Thhhpppfffttt!! BLOOM COUNTY movie on the way!

Scott Weinberg · 12-19-2001, 04:10 PM

From JoBlo's Movie Emporium :

"Miramax Films has picked up the film rights to an animated movie based on the comic strip BLOOM COUNTY for their Dimension Films company to release. Artist and creator Berkeley Breathed will write and direct the film which will follow the misadventures of penguin Opus but its unknown if it will feature wacky Bill the Cat. Miramax picked the property up after viewing Breathed's first animated short EDWURD FUDWUPPER FIBBED BIG which features the voices of Frances McDormand and Haley Joel Osment."

OK, I own ALL the Bloom County books and I still consider it the greatest comic strip ever. The fact that B.B. will be writing and directing may be cause for celebration indeed.

Seth Paxton · 12-19-2001, 04:28 PM

good idea, bad idea, good idea, bad idea...

hard to be sure, but the strip was one of the funniest things of all time.

I will say this...No Bill, No Sale (hey, did I just make a pun)

besides, whom I kidding, I'd still check it out anyway.

Ryan Peter · 12-19-2001, 04:30 PM

It should be rated R right? At least PG13.

Peter Kim · 12-19-2001, 07:32 PM

This was and is my favorite cartoon ever. At the time, when Breathed had opus walk off into the sunset, I was upset and saddened over what I thought ended prematurely.

After looking at what other cartoonists did by letting their series endure when they were long overdue (i.e., Peanuts and Calvin & Hobbes), I know he did the right thing. But one last swan song?

I always dreamed of a movie...can you imagine? The tech advances evident in Shrek and Pixar combined with the sardonic Opus and Bill? I'll get more goosebumps over this than LOTR.

Edit: Damn right it should be R, a hard R. Show Opus in all its glory, going ballistic by using his webbed feet and stomping over the roaches.

And the kid with his talking computer...incredible prescience. Aren't we all doing that now? At the time, the only thing I was doing with a computer was programming BASIC in middle school.

Jeffrey Forner · 12-19-2001, 07:57 PM

Well this is a fine, "How do you do!"

I also hope that they don't go soft in the movie and go for a wimpy PG or PG-13 rating. Bloom County had some of the most wicked satire of any comic in the 80s, and it would be a shame to see that laid to waste for the sake of the kiddies.

Since this topic has come up, do any of you remember the Christmas special called "A Wish for Wings That Work," which was based on the children's book by Breathed and starred our friends Opus and Bill the Cat. It was pretty good, and pretty funny. A little too cute to be a true Bloom County cartoon (the supporting characters were all based in the Outland strips), but there was some good stuff in it for adults.

**HTF Ads**

Rob Willey · 12-19-2001, 08:03 PM

Berkeley Breathed's work on Bloom County was the most brilliant comic strip ever. So on one level I'm thrilled to hear he might make a feature out if it. Then again...

...penning a daily strip is very different from an animated feature. BB writing? Great! BB directing? (We need a "cringe" smilie). I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Rob

Ivan Lindenfeld · 12-19-2001, 10:33 PM

I haven't seen LOTR yet and I...

Wait, this isn't a LOTR thread?

I too miss Bloom County very much. I will see this even if it is panned. And I know just by Breathed's style of cartooning (Outland included) that he won't cheese on the satire.

Very excited and surprised by this announcement.

tyler O · 12-19-2001, 10:49 PM

This is again, odd news. I don't know how to think this may turn out. I wouldn't want anyone other than Mr. Breathed to helm this project. I still have my Opus walking off into the sunset cut out of the newspaper. Quite a sad day indeed. This makes it a happy day.

Leo Kerr · 12-20-2001, 10:09 AM

Well...

it's an interesting idea...

On the outset, I have to admit that I disliked about 95% of the stuff Bill the Cat was in.

I DID like the introduction, when he was trying to tie into the Garfield craze. I DID like the Cat Sweat hair tonic series.. and I DID like Bill the Cat as "Annie."

I much preferred Oliver and his Banana 9000jr; the Original Steve Dallas, Cutter John, and some of those extra special moments between Milo and his grandfather in the very early days.

Oh, well...

and as for BB directing? Hmmmm....

Leo

Mark Zimmer · 12-20-2001, 10:42 AM

Well, when I saw the header, I thought, noooooo! But seeing Breathed will write and direct, I have some hope that it might be the edgy, off the wall humor that was so beloved.

Speaking of strips that ended too soon, I keep the spark of hope that someday Bill Watterson will feel like coming back to Calvin and Hobbes, a strip that grows in my esteem (already very high) every time I revisit it. He really captured something special there. Anyone know what he's doing these days?

And finally, sad news for those who haven't heard: Liberty Meadows will end its newspaper run in a few weeks. Frank Cho says he's tired of the censorship issues and will move the strip to comic book format (where it's already quite successful in reprint form). Another reason not to read the comics, sigh.