Hollywood, if Nick’s Sleestak article wasn’t enough to convince you that there are some things not worth going ahead with, I’m going to send along the results of a survey recently conducted at a sixth-grade class (the Thundercats’ prime demo) in my hometown. Kids were asked what they thought about a Thundercats movie. The responses:
"Thundercats is like finding another pubic hair in my pudding."
"The View taught me to touch myself, but Thundercats made me forget my genitals."
"Neat. I like to kill cats."
These are your consumers. Tread carefully. Hand this delicate property, which holds so much value to so many, over to a master filmmaker. I hear Takeshi Kitano doesn’t want to make gangster pictures any longer; perhaps spandex-clad furries ("Is she naked?" my mom used to ask about WylieKit) could be the next step in his merchandising evolution. Mr Kitano, in your movie, she could be naked. And so much more.
So why hire a video game (art) director like Jerry O’Flaherty to helm the pic? Sure, he can sell the film to teamsters, cops from the ’20s and James Joyce scholars, but they’re not enough. Can his experience on (art) directing gigs like Gears of War and Command and Conquer 2 really push this animated feature over the top?
And if so, what genius will it crush as it rolls down the other side?