Edgar Rice Burroughs is famed, and rightly so, for his Tarzan stories. They’ve been in books, magazines, TV series and movies. But the other great ERB invention, tales of John Carter’s exploits on the planet Mars, have not fared so well on the big screen.
John Carter was a former Confederate soldier, who was transported by unknown means to the red planet, an imaginary world bursting with life, from gorgeously exotic princesses to weirdly strange Martian fauna such as the eight-legged thoat.
Mars, or Barsoom in Martian-speak, was a planet with wow factor, that’s for sure - and certainly makes the dusty reality a little disappointing.
Burroughs wrote a dozen Barsoom tales, but there has been no major Hollywood movie release as yet. So it’s great to hear that the CGI-masters at Pixar - responsible for such terrific releases as Toy Story and The Incredibles, are moving forward with a production based largely on A Princess of Mars. From what we hear, there’ll be villains and swordfights, curvy Barsoom maidens, and maybe even a ‘Martian Face’ or two.
It’s early days yet, with release not expected until sometime in 2012. But it’s an excellent year for release, as it will mark the centenary of Barsoom’s first appearance in print.
The video above reveals a fascinating insight into animation efforts back in the 1930s. John Carter has his own site here.
Meantime, the Barsoom books are still in print. You can buy them at Amazon here.
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