ITV Studios and the rather unfortunately named Pukeko Pictures, in collaboration with Weta workshop, whom you know from all Peter Jackson's recent films, are bringing back the late Gerry Anderson's cult "supermarionation" TV series. In place of the unintentionally (?) creepy puppets, CG characters will be added to live-action sets.
I don't know what to make of this. On the one hand, the Anderson aesthetic, even when translated to CG, never worked that well for me. On the other, there was this:
Are you hungry for more Thunderbirds in any form?
I love the Thunderbirds and think a new series could work. They could modernize it by building it around climatological and environmental disasters, as well as man-made disasters. Give it a sense of wonder, big damn heroes and a touch of optimism - just like Thunderbirds 2086. The movie was a misfire because it didn't focus on the Thunderbirds team and their vehicles.
I read somewhere that the Star Wars: Clone Wars TV show animated their CG models to move similar to Gerry Anderson's puppets.
I have the whole Captain Scarlett CGI series and I think it is pretty good. Too bad it wasn't given a chance here in the US.
@miketen It wasn't given much of a chance here in the UK either. The episodes were shown in two segments on a Saturday morning kids show, so you had to sit through the whole show to watch it. Gerry Anderson was less than happy about this as you can imagine.
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I'm a big fan of all of the Anderson "Supermarionation" shows FREBALL, CAPTAIN SCARLET, JOE 90 etc. (I haven't ever seen SUPERCAR, however, nor have I seen the CGI Capt. Scarlet) and THUNDERBIRDS is the top of the heap. I'm excited for this project. I'm actually going to go on record here and sat the live-action TB film wasn't anywhere near as bad as the reputation it has. In fact, it was pretty fantastic...for a KIDS MOVIE. That's the problem I think people have with it...It was made for kids. It succeeds as that.
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Greetings from New Zealand, firstly, The Pukeko (Poo-KEK-oh) is a native New Zealand bird and nothing to do with puke.
Secondly I have worked in the NZ movie industry and heard Peter Jackson/WETA did a pitch for Thunderbirds about 5 or 6 years back using CG "puppets" with live action sets, the idea being that you could achieve the same look as the original show and have the bonus of not being hindered by marionette strings for things like action/fight scenes.
Don't let your American conventions get in the way of how truly awesome and brand new this could potentially be, I mean look at LOTR/The Hobbit.
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@specialopsnz LOTR/The Hobbit is classic source material and a great story. Thunderbirds...less so, IMO, though it could be the creepy puppets keep me from seeing the greater good.
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@specialopsnz Don't try and sway us with your NZ tropes. We will not allow WETA to take all of the bad ideas for CG movies away from the hard working men and women of...Japan.
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Thunderbirds was a great show but to those who didn't grow up with the original, the new iteration may be a case of "what is this and why is it getting made?" In the pre-Star Wars days, Thunderbirds was a spectacular bit of kid's entertainment (though admittedly a bit slow-paced at times thanks to its hour-long format) with models and miniature sets that were amazing feats of craftsmanship that still look great nearly five decades after it first aired. It's still fun when seen today and it's amazing to see how children react to it when they're exposed to it on DVD. (Seriously, get it for your kids. The two feature films from the 1960's — Thunderbirds Are Go! and Thunderbird 6 — are also worth checking out.)
I refused to see the live action film because it looked like the biggest steaming pile of shit ever, but I'll give this new iteration an enthusiastic chance. The CGI Captain Scarlet from a few years back was better than it had any right to be, so if the new Thunderbirds is even half as good as that was, I'm absolute psyched.
@kumanoken I think, as I mentioned above, the "problem" with the live action film is that it was made for young kids. The characters were made younger and it was more of a "Spy Kids" sort of thing than the rather serious nature the show often took on. As a kids movie, it's actually quite good.
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See, they should farm this out to the guys who did the puppets for Team America and that one marionette bit in Stargate SG-1.
There's DEFINITELY something to be said for practical effects - case in point, was watching clips of Little Shop of Horrors and was amazed at how lifelike Audrey II is despite being a puppet. It doesn't feel like a puppet at any point due to how well made and puppeted it is.
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That. Movie. Was. Terrible. My younger brother watched it almost every day, too. I had absolutely zero context for the movie, and so it was just that irritating thing that my brother wouldn't shut off >.< Hope another studio makes it worthwhile for the fans, but I'll pass.
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The most disturbing part of the live-action Thunderbirds was the way a young Vanessa Hudgens' nipples were prominently featured.
Seriously, Mr. Frakes, let the girl wear a shawl!
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CGI adventure where the crew sees a lot of action, in different vehicles and in exotic locals around the world...it also happens to capture the attention of my 18 month old daughter...
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I think i watch it more intently then my daughter...but this is like Thunderbirds in the Ocean.
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So on one hand, CGI crap, & on the other hand, live-action crap. I say we just cut off the hands & make a run for it.
Like others have said, a Thunderbirds revival could be done properly if handled right, but those options in the now-severed hands aren't making the best case for it right now.
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@EliasAlgorithm @Gallen_Dugall @FakeAssName There are people that would confuse it with a Pokemon movie.
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@Someguy @Gallen_Dugall @FakeAssName your thinking of the "Thundercougerfalconbirder" which is (sadly) not a real car ...
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so I jumped in the wiki mobile and it says "Pukeko Pictures has quickly gained a reputation as a producer of entertaining, original and high-quality television" apparently for a CGI show Jane and the Dragon - so sure. I certainly prefer CGI if it is just CGI not trying to integrate itself with reality
If the pre-Oprah episodes of Modern Marvels prove anything it is that you can make a fascinating and entertaining show about potatoes IF you approach it correctly. So this could be good.
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I'm not sure. Someone could do an awesome job of it, in book form. There is room in the stories for a great adventure. With that being said, I see too much of a divide of how people would want to see it. Live action, CG, Marionettes,... I just don't see a format for it that would be what they want.
On a different note in the Bill Paxton trailer above. If my father and I moved to an Island to do anything technical, you would find two corpses with their hands over the others throat by the end of the day. I'm not sure my son and I would fair better either.
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No, but I am hungry for the Captain Scarlet episodes MST did in the KTMA season to finally turn up. Who's for helping me raid Jim Mallon's closet?
Nerd news, humor and self-loathing. Edited by Luke Y. Thompson
