Whether or not shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force or The Simpsons succeeded in translating their television dynamics to the big screen depends on your point of view, but the release of Speed Racer this weekend raises a more specific question about the viability of turning an animated series into a live action spectacle on the big screen. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Underdog both suggest how this goal can go wrong -- namely, by imploding on its absurd conceits. You may disagree with the inclusion of some of the following titles, all of which culled their material from animation, but it's fair to say that each of them takes its subject matter at face value, allowing the natural ingredients of the original sources to remain intact. Well, maybe not Super Mario Bros., but that one is a special case (fire away, if you must). Until somebody makes an Animaniacs movie with real actors, I'm sticking to this list.

1. Popeye (1980)

Robert Altman's offbeat ode to the famous Fleisher cartoon starring the spinach-eating strongman and his darling Olive Oil is the great misunderstood work of the director's career. Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall manage to bring utterly ridiculous characters into a realm of believability that you could never imagine when watching the show. Suddenly, Popeye made sense -- goofy, almost surreal sense, but sense nonetheless -- in the real world. Thanks to veteran adult cartoonist Jules Feiffer's screenplay and a soundtrack so catchy Paul Thomas Anderson borrowed from it twenty years later in Punch-Drunk Love, the classic status of Popeye can't be denied.

Slant Magazine has put out its twin top ten lists for this year, and while I have some serious concerns about those lists -- they couldn't find room for Paul Verhoeven's masterpiece even in the honorable mention category! -- their superlatives boxes are some of the funniest I've seen anywhere. Here's a few of my favorites from their list: Most Homoerotic Use of a Computer goes to 300. Worst Performance By an Inanimate Object goes to Titus Welliver's mustache in Gone, Baby, Gone. I have to agree with that one. Worst Use of CGI goes to Jack Nicholson's skydiving scene in The Bucket List. And my absolute personal favorite of them all: Dramatic Climax Best Suited for a WWE Storyline goes to The Kite Runner. If you haven't seen it, you'll know exactly what that means when you do.

By the way, I've noticed that Slant has also jumped on the bandwagon of delivering high, if left-handed praise for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. In his original review, Ed Gonzalez said the movie was "so completely and violently divorced from any normal concept of narrative thinking it becomes Dadaesque." Now, the Slant duo have given the film a prominent mention in their year-end wrap-up for its "avant-garde insanity." I recently heard about another well-known critic who is seriously mulling the possibility of including Aqua Teen in his top ten list for the year. When he told me, I honestly thought he was joking but now I see it's not just him. Although it never occurred to me before, now I think I actually have to see this movie. It sounds like I'm missing out on something.

I'm 37. If I lived in medieval times, I'd have five kids and about five years left to live. If I lived in Victorian England, I'd have a block-rocking mustache, three kids and work in either the mines or the docks. But in the 21st Century, 37 is not old; I have dreams, hopes, aspirations, action figures. Still, I felt old watching the beginning of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters; I felt clueless, slow, uncool -- like I'd been left out of the joke. But, as ATHFCMFfT unspooled, I felt less old -- primarily because I realized I wasn't left out of the joke; rather, there was no joke to get.

Created as time-filler for Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" late-night programming block, Aqua Teen Hunger Force the TV show followed the adventures of talking, mobile, super-powered fast-food items. And by "adventures," I mean the opposite of adventures -- squabbling with each other, dodging work, arguing with their landlord. There's Frylock (voiced by Carey Means), the smartest of the crew; Master Shake (Dana Snyder), dim and vain; and Meatwad (Dave Willis), bone-stupid and bonelessly malleable.

Begun by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro, Aqua Teen Hunger Force has run for five seasons; I couldn't tell you if that's a good or bad thing, as I've never been able to watch an episode through. Oh, people I know love ATHF -- unabashedly, and I don't think it's just drug-induced -- but it has no sticking power for me. And showing me ATHF bigger and longer and uncut doesn't do much to change that.

Remember that incident a few months back involving the city of Boston and a marketing idea gone wrong? In case you're totally oblivious or have a bad memory, it consisted of a silly stunt to promote Aqua Teen Hunger Force that accidentally caused a terror alert. In the end, the mistake resulted in two men facing felony hoax charges, the head of Cartoon Network resigning, Turner Broadcasting paying out $2 million in restitution and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino hating the surreal animated series forever. Unfortunately for Menino, the cinematic spin-off of the series, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, opens this Friday around the country, including in two theaters in his city. Menino has made attempts to convince these locations to boycott the film, "out of respect to the people of Boston," but obviously the theaters are not willing to meet his demands. The thing Menino doesn't appear to realize, which doesn't take an expert in marketing communication to point out (though the Boston Herald quotes one, just to go with an official perspective), that any negative attention he can give the movie will help in its appeal.

In unrelated news, Menino has also attacked the marketing of another film this week. He has ordered the removal of advertisements for Fracture, which contain written in big letters the phrase "I Shot My Wife" superimposed over Anthony Hopkins' face. The fifty posters, which are part of a reported $52,000 ad campaign, have been on display in bus shelters for nearly a month, and apparently they have caused a lot of complaints. A statement from the mayor's office claimed the ads promoted a negative and violent message, which makes me wonder what Menino would have thought if Boston had been included in the controversial campaign for Captivity. He might have gone and banned all movie marketing within city limits for good. Well, except for maybe those promoting seemingly harmless Tim Allen comedies. After all, in case anyone thinks that the mayor has a thing against Hollywood in general, recall how much love he showed to Wild Hogs last month.

