That’s it. Hollywood has officially re-optioned my entire childhood. From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Goosebumps books to Choose Your Own Adventure, I thought that there wasn’t a book series, TV show or beloved film that they had yet to reboot, repackage or re-configure. I was wrong. Sony Pictures is now in negotiations to pick up the rights to the cartoon series Captain Planet And The Planeteers. Oh. My. God.
For you young ‘uns born, rather than raised, in the 90s, Captain Planet And The Planeteers was an environmentally conscious cartoon show about a group of young people from across the world battling against eco-villains with the help of Captain Planet, Earth’s Greatest Hero. Multi-racial and multi-ethnic, the Planeteers gathered the powers of earth, wind, fire, water and – ahem – heart to summon Captain Planet and fight pollution and environmental breakdown. It was kind of the best show ever.
There’s no news yet on what Sony intends to do with the rights to Captain Planet. A movie idea kicked around for awhile in the 90s, there was talk of a live action series, and the show has inspired several spoofs and a fan trailer, but as of yet nothing has really come of attempts to revive the show. This could turn into a film, a new TV series, or something else entirely.
While I’m usually skeptical about Hollywood reviving old series, Captain Planet And The Planeteers is actually a good show to bring back. At a time when we have oil spills in the gulf, are fighting battles over hydrofracking, drilling for oil, and carbon footprints, we would do well to revive an environmental hero for the next generation. Captain Planet wanted to take pollution down to zero – I think that his time is now. As long as he loses the green mullet.