Fox Animation’s lineup welcomes new residents! The cast of Bloom County will join the lineup in their own animated series. Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed confirmed on his social media today that an animated show is in the works based on his ongoing comic.
Bloom County has quite a long history in the life of Breathed. It all started when Breathed started producing a comic strip for The Daily Texan, a University of Texas school newspaper. This comic was called The academic waltz, and played a cast of characters trying to navigate college life. The tape caught the attention of representatives of The Washington Post, and Breathed soon found itself with offers to make a nationally syndicated tape. Borrowing some characters from The academic waltz, Bloom County debuted on December 8, 1980. The cast was expanded and settled into a boarding house in a small town in Central America. The tape had an initial run from 1980 to 1989, but Breathed revived the tape in 2015. According to Breathed, these are the controversies around Go set a keeper which inspired him to return to his beloved characters. New strips are published regularly on his Facebook page.
Breathed plans to stay involved with this new incarnation of his work, as the show will be co-written and produced by him. Bento Box will cover the animation, while Miramax, Spyglass and Project X will serve as executive producers. Michael Thorn, president of Fox Entertainment, expressed his excitement for the project with Variety.
“I was introduced to the brilliance of Berkeley Breathed and Bloom County as a teenager. Its signature blend of satire, politics and sentiment hooked me. Plus, I love Opus. Today, the Berkeley’s smart and hilarious take on American culture is more relevant than ever, and with Bento Box, we’re thrilled to bring its unique set of characters and social commentary to television.
One of Bloom County’s main draws was its satirical take on politics, which dates the soundtracks in all the best ways. A notable example is Bill the Cat, which was initially a rendition of Garfield’s growing popularity. The comic spent much of the ’80s riffing on hot topics of the day, such as the Cold War, race relations, and politics of all kinds. So, at a time when tensions are running high, maybe it’s time we all had a good laugh. Breathed seems to think the same.
“At the end of ‘Alien’, we saw cuddly Sigourney Weaver fall peacefully into a cryogenic hypersleep after being chased by a saliva-spewing maniac, only to be woken up decades later in a world stuffed with much worse things.. Fox and I did the same thing to Opus and the rest of the Bloom County gang, may they forgive us.
Bloom County opus returns to television
This won’t be the band’s first leap into animation. In 1991 Bloom County most famous resident, the adorable penguin named Opus, starred in his own Christmas special titled A wish for wings that work. The special, based on a children’s book of the same name, followed Opus as he faced the holiday season, hoping his gift would be a steal. The special was produced by Amblin Television. Breathed was unimpressed with the special set.
Given Breathed’s bigger involvement in this upcoming show, maybe he’ll take what he’s learned from A winged wish that worked. They say failure is the best teacher, after all. Currently, there is no release date for the next show, but chances are Breathed will be the first to let us know when this news is ready.
Along with his work on Bloom County, Breathed is also a children’s book author, screenwriter, production designer and film producer. Her 2007 children’s book, Mars Needs Moms, was made into a film by Disney. There’s also a movie currently in the works called Hitpig, which is based on an original story from Breathed. The film will star Peter Dinklage as the title character and will be produced by Aniventure, and the film is slated for release this year.
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