140 replies to this topic

[Strom]

****Unofficial Poll - The poll is just an idea I had and is not in any way connected to CPI***********

Remember the Conan the Adventurer cartoon in the 90's? The cartoon Conan animated series aimed at young kids where Conan fought Wrath-Amon with star-metal swords in the attempt to free his parents who were turned to stone? My oldest son and I would watch that show in the morning before he left for school and were mildly entertained. It was an okay effort to bring a watered down version of Conan (and REH Conan stories) and Hyboria to young viewers. All in all, it was nothing spectacular and after 2 years and 64 episodes it was cancelled.

Obviously, the world of animation has evolved into the mainstream to include more mature & diverse characters and story lines that carry none of the stigma of "cartoons" targeted to younger audiences. These animated series' are sexy and filled with explosive action and plots consistent with the maturing target audience who are watching/buying these animated stories. Certainly the current animated stories are within the action and implied sexuality of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories.

There is no doubt that Conan is extrememly marketable right now. We have the Conan video game, the Conan MMO, the Conan RPG, the Conan comic book and the Conan film being developed. We all understand the cluster bleep of the animated "Red Nails" DVD - so lets not go there. If it comes out great - we are talking here about an animated series.

Should CPI develop a Robert E. Howard Conan animated series? Is that a good idea or a bad idea? What if they followed the Dark Horse/Rippke timeline and adapted the REH Conan stories? Could the REH Conan stories be adapted for a TV audience and still be true to REH?

I like the idea of being able to introduce REH's Conan stories in a visual medium that is more controlled than a live action movie. The Dark Horse comic proves that REH's Conan stories can be told in a different medium and still be true to Howard's prose. Is the only way to fix prior uninspired efforts in different mediums to create more authentic, inspired versions? Is there any benefit to Robert E. Howard if an authentic, inspired animated series was created?

BTW, we know animator extraordinaire Bruce Timm is a Robert E. Howard fan.

The New Conan Animated Series - Good idea or bad idea?

[Almuric]

If it was done seriously, with an emphasis on the original stories (but pastiches linking them are OK, since the series would last longer), I would love it.

[Reaver]

If it was done seriously, with an emphasis on the original stories (but pastiches linking them are OK, since the series would last longer), I would love it.

Ditto.

[amster]

Good idea? Try freakin' great idea! I think they'd be a real market for it on Adult Swim. The violence on Korgath and Metalacalypse is pretty hardcore (albeit comical), so I don't see any problems as far as that's concerned. And series like Justice League demonstrates that you don't have to be cute and condescending to attract an audience. And frankly, I think an animated series is the best chance we have of seeing all the REH stories adapted in the foreseeable future.

[Maelstrom]

It would be great if they made a Conan cartoon as long as it was not geared towards children, but I doubt that any studio has the testicular fortitude to do an 'adult' Conan cartoon. But let's just say theoretically an adult Conan cartoon was made...I think it would be great as perhaps a mini-series instead of a serial. Maybe only the Howard stories should be done and then if it is successful, they could serialize it with some of the pastiches. I think it should have a bold, stylish, and unconventional look to it instead of looking like standard Saturday morning fare (NO MANGA/ANIME...PLEASE!). Perhaps it should be rotoscoped like Frank Frazetta's "Fire & Ice" or the Taarna sequence from "Heavy Metal"...I would like to see a departure from too much CGI animation. THERE MUST BE BLOOD! The violence does not have to be gratuitous, but it should be brutal and expedient for the plot. As far as nudity goes, it should not be gratuitous either. I mean, I wouldn't mind at all if there was some tasteful nudity, but sensual/sexual material should be eschewed. Even some of the animated scenes in the recent "Beowulf" were kind of goofy...I keep thinking of the maid who was scrubbing the table with a little bit too much sensual enthusiasm. I would like to see an overall dark, moody look to any such cartoon...Is it possible for a Frank Frazetta painting to come to life?????

[Taranaich]

The big obstacle I can see is blood. American censorship seems to be pretty sensitive regarding blood: there can be plenty of violence and action, but there's very little blood. The Conan stories are drenched in blood, and considering Conan's wielding a bladed weapon most of the time, it would be very difficult to translate the swordplay of the Conan tales into an animated series without a lot of red on the screen.

