Bone creator Jeff Smith reacts to Netflix’s cancellation of a Bone animated series with a picture-perfect comic re-enactment of a classic Peanuts scene.
Bone creator, Jeff Smith, has responded to Netflix’s cancellation of a Bone animated series with the perfect comic. Bone is a graphic novel series written and illustrated by Smith and published between 1991 and 2004. The comedy fantasy series follows Fone Bone and his two cousins, Phoncible P. “Phoney” Bone and Smiley Bone, as they try to escape from their home in Boneville. . In their attempt to escape, they find themselves lost in a fairy tale landscape and find themselves drawn into a hero’s quest in a mysterious valley.
Bone has received numerous awards, including several Eisner and Harvey awards. The series appeals to teenage and adult readers alike with its comedic elements and the intensity of the Bones’ adventure. In October 2019, Netflix acquired the rights to Bone and announced that they are developing an animated film Bone TV series. Smith was excited about the news, indicating that Netflix was the perfect home for Bone. However, it was recently reported that Netflix canceled the Bone adaptation due to its recent initiative to reduce investment in animation.
Black-smith reacted to the news of Netflix’s cancellation on Twitter with a comic that sums up his feelings perfectly. The band sees its Bone characters recreating the iconic Peanuts scene in which Charlie Brown tries to kick a soccer ball held by Lucy, only for her to quickly pull it out before Brown can kick it. Smith’s comic shows three versions of this scene, one for each adaptation attempt Bone by Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. and more recently Netflix. Check out Smith’s comic book response below:
Click here to see the original post
Smith’s comic perfectly sums up his frustrations at getting a Bone adaptation. The first attempt came back in the late 1990s, when Nickelodeon approached Smith to create a Bone Animation Film. However, Smith disagreed with their take on Bone and the adaptation fell through. In 2008, a more concrete attempt to make a Bone the film happened when Warner Bros. bought the film rights. The studio reached an agreement with Smith and it was planned to do Bone in a trilogy of 3D animated films. Then, years and years passed without a movie and little progress was made. Finally, in 2019, Warner Bros. put aside the Bone film series and that’s when it fell into the hands of Netflix. Now they too have called off their attempt, meaning it’s been well over 20 years since Smith was first approached about a Bone adaptation and it still hasn’t happened.
Smith’s comic also highlights the fickle side of the film industry that isn’t often seen. Viewers often only see the finished play, but are oblivious to the years-long process it takes to get to that point. When this happens it is simply a reflection of how the business is and not at all a reflection of the creator or the quality of their work. Smith’s Bone is an award-winning, adventurous and hilarious comic that would make a great movie or TV series. The fact that it didn’t work out is disappointing for fans, and even more so for Smith. In his comic, Smith writes: “Never again“, indicating that he may be done with these Bone adaptation offers. Despite this, I hope Smith is still willing to try playing football again, as his fans would surely love to see Bone on the big or small screen one day.
Source: Jeff Smith
About the Author