While in Berlin, I was told there was a private "market only" screening of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters. A few of us joked -- and wished we were there -- if only to see the look on all those European faces once the film finally got underway. I imagine a slew of those stuffy international buyers were left disturbed, upset and utterly confused by the film's, um, creativity. Needless to say, it would have been fun to watch the pale faces feverishly exiting the theater.

It's no secret that Aqua Teen Hunger Force (an animated show on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim) isn't for everyone; in fact, its core fanbase consists of folks who like to partake in a few "extra-curricular activities" prior to tuning in. Some would even go so far as to say that those "activities" are necessary in order to truly get the show and its three main characters (which consist of a box of fries, a wad of meat and a milkshake). Regardless, a feature-length ATHF film will crash into theaters on April 13, and what appears to be the (final?) poster has just been released, with Twitch providing us with what you see there to the right of your screen. Feel free to tell me I'm wrong, but I had to do a double-take -- at first, I thought I was looking at the cover of Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell album. Yes, it's that awesome.

As I'm a fairly new fan of the show, the only thing that worries me is whether the jokes will last for over an hour when each episode is only 15 minutes long. Then again, I have the same problem with most animated toons that take a chance on the big screen; trust me, I'm just as worried about The Simpsons Movie somehow finding a way to make me laugh as hard as I did during South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

If you're still not convinced that Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters will be one of the funniest films this spring, then I should note that it's also from "the 1st Assistant Director of the 2nd unit of Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth." Now, if that doesn't get you all pumped up, I don't know what will. The first full-length trailer for the pic has just hit the net, and it's absolutely out of this world ... not to mention, there's a flaming chicken. A flaming chicken! Does it get any better?

For those of you who don't stay up late to watch those wacky cartoons on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim (and, trust me, if you are one of those Adult Swim junkies then there's a good chance you dance to a slightly different tune than everyone else), you're probably not all that familiar with the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force (or ATHF). Basically, a wad of meat, a milkshake and a box of fries bumble around throughout a series of memorable adventures. Each episode is only 15 minutes long (a perfect amount of time for a show like this), which certainly begs the question: Will their shtick be able to handle the feature-length format?

Heck, hardcore fans should just be happy the thing is getting some sort of theatrical release, albeit on only 800 screens this March. However, the DVD should follow soon after, and I'm sure it will be packed with all kinds of extra coolness. (I don't know about you, but perhaps they can pack a real milkshake and bag of fries into some sort of Special Edition DVD -- after watching this show, a severe case of the munchies always follows.)

I am going to get crucified for what I am about to say in this post. Deep breath. Please don't hate me. Deep breath. Here goes ... I do not watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Yes, it's true. Family Guy. Check. Robot Chicken. Check. Futurama. Check. Erik gets yelled out by his wife when he attempts to watch three minutes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force (or ATHF) because she thinks it's the stupidest show on the planet. Triple check.

The bits and pieces of the show I have watched were pretty solid, though it's safe to say The Force is best enjoyed when your mind is a bit altered ... if you catch my drift. For those who are not aware, ATHF is a cartoon aired daily on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and it revolves around the bumbling adventures of Meatwad (a wad of meat), Master Shake (a milkshake) and Frylock (a box of french fries). Needless to say, the show has built up enough steam (as well as a massive fanbase) through its television play and DVDs to warrant a feature film on the big screen. Not long ago, a very funny teaser hit the net, and now Variety brings us word that First Look Pictures will debut the 86-minute film this March on 800 screens across the country.

Pic, which was written, produced and directed by co-creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, will primarily focus on the origins of the three characters and feature the voice talent of Maiellaro, Willis, Bruce Campbell (kick ass!) and Neil Peart of the band Rush. It shall be interesting to see how this film does theatrically (I'd say $8-9 million would be a huge success -- keep in mind it's only on 800 screens), but I'm positive the DVD will rake in the cash. What other Adult Swim toons would you like to see on the big screen?

If you have never seen Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the idea of a trio of talking food products -- a meatball, a milkshake, and a box of fries -- would probably not sell you on the show. The animated series was created by Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, and had been originally intended as a segment for Space Ghost Coast to Coast on the Cartoon Network. Seven years later, the show has slowly achieved cult status and has been available on DVD for a while now. I have to admit, it's provided me with few giggles, but most of the time I was just kind of confused.

MTV news reported that the website for Aqua Teen Hunger Force posted a teaser for the upcoming feature Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie. The story follows Meatwad, Master Shake, and Frylock in a battle over a piece of mystical exercise equipment. Willis did provide some other hints as to what to expect, "A personal story? Oh, like a journey? Like learning? No, no, no. They don't learn anything. It's really just 90 minutes of them bickering over their gas bill." Willis also mentioned some celebrity cameos in the film; although the strangest tid-bit was that the soundtrack would include new music from Phil Collins -- that's right, Mr Sussudio himself.

So is anyone excited about Aqua Teen Hunger Force The Movie? Or is it just one of those late-night shows best enjoyed in a cloud of bong smoke.

[via VH1.com]