A SHOT IN THE THARK: DISNEY BRINGING ERB'S JOHN CARTER TO THE BIG SCREEN

In an unlikely pairing, Disney is next year bringing to the screen one of Edgar Rice Burroughs' most enduring literary creations, JOHN CARTER OF MARS. The character has appeared in various media many times over the years, but this is the first time that we have the luxury of digital technology with which to build the Martian world of Barsoom.

Of course, in my opinion, no one will ever capture the savage glory of John Carter better than the late, great Frank Frazetta (Roy Krenkel a not-t00-distant second!). Just to prove my point, I've added a triple shot of Frazetta Gold to the bottom of this post.


City on Barsoom.

 I am guardedly optimistic that this might be one heckuva movie -- or maybe not. The trailer (shown below) has an obvious slant on the romance side of the story between John Carter and Dejah Thoris, and shows little of the violence and bloodletting that punctuated the books with such power and heroic grace (second only to Robert E. Howard, in this Monster Kid's opinion). And, if Celine Dione sings a song during the end titles, I'm slitting my wrists in the theatre aisle. Nevertheless, Disney has let down its guard occasionally in the past and given an adult story an adult film treatment. Let's hope they do the same here . . . and they'll have to do more than just inking up Dejah Thoris with a bunch of tats, too!


A Martian flying ship.