By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Hanni-mation: Diesel Brings Carthaginian Cartoon General to BET
When The Reeler last caught up with Vin Diesel in March, he attributed a sincere (if rambling) measure of creative influence to his Find Me Guilty director Sidney Lumet. In particular, Diesel noted his added confidence heading into the production of Hannibal, his long-gestating, dead-language epic about the vengeful Carthaginian general, the Alps and some elephants.
After all that, however, pardon me if my expectations were irrationally higher than this:
Vin Diesel will take on the Roman Empire in a new BET Networks cartoon series about military leader Hannibal. … Diesel, who also is in development on a feature film centering on Hannibal, called the series “groundbreaking.”
“I knew that BET would be the perfect place to launch an animated series that celebrates an African mythology and a general that is probably the most notorious general of all time,” Diesel said. “It’s a story that resonates with everyone — it truly is a celebration of a general who is able to bring everyone together with the common cause to essentially fight for freedom.”
“Resonates with everyone” but Sony, perhaps, where the project continues dangling in the gentle breeze generated by Revolution Studios’ implosion. At any rate, BET’s animation boss Denys Cowan insists “this isn’t a Saturday morning show”; a sprawling anime miniseries could go over well, with the general vanquishing Rome in a revisionist twist with a glowing blue bolt of light shot from his sword. Personally, I would rather see Diesel try claymation, or perhaps try something featuring South Park‘s construction-paper elephants. Come one, come all with your ideas–the guy evidently needs a new