WatchmenComicMovie.com Forum

Do you think that the problems that left this movie in development hell for so long would have been solved? Would it have been possible to do it at all? Would it be now? Discuss.

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My unofficial and offical work-> http://www.youtube.com/movieboyandco

What a fascinating idea.

There's not a doubt in my mind that it could be done, and I'd wager that its look would be a lot closer to the source material. Heaven knows it would make things much more expedient with regards to Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach's mask, Archie, Bubastis, etc.

However, we still run into the basic problem of runtime. Even with an animated feature, there are certain vital story beats and thematic points that would have to be cut. I should hope that the squid would be able to make it into an animated feature, but who the fuck are we kidding? In retrospect, looking at the previous script drafts and what we know about the finished movie, there was never any chance that the squid was ever going to make it to the big screen. For whatever reason, no one wanted to touch the damn thing.

Yet all of this is beside the main reason why Watchmen was never going to be animated: Because in the minds of Hollywood execs and mainstream audiences, "animation" still equals "kids' movie." No matter how much South Park we have to prove that the medium can be adult, there's no way any studio would greenlight an animated film of this magnitude unless it could be made kid-friendly.

"We've got this comic book, it's one of the greatest in the medium, and it's about a bunch of superheroes. Fans have been begging for a great adaptation, and we could do it animated."

"An animated superhero movie? The kids'll love it!"

"Great, now let's talk about the Hooded Justice/Silk Spectre rape scene."

"...Wait a minute."

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

Speaking of the squid, there's a draft by Gary Goldman that had the squid...or so they say. I've not seen it anywhere and his involvement in the development of the movie is mentioned very much in passing anytime I find out anything about it. Goldman is one of Don Bluth's (of Secret of Nimh, Land Before Time, An American Tail) collaborators. It makes me wonder if Bluth considered making it as an animated film at some point.

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My unofficial and offical work-> http://www.youtube.com/movieboyandco

That would've been something. Anyone who'd try to adapt Watchmen would need some massive balls, and God knows Bluth had 'em.

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

I think the motion comic is as close to a animated movie as we will see, I just wish it had a full voice cast instead of one guy doing every single voice *shudder* (actually does anyone know if there is a fan dub of it?), but DC's DTV animation output is actually quite mature, I wouldn't say we could never see an animated Watchmen, (especially considering they did a TDKR animated movie in 2 parts!). Yes it would have to be toned down a bit (read: a lot) in parts, because it would have to be PG-13, but I reckon they could get away with a lot by implying stuff rather than showing it.

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.