DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '05 I => Topic started by: PennyDreadful on April 23, 2005, 12:55:00 AM
-
I posted this awhile ago on the BarnabasUndead forums, and it elicited some interesting discussion. I was wondering what folks here thought of this idea. I think it might be a good idea if done well...
What if they did a well-done, atmospheric animated night-time Dark Shadows series (or even a series of DTVs)? I'm not talking about a kiddie cartoon. It would be a serious and dark gothic horror romance that just happens to be animated.
*The characters and settings could be animated to resemble Jonathan Frid, David Selby, Lara Parker etc..
*Many of the actors from the classic series and the '91 series could return to voice their characters, regardless of current age and location.
* The plot could take place either immediately following the events in the original show, could start up now in 2004, or could re-tell the basic story and then continue.
* The special effects would look great because they'd be animated!
* The music could be done by Robert Cobert again.
* The locations could be illustrated to look like Seaview Terrace (Collinwood), the Spratt Mansion (Old House), etc..
I wonder if this idea has ever been tossed around by Dan Curtis Productions. I was thinking something atmospheric on, maybe, HBO. Not a kiddie cartoon. I think it could be cool if done right.
~Penny Dreadful~
-
Hey, that sound like a fun idea!
That idea should be pitched to any of the networks on cable. That way DS may be able to appeal more to today's audience. It wolud be a good change form all the smut that is aired in this day and age.
-
From an old viewer of the original DS, it would not be a bad idea. Animation nowadays is simply fantastic. as long as Animee is not used and CG is done well, you could come up with a very realistic show. I don't even think you need the original voices but in turn, they could be as close as they can be.
-
I wouldn't mind having an animated DS set in present time, picking up where the show left off. I think that would be fun. :)
-
I think it would be cool... Just one thing... It needs to end up on a channel I actually can receive... Most of the time the best shows end up on some channel my cable company doesn't carry.
FireRose
-
When I met Lara Parker for the first time, she was promoting her book Angelique's descent, and she did mention that they did toy with the idea of an animated version, but it was nothing more than an idea at the time. Maybe the fans ought to get a petition together for it and send it in to Dan Curtis.
-
it would be really cool if they did the show in an updated version of the live-action toy stuff of those 1960's holiday specials.like "frosty the snowman" and "rudolph the red-nosed riendeer".
-
I've often thought that it would have been cool if they had done an animated DS on Saturday mornings in the '70s, as they did with STAR TREK.
Also, I think it would be hilarious if "Barnabas" made an appearance on THE SIMPSONS.
As for a darker, more serious animated treatment, I think it would probably be very difficult to pull off. But I'd definitely tune in.
-
It would not be my cup of tea.
But then, I generally frown upon remakes... particularly of anything that was done to classic standards in the first place. Despite all the bloopers and blunders, I do regard DS as a classic. I am afraid the same could not be said of the 1990 series.
G.
-
I think a remake of DS, if done well could be very interesting. I was excited about the WB series, even though I adore the original to death. :) I would've watched it and hoped it was good in its own unique way.
However, an animated series wouldn't have to be a remake. It could be a continuation of the original show, because one doesn't have to worry about not having the original actors and actresses. The characters could be animated to resemble them, and with the right voice talents....I think it would be pretty cool.
Then again, whether or not a type of sequel would be a success is a whole other issue....
-
A dark shadows cartoon
i love the idea,it sounds good to me
on cartoon network they have this
thing they call adult swim,that would
be a good place to have an animated
dark shadows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
Great idea!
I have often wondered about an animated DS, though my musings were always while watching Scooby Doo. As for a modern animated version I would be all for it.
-
In my opinion, any incarnation of Dark Shadows done well is a good thing. While I'm not really sure animation is *the* medium for DS, it would probably allow for good conveyance of a really creepy gothic/horror mood.
Anyway, I don't think it's feasible at all though. Has there ever been a serious and successful cartoon with an adult target demo? As far as I know, the oldest they really try for is high school age males. I don't see non-Japanese adults tuning in to watch animated Lara Parker put a spell on animated Barnabas who takes an animated bite out of... you get the idea.
That said, I think it would be kinda cool if they did go the route of reworking DS into a cartoon network type show targeted at young adults. I mean, cool in an "Oh My God, they've horribly butchered DS" kinda way.
-
What a coincidence that this topic should come up. I have been doing a lot of research on Gerry Anderson and the Supermarionation shows he did in the sixties and early seventies. I just got done viewing his first series "Supercar" and I am about half way through his second series "Fireball XL5".
Althrough the DVD's I have been saying to myself " This would be a great format to revive Dark Shadows with". Given the popularity of the bobble heads for DS I don't see why this wouldn't be a natural progression. Heads for all the key characters could be created. People could be found who can emulate voices for the actors who can't or would not be interested in reprising their roles. A movie out just last year "Team America, World Police" used this process.
There is certainly enough people out there who can write storylines and minature sets would be no problem to create. Do you think there would be enough interest in the DS community to put something like this together? Just make enough money on the DVD's to cover the cost of production?
Jeff
-
A dark shadows cartoon
i love the idea,it sounds good to me
on cartoon network they have this
thing they call adult swim,that would
be a good place to have an animated
dark shadows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doesn't Adult Swim mainly consist of comedic animations? Or am I missing something
there? ~DJ
-
I personally would love to see a Dark Shadows movie made in the same style that the
"Nightmare Before Christmas" was made, I'm not sure what that process was called, although I know it would be fantastic! [cheerleader]
-
I think it's called "stop-action". ~DJ
-
Thank You Maybellique, I can imagine the story of Dark Shadows made in stop action... possibly put to music also. :D of course the voices should be those of the original cast... if possible.
