Fraggle Rock Feature Film Going Ahead

The Jim Henson Company’s planned feature film version of Fraggle Rock is moving ahead.

First, the good news: The Weinstein Company has given the go-ahead to the Jim Henson Company’s Fraggle Rock feature film, which has been in development for a couple years (see previous post). This makes a lot of sense because the Weinsteins want to develop family-friendly franchises and Fraggle Rock is already an established and much-loved family entertainment property. Also, they have the money and clout to make sure the film gets a good release and is properly promoted.

Now, the bad news: It’s being directed by Cory Edwards. His first movie was Hoodwinked, which was also produced by the Weinsteins. It drew a respectable $50 million or so at the box office, but the animation was horrible, the script wasn’t much better and watching it I got the feeling the filmmakers were a little out of their depth (or perhaps in way over their heads). Pulling off puppets and humans interacting believably in a movie is surprisingly difficult so you have to wonder why filmmakers with better track records or more experience were passed over. Hopefully the Henson Co. will maintain a strong say in how things get done and this will do a beloved show like Fraggle Rock justice.

Update: My favourite blog post about this so far has to be Fraggle Rock to Stop Being Fond Memory, Become Sad Future.