Image from TMNT25.com

As I obviously predicted the other day, Mirage announced a new live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie today. The part that surprised me is that it is actually going to be actors and stunt men in suits with CG face replacement, much like they’re doing with the new Where the Wild Things Are movie (that is produced by the same guy as the new TMNT movie). Peter Laird announced this on his blog, and I was pretty happy about that.

The film is going to use the original comics as inspiration and the film will be a origin story, so this could be the Batman Begins of Turtledom. This is all very cool, especially since 2011 isn’t really that far away, and even if the world does in in 2012 we’ll at least get to see a new live action Turtles movie before we all blow up.

Here are some quick suggestions to Mirage and Legendary Pictures on how to make this movie awesome for new audiences and us 20-something bloggers that grew up with the TMNT.

• Don’t try to get super famous people for all the voices – I don’t want to hear Seth Rogen as Raphael or Jonah Hill as Michelangelo. Corey Feldman did a good job as Donatello though, and he needs work.
• Don’t be afraid to embrace the wild sci-fi elements of the comics – We won’t mind at all if you have Fugitoid, Mousers, or even teleportation and Triceratons. Think of how wacky Star Wars is if you really think about it.
• Don’t evoke the so called “style” of Sin City, 300, and The Spirit – It’s annoying, and in a few years will not be relevant anymore.

It sounds like the planets are aligning a little for this one, so lets hope it turns out amazing. Also, since I’ve got a couple years, I’m going to set a crazy goal right here on Saturday Morning Central. Somehow, I’m going to be at the premier of this movie in 2011.

All the more reason for you to keep reading SMC for two years, to be continued!

Ever since I was little and I had a VHS set of public domain cartoons, I’ve loved the 40s Max Fleischer Superman shorts. To this day, I still think they are the best incarnation of Superman in film. The stories are simple, the action is awesome, and it takes place in the time that Superman was created, the time that he seems the most relevant in.

Like Popeye, these have been available on the bargain-bin DVDs for a while, but in horrible quality. I’ve gotten a couple as Christmas presents in the past, and I ended up throwing them away. Thats why I was super pumped when I heard that Warner Bros. was releasing them the right way. Max Fleischer’s Superman: 1941-1942 is the equivilant of the awesome
Popeye sets they’ve been releasing (and that I still need volumes 2 and 3) and it is just as great.

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Cheers. Here’s to a movie based on nostalgia that actually looks good.

HD available at Apple

In honor of Pinocchio being released on Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray, I decided to find a sealed copy of it on the format I grew up with, VHS.

For some reason, seeing old VHS intros makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

In the days before the internet was mainstream, I always looked forward to getting the newest Disney movie on VHS, mainly so I could flip through the booklet inside to see what movies were coming out next. Those booklets, combined with my subscription to Disney Adventures magazine were my RSS feeds of the day, if you will.

Check out the pages from this booklet below. The last couple pages were all about the Muppets, yay! Remember those Muppet Movie VHS tapes that came with the watches?

*ed. – These images died in the transition from Saturday Morning Central to Tophat Sasquatch

I can’t wait for this movie to come out.

/Film via the Spike Jonze Fan Blog