Our generation grew up with comic book television – you know Captain Planet, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the who lot. We grew up playing board games and video games; played with Care Bears, Mighty Max, Polly Pocket and Pogs; raised Tamagotchis and caught Pokemon; Furby kept us busy and our parents annoyed, while The Macarena sent us into a craze; Fanny Packs and Beanie Babies lined our closet spaces, and the 1990s made a statement. For those of you avid movie lovers, you might find these little tidbits interesting. At the same time, everyone else might find them slightly repulsive. I say, BRING IT BABY!

• Hasbro and Universal have partnered to turn four classic board games into films. Yes, if you are asking yourself, “Hasn’t that been done before?” you would be right. The Parker Brothers’ mystery classic, Clue, was adapted to the big screen in 1985. What might these new films be? Well two that have been announced are Monopoly and Candy Land – both set to hit the mainstream in 2011. Who ever knew that passing go and collecting $200 could be a movie venture? I am still not convinced. On the other side, Candy Land, an American classic, might just be 90+ minutes of colors flashing and potential lost characters in the Lollipop Woods. Sounds great to me! Tropic Thunder screen writer Etan Cohen is charged with writing the screen play for the fantasy film. Another board game will also be hitting the big screen. The Ouija Board to be exact, and it is being tagged as a “Pirates of the Caribbean-style epic.” I’m excited, maybe Johnny Depp will star as the hand that moves the board – great concept Hollywood.
• Superheroes will soon be taking over the world of film. Not that they haven’t already, but in the next two years nearly every comic book hero will be coming to a theater near you – Thor, Green Lantern and Wolverine just to name a few.
• Remember playing with G.I. Joes? Well, let me refresh your memory. They are Barbies of army men with 16-inch biceps and plastic 8-pack abs. Well guess what everyone? The G.I. Joe franchise will also be added to this summer’s most wanted and most watched. The August 7th release of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra should be one of the summer’s biggest hits.
• By far my favorite release for this fall, and one of my favorite stories growing up, is Where the Wild Things Are. This October, the classic children’s story by Maurice Sendak will be adapted for the big screen. It is about time that this fantasy world meshed with the entertainment world. Granted it has been done before, but I don’t think films like Bridge to Terabithia really could be categorized as great.
• Dragonball Z anyone? Wasn’t a fan of the show, but sometimes it gave some after school entertainment. There was just something about the horribly weird characters that made it addicting. After all, how many times can you actually find those damn seven balls, and there are only so many new characters, reincarnated characters and shape-changing characters that you can throw into a 30-minute Anime cartoon. Well, DBZ fans, you should find this enticing: April 8, 2009, Dragonball: Evolution comes to theaters. And what is so special you might ask? It is a live action film; yes, little Goku is a real person and has real fireballs coming out of his hands and ass. Minus the fact that there will be tons of gravity-defying tricks, people with tails, three eyes and four mouths and then fireballs to cap it all off, the film attempts to be about as real as you can get.
• Everyone’s favorite childhood actions figures will return this summer. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen attempts to reincarnate the spark the first Transformers lit two summers ago. I am thinking that one of our favorite past times will again be sitting at the top of the summer’s box office. After seeing the trailer during the Superbowl, there is no doubt this will be a smashing hit. I just hope they bring back the dinosaurs and animals some day. I was much more of a fan when Optimus Prime was a big gorilla and the bad guys were comprised of a tribe of a T-Rex, pterodactyl, bumble bee and a scorpion. It made it so much more entertaining.
• To round out this year’s childhood literature adaptations, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as well as Sherlock Holmes will be hitting theaters.