Cartoon Network has announced their plans to premiere The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack in Summer 2008.

Raised by Bubbie the talking whale in the bubbling splendor of the sea, Flapjack’s life was once a world of peace and tranquility. That all ended the day he and Bubbie rescued an old pirate from a shipwreck, Captain K’nuckles, whose tall tales tangle up Flapjack’s head, consuming him with an unquenchable desire for adventure.

Although Bubbie struggles to protect him, Flapjack would do anything to win the approval of Captain K’nuckles, even if it means getting himself into a lot of trouble. The trouble Flapjack finds himself in results from his naive, overenthusiastic quest for adventure. The best things are what happened instead — the misadventures.

The sea community in which the three friends live, Stormalong Harbor, is pretty much home to them. Here Flapjack and Cap’n K’nuckles work at the dock to earn candy money, acquire supplies, and get into mischief, all in support of acquiring the most coveted title of all� Adventurer!

I’d seen the summary a few weeks back and promptly forgotten about it (hey, I can only retain so much information at one time, and the lyrics to all of the songs I used to listen to on my coveted cassette tape player in junior high are tough to oust once they’ve had decades to sink in, you know?), but then today I ran across a sneak peek episode. Go ahead and watch it. I’ll wait.

So—what’d you think? I watched it with my kids, who are now appropriately jazzed for the June 5th premiere, but I couldn’t help feeling just a little deja vu while I was watching it. Then I remembered the first time I’d seen an episode of My Gym Partner’s a Monkey and how I really wanted to hate it, but actually it was… well… sort of funny. Flapjack was also sort of funny. And sort of like what I imagine would happy if you put My Gym Partner’s a Monkey and SpongeBob SquarePants into a blender together. Which is to say, it’s entertaining, but also has a bit of “been there” feel to it.

It’s interesting, too, that it’s premiering in an 8:30 p.m. time slot. What, no Saturday morning love? Is the content too mature for little kids? (Funny, I saw a lot of candy and a head in a toilet bowl. I foolishly assumed that little kids were the target demographic….)

I’ll be curious to see how it does.

Because Fraggle Rock didn’t come out until I was already in junior high, see. So all I can tell you about it from my personal experience is that I babysat for some kids who loved it, and every time I let them watch it I found myself humming the theme song for days on end. I would be walking to the bus stop in the morning—”Down at Fraggle Rock!”—or working on a math problem—”Down at Fraggle Rock!”—or looking for a snack after school—”Down at Fraggle Rock!”—and often I wondered why I could only remember that single line. And then I would go listen to some Van Halen to try to get it out of my brain.

What? No, that doesn’t have anything to do with anything. Just sharing my Fraggle Rock experience, is all.

Regardless of the earworm properties of their theme song, Fraggle Rock enjoyed a huge following and great success; so it should come as no surprise at all to learn that it’ll soon be coming to the big screen as a feature film:

Cory Edwards, who directed the animated “Hoodwinked!” for TWC, will helm the picture and write the screenplay. The Jim Henson Co. will produce and TWC will distribute.

Just like the series, the film will be populated by a mix of human characters and Fraggle Rock puppets. TWC co-chair Harvey Weinstein, who has been steering his company more aggressively into the family film arena, made the marriage with Lisa Henson, who runs JHC with her co-CEO brother, Brian Henson.

Ahmet Zappa will be exec producer with Brian Inerfeld.

It would be wrong for me to hope that they come up with a new theme song, right? Probably it is. But I can hope.

You have to go check out Project: Rooftop. You will want to love it and hug it and pet it and squeeze it and call it George. Just see if you don’t.

Finger’s credit goes to Pop Candy, where Whitney Matheson put it this way:

If comic books and Project Runway had a baby, it might be Project: Rooftop. The website specializes in redesigning superhero costumes, and the results are quite eye-catching. Check out these winners of a recent Iron Man contest, for instance.

Many of the designs come from professional artists, and judges provide funny, kinda nerdy and fashion-forward commentary. (Matt Fraction helped judge the last batch, which makes sense, since he writes Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man.)

I promise you that if you dig comics, this site will not disappoint. The illustrations are top-notch and the commentary from the writers is fascinating. I wouldn’t even consider myself a huge comics buff and spent more time than I will admit working my way back through the archives, last night. Good stuff.

It’d be particularly fun to share with your kids, too, if they’re into that sort of thing. Even if the commentary bores them (and it shouldn’t!), they’ll still love the drawings.

