140 replies to this topic

[Ironhand]

I've been seeing trailers for "The Adventures of TinTin". I don't care for the story, but it looks like a possible technique that would make a great animated Conan.

[Cuchulain]

I agree, I went with my son and wife who's French. EXCELLENT!

[princesszula]

A more adult and faithful adaptation would need to be direct to DVD like Marvel and DC have done and to get sequels it'd need to be succesful or else you'd be stuck with only one movie like Turok did a few years ago. If the new Conan film is a success I guess its possible it could happen.

An actual animated series for TV would have to be toned down a lot so it'd be ok with kids. Now that doesn't mean it'd be bad, cartoons are allowed to get away with much more stuff than they did just a decade ago and it could be mature yet kid friendly like many shows have been done in the past, it wouldn't be as "friendly" as The Adventurer cartoon from the early 90s.

[Ironhand]

I've been seeing trailers for "The Adventures of TinTin". I don't care for the story, but it looks like a possible technique that would make a great animated Conan.

Well, I saw it. I loved this movie; it is terrific! The best animated feature I have ever seen. If you despise manga, don't worry, this isn't manga, it is fantastic photorealism, with great facial and eye expression.

This is the solution to all the arguments about "what actor could play Conan?" Fageddabouddit. Get an actor to voice Conan, get a stuntman to do motion capture for the stunts and fighting, and overlay a volcanically blue-eyed Conan as designed by Frazetta or Barry Smith or John Buscema or Cary Nord or... oh-oh - I sense a whole new argument brewing.

You don't believe me? Don't knock it 'till you see it.

[Rockamobile]

If they were going do a Conan animated series my choice for who would produce it would be people who gavel Batman The Animated Series and Superman.

[King of Aquilonia]

As much as I like Batman and Superman (as well as the various justice leagues spin-offs direct to DVDs and such. I feel I should throw out a word of caution in regards to Bruce Timm he has been known to put some of his own ideas ahead of fan expectations. on e clear example of this is. He put Bruce Wayne in a relationship with Barbara Gordon (at least they hinted very strongly that such an "off-camera" relationship occurred. When fans complained "But that's wrong." he replied........ "Yeah, we know it's wrong. That's why we did it!" This kind of attitude could cause some serious conflict with many of the Howard purists I've seen on this board.

[Russell12]

[Aza9]

I've been seeing trailers for "The Adventures of TinTin". I don't care for the story, but it looks like a possible technique that would make a great animated Conan.

Well, I saw it. I loved this movie; it is terrific! The best animated feature I have ever seen. If you despise manga, don't worry, this isn't manga, it is fantastic photorealism, with great facial and eye expression.

This is the solution to all the arguments about "what actor could play Conan?" Fageddabouddit. Get an actor to voice Conan, get a stuntman to do motion capture for the stunts and fighting, and overlay a volcanically blue-eyed Conan as designed by Frazetta or Barry Smith or John Buscema or Cary Nord or... oh-oh - I sense a whole new argument brewing.

You don't believe me? Don't knock it 'till you see it.

This is exactly what I have been thinking. It would be the perfect way to go!

Do the first animated episodic series of this nature (HBO?). Conan could "look" perfect; his age (TTotE or TSC), his physique and, of course, burning blue eyes.
With the modern animation tech every bejeweled palace, sailing ship, thrashing monster and sword fight could be done. The kinetic action of the sword fights was amazing in TinTin and did you see the battle between the ships! (reminds me of the Argos and Tigress).
It would be expensive but not as much as trying to do justice to the settings/locales in live-action.

Hire Andy Serkis to do the Conan motion-capture and voice. He'd do a great job with both.

[Buxom Sorceress]

I've been seeing trailers for "The Adventures of TinTin". I don't care for the story, but it looks like a possible technique that would make a great animated Conan.

Well, I saw it. I loved this movie; it is terrific! The best animated feature I have ever seen. If you despise manga, don't worry, this isn't manga, it is fantastic photorealism, with great facial and eye expression.

This is the solution to all the arguments about "what actor could play Conan?" Fageddabouddit. Get an actor to voice Conan, get a stuntman to do motion capture for the stunts and fighting, and overlay a volcanically blue-eyed Conan as designed by Frazetta or Barry Smith or John Buscema or Cary Nord or... oh-oh - I sense a whole new argument brewing.

You don't believe me? Don't knock it 'till you see it.

Thanks for the info.
Just seen 3 trailers, and it is amazingly great !

Looks even better and more detailed than Beowulf film. And that was very, very good cgi animation and characters in that.

If I owned Conan, that would be the way I would bring fabulous Conan action adventures to film and tv.
With that method of film-making you can have complete control and re-create any REH [ or other ] character or scene. And any big battles or monsters would be possible to portray.

And, OFCOURSE, I would retain all final creative control, working closely with the team, to ensure a quality good film is made.
--
but there is no point me enthusing more... because Paradox [ and all the many Producers of the Momoa 2011 cowpat ] have proved that they cannot tell the difference between a very bad/dire/stupid/silly/pathetic filmscript, and a good filmscript.

Conan filmmaking is under a black bleak sky of skull-clouds.
Seems like a hopeless situation ?

[Aza9]

And, OF COURSE, I would retain all final creative control, working closely with the team, to ensure a quality good film is made.

Oh! If a Conan Film Quality Control Wizard is being chosen I'd like to formally apply

Conan filmmaking is under a black bleak sky of skull-clouds.
Seems like a hopeless situation ?

