy blockbuster targeted towards the youth set. Why Hollywood hasn't bitten, we don't know. The latest rumblings had High School Musical star Zac Efron linked to the lead role, but we're betting that's no longer in the cards.
Voltron: Defender of the UniverseGiant lion-shaped robots that combine to form an even bigger humanoid robot that fights huge monsters with a sword and rocket fists. That pretty much sums up Voltron. Simple, but highly effective.
Most episodes of season one featured Prince Lotor or his witch gal-pal Haggar conjuring some butt ugly monster. Then the forces of good would assemble to form the baddest metal man in the galaxy, and much pwnage would ensue. The series was mainly about Voltron opening cans of whoop-ass.
Dark Knight producer Charles Roven is the most recent Hollywood player to acquire the rights to the series. "Unlike other robotic action movies, Voltron is the personification of the human spirit, a quality that will set this movie apart," he says. Hmmm.
The JetsonsHave you met George Jetson? His boy, Elroy? Daughter Judy? Jane, his wife?! Of course you have, thanks to good old Hanna-Barbera, who first gave us the adventures of this futuristic nuclear family all the way back in 1962. The future-world depicted in the show was all gee-whiz airships and robots and, uh, treadmills, and we think it's ripe for big-screen adaptation.
It's kind of amazing that Hollywood didn't make this movie back in the '90s, when The Flintstones was getting the big-screen treatment. To their credit, they've been trying. But the flick was never totally fast-tracked. The latest is that Sin City and Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez has plans to tackle the Jetsons soon.
ThunderCats
"Eye of Thundera... give me sight beyond sight." We all know the spiel. Lion-O was about to use his magic sword to spy on the action-packed goings on that were happening... elsewhere. There was no time to lose. He and the remaining feline survivors of the dead planet Thundera -- Panthro, Cheetara, Tygra, Wilykit, Wilykat, and Snarf -- had battles to fight against Mumm-Ra and The Mutants. Never had so much different source material been mashed into one show. There were aliens, mummies, beastmen, android teddy bears, demon priests, reptile phantoms, and cyborg pirates. There were pyramids and castles mixed with spaceships and laser beams.
The Thundercats movie has been in development at Warner Bros. for some time, but there's not been any public comment about the project in years. Still, we're eagerly anticipating the 'Cats return.
Cowboy BebopSet in the late 21st century, Cowboy Bebop follows a group of bounty hunters as they travel in their spaceship, the Bebop. The series' wonderfully animated action sequences -- from space battles to martial arts fighting scenes -- are set to mostly American music, including rock, jazz, and heavy metal.
Most episodes follow the Bebop's crew as they hunt down criminals wanted by authorities, but the series smartly inter-mixes flashbacks and details of the crew's pasts, providing a strong, overarching storyline for the series. The main character, Spike Spiegel, is a bounty hunter with a dark past, as he formerly worked for a violent crime syndicate.
20th Century Fox has a movie version of Bebop on their development slate. Keanu Reeves has been linked to the Spike role.
The Smurfs Based on a Belgian comic strip, the tiny blue-skinned Smurfs became an unstoppable media empire with this popular 1980s Hanna-Barbera animated series. The peaceful Smurfs, led by Papa Smurf and predominantly male (with the sole exception of Smurfette), were often chased by the evil wizard Gargamel and his cat Azrael.
Smurfs is on the way to the big screen courtesy of Sony/Columbia. They've tapped Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Scooby-Doo director Raja Gosnell for the CG/live-action flick, which is currently targeted for December 2010. And, wait for it... it'll be in 3-D. We're humming the theme song already.
Fullmetal Alchemist Although it's mostly an upbeat story with amazing action scenes, Fullmetal Alchemist scores big points for touching on many aspects of the human condition. The main characters are the Elric brothers, Ed and Al. Ed is the famous Fullmetal Alchemist who almost lost his little brother Al in an accident that occurred when the boys tried to resurrect their dead mother using alchemy. Edward managed to contain his brother's soul in a suit of armor. While he did manage to save his brother's life, he had to pay a great price himself. To get back what they lost, the brothers embark on a journey to find the legendary Philosopher's Stone.
While there's no live-action adaptation in the works that we know of, don't be surprised if this one shows up on the development radar eventually. It's wildly popular in anime form, but is there a global audience for live-action adaptations of this sort of thing? That's hard to say since we really haven't seen a properly adapted live-action version of an anime yet.
Robotech
A live-action adaptation of Robotech was announced back in 2007 when Warner Bros. and Spider-Man himself, Tobey Maguire, secured the rights to the property. The planned flick has been described as a "sprawling sci-fi epic" that takes place at a time when Earth has developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Mankind is forced to use the technology to fend off three successive waves of alien invasions. The first invasion concerns a battle with a race of giant warriors who seek to retrieve their flagship's energy source known as "protoculture," and the planet's survival ends up in the hands of two young pilots.
The movie is still in development, but it's already seen a string of screenplay drafts cast by the wayside. The current and fifth writer on the project is award-winning British novelist Tom Rob Smith (Child 44).
