Jump to content

Bloom County animated series in development

bolverk

By bolverk
in Movies and TV

 Share

Recommended Posts

bolverk

bolverk 29717

Posted
Posted

‘Bloom County’ to Bring Opus, Bill the Cat and the Rest of the Comic Strip to Fox As an Animated Series in Development

Ack! Bill the Cat, Opus and the rest of Berkeley Breathed’s “Bloom County” universe are heading to Fox. The comic strip, created and written by Berkeley Breathed, is being developed as an animated series at Fox, through its animation studio, Bento Box Entertainment, as well as Miramax, Spyglass Media Group and Project X Entertainment.

Just like the strip, the TV version of “Bloom County” will center “on a collapsed lawyer, a lobotomized cat and a penguin in briefs and fruit headwear living in the world’s last boarding house in the world’s most forgotten place deep in the dandelion wilds of FlyWayWayOver country. To wit, today’s America at a glance.”

“Bloom County” will be co-written and executive produced by Breathed. Bento Box will serve as the animation studio on the project. Miramax, Spyglass and Project X will also executive-produce.

“I was introduced to the brilliance of Berkeley Breathed and ‘Bloom County’ as a teenager,” said Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn. “His signature blend of satire, politics and sentiment hooked me. Plus, I love Opus. Today, Berkeley’s smart and hilarious take on American culture is more relevant than ever. And, together with Bento Box, we’re thrilled to bring his unique ensemble of characters and social commentary to broadcast television.”

In its original form, “Bloom County” began as “The Academia Waltz,” which appeared in Breathed’s student newspaper at the University of Texas, The Daily Texan. Soon after, The Washington Post recruited Breathed to do a nationally syndicated strip, which led to the birth of “Bloom County.” The satirical comic debuted in 1980, appearing in more than 1,200 newspapers worldwide and selling millions of compilation books, until Breathed ended it in 1989.

Breathed followed up “Bloom County” with the Sunday strips “Outland” and “Opus,” which both featured “Bloom County” characters. In 2015, Breathed started posting new “Bloom County” strips via Facebook on an almost daily basis.

“At the end of ‘Alien,’ we watched cuddly Sigourney Weaver go down for a long peaceful snooze in cryogenic hyper-sleep after getting chased around by a saliva-spewing maniac, only to be wakened decades later into a world stuffed with far worse,” Breathed said in a statement. “Fox and I have done the identical thing to Opus and the rest of the Bloom County gang, may they forgive us.”

Breathed is a cartoonist, children’s book author, screenwriter, production designer and film producer. His most recent project is the film production of his own story, “HITPIG!,” from Aniventure, due this year.

“Bloom County,” earned him the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987. He has produced ten children’s picture books, including two that were made into animated films, and another that led to the 2011 motion-capture film “Mars Needs Moms.”

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
  • Drool 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10527

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Loved his work when I was at UT.  I was Steve Dallas, though I smoked less than him!

I know the real model for Steve Dallas. He was a classmate of Breathed at Westchester HS in Houston and a contemporary at UT in the 70’s.  You sir, are no Steve Dallas. 

Edited by TonyTexas
  • Hook 'Em 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89792

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, bolverk said:

Just like the strip, the TV version of “Bloom County” will center “on a collapsed lawyer, a lobotomized cat and a penguin in briefs and fruit headwear

Surly?

3 hours ago, bolverk said:

In its original form, “Bloom County” began as “The Academia Waltz,” which appeared in Breathed’s student newspaper at the University of Texas, The Daily Texan. Soon after, The Washington Post recruited Breathed to do a nationally syndicated strip, which led to the birth of “Bloom County.” The satirical comic debuted in 1980, appearing in more than 1,200 newspapers worldwide and selling millions of compilation books, until Breathed ended it in 1989.

Feeling a little old.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TrashMaster G

TrashMaster G 17599

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, C-Man said:

It doesn't get any better than "Bloom County" and "Calvin & Hobbes."

This is going to be odd when the voices don't match up to the voices that have been in my head for these characters that I've known for 35 years.

Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side - the holy trinity of the funny pages. 

