Gatchaman Gets Writer
Paul Dini Will Help Write Imagi Adaptation of Classic Anime
Paul Dini (Lost, Batman: The Animated Series) will help write the script for Imagi Studio's Gatchaman. Movie comes to theatres in 2009.
Conventional wisdom states that having a writer on board is kinda handy if you're making a movie, and Kevin Munroe and the producers of Gatchaman seem to agree. They now have two.
Over a year after Imagi Animation Studios announced that they were adapting the classic TV anime Kagaku tai Ninja Gatchaman (known to North Americans as Battle of the Planets and G-Force) for the big screen, Imagi has announced that they have brought in scribe Paul Dini (Lost, Batman Beyond) to help write the script.
Script Follows Ninja Team Defending Earth Against Evil Galactor Org
He will join Munroe and principal scribe Robert Mark Kamen in writing the screenplay. The script will be an "origins tale," meaning it will follow the five members of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Ken Washio, Joe Asakura, Jun, Jinpei and Ryu Nakanishi) as they reluctantly join forces to help their mentor, Professor Kozaburou Nambu of the International Science Organization, defend Earth against the evil Galactor organization.
Paul Dini is a cartoon veteran, having scripted 23 episodes of the 1990's era Batman: The Animated Series and 26 episodes of Duck Dodgers. While working on Batman:TAS, he was also responsible for introducing the character of Harley Quinn (with character design by Bruce Timm), the Arkham Asylum psychologist who later became The Joker's lover/partner-in-crime. Harley Quinn proved to be so popular with fans that DC Comics added her to the Batman universe and gave her an eponymous comic book series.
"We are excited to have Paul on our talented Gatchaman team," said Francis Kao, Co-CEO & Chief Creative Officer at Imagi. "His extensive background in animation and superhero comics will contribute greatly to this ambitious action movie."
Early Anime Classic
"The original series was one of the classics of early anime, and the film will be very true to the Japanese source material," responded Dini. "As a studio, Imagi is constantly breaking the boundaries of animated adventure. Not only are their action sequences amazing, but their characters are driven, complex and play for life-or-death stakes. It's a great environment for a writer with a rather dark take on animation."
Imagi promises fans of the original series that the story will take place in the Gatchaman universe and will be faithful to the original series, not the cleaned-up-for-North-American-kiddies versions like Battle of the Planets and G-Force.
Gatchaman will also go for a PG-13 rating. This means that the hermaphrodite Berg Katse may or may not be the central villain, depending how the MPAA reacts to a character who changes from male to female at any given time.
Gatchaman is scheduled to hit theatres sometime in 2009.
Fun Fact: Paul Dini is best known for writing some of the most beloved episode of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series. However, Dini despised the concept, and hated working for Filmation.