I wonder if Project Runway knows about this little lovechild…?

There was a nice piece about the next Narnia film in Variety last week:

Showing a surer sense of cinematic values in his second live-action venture, “Shrek” vet Adamson stages the surging action with verve and a respect for old-school virtues, rather than tricking it up with modern affectations. Caspian’s flight from the Telmarine castle — a splendidly iconic one built on a rock and approachable only by bridge over a deep ravine — and stealthy return in the dead of night are dramatically filmed in considerable darkness. The reappearance of Tilda Swinton’s White Witch is a riveting surprise but has the unfortunate side effect of making you wish she’d step out of her pane of ice, as she desperately desires, to take a central role here.

When all is said and done, this is a pretty straightforward war film. Once Caspian escapes, Miraz’s men methodically prepare to conquer the wayward Narnians by building a big bridge across the river to the forest. Final combat comes in two stages. First, to avoid carnage on both sides, a winner-takes-all mano a mano is arranged between the vain Miraz and Peter (who for 15 years was High King of Narnia, after all). Scene is tensely and intensely enacted, with some unusual details.

When this doesn’t do the trick, however, the two armies pour it on, with the balance swaying this way and that for nearly a half-hour of CGI-dominated mayhem. Given that there’s no question as to how it will turn out, and that Aslan will eventually intervene at the crucial moment, pic is still able to play a couple visual-effects trump cards that provide something audiences haven’t seen before.

It sounds like fans of Narnia won’t want to miss this one. And there can’t be two movies I’m really looking forward to, in a row, that end up getting panned by the critics… right?

Don’t answer that. I’m plugging my ears until Thursday, and then I may peek at the reviews before the weekend.

Good news first? Okay! Check out this Go Speed Weekend! contest, where a bit of creativity could land you a weekend trip to Los Angeles or other cool prizes. Entries are being accepted through Tuesday, May 13th, 2008, so you still have time to enter if you have a need for speed swag.

The bad news, I’m afraid, is that the critics aren’t exactly embracing Speed Racer with enthusiasm. The Tomatometer is running towards “rotten,” with reviewer quotes indicating that this movie is best handled with a few analgesics:

Maybe every generation gets its own “Tron.” Not to whine, but: my eyeballs were on fire.

Kyle Smith
KyleSmithOnline.com

Oh. Dear. Um… ouch?

The lure of seeing this in Imax is certainly… ummm… waning in the face of the reviews, I have to say. But after all of this anticipation… I just don’t know. We may see it anyway.

I’ll bring my sunglasses.

Sincerely,
The Toy Box Mommy

Seriously, people. I’m experiencing some hefty deja vu, here. Some books are meant to be enjoyed as books. Period. That’s part of their allure.

I guess Hollywood didn’t get my memo, though. Hugo Cabret is slated to become a feature film:

“Ice Age” helmer Chris Wedge has signed on to direct Brian Selznick’s magic-themed children’s novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” for Graham King’s GK Films, Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil and Warner Bros.

“The Aviator” scribe John Logan has been tapped to pen the adaptation.

King and Infinitum Nihil’s Christi Dembrowski will produce the live-action film, which centers on an orphaned boy who secretly lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station and looks after the clocks. He gets caught up in a mystery adventure when he attempts to repair a mechanical man.

The studio is eyeing a fall start date.

I’m crushed. It’s not that I think it won’t make a good movie—it probably will—but it will be something entirely different from the experience you get in reading it, and I fear that it can’t help but somehow degrade the tale, that way. Great books should just be great books, sometimes.

I know most people disagree with me. That’s fine. Why, back in my day, we read books, and movies consisted of hand shadows made on rocks with a flashlight. Harumph.

Now, where did I put my Geritol…?

And then Scholastic started their line of graphic novels and I began to see the allure, at least for kids. (Do not get all up in arms if you, an adult, enjoy graphic novels as well. That’s great. My experience thus far has only been with volumes targeted to younger readers.) As my kids devoured these graphic-laden tales I began to see how it really is a niche all its own, one that cannot be filled with just chapter books or just comic books.

And so I was, of course, delighted, to read the news that DC Comics will be bringing us graphic novels for the kiddie set:

DC Comics is teaming up with children’s book and graphic novel publisher Stone Arch Books to produce a series of illustrated chapter books based on DC’s famous characters Batman and Superman. The new line of books, called DC Super Heroes, will launch later this spring with 12 titles and publish a total of 48 titles over the next four seasons. The following season the line will add chapter books based on DC’s Wonder Woman character.

