Deep down in your soul, you knew it was coming as soon as The Smurfs stood toe-to-toe with Cowboys & Aliens at the box office: Sony has staked out Aug. 2, 2013 for the release of Smurfs 2, a sequel to this summer's popular CG reboot. A plot and director has yet to be announced, but Neil Patrick Harris did promise Movieline he'd float the idea of bringing in a socialist Smurfy slant should sequels happen. Make it so, NPH. [Deadline]
From Transformers to G.I. Joe to this weekend's The Smurfs, children of the '80s have lost many a Saturday morning cartoon memory to the cash-grabbing clutches of the Hollywood remake machine. Plenty more are being developed into shiny, CG-smooth reboots as we speak. So let's take a moment and plea, for the sake of those that remain, that these nine beloved, totally '80s children's properties be left where they belong: In our fuzzy, warm past -- safe in the glow of yesteryear.
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The beloved muppet characters of Jim Henson's 1980s series Fraggle Rock entertained a generation of kids with their emphasis on friendship, their penchant for cooperation, and the subtle socialist messaging that made being part of the Fraggle Rock fandom so darn infectious... and strangely compulsive. And if those blue Commie Smurfs are getting their own big screen update, why not Red, Gobo, Boober and the gang?
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