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Brooks 'Toons Up His "Spaceballs"
May the Schwartz be with you...again.
That's right. Captain Lonestar, Barf, Princess Vespa, Yoghurt, Dark Helmet, Dot Matrix and the rest of Mel Brooks' Star Wars-skewering gang are set to make their debut--in 'toon form--on the G4 cable network in the fall of 2007.
Spaceballs: The Animated Series is a consolation prize of sorts for Brooks. The Oscar-winning writer-director of such celluloid comedy classics as The Producers, Blazing Saddles, History of the World: Part I and Young Frankenstein, had first wanted to do a sequel to his 1987 sci-fi spoof Spaceballs two years ago, timed to mock the final big-screen installments of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.
When that project, tentatively titled Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2, didn't fly, he switched his sites to the small screen and dreamed up the animated version.
But it was only recently that the project moved ahead at ludicrous speed when MGM, which owns the rights, agreed to produce the series. G4 came aboard to broadcast the 'toon, which will kick off with an hourlong pilot followed by 13 half-hour episodes.
"Irreverent humor is one of the benchmarks of our programming philosophy, as is animation," says G4 president Neil Tiles. "Mel Brooks' classic movies Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles are just as relevant to our young male audience today as they were when they were first released. His brand of humor will resonate well with our viewers."
The original farce followed a space bum-for-hire named Lonestar (Bill Pullman), who, along with his trusty sidekick, Barf (the late John Candy), sets out on a quest to rescue Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) from the evil clutches of Lord Helmet (Rick Moranis) and President Skroob (Brooks) and save her home planet, Druidia.
Unlike the blockbuster phenomenon it was sending up, Spaceballs was only a modest hit at the box office, grossing $38 million. But as Yoghurt would say, "never underestimate the power of the Schwartz." In the years since, the movie found a big following on DVD and cable, prompting Brooks to consider reviving the Lonestar-led posse for another adventure.
The 80-year-old funnyman will voice both characters he portrayed in the movie, the merchandise-loving, pointy-eared guru Yoghurt and the ruthless President Skroob. No word whether any of Spaceballs' other memorable players will reprise their roles in cartoon form; aside from Pullman, Zuniga, Moranis and Candy, the original cast included Joan Rivers as Dot Matrix, George Wyner as Colonel Sandurz and Dick Van Patten as King Roland.
Brooks will also pen the animated Spaceballs pilot with Thomas Meehan, the cowriter of the 1987 original and the stage version of The Producers. Meehan will also oversee all subsequent episodes installments, which will also parody current sci-fi movies, reality TV, politics and pop culture. Spaceballs: The Animated Series is currently in production, shepherded by Brooksfilms Ltd. and Berliner Film Co.
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