As you might have noticed, cinematic universes are very much a thing these days.
Marvel has one, a very successful one at that which is now entering its third phase, DC wants one but seems unable to make it work on the big screen as well they do on TV, and now Warner Bros is determined to bring one to fruition drawing on the rich cast of characters from the legendary, much-loved animation studio, Hanna-Barbera.
Kicking things off will be a movie about the Scooby Doo gang, S.C.O.O.B. – thankfully dear god not another live action debacle but an animated one taking the scaredy-cat hound back to his Scooby snack-loving roots – which it is hoped will include a great many more characters from the Hanna-Barbera roster like Yogi Bear, Captain Caveman and the Jetsons.
Quite how they will all be stitched together hasn’t been fully outlined but Warner Bros has bigger plans to take Hanna-Barbera back into the beating heart of the zeitgeist in a big animated way as EW explains.
“Most intriguing of all is S.C.O.O.B., a Scooby-Doo reboot slated for 2018 directed by Tony Cervone. In an announcement video, S.C.O.O.B. was described as “our first shot at unlocking the whole Hanna-Barbera Universe,” implying that the long-term plan is for the Scooby-Doo reboot to lead into a whole series of linked franchises based on the cartoons of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Warner subsidiary DC Comics is rolling out a slate of Hanna-Barbera comics; if synergy holds, we could be getting a high-octane big-screen reboot of Wacky Races as early as 2020. Heck, SeaLab 2020 could get a reboot by 2020.”
It’s part of a series of big announcements from the Warner Animation Group (WAG) which according to EW “includes LEGO Movie’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Neighbors director Nicholas Stoller, Focus filmmakers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and other talented male human beings.”
They have lots more planned than just a whole lot of Hanna-Barbera films, including more LEGO movies, Smallfoot, a movie about a Yeti who thinks humans actually exist (very cool switcheroo premise) and this September’s Storks about the legendary baby deliverers, but by far the most exciting announcement if you’re a massive Hanna-Barbera fan like me is the planned cavalcade of movies featuring some of the best animated characters in the world, only some of whom have previously made it onto the big screen.
But don’t camp out at the cinema just yet – the movies are still a way off yet, if of course, and I hate to be cynical but this is Hollywood we’re talking about, they happen at all.
Here’s hoping they do – I need more Scooby Doo in my life!
I’d love to see the cartoons of my childhood done right on the big screen!
That’s the thing isn’t it? Do them AND do them right! As The Muppets showed beautifully you can bring characters back to life, left them stay as we’ve always loved them with a few modern touches and everyone will STILL love them 🙂