Wild) \ IHI W Li e Light
.liul wore Dino
pajamas, The Hint
stone* u L ie r.ealH
hip. Bv the time
\ mi not to college, \ou prubabU
thought you’d outgrown them
both.
Well, ilon I count on the folks in
I IoIIvwimkJ thinking so \nd don't tlonk
tor i moment thes’re above exploiting
those lovable childhood characters to
make .1 buck Next summer. I'red and
his gang will l>e yabba dabba dooing to
theaters across the countn
Xml m i .ise von haven't outgrown the
Br.nh clan, or aren't tired ot the
( hristmas reunions, kiss and ti ll hook,
spoof plav, Sunshine /)./> alhuins and
talk show appearances, you can expect
to see them at vour local cinema hetorc
It mg as well
What s up with tlu I \ shows that
iirui die I'he limritaia am! I he Hr.ah
lluiiih follow Sun Ini. Dragnet, I hr
incline. Damn the Mainer. Ilu I.Lit ms
f amily, II ,/ynr i H <>rlJ ;tni! I hr Harrly
I lillhilhrs as sonic ol the latest popular
I'V concepts to nuke the transition to
tire silver screen
kin! even though you mac not want to
admit n. |ieople are watching this stufl
f You know w ho \ ou are.)
Wording to 1 enn Npigcl, an associ
ate professor ol critical studies al the l
of Southern ( alitornia’s School of
( metna I decision, shows like I hr
Hr. rrli llillhillia provide a sense ol
shared histors m a world of alienating
circumstances. Spigcl. author ol Make
H'.itn fur I I . also sa\s the regeneration
ol these shows csentualh tornis a “new
cultural Ineracc
"I’eople italic do relate through this
stull. she sacs
In other words, you'd he laughed out
ol college it vou couldn't snap sour tin
get s to iht t.Ll.irm I .millc theme song
oia na na na, snap snap, da na na-na,
snap snap) or sing the Ictus to I hr
llr.rrly llillhillia (“( omc 'll' listen to
me stoic houl a man named led "I
Ynd the him industrc counts on just
that kiml ol l.umharitc. knowing it can
mean log looks Hie lirst \ddams
I .untie link nude more than Si 10 mil
lion and raked m *s I ■) - million the week
it opened It's not surprising that it
spawned a seipiel and .dreads there's
talk ol a third
Soon, even the most dubious TV
show will get its own picture deal
|{\ \nnr lU iuin.m. Ihul) Irofiin. I <•! Smiilu in ( .ihlnmi.i
Screenwriter I’.iul Kudmek. who
worked >>n the first Vddams 1 anuh film
and wrote the sequel, says, "I think
there's a sense of familiar characters I
also think there's a certain reason the
\dilarns I .mills base endured through
the cartoon tainilv. through the 1 \
shows and through the film I hey re
icons, part of the culture
Jill Young, a senior at the ( ollege of
William and Mars and a big fan of the
Vddams famih, watched the first movie
several times. "I liked the movie better
than the series,” she says "It was more
current, in color and more three
dimensional."
I veil Kevin ( oitnollv, the I'M ear
old who plavs Morgan Drvsdalc in /he
Ht cf/) Ihl/hilhc' movie. s.i\s when
moviemakers get their hands on the
shows from Ins night light days, he gets
sueketl in In Ins own cunosin “ \s tar
is I he llillbillh> is concerned, I iluln t
rcall\ ss .ite li them growing u|> because
that was .1 little before im time," he
s.t\s “Hut I watched lijtmiin.” \nd he
watched l he hltnMunes
“I aitualb want to see I he I Iwtshme^
|mo\ic| bciause I want to see how tile
east looks Is John (ioodman a good
Mmtstone- 1 hat’s what I’m interested
m seeing,” ( amnolh sa\s
l imersal Pictures is banking on Uith
bain iKMimers and (lencration \ers to
fork over big bucks tor a peek at the
new and improved, live action Bedrock
You thought they were goner* but Car 54, When are You’ i above). Thi iMim family (botoui loft i and Tha
latarfy NNMfco i below right) art among the relict being rotuocttalod by Hollywood t latest retro movement.
\ J i j n u with (louiliiun .is I nil, / be
llitilstoncs stars Fli/alicth Perkins
(Wilma), Rosie O Donnell (Betti i and
Ruk Moranis (Barnci) \nd according
to producer Brute Cohen, the movie
otters dialogue lot adults, sets and props
that rapture the essence ot the original
cartoon, and even an Industrial I iglit
and Mat'll Dino (from the special
elicits folks who Brought \ou Jiihisut
Park) Plus, he sa\s it will have a wide
range appeal “I vcrionc knows the
I hntstoncs," he sa\ s.
Retreading successful ideas is certain
1\ not a new trend in entertainment.
I he evolution dates hack farther than
some might guess even farther than
prehistoric Bedrock.
Consider this; Fred and Wilma are
loose'll Based on the characters in the
1<MOs television series l be
Hinicymooncn. Both Denniv the \lena>e
and I he Addams bamih Began as cat
toons and comic strips \nd Batman and
Superman leap! from cornu l>ook pages
into railio, movie ami television lx lore
tin,iIK landing in feature films
Xml \oii can expect even more resur
rcctions in the future I he l.oie Hat
soon vi111 lie making another run, as will
/an'if, I he little Kauals. and, m January,
that all-time favorite (.at '<4. H het< In
Ynuf (which will star none other than XI
l ewis, known to you as (iramlpa from
I he Mu ml ere) I ouchstone is even mak
mg a movie ahout Pat, that androgy
nous character of Saturday \ig/>/ l.r. i
fame.
Hut is there a danger to all this
rehashing- XX hat it some of us have itist
plain matured past the appeal of l nclc
1-ester and I- llv Xlav
Stephanie I vans, a freshman it
l’epperdme l , says, "I think tlicv
should let those sitcoms from the Os
die Ix-cause thev were gixxl and not try
to revive them again because it’s
become trends l oo much of a good
thing can he had."
I ven ('.onnotlv, who is profiting from
the trend, admits, "It s going to get old
prettv quick.”
Xml when it does, then what- XX hen
thev run out of 70s shows, will studios
green light a live action Ken and Snmfry
or He,t. t> and Butt head
XX ell, ves Xs a matter of tail, the
Bean> and Butt head protect is already
underwav "Beam and Butt head the
movie’" ( onnollv asks mcredulouslv
“XXiiw, I think that I'll probably have to
go see that.” 0