The books will feature original prose stories with illustrations by DC Comics artists. […]

Stone Arch Books President Joan Berge said basing chapter books on DC super heroes, “is just one more way to hook a reluctant or struggling reader. DC characters are well-known and of high interest to the striving young reader and we hope they will spark a growing interest in reading.”

I can’t wait to see ‘em. I don’t care how much your son dislikes reading… he won’t be able to resist the lure of these caped crusaders, is my guess.

Ben 10: Alien Force The Game begins five years after Ben put away the DNA-scrambling Omnitrix. With Grandpa Max missing and a diabolical Highbreed alien plot threatening planet Earth, gamers must help Ben take the Omnitrix out of retirement and lead eight different playable characters—including cousin Gwen, enemy-turned-ally Kevin Levin and five of Ben’s brand new alien forms—in super-powered battle with the intergalactic invaders. New aliens Swampfire, Jet Ray, Humungousaur, Spidermonkey and Big Chill allow Ben to manipulate fire, swim underwater, grow more than 60 feet tall, stick to walls and fly at mach speed. Players will also be able to harness Gwen’s new talent to create an energy shield and use it to protect and attack, and Kevin Levin’s ability to absorb materials like concrete, wood and metal to create an impenetrable shell on his body.

The fast-paced, 3D, side-scrolling action-adventure offers an unlimited combo system, along with puzzles and challenges that will engage players of all skill levels. The Nintendo DS version will offer alternate playable alien forms including Goop and Echo Echo, giving players additional unique powers to command and explore.

The article reports that D3Publishing will be developing the game for all major platforms, and release is scheduled for this Fall. Just in time for holiday shopping, sounds like.

I suppose it’s too much to hope for a special wii controller that’s basically an Omnitrix, right? Hey, I can hope….

Oh, is it just me who thinks all of those things? C’mon. You can admit it. I won’t tell anyone. It’ll just be between you and me, Internet.

Anyway, this weekend’s opening of Iron Man gave me that all-too-familiar feeling of… worry. It’s such a meaty story with great characters. Have they pulled it off? Dare I check the reviews?

I dared, and then I heaved a big sigh of relief. The Tomatometer is registering unexpectedly high—94% Fresh, in fact, the last time I checked—and it appears that the hype surrounding this project may well be warranted. So far, the critics love it.

And if you’re the sort of person who loves a little backstory, be sure to check out Newsarama’s Inside the Iron Man piece by Joe Tirella, too. It’s a nice little peek into title actor Robert Downey Jr.’s journey in this project. I, for one, feel better already to know that he read decades-worth of Iron Man comics to prepare.

I guess I know what we’ll be doing this weekend….

But last week The Guardian’s Michael Hann officially took issue with children’s films, insisting that they’re missing the mark entirely:

Now, however, too many kids’ film-makers spend too much time worrying about their adult audience, and make movies that pass the kids by. We remember the successes - the likes of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Shrek and The Incredibles - and forget the many failures, such as 2004’s Shark Tale, which required a working knowledge of mafia movies to negotiate the sub-plots, something surely beyond pre-teen punters.

He goes on to point out movies which “require” (his word) knowledge of purely adult matters to comprehend in their entirety, then takes issue with the most basic of metrics—the run-time:

Even last year’s big animated crit-hit, Ratatouille, failed at the most basic level (not that those handing out the plaudits noticed): it was nearly two hours long, a good 20 minutes more than most of its target audience can comfortably sit through. (For comparison, Finding Nemo clocked in at 100 minutes; Toy Story at a merciful 81 minutes, offering viewers no chance to get bored.)

I’m not sure I agree, here. I mean, what age of kids are we talking about? My kids can sit through a 2-hour movie, no problem. And they’ve been able to from a very young age, I think. As for me, I do recall a couple of lousy kids’ films which shall remain nameless (ahem) during which I wished I’d lied to the kids and told them the theater was closed or the movie was sold out. Now, if I get bored, I just sit there and feel bored; if a child gets bored, maybe he acts up or cries. I guess that’s more problematic from the theater-goers point of view.

But honestly? I don’t know a kid—of any age—or a parent who didn’t love Ratatouille. Isn’t that the point, for the whole family to love it…? I’ve yet to meet the kid who says, “Oh, yeah, I liked it but it was too long!” I guess I’m saying I find Hann’s criticism a little broad.