I’m excited about what Kevin Munroe’s up to with GATCHAMAN. Even before he released TMNT, I had an afternoon where I visited him at the LA offices of Imagi Animation Studios, and he showed me some of the artwork they were generating at the time for GATCHAMAN. Beautiful stuff, and listening to Kevin talk, I could tell he was dedicated to making a great sci-fi adventure. He was already deeply in love with the movie he saw the potential to make.
I’d say he just got one big step closer to making that great version of the movie, as Imagi announced today that Paul Dini has been hired as the screenwriter.
I’m not sure how many of you know that Paul Dini was the writer that Harry worked with on GHOST TOWN, his surreal Western musical comedy. I’ve read a few drafts of GHOST TOWN, and it was apparent that Dini looooooooooooved what he was doing, that he was having preposterous fun writing it. Dini is one of those guys who, when he is in love with what he’s writing, seems to get almost giddy about what he’s allowed to do. That’s what I always loved about BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES... there was that sense that they couldn’t believe they were getting away with it. They couldn’t believe how much fun they were having with their version of Batman. Dini strikes me as the same sort of guy as Brad Bird... a guy who doesn’t do homage, but who has simply absorbed so much of this stuff that if you cut them, they bleed genre. They speak it like foreign languages.
If Dini brings the same energy and respect and creativity to GATCHAMAN that he has to Batman or to LOST or to his own creations like JINGLE BELLE or MUTANT TEXAS, then I would imagine Munroe’s going to have one hell of a script to bring to life, and it makes this film that much more exciting.
What’s crazy is that Harry may have been the matchmaker on this particular marriage. When Kevin was in Austin to do the TMNT free pizza party screening, he was talking to Harry about his search for a screenwriter, and Harry gushed about his experience working with Paul. And Harry’s a huge BATTLE OF THE PLANETS/G-FORCE fan, so I would imagine this is going to be his ultimate nerdbait for the next year and a half.
Here’s the original press release we were sent:
Hong Kong (September 21, 2007)– Paul Dini has been signed to collaborate on the screenplay for Imagi Animation Studios’ upcoming CG-animated motion picture, Gatchaman. Announcement was made by Francis Kao, Co-CEO & Chief Creative Officer.
“We are excited to have Paul on our talented Gatchaman team,” said Kao. “His extensive background in animation and superhero comics will contribute greatly to this ambitious action movie.”
“The original series was one of the classics of early anime, and the film will be very true to the Japanese source material,” said Dini. “As a studio, Imagi is constantly breaking the boundaries of animated adventure. Not only are their action sequences amazing, but their characters are driven, complex and play for life-or-death stakes. It’s a great environment for a writer with a rather dark take on animation.”
Writer-producer Paul Dini’s career spans animation (Batman: The Animated Series), television (Lost) and comics (Detective, The World’s Greatest Superheroes). The winner of multiple Emmy, Eisner and Writers Guild of America Awards, Dini is also currently masterminding the DC Comics 2007 weekly series Countdown. His creations Jingle Belle and Mutant, Texas continue to appear frequently from Dark Horse, Oni Press and other publishers. Dini and his wife, magician Misty Lee, have also launched a popular series of Internet shorts featuring their puppet creation, Little Rashy.
Gatchaman is based on the successful Japanese franchise created in the early 1970s by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida. Aired in the U.S. as Battle of the Planets and G-Force, the TV series soon became one of the top syndicated shows.
Scheduled for release in early 2009, Gatchaman is a big, effects-rich movie set in a future world grappling with environmental and technological issues. The story focuses on five reluctant heroes whose remarkable genetic code makes them Earth’s only hope of defeating extra-terrestrial invaders.
Kevin Munroe (TMNT) is the director of Gatchaman, being produced by Lynne Southerland.