If a channel like AdultSwim or HBO are confident enough to try a serious adult animated Conan series then I would certainly endorse it. HBO's Todd McFarlane's Spawn was a beautifully made and critically acclaimed series, full of dark menace and adult themes: I think it would make an ideal basis for a Conan animated series. Maybe get Bruce Timm involved too: considering his work on Batman: the Animated Series and his Howard fandom, I'm sure he'd do something pretty good.

NO MANGA/ANIME...PLEASE!

I personally wouldn't be averse to an anime Conan. Obviously a Shonen style like Dragonball or Naruto must be avoided by the plague, but gritty "western" animes like Claymore, Hellsing and Berserk would be a reasonable mould. Preferably without the streaking backgrounds and with some decent facial animation.

And frankly, I think an animated series is the best chance we have of seeing all the REH stories adapted in the foreseeable future.

I agree, it's much easier and quicker to render great locations, battles & monsters in the animated form than in live-action.

[billy beach ball]

I seem to remember the Spawn cartoon being very adult orientated and very loyal to the (granted rubbish) original. That's the difference when the creator is involved in the production (Frank Miller vs Allan Moore springs to mind)

[Officer Aggro]

HBO's Todd McFarlane's Spawn was a beautifully made and critically acclaimed series, full of dark menace and adult themes: I think it would make an ideal basis for a Conan animated series.

That pretty much sums up what I was going to say when I clicked on this topic. If they could make a Conan series similiar in nature to the old Spawn series on HBO (with adult themes, violence, etc), I'd be all for it. While a cartoon geared towards children would be nice and all, I doubt I'd ever watch it or be very interested.

[berserkmax]

HBO's Todd McFarlane's Spawn was a beautifully made and critically acclaimed series, full of dark menace and adult themes: I think it would make an ideal basis for a Conan animated series.

That pretty much sums up what I was going to say when I clicked on this topic. If they could make a Conan series similiar in nature to the old Spawn series on HBO (with adult themes, violence, etc), I'd be all for it. While a cartoon geared towards children would be nice and all, I doubt I'd ever watch it or be very interested.

There was another cartoon, if I remember correctly, which was titled The Max. It was violent, scary, similar to the Spawn atmosphere but this was in the Mid-90s. (Maybe some of you have heard of it before.)

I have always preferred a Conan cartoon series much rather than a Conan movie.

But I doubt if this will occur. But we can dream, right gentlemen--and ladies?

[amster]

There was another cartoon, if I remember correctly, which was titled The Max. It was violent, scary, similar to the Spawn atmosphere but this was in the Mid-90s. (Maybe some of you have heard of it before.)

I have always preferred a Conan cartoon series much rather than a Conan movie.

But I doubt if this will occur. But we can dream, right gentlemen--and ladies?

I'm probably being over optimistic, but if the live action movie and Red Nails are sucessful, I'd be surprised if there wasn't an animated series to follow.

[?sir]

There was another cartoon, if I remember correctly, which was titled The Max.

The Maxx:

IMDb

Wiki

[berserkmax]

There was another cartoon, if I remember correctly, which was titled The Max.

The Maxx:

IMDb

Wiki

Thank you, AEsir.

[mbern45]

I got all exited when I saw new animated Conan, then I read it was just a poll.

I think a new show would be a great idea. An anime would be best since they don't have the censorship problems in Japan that North America has, plus they would be easy enough to find on the web to watch.

However, if it was a North American production I would have no problems with it being geared towards kids. We might not appreciate it, but it could bring more people to the world of Conan in the future. The cartoon from the 90's is one of the things that got me interested in Conan. That eventually led to me watching the movie, reading the books and comics and finally ending up on these boards.

Maybe they could make a cartoon aimed at a younger audience, and a short miniseries geared towards adults?

[amster]

I got all exited when I saw new animated Conan, then I read it was just a poll.

I think a new show would be a great idea. An anime would be best since they don't have the censorship problems in Japan that North America has, plus they would be easy enough to find on the web to watch.

However, if it was a North American production I would have no problems with it being geared towards kids. We might not appreciate it, but it could bring more people to the world of Conan in the future. The cartoon from the 90's is one of the things that got me interested in Conan. That eventually led to me watching the movie, reading the books and comics and finally ending up on these boards.

Maybe they could make a cartoon aimed at a younger audience, and a short miniseries geared towards adults?

I might watch a show aimed at kids, if it were like Justice League or The Batman; not condescending and with stories sophisticated enough to appeal to adults. I just don't see how that would work with Conan. He's not Conan unless he's able to rack up an impressive body count. I'd get annoyed really fast if he used his sword to drop chandeliers and tapestries on his opponents instead of killing them.

