Statistics Saturday: Comic Strips That _Starlog_ Thought Were Being Made Into Movies in 1987

Ben Templeton and Tom Forman’s Motley’s Crew
Mort Walker’s Beetle Bailey
Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer’s Felix the Cat
Bill Griffith’s Zippy the Pinhead
Grim Natwick and Max Fleischer et al’s Betty Boop
Gary Larson’s The Far Side
Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie
Brant Parker and Johnny Hart’s The Wizard of Id (with David Zucker and Jerry Zucker of Airplane! directing)

Not listed: that time Ralph Bakshi thought he was making a primetime TV cartoon version of Blade Runner.

Starlog magazine MediaLog entry: 'Animation: it's not a dream. Really. Back in the animation races after a career hiatus to concentrate on painting, Ralph Bakshi has acquired the rights to a recent SF classic. Bakshi is developing an animated version of Blade Runner, aimed at a primetime TV slot. This projected Blade Runner would combine some animated characters with some live-action background elements.' — Wait, an only **partly**-animated Ralph Bakshi project? How could **that** ever happen?

Also not mentioned: that Tintin project because I don’t think Tintin was ever a comic strip and, like, Betty Boop had a short-lived comic even if it wasn’t good.

Also, coming back to the mentioned: Motley’s Crew? Really? Huh. I mean, I guess that’s a comic strip that existed all right, but … Really. Huh. I mean … huh. You’re passing on Bill Schorr’s The Grizzwells for this, then.

Reference: Nathaniel’s Nutmeg: How One Man’s Courage Changed The Course of History, Giles Milton.

Author: Joseph Nebus

I was born 198 years to the day after Johnny Appleseed. The differences between us do not end there. He/him. View all posts by Joseph Nebus

4 thoughts on “Statistics Saturday: Comic Strips That _Starlog_ Thought Were Being Made Into Movies in 1987”

Garrison Skunk says:

May 23, 2021 at 12:31 pm

What will I be happy to note?

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1. Joseph Nebus says:
  
  May 24, 2021 at 4:45 am
  
  Oh, it’s a brief that almost reads like a Joel-era MST3K host sketch. The full MediaLog entry:
  
  By the way, you’ll be happy to note this reminder of things past. Perhaps it’s due to the wide-screen popularity of such venerable TV-spawned theatrical features as The Untouchables, Dragnet and, of course, Star Trek. Or maybe it’s the startling success of the “fish-out-of-water” type movie as personified by Crocodile Dundee. Either way, Warner Bros and series creator Paul Henning are revving up a theatrical version of what some might consider an American classic. Yes, The Beverly Hillbillies. Y’all come back now, y’ hear.
  
  I don’t know whether this has any connection to the Beverly Hillbillies movie that actually did get made in the 90s.
  
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Garrison Skunk says:

May 25, 2021 at 1:25 am

I AM indeed happy to note that. Between me,you,and John Rose (if he’s still monitoring your blog) The BH movie that did get made is a guilty pleasure of mine,along with “Popeye”,”STTMP”,”SP’sLHCB”, and a few others.

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1. Joseph Nebus says:
  
  May 31, 2021 at 3:54 pm
  
  Glad you like! Now, I’ve never got around to watching the Beverley Hillbillies movie, although I also never really got around to the show either. (I know it’s odd; everything about the Doug Henning shows indicates I ought to quite like them, and I’ve enjoyed the occasional episode, but they’ve never caught on for me.)
  
  Sergeant Pepper’s (etc) is another movie I’ve never got around to seeing, although that takes a little more effort to go see. Beverley Hillbillies, at least the TV show, you just have to switch the satellite to improbable numbers like 247 and a station with a name like Silver Threads Among The Gold TV and there it is, running in a version stretched way out of proportion so there’s no black zones on a modern 16:9 ratio TV.
  
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