TheJetsons Tagged Articles at Cinematical

By: John Gholson

This movie should've happened fifteen years ago, and it should've starred Tim Allen. It didn't, so here we are in 2009 talking about whether or not a live-action movie based on Hanna-Barbera's animated "futuristic" sitcom The Jetsons will ever see the light of day.

Pajiba says yes, and they say that Peter Segal (Get Smart, Tommy Boy) is the director currently circling the long-dormant project. Director Robert Rodriguez (Shorts) was once enthusiastic about taking a crack at the material, but Warner Brothers wants to move on the project soon and Rodriguez keeps a full plate. Unlike Pajiba, though, I don't see this potential shift in directors as a huge step down.

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

Now that Robert Rodriguez won't be making Barbarella anytime in the near future it looks like he has put his live-action Jetson's flick at the front of the pack instead. The director recently told MTV that he hopes to get the film in front of cameras by next year. A script was completed by Adam F. Goldberg (Fanboys) back in 2007, but Rodriguez has been hard at work on a rewrite and keeping quiet about casting prospects.

The Jetsons was the story of a futuristic family living in a world run by sprockets ... and that was about it, really. Each week, George Jetson would get fired, promoted, you name it -- and then head home to his family which consisted of the perfect housewife, a genius son and boy-crazy daughter. Their dog would mispronounce words; the robot maid would get a few wisecracks in and voila! A cartoon classic was born.

I'm not a big Jetsons fan, but I do love to play fantasy casting director, so here are my picks for a live-action Jetsons:

George Jetson: Steve Carell
Despite having a spotty record on the big-screen, Carell proved once before that he can walk away from a TV adaptation with his dignity intact. He not only has the look down, but he can play a lovable loser with the best of them and has a knack for physical comedy. What more could you ask for in a George Jetson?

Jane Jetson: Reese Witherspoon
Jane wasn't exactly a ditz, but let's just say she wasn't the sharpest sprocket in the pile either. Witherspoon has made bank on playing these kinds of characters in the past, and I think she has just the right amount of uptight to be the doting wife (and straight man) to her wackier better half.

After the jump: my final picks...

Welcome back to The Write Stuff! I'm thrilled that there is such a strong interest in screenwriting out there. Thank you all so much for your comments last week, both here and on my site. All of your questions and comments will be addressed in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and keep them coming!

The first interview for the column is with red-hot screenwriter Adam F. Goldberg. Adam is living the dream. He writes for both television and film, and his upcoming movie projects include Fanboys, the live-action Jetsons movie, and They Came from Upstairs. Cinematical spoke with the incredibly busy Goldberg about his scripts, his process, and Goonies: The Musical.

Cinematical: You said you were being "enslaved by a director," what are you working on? And should I call the authorities?

Adam F. Goldberg: Perhaps call them for my hacky writing! It's called They Came From Upstairs for Fox. It's a family movie, kinda like Gremlins -- but with aliens. The spec was written by Mark Burton and was sold for like $1.7 mil. I believe I am making about .0001212 of that. It's been a really cool project. The movie was in pre-production and the studio realized the script wasn't ready and shut it down pretty late in the game. I came aboard to get the train back on the tracks which is always high pressure and very difficult to do. I handed in 40 pages and they re-greenlit the movie and we're casting and location scouting now. I'm on draft two currently, working next to the director and bringing his vision into it.

Cinematical: Is that an awkward process at all -- being brought in to re-write a fellow writer? Do you ever run into hurt feelings or bruised egos? I guess the $1.7 million makes the pill easier to swallow.

AFG: Well, I come from the TV world, writing on sitcoms and that's very collaborative. You have to sit in the room and watch 10 other writers tear apart your script right in front of you. That bruises your ego. As for movies, more often than not a writer can only go so far and it's your job to bat clean up. It's never a great feeling to have your screenplay rewritten, but hopefully you've moved onto your next project, so it doesn't sting so much. And believe me, that $1.7 payday is like winning the lottery. I hope I can sell a spec one day. I've had little luck in that department.

Meet George Jetson! His boy, Elroy! Daughter, Judy! Jane ... His wife! OK, I'm kind of hoping that this latest rumor has a good basis in fact. First, go here and check out the old Jetson's intro to refresh your memory. Now, imagine it shnazzed up and done by Robert Rodriguez. Can you see it? Even if Grindhouse flopped (crazy, lazy moviegoers!), the man has proven that he can make a good homage, so watching the intro I could definitely see a modernized version of the modern, Jetson's future.

Now this all depends on the accuracy of El Mayimbe over at Latino Review. According to the site, movie and cooking dynamo Rodriguez is shmoozing Warner Brothers for the chance to take on The Jetsons as a live-action feature. Frankly, I can't think of anyone better for the job. This is one of those projects that could be truly terrible and result in a massive outbreak of bleeding eyes, if done by the wrong people. You've got to be able to respect the original work (check), make it fresh and eye-boggling (check) and have the know-how to make it come to life in a live-action way (check). The only concern: this won't stop Sin City 2, right? Mayimbe says he won't be surprised if it is done before the dark sequel. But hopefully not. Since this wouldn't be animated, who do you see playing the futuristic family? William H. Macy as George, Elizabeth Perkins as Jane, and then some cute kids?

For many of my generation, Hanna-Barbera animation is more associated with television than film (see TVSquad's post). After all, the studio produced some of the most famous TV cartoons from the '60s on, including The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Yogi Bear Show, The Powerpuff Girls, and many, many more. Plus, the Cartoon Network would hardly be anything if not for the team-up of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

But Hanna-Barbera had a lot to do with cinema, and not just for movie versions of their series, like The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. In the beginning, before cartoons were a Saturday morning TV staple, they were a Saturday afternoon cinema staple, and animated shorts were shown on the big screen. Hanna and Barbera got their start making shorts for MGM, which led to multiple Oscars for their Tom and Jerry titles (none of which were actually won by the pair by name) plus an uncredited bit for Anchors Aweigh, before the studio closed its animation studio in 1957. It was then that the duo formed their own company and dove into television, but other features did come now and then, such as The Man Called Flintstone, Jetsons: The Movie and Charlotte's Web.

William Hanna died in 2001 and now Joseph Barbera has joined him in Hollywood Heaven. He died Monday of natural causes at the age of 95.