-
Doesn't Adult Swim mainly consist of comedic animations? Or am I missing something there?
Adult Swim is a mixed bag. You have the more comedic shows like Family Guy, Futurama, and Robot Chicken, and they also air anime series with more adult themes, like Bleach, Trinity Blood, and Death Note. Out of all of those, I only really like Futurama, Robot Chicken, and Death Note (which honestly reminds me a little bit of Dark Shadows, despite having a totally different premise, due to the good writing and acting with occasional slip-ups; I don't think DS ever had a line as bad as "I'll take a potato chip... AND EAT IT!!!" though). Honestly, quite a lot of the stuff on that programming block is tasteless garbage.
I think Dark Shadows does have tremendous potential as an animated series, as a gateway between fans of the original and their kids and grandkids. Give the show intelligent, mature writing that both adults and older children can appreciate, but keep it at a level where kids around 9 or 10 can get into it and have a spooky good time without emotional scarring. Joss Whedon tried to do that with a Buffy animated series, but Fox Kids decided that it would be better to have a wide selection of bad dubs of already mediocre anime shows as their Saturday morning block instead. [ghost_rolleyes] God knows it would have saved me at that age; at 9 I thought that Ed, Edd, n' Eddy and Yu-Gi-Oh were the pinnacles of intelligent writing.
-
I've often thought that it would have been cool if they had done an animated DS on Saturday mornings in the '70s, as they did with STAR TREK.
I was just thinking about the animated Trek as I read this thread. They got some very good stories, so they brought a lot of the grown up fans to the Saturday morning "kiddie geared" cartoons. (Yeah right, like a lot of us weren't there watching classic toons ANYWAY. [nerd] )
All kidding aside, they got to do some interesting science fiction from writers like Larry Niven, and didn't have a makeup budget to make them crazy. Not to mention the vast difference in animation quality from then to now....
I think it could work, for all the reasons the audio dramas work. Now to get the powers that be INTERESTED....
Jeannie
-
It could be set in a parallel, animated world. [ghost_smiley]
-
I would support as I support most anything DS, however, I don't know about a cartoon version of DS. I just saw a leaked version of the Buffy cartoon and I was glad it wasn't picked up. [ghost_wink] YAY! My 400th post!
-
Eek. I just watched the leaked presentation and it was terrible. You are 100% right, Taeylor. When I mentioned the Buffy presentation, I didn't know that it had been leaked, and I was simply going on what I had read about the pilot, which grossly exaggerated its quality. In the event that a Dark Shadows animated series is made, it will hopefully be better than that... thing. [ghost_tongue2]
-
Back in the '90s there was talk of an animated DS series based on the original series with many of the original actors providing voices. I'm thinking the Fest or maybe it was ShadowGram that conducted a survey of fans to gauge interest and the idea never went anywhere because basically there was so little interest expressed for it. Who's to say the reaction would be the same today? [idontknow] But, of course, someone with the actual ability to get such a project off the ground has to get behind it before any sort of survey might be conducted again or an official proposal could be presented. But with DCP pretty much nonexistent for most intents and purposes, that would be much harder to do now than it was back in the '90s. Though not impossible...
-
So does Johnny own the exclusive rights to a movie only? I suspect Dan's girls own the rights to the original?? Can anyone shed some light on this??
-
Depp only holds the rights to do a film. But just who can negotiate other sorts of rights deals is a bit of a mystery because all sorts of theories had been put forth in fandom after DC's passing with none being totally substantiated as far as I'm aware. For what it's worth, Variety reported that Depp & Co. sealed his rights deal with "the estate of Dan Curtis" - but just who represents the estate is what the matter of debate was about...
-
So hypothetically speaking if CBS wanted to do a new DS television series they would probably have to contact David Kennedy since he seems to be representing the estate of Dan Curtis and his family. I base this on the fact that he is listed as one of the producers of the DS movie (although JP is probably doing most of his work). In reality CBS would probably need to contact JP first. So my understanding is that the estate is free to negotiate with any entity who wants to do a new DS project although in reality that won't happen with a big budgeted DS movie in the works.
-
I hesitate to get into this on the forum because so much is not "officially" known, but I think it's pretty safe to say that David Kennedy is most probably not the person of power to contact. He supposedly severed ties with DCP by the time he'd stared his own production company. He is, however, one of the producers of the Depp/DS film because he'd headed DCP for so long and is trusted to look after their interests. But all of this is getting way OT, so it's really best to leave everything at that...
-
I did'nt know they were talking about a DS animated series back in the 90's. The only thing I remember about DS of the 90's was the NBC remake and the Innovation comicbook series.
If they did decided to do a animated series, the only two cable channels that I can think of showing it is either Sci-Fi or Chiller.
-
Yes, because they'd either have to dumb it down for the audience that a channel like Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon caters to, or attempt to sell it to a regular network. There's unfortunately not much middle ground with American animation these days; it's either very juvenile or very adult.
Though I wouldn't be thrilled with it because I'm not really into manga or anime (Japanese comics/cartoons), there's a possibility that a Japanese manga writer could find DS and want to adapt it to comic or cartoon form.