Six Cartoons That Should Be Movies

By Daniel Hubschman , Hollywood.com Staff | Friday, July 02, 2010

Six Cartoons That Should Be Movies

Eighties babies have been equally delighted and terrified to see some of their most beloved childhood television programs adapted for the big screen in recent years. From Transformers to Dragonball Z to The Last Airbender, Saturday morning cartoons have either made waves or sunk at the box office, and a slew of upcoming projects, from The Smurfs to Johnny Quest to Voltron, will follow. However, if I got to pick a few of my favorite shows for celluloid conversion, the slate would look something like this:

The Centurions

This was/is my single favorite program from my formative years. Starring the “Daring” Ace McCloud, the “Rugged” Jake Rockwell and the “Brilliant” Max Ray, The Centurions were a trio of tech-wielding warriors who tirelessly fought the cyborgs Doc Terror, Hacker and their faction of Doom Drones by air, land or sea using cutting edge assault weapon systems. Though the show first hit airwaves in 1985, its themes of both man vs. machine and man and machine (Power Xtreme!) are as relevant today as they ever were.

I envision a scenario that would take place in the near future, in which an entire generation of war veterans is kept alive through mechanized prosthetics. The maniacal Doc Terror (who would be played by Ciaran Hinds), wrought with anger over the failures and atrocities of his own government, weaponizes his and Hacker’s prosthetics and together they create an army of Doom Drones that wreak havoc on the cities of the world. Earth’s most powerful countries pool their defense funds to create a new breed of weapons systems and train some of the top soldiers on the planet to counter the attacks of the crazed Cyborgs and hence, The Centurions are born!

With three charismatic leading men in the fore mentioned starring roles and cutting edge filmmaking technology, The Centurions wouldn’t have to just dwell in the dark and often demented corridors of my memory; they could be the next generation of film heroes.

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