Edited by amsterdamaged, 05 October 2008 - 05:52 PM.

[?sir]

Thank you, AEsir.

You're welcome. You can find just about every episode on youtube as well.

[berserkmax]

I got all exited when I saw new animated Conan, then I read it was just a poll.

I think a new show would be a great idea. An anime would be best since they don't have the censorship problems in Japan that North America has, plus they would be easy enough to find on the web to watch.

However, if it was a North American production I would have no problems with it being geared towards kids. We might not appreciate it, but it could bring more people to the world of Conan in the future. The cartoon from the 90's is one of the things that got me interested in Conan. That eventually led to me watching the movie, reading the books and comics and finally ending up on these boards.

Maybe they could make a cartoon aimed at a younger audience, and a short miniseries geared towards adults?

I might watch a show aimed at kids, if it were like Justice League or The Batman; not condescending and with stories sophisticated enough to appeal to adults. I just don't see how that would work with Conan. He's not Conan unless he's able to rack up an impressive body count. I'd get annoyed really fast if he used his sword to drop chandeliers and tapestries on his opponents instead of killing them.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but Conan is known for his ability to cleave a man's breastbone and his skull to the teeth. If a child whose parents might think him or her is mature enough to handle the gore, than by all means, let them watch it. Howard describes violence with great detail, and though sex is quite often heavily hinted in the Conan yarns, he never shows Conan having sex (thank god).

[mbern45]

I got all exited when I saw new animated Conan, then I read it was just a poll.

I think a new show would be a great idea. An anime would be best since they don't have the censorship problems in Japan that North America has, plus they would be easy enough to find on the web to watch.

However, if it was a North American production I would have no problems with it being geared towards kids. We might not appreciate it, but it could bring more people to the world of Conan in the future. The cartoon from the 90's is one of the things that got me interested in Conan. That eventually led to me watching the movie, reading the books and comics and finally ending up on these boards.

Maybe they could make a cartoon aimed at a younger audience, and a short miniseries geared towards adults?

I might watch a show aimed at kids, if it were like Justice League or The Batman; not condescending and with stories sophisticated enough to appeal to adults. I just don't see how that would work with Conan. He's not Conan unless he's able to rack up an impressive body count. I'd get annoyed really fast if he used his sword to drop chandeliers and tapestries on his opponents instead of killing them.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but Conan is known for his ability to cleave a man's breastbone and his skull to the teeth. If a child whose parents might think him or her is mature enough to handle the gore, than by all means, let them watch it. Howard describes violence with great detail, and though sex is quite often heavily hinted in the Conan yarns, he never shows Conan having sex (thank god).

True, but the cartoon from the 90's had none of that.

The advantage of a show aimed at kids is to get them familiar with the Conan name and character so that they will be interested in the future. Everyone likes to make money now, but this would be a great way to plan for the future. Like I mentioned in my original post, the cartoon is part of what got me interested in Conan so it works.

Release some stuff aimed at the older audience, but also get the attention of the kids so you will have them as fans in the future.

[?sir]

That might be what they're doing right now. Many of those old enough to enjoy a more adult oriented Conan today were kids waay too young to watch all that violence back in 1982.

[Reaver]

Well, since video games are more popular among young adults and teens then cartoons, they should look to those ratings to decide what works.

Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.

Based on that, a movie rated PG-13, or a show rated TV-13 (I think that's an actual rating) would work.

[Head-On-A-Pike]

I may be a bad barbarian for this, but I really don't care about indoctrinating the next generation into the world of Conan/Howard fandom. Especially if it involves the creation of yet another watered-down, kid-friendly, Saturday morning effort. It's just not what Conan is. Even at a PG-13 level, it would be a compromise.

I'd rather take the opportunity to give the Dell Rey books as gifts, when a youngster seems old enough, or mentally able to process that kind of material.

I could get with the idea of a completely grown up animated series, if it were done by HBO or someone like that. But even then, I personally feel that series such as Spawn and The Maxx were still very juvenile in their execution, seeming to be aimed at the unsupervised preteen boys who were likely watching, more than discerning adults.

I would agree that anime might be the best way to go, as long as it was done in an atypical style, without all of the corner-cutting, whooshy backgrounds and stock character designs. It's hard to find North American animation that isn't either made for kids, or self-consciously "adult" (meaning -- basically -- still made for kids, but in that "don't let your parents catch you watching this" kind of way).