Repackaged Memories – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

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What do producers and studio heads do when they run out ideas?  Well, usually either 1) blatantly rip off a concept from overseas and Americanize it, 2) randomly select a screenplay out of the rejected pile and have Nicolas Cage star in it, or 3) blow the dust off a successful concept from the past and remake it. For studios, remakes are a no brainer.  For purists, it can border on sacrilege. However, when it comes to comics and cartoons, fans, collectors and nostalgia buffs are much more forgiving…

 

X-Men

Origin

The X-Men originally started as a comic book in 1960s and quickly spawned a short-lived animated series, ‘Allies for Peace’.  Short-lived is the polite way of saying “sucked balls” in the entertainment industry.  Ball-sucking super heroes?  Now there is an idea.

Repackaged

• In the 1970s the name was changed to “The Giant Size X-Men”, and then later to “The Uncanny X-Men.”
• In 1992, the franchise found great success with the X-Men animated series, which ran for 6 seasons.
• Largely based on the animated series’ success, a slew of X-Men video games were released, presently totaling nineteen titles since 1989.
• Most recent film adaptations include XE (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

(source 1, 2, 3)

Coming soon…

In hopes of drawing lonely housewives into the movie theaters with their kids, Hugh Jackman (voted People’s Sexiest Man Alive) will be sporting mutton chops, wearing Buster Poindexter’s hairdo and getting all Freddie Kruger on bad guys.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine is set to open May 1st 2009.

 

The Smurfs

Origin

A Belgian cartoonist named Peyo is responsible for the creation of Smurfs. First making an appearance in the Belgian comics magazine Le Journal de Spirou on October 23, 1958. In 1965, Les Aventures des Schtroumpfs. a black-and-white 87-minute animated film, was released in theatres in Belgium. It consisted of five short cartoons made in the previous years for broadcasting on Walloon TV. It wasn’t until 1981, that Hannah-Barbara picked up the series that would come to be called: "kiddie cocaine" for tots growing up during the Eighties. During the 8-year span, The Smurfs earned 42% of Saturday morning audience.

Repackaged

• Hard to imagine, but The Smurf Song by Father Abraham reached the #1 position in 16 countries in 1977.  And, in the last three years, alone Smurf music has sold more 10 million CDs.
• Over 3000 products have used the Smurf image in some capacity, including McDonalds, VW, Coke, and Kellogg’s.
• The Smurfs have been no stranger to most major game consoles (including Nintendo’s NES, Super NES, and Game Boy systems; Atari, ColecoVision, Sega’s Game Gear, Master System, Mega Drive and Mega CD systems; and the original Sony PlayStation).

(source 1, 2)

Coming soon…

As part of the 50th anniversary, the Smurfs are coming back.  Paramount Pictures plans for a CGI-3D feature to be released in 2010. No specific plot points yet, but rumor has it Smurfette gets out of a jam with Gargamel "the hard way.”

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Origin

Between 1987-1996, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) Saturday cartoons were a global sensation.  By 1990 their toys were one of the top selling lines in the world, becoming extremely popular in Europe where they were marketed as ‘Hero Turtles’.  In 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action film grossed over $200M. It was followed by two bad sequels, one featuring Vanilla Ice.

Repackaged

• During 1997-1998 a second animated show, ‘Ninja Turtles’ aired. This new series included ‘Venus De Milo’, a female turtle skilled in the art of Shinobi. No one liked this version.  A chick ectoderm specializing in martial arts?  Belief can only be suspended so much.
• No longer pizza-ingesting turtles of yesteryear, the new Ninja Turtles now appear to have all taken massive dosages of Human Growth Hormone and are dark and vengeful.

(source 1, 2, 3)

Coming soon…

In the Fall of 2009, the 15th installment in the franchise’s video game series will be released to mark the 25th anniversary of TMNT.   Pretty doggone exciting.

 

GI Joe

Origin

Originally launched as a male version of the Barbie doll in the 1960s, GI Joe became popular when Hasbro decided to switch formats to the 3 3/4 inch scale figurines.  By 1985, GI Joe was the top-selling American toy, as well as both a popular comic and television series.  In 1987, a straight-to-video GI Joe was released featuring Don Johnson and Burgess Meredith.

Repackaged

There have been six GI Joe video games adaptations and over a thousand toys based on the storyline’s fictional characters.  Most notably Sgt. Stu Chestnut, a possibly gay (don’t ask don’t tell) drunken masochist and former prison guard from Guantanamo Bay who was section 8 and now tends bat at The Man Hole just next to the abandoned strip mall south of town.

(source 1, 2, 3)

Coming soon…

GI JOE: Rise of Cobra, set to release August 2009. Fortunately, Rachel Nicols and Siena Miller have been cast as Scarlett and Baroness respectively. Unfortunately, director Stephen Sommers awarded the role of super-terrorist Cobra Commander, to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, all 130lbs. of him.

 

Street Fighter

Origin

The first version of Street Fighter was released in 1987 in Japan. It was “short lived” as they say. In the US markets, the game was released in 1988 as ‘Fighting Street’. It was equally bad. Much like Kiss Alive II, the sequel Street Fighter II was far superior than it’s predecessor and was hugely popular following its release in 1991.  Several variations and updates were produced and sold up to 1994.

Repackaged

• The wild success of the video game spawned a 1994 film starring Jean Claude-Van Damme. The movie inspired another game, ‘Street Fighter: The Movie”. In this game you controlled Van Damme as he went on cocaine fueled binges sexually harassing all females on the set.
• In the early 2000s SF-themed Japanese, American and Brazilian Comics as well as card-based and RPGs were introduced, mainly for use by social outcasts.

(source 1, 2, 3)

Coming soon…

Having not cashed in on the non-derivative SF video game franchise in a decade, Capcom released Street Fighter IV in early 2009. This coincided with the feature film release in the same week of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.  Sadly, the film’s presence in theaters was “short lived.”

 

Watchmen

Origin

Watchmen was a 12-issue comic series released by DC between 1986-87. While it lacked commercial success, It became an instant cult hit, much in part to its deconstruction of the superhero concept.  The series was combined into one graphic novel and was named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the Top 50 books of the last century. The series had avoided mainstream popularity, and was thought of as a “comic fan’s comic book.”

Repackaged

Due to the film’s anticipated success, the creators have geared up for a multi-tiered marketing approach, including two variations of the soundtrack (already released), a video game, a toy line, and a direct-to-video animated feature to be released later in the month. The film has generated mostly positive reviews in Europe, where it has already opened. For those men trying to convince their girlfriends to accompany them to the theatre, they may need only mention that Billy Crudup is naked and painted blue during various parts of the film. That should at least help the cause.

(source 1, 2)