Discussion:
[Geekdom] More Screenplays in the Sea of Time
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heretic
2008-03-26 18:34:03 UTC
Permalink
You have been dumped in the Glory Days of the Hollywood Studios (1930s
or therebouts) with the addresses of the the Idea People of the
studios in question, a set of proper ID/refernces to get you in the
door, and one of the following in the form of a bound Screenplay.

BTW, to give you a bit more motivation you have no money.

Black Lagoon
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Witch Hunter Robin
Girl Genius
Mahou Sensei Negima!
Heroes
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Firefly
Neon Genesis Evangelion
The Terminator
Gargoyles
Ranma 1/2
Boondocks


Do you think you have a chance of selling _any_ of them? If so
which ones?
How much... tweaking... do you think any of these would take before
filming began (and would it help if you got them filmed before the
Hayes Code)?
Assuming they gave you a decent budget to work with by the
standards of the day, can anything servicable be made?

HTG
Avoid normal situations.
2008-04-20 20:05:13 UTC
Permalink
In rec.arts.sf.movies heretic <***@yahoo.com> wrote:

[..]
Post by heretic
You have been dumped in the Glory Days of the Hollywood Studios (1930s
or therebouts) with the addresses of the the Idea People of the
studios in question, a set of proper ID/refernces to get you in the
door, and one of the following in the form of a bound Screenplay.
[ animes and assorted other modern stuff, deleted ]
Post by heretic
Do you think you have a chance of selling _any_ of them? If so
which ones?
I'd bet on _Ranma 1/2_. A man who changes into a woman when doused with
cold water is a concept that would fit right in in one of those light
fantasy/comedies that old Hollywood often did well (_Topper_, _The Ghost
and Mrs. Muir_, et al.).

--
alt.flame Special Forces
"The world is turning into a cesspool of imbeciles." -- Harlan Ellison
mark
2008-04-20 21:23:22 UTC
Permalink
Post by Avoid normal situations.
[..]
Post by heretic
You have been dumped in the Glory Days of the Hollywood Studios (1930s
or therebouts) with the addresses of the the Idea People of the
studios in question, a set of proper ID/refernces to get you in the
door, and one of the following in the form of a bound Screenplay.
[ animes and assorted other modern stuff, deleted ]
Post by heretic
Do you think you have a chance of selling _any_ of them? If so
which ones?
I'd bet on _Ranma 1/2_. A man who changes into a woman when doused with
cold water is a concept that would fit right in in one of those light
fantasy/comedies that old Hollywood often did well (_Topper_, _The Ghost
and Mrs. Muir_, et al.).
Anybody ever make a movie of Thorne Smith's Turnabout?

mark
Dorothy J Heydt
2008-04-20 21:20:26 UTC
Permalink
Post by Avoid normal situations.
[..]
Post by heretic
You have been dumped in the Glory Days of the Hollywood Studios (1930s
or therebouts) with the addresses of the the Idea People of the
studios in question, a set of proper ID/refernces to get you in the
door, and one of the following in the form of a bound Screenplay.
[ animes and assorted other modern stuff, deleted ]
Post by heretic
Do you think you have a chance of selling _any_ of them? If so
which ones?
I'd bet on _Ranma 1/2_. A man who changes into a woman when doused with
cold water is a concept that would fit right in in one of those light
fantasy/comedies that old Hollywood often did well (_Topper_, _The Ghost
and Mrs. Muir_, et al.).
Heh. And I would like to see it. That's one of the few animes I
like. If I were a pre-teener again (shudder), Japanese,
American, or what have you, Akane is who I would like to be.

Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
***@kithrup.com
Ken Arromdee
2008-04-23 20:44:36 UTC
Permalink
Post by Avoid normal situations.
I'd bet on _Ranma 1/2_. A man who changes into a woman when doused with
cold water is a concept that would fit right in in one of those light
fantasy/comedies that old Hollywood often did well (_Topper_, _The Ghost
and Mrs. Muir_, et al.).
A lot of Ranma is based on parodies and exaggerations of martial arts
movies and Japanese culture. Hollywood decades ago would care about and
understand neither of these.
--
Ken Arromdee / arromdee_AT_rahul.net / http://www.rahul.net/arromdee

"In a superhero story, Superman jumps off buildings and flies. In a realistic
story, Superman doesn't jump off buildings and can't fly. Deconstruction is
writing a story where Superman can't fly but he still jumps off of buildings."
Dorothy J Heydt
2008-04-23 21:20:56 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ken Arromdee
Post by Avoid normal situations.
I'd bet on _Ranma 1/2_. A man who changes into a woman when doused with
cold water is a concept that would fit right in in one of those light
fantasy/comedies that old Hollywood often did well (_Topper_, _The Ghost
and Mrs. Muir_, et al.).
A lot of Ranma is based on parodies and exaggerations of martial arts
movies and Japanese culture. Hollywood decades ago would care about and
understand neither of these.
True, and it would have to be modified somewhat. <thinks>
Perhaps a Western, with a tomboy cowgirl who can out-ride and
out-rope all the boys? A collection of shape-changing pools
somewhere out in the lone prairee, found and lost _ad libitum_
like ghostly gold mines, would fit right in.

Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
***@kithrup.com
marklungo
2008-04-27 19:01:45 UTC
Permalink
So, would any of these concepts have succeeded in 1930s Hollywood?

(Disclaimer: I haven't actually seen/read all these concepts, but I
think I know enough about them to answer the question.)
Post by heretic
Black Lagoon
Given the popularity of both gangsters and pirates, it might have
worked in the 30s (albeit with a lot of retooling).
Post by heretic
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Martial arts weren't that popular then.
Post by heretic
Witch Hunter Robin
Maybe; horror was popular in the 30s.
Post by heretic
Girl Genius
It's similar enough to the pulp fiction of the time that it might have
had a chance.
Post by heretic
Mahou Sensei Negima!
Fantasy wasn't popular then.
'
Post by heretic
Heroes
Maybe, considering that superheroes were just emerging then, but would
the special effects of the day been able to do the concept justice?
Post by heretic
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
See "Negima".
Post by heretic
Firefly
Probably not. Most 30s sci-fi was strictly in the Flash Gordon/Buck
Rogers mode.
Post by heretic
Neon Genesis Evangelion
See "Firefly".
Post by heretic
The Terminator
Maybe if the Frankenstein-like aspects were emphasized.
Post by heretic
Gargoyles
It's just pulpish enough that it might have had a chance.
Post by heretic
Ranma 1/2
Given that everyone else has commented on this extensively, I have
nothing to add.
Post by heretic
Boondocks
Are you kidding? Seriously, the *only* chance this would have in the
30s is if they made Uncle Ruckus the star.
mike weber
2008-04-27 21:38:47 UTC
Permalink
On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:01:45 -0700 (PDT), marklungo
Post by marklungo
Post by heretic
Heroes
Maybe, considering that superheroes were just emerging then, but would
the special effects of the day been able to do the concept justice?
Ah, but we/they didn't know any better, did they/we?

I remember being absolutely satisfied with the FX in the "AUperman"
teevee series (of course, i was five or six at the time) and blown
away by some of Harryhausen's stop-motion and George Pal stuff like
"War of the Worlds" (which is still superior top the Spielberg remake,
BTW).
Paul Ciszek
2008-04-28 05:49:18 UTC
Permalink
Post by marklungo
Post by heretic
Firefly
Probably not. Most 30s sci-fi was strictly in the Flash Gordon/Buck
Rogers mode.
But westerns were also popular.
--
Please reply to: | President Bush is promoting Peace and Democracy
pciszek at panix dot com | in the Middle East by selling Weapons to the
Autoreply is disabled | King of Saudi Arabia.
Jack Bohn
2008-04-28 10:00:34 UTC
Permalink
Post by Paul Ciszek
Post by marklungo
Post by heretic
Firefly
Probably not. Most 30s sci-fi was strictly in the Flash Gordon/Buck
Rogers mode.
But westerns were also popular.
Leading to Gene Autry in "The Phantom Empire"!
--
-Jack
Lee Ratner
2008-04-27 20:36:25 UTC
Permalink
Post by heretic
You have been dumped in the Glory Days of the Hollywood Studios (1930s
or therebouts) with the addresses of the the Idea People of the
studios in question, a set of proper ID/refernces to get you in the
door, and one of the following in the form of a bound Screenplay.
BTW, to give you a bit more motivation you have no money.
   Black Lagoon
This could work but you need to get rid of the violent nuns.
Post by heretic
   Avatar: the Last Airbender
This will not work unless it is really re-tooled. You need
to de-Asian it and make it Western. Even then, most of the audience
will not have a base to act as a reference for getting it.
Post by heretic
   Witch Hunter Robin
   Girl Genius
These two could work without much retooling.
Post by heretic
   Mahou Sensei Negima!
   Heroes
   Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
No.
Post by heretic
   Firefly
Could work, its close enough to Flash Gordon I guess.
Post by heretic
   Neon Genesis Evangelion
   The Terminator
   Gargoyles
   Ranma 1/2
   Boondocks
No for all of the above.
Post by heretic
   Do you think you have a chance of selling _any_ of them? If so
which ones?
   How much... tweaking... do you think any of these would take before
filming began (and would it help if you got them filmed before the
Hayes Code)?
   Assuming they gave you a decent budget to work with by the
standards of the day, can anything servicable be made?
HTG
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