It will always be those three and then everything else.  Don't @me on this, whatever you are thinking of ranks below those three, no question.

  • Hook 'Em 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10527

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, rage-a-holic said:

I hope it'll be good, but I can't think of any smart/political newspaper comic strip that successfully transitioned to cartoon land. 

Doonesbury only did one cartoon special and Dilbert was pretty meh on screen.

Who lands the plum role as the voice of Bill the Cat? All his dialogue will be Akk! and Thppt!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Al_4_ISU

Al_4_ISU 12484

Posted
Posted (edited)
55 minutes ago, TrashMaster G said:

Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side - the holy trinity of the funny pages. 

It will always be those three and then everything else.  Don't @me on this, whatever you are thinking of ranks below those three, no question.

1,000 percent.

Those 3 strips essentially formed the basis for my entire sense of humor.  I had a mountain of anthologies of all 3 as a kid.

I always enjoyed "Fox Trot" too, but it's not on the level of the others.  I just found the boys relatable.

Edited by Al_4_ISU
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ztejas

ztejas 43537

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, rage-a-holic said:

I hope it'll be good, but I can't think of any smart/political newspaper comic strip that successfully transitioned to cartoon land. 

Doonesbury only did one cartoon special and Dilbert was pretty meh on screen.

The Simpsons sort of came from Life in Hell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ztejas

ztejas 43537

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, rage-a-holic said:

eh, not really. Groening created completely different characters and a different location because he didn't want to lose the rights to Life in Hell.

Yeah I just meant it was a cartoonist going from a comic to an animated show. There's some similarities but the Simpsons real success came from the writing staff they assembled. 

I think Bloom County could succeed if they get the right team behind it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
83Horn

83Horn 1648

Posted
Posted

Anybody remember Eyebeam, the strip that followed Academia Waltz?  Was also hilarious, and I remember when one of the characters, Hank the Hallucination, was run for Student Government President...and won, getting more votes than Paul Begala and the third place finisher combined.  Campaign slogan was, "Vote for the candidate of your dreams."  On the day of the election, someone place a life-sized Hank in Littlefield Fountain.  70s-80s were a golden era for comic strips.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Rimbo

Rimbo 26100

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, rage-a-holic said:

I hope it'll be good, but I can't think of any smart/political newspaper comic strip that successfully transitioned to cartoon land. 

Doonesbury only did one cartoon special and Dilbert was pretty meh on screen.

Not Boondocks?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hermanator

Hermanator 7170

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, NWBuck said:

This one is framed and in my office:

 

BCVH.png

Not a Van Hagar fan I see. 

If they're going to make this animated they really should do it as one of those 10 to 12 min animated shorts that Cartoon Network and Comedy Central do. Can keep the quick hit concise style somewhat.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Al_4_ISU

Al_4_ISU 12484

Posted
Posted

I got a stuffed Opus toy for my first Xmas (1985).  I'll have to look when I get home, but I know there's a picture of baby Al jamming that thing in my own face.

The setting and landscape of Bloom County is heavily based on southeast Iowa.  Breathead moved to Iowa City when he left Austin.  The Bloom Boarding house is modeled after a real house in Iowa City that's still there.  A good buddy of mine lived 2 blocks away from it.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
YChang

YChang 3462

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:

The setting and landscape of Bloom County is heavily based on southeast Iowa.  Breathead moved to Iowa City when he left Austin.  The Bloom Boarding house is modeled after a real house in Iowa City that's still there.  A good buddy of mine lived 2 blocks away from it.

That's so cool, I had no idea. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TrashMaster G

TrashMaster G 17599

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I got a stuffed Opus toy for my first Xmas (1985).  I'll have to look when I get home, but I know there's a picture of baby Al jamming that thing in my own face.

The setting and landscape of Bloom County is heavily based on southeast Iowa.  Breathead moved to Iowa City when he left Austin.  The Bloom Boarding house is modeled after a real house in Iowa City that's still there.  A good buddy of mine lived 2 blocks away from it.

Iowa City is where all the cool Iowa kids go to college, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...