SQUEEEEEE!

[agilebrit]

Pixar is developing a "John Carter of Mars" trilogy.

Seriously, I haven't been this excited about movie news since Serenity, y'all. After my comic book hopes got shot down, I figured we wouldn't ever see anything in print or on video doing anything with Edgar Rice Burroughs's most excellent series, but it appears I was wrong.

YAY for being wrong.

Comments

[unanon.livejournal.com]

OMG THIS IS NEWS THAT IS MADE OF YAY!

Thanks for pointing it out! :)

If it were anyone other than Pixar -

[baron-waste.livejournal.com]

I'd be horrified.

2005-07-11: They're talking about making a movie of A Princess of Mars. I cringe to think of what PC horseshit botch they'll make of yet another revered classic. Sure as I breathe, Dejah Thoris will be "corrected," turned into Keira Knightley's "Guinevere" travesty, and the movie will crater just as badly as did King Arthur, and no one will dare to say why… But of course, no one is likely to depict D Thoris accurately anyway; if you read A Princess of Mrs, you'll observe that except for jewelry she is buck naked, and remains so throughout the book. That's a little racy even by modern standards; how ERB got away with it back in 1912 is anyone's guess…

Yet it was Pixar that did The Incredibles, with its strong kick-in-the-commissar's-teeth message:

BEFORE ITS RELEASE The Incredibles was also attracting serious attention from adults. An article by John M. Broder in The New York Times on October 20, 2004, "Truth, Justice and the Middle-American Way," asserted that "The buzz out of early screenings is that The Incredibles. . . carries a considerably more middle-American sensibility than the usual fare from Hollywood, where liberal shibboleths often become the stuff of mainstream movies." Moreover, "in some respects," the film's themes are "likely to resonate more in conservative-leaning 'red' states than in left-leaning 'blue' ones."

Why? What provoked this reaction was one of the premises of the movie: that its lead character, Mr. incredible, and his fellow superheroes had been forced to give up their heroic careers as the result of a deluge of lawsuits from ungrateful citizens. (Mr. Incredible is initially sued by a man he prevented from committing suicide, who claimed he had a right to kill himself!) Broder writes, "Evil trial lawyers are the least of their problems, and Mr. Bird demurs when asked if the unflattering portrayal of them is a conscious tweaking of a lobby that provides large sums to the Democratic party. 'I just always wondered when a superhero broke through that wall, who was going to pay for that wall?' he said with a smile."

But there's more. Mr. Incredible, his wife Elastigirl, and the other costumed crusaders enter the government's "Superhero Relocation Program" (as if they were witnesses hiding out from retaliation by organized crime). Broder writes that "The Incredibles are mired in a boring suburban life until they dare again to be great in the face of a society suspicious of the outsized and protective of underachievers." This movie does not leave its lead hero mired in suburban hell for long: first Mr. Incredible is drawn back into the life of a superhero, and then his wife and even his children follow.

The implication is that it is liberals who are "protective of underachievers," and that therefore the movie is criticizing the liberal mindset. In his review, Times critic A. O. Scott invokes both Nietzche, creator of the "ubermensch" concept, and Ayn Rand, advocate of what she sees as the great man's right to rise above the mediocrity of the masses…

I don't think we need fear the depiction of an emasculated, feminist-appeasing John Carter and an “empowered” Dejah Thoris kicking butt while he cringes. Not from these guys.

Re: If it were anyone other than Pixar -

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

"The Incredibles" remains my very favorite Pixar movie for so many reasons. One of which is: Elastigirl is an empowered woman (no shrinking violet her, who stands there and screams and waits to be rescued)...but Mr. Incredible is not emasculated. It's all about family and working together to solve problems and I love love love it.

Also, there's a French dude as a villain.

I don't know what they're going to do about everyone being nekkid all the time on Barsoom, but I'm sure they'll come up with a creative solution. Apparently the people at Pixar who will be responsible for bringing the series to the screen are rabid fanboys as well.

You can bet I'll be there opening weekend.

Re: If it were anyone other than Pixar -

[baron-waste.livejournal.com]

I understand his name throughout preproduction was "Bomb Perignon." Only at the last, as they were ready to go, did the champagne maker decide they didn't want their name involved, so they had to change it to "Bomb Voyage."