A few days ago, there was news about a “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” movie in the works, and now there’s talk that another talking dog will get his own feature film. According to CinemaBlend, a Huckleberry Hound movie is in the works along with Yogi Bear 2, due to the success of the first “Yogi Bear”. Hmmm…
I was enthusiastic about the Mr. Peabody movie mostly because the casting thus far is actually good. And while Justin Timberlake was surprisingly awesome as Boo-Boo, there’s not much enthusiasm to be spared for Huck or Yogi. Firstly, there is the potential for Mr. Peabody and Sherman to carry a movie due to the zany time-traveling adventures they go on in the original cartoons, as well as the freer, slightly adult tone the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons had anyway. “Huckleberry Hound” cartoons, like “Yogi Bear” cartoons, don’t really have much in the way of a storyline in the first place–they’re just 15 minutes of slapstick jokes with a thin “storyline” attached. Basically, “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” has just a bit more substance than “Yogi Bear” and “Huckleberry Hound” have.
And let us not forget that since Yogi was made live-action/CGI that “Huckleberry Hound” will probably go the same route as well. Dreamworks at least has the sense to keep Mr. Peabody and Sherman in their fully animated world, something the team behind Yogi should have done.
Then again, what do I know about these sorts of things? Perhaps ‘ol Huck shouldn’t be counted out right away. Maybe Huckleberry Hound might actually turn out to the Who Framed Roger Rabbit of the 21st century. Goodness knows that many movies that originated from more awesome, detailed source material have failed abysmally. One of my favorite cartoons, “Dragonball Z” , a show rich in storylines, character interactions, and awesome fights, was desecrated by “Dragonball: Evolution.” And don’t even get me started on “The Last Airbender,” or otherwise we’ll be here all night.