I wonder if, in a counter-intuitive way, there's more opportunity for a project like this now after all the lousy films. Not only is the technology advanced enough to do it right but it would also be so different than the portrayals we've seen, it would (appropriately) seem like a new character and world...and REH appreciation grows every day. *FINGERS CROSSED*

[1980conanfan]

I may be splitting hairs here but I think the term Animated Series is not the same as cartoon. When I think of cartoons I think of the old Saturday morning fare like Bugs Bunny or He-Man. Animated Series to me implies a different level of storytelling. I would agree the potential is here for this to be a disaster. However, CPI has done nothing that I know of to disparage Howard. Everything seems to point to them leading the way with preserving his works and his memory. So I am willing to give them the benfit of the doubt until they prove otherwise. Maybe if it was presented like this it would help:


Robert E. Howard's: Conan the Animated Series.

How about a MA14 rated "animated show" that stars all of ReH's characters? Sure....Conan would be the main draw.....like the old Savage Sword magazines......and the title should be something like the above idea (Not conan and friends, for example), and the first 18-20 minutes could be a conan adventure, and the last 8-10 minutes could be about solomon kane, kull, bran mak morn, etc. And sure, each episode would have TO BE CONTINUED...... at the end, but so what? Nowadays most shows dont get wrapped up anyway. Slap it on adult swim and watch it pull viewers in!

[KG Thunder]

I may be splitting hairs here but I think the term Animated Series is not the same as cartoon. When I think of cartoons I think of the old Saturday morning fare like Bugs Bunny or He-Man. Animated Series to me implies a different level of storytelling. I would agree the potential is here for this to be a disaster. However, CPI has done nothing that I know of to disparage Howard. Everything seems to point to them leading the way with preserving his works and his memory. So I am willing to give them the benfit of the doubt until they prove otherwise. Maybe if it was presented like this it would help:


Robert E. Howard's: Conan the Animated Series.

How about a MA14 rated "animated show" that stars all of ReH's characters? Sure....Conan would be the main draw.....like the old Savage Sword magazines......and the title should be something like the above idea (Not conan and friends, for example), and the first 18-20 minutes could be a conan adventure, and the last 8-10 minutes could be about solomon kane, kull, bran mak morn, etc. And sure, each episode would have TO BE CONTINUED...... at the end, but so what? Nowadays most shows dont get wrapped up anyway. Slap it on adult swim and watch it pull viewers in!

That would be interesting. I'm still holding out hope that Adult Swim will pick up a season of Korgoth of Barbaria. One episode was definitely not enough.

[Strom]

With the news of Legend of Conan and the media excitement and exposure, maybe this will get other Conan projects - like a serious animated Conan series - considered. Maybe.

[LordYam]

I think it can work wonderfully, but there are a few questions

1.) In my experience, good shows trying to be taken seriously had some degree of continuity (billy and mandy and super jail don't, but don't really count because they are a.) funny and b.) don't take themselves seriously.) while this is my own opinion, Conan worked best as a story arc. His rise from thief to king could easily be a very compelling journey if done right

2.) Budget: Korgoth fell through because of the budget, so we'd have to find a way to make it good while not going over budget.

3.) The Voice of Conan: this is important. The character needs to sound, and feel like Conan

4.) Adaptation: While I have nothing against adapting Howard stories, there are some elements that wouldn't be alllowed past the censors (Conan's "I won't leave you in the clutches of a black man line") in todays world. While I am against large scale changes, one or two changes here and there might be a bit necessary in order to get it made. It's more a matter of practicality

5.) How many episodes per season? Hour of the Dragon and a few longer tales might need multiple episodes to wrap up, and that's not getting into the fact that there are untapped off screen adventures.

[Ironhand]

Minimal change: "I won't leave you in the clutches of a savage."

This would be a credible line since Conan considers himself a barbarian.

[1980conanfan]

"I won't leave you in anyone's clutches but my own, by Crom!"
better change?

[Albannach]

I've thought for a while that the best way to do Conan would be in animated form. BUT not this overly stylazied animation we see in many of todays animated series/movies.

I really like rotoscoping. Many see it as lazy but for 'realistic' human characters it does set a reality. Ralph Bakshi's 'Fire and Ice' is the perfect example of how Conan should look in animated form.

And now a nod to the east. I don't think it would suit Conan to be churned out as a 25 minute episode every week. Anime OVA's tackle specific storylines and their runtimes usually depend on how long it takes to tell the story. I think some of Conan's adventures would take around 30 minutes to tell others a good 2 hours.

Actually wait I've just described a series of animated films haven't I?

Edited by Albannach, 27 January 2013 - 09:15 PM.

[Cuchulain]

motion capture is rotoscoping for the computer, computer images can be made to look like cell animation if that is the look that one wants. Here is the look I am going for in my animation

[Tarib]

Woa, looking great, Cuchulain! Definitely looks like Conan. Well done!


On the topic of a possible animated TV series. I still hope that CGI type of animated series will be happening. There has been a promo trailer for Batman: The Brave and the Bold back in 2011. But as far as I know an actual CGI series has not been made yet. Of course, Star Wars - The Clone Wars is a very real example for a CGI TV series but Star Wars is probably out of anybody's league when it comes down to funding.



Still, it shows that it most probably would be possible and not as costly as it might have been only a few years ago. With a bit of luck, series that look almost like intros for today's Computer games might happen yet.


Age of Conan
 

Edited by Tarib, 30 April 2013 - 11:58 AM.

[gungnir_1972]

I so wish they could have made Age of Conan for PS3  better yet a Conan game like that which let you play as Conan.It's about time for a new Conan game.