First the good news: When The Weinstein Company told Corey Edwards, the director/screenwriter of the forthcoming Fraggle Rock film adaptation, that his script “wasn’t edgy enough” it turns out that what they really meant was “they want this movie to connect with an older, more sophisticated audience.” This makes sense to us. As Pixar has proven time and again, you don’t need to dumb down your material to make something that is kid-friendly. You just have to make it good.
Now on to the bad news: While Doc, his dog Sprocket, the Trash Heap, and the Doozers all factor in the current version, it doesn’t include the Gorgs.
Edwards explained his omission of the the self-proclaimed rulers of the Universe in an interview with YouBentMyWookie:
“Gorgs have been a little tricky. You know, a lot of fans – and this includes people within the Jim Henson company, have said ‘you gotta put them in.’ But we’ve got a lot of things to do in one movie. I think the Gorgs could be a movie in themselves.”
Are we alone in our belief that they were one of the best parts of the show (especially the kind of creepy episode where Junior thought he killed Mokey)? Their garden alone — home to Junior’s radishes, which in turn become edible Doozer buildings — was essential to the Fraggle Rock food chain. Plus Junior sounds almost exactly like Barney Frank. What’s not to love? It has us wondering whether Edwards really gets the source material, and what’s next on his crazy adaptation agenda. Perhaps killing off Uncle Traveling Matt?
[via /film]