Finally, somebody is using their brain and remaking a good, yet flawed, television show into a movie that begs to be made. The old "Battle of the Planets" cartoon is finally coming to the big screen! Back in 1978, during the height of "Star Wars" mania, every media company on earth scrambled to try and cash in on the craze. Meco released disco versions of "Star Wars" music to (unbelievably) great success. The American Broadcasting Company created "Battlestar Galactica," which aped several "Star Wars" elements. Dollar signs were everywhere. Sandy Frank, an animation company, decided to get in on the action. Like an early version of Saban Entertainment ("creator" of "Power Rangers"), Sandy Frank scoured Japanese animation series, looking for something "Star Wars"-like to market to the kids. They came across "Gatchaman," a dark, brooding, violent show about five genetically-mutated kids who fight against an intergalactic hermaphrodite and its minions. So Sandy Frank cut out all the violence, renamed the characters, and awkwardly added an R2-D2 character into the show. The resulting kid's show, called "Battle of the Planets," became an instant hit both in the United States and abroad. Here is the brilliant opening of the show, replete with its terrific, "Star Wars"-like theme: Now it seems that a live action version of the show is moving forward. "Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles" director Kevin Munroe and producer Tom Gray intend for this to be their next project, although they promise that the film will be a PG-13 or R-rated, more in line with the Japanese version of the cartoon. We shall see about that. Frankly, either way, I can't wait!! I tried to get permission from Sandy Frank to write a screenplay for this franchise, but they refused, citing their ongoing internal efforts to turn this into a movie. I guess they finally found the right partner for it. Go G-Force!!
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Twitter: @rayderousse or @unfilteredlens1
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Finally, somebody is using their brain and remaking a good, yet flawed, television show into a movie that begs to be made. The old "Battle of the Planets" cartoon is finally coming to the big screen! Back in 1978, during the height of "Star Wars" mania, every media company on earth scrambled to try and cash in on the craze. Meco released disco versions of "Star Wars" music to (unbelievably) great success. The American Broadcasting Company created "Battlestar Galactica," which aped several "Star Wars" elements. Dollar signs were everywhere. Sandy Frank, an animation company, decided to get in on the action. Like an early version of Saban Entertainment ("creator" of "Power Rangers"), Sandy Frank scoured Japanese animation series, looking for something "Star Wars"-like to market to the kids. They came across "Gatchaman," a dark, brooding, violent show about five genetically-mutated kids who fight against an intergalactic hermaphrodite and its minions. So Sandy Frank cut out all the violence, renamed the characters, and awkwardly added an R2-D2 character into the show. The resulting kid's show, called "Battle of the Planets," became an instant hit both in the United States and abroad. Here is the brilliant opening of the show, replete with its terrific, "Star Wars"-like theme: Now it seems that a live action version of the show is moving forward. "Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles" director Kevin Munroe and producer Tom Gray intend for this to be their next project, although they promise that the film will be a PG-13 or R-rated, more in line with the Japanese version of the cartoon. We shall see about that. Frankly, either way, I can't wait!! I tried to get permission from Sandy Frank to write a screenplay for this franchise, but they refused, citing their ongoing internal efforts to turn this into a movie. I guess they finally found the right partner for it. Go G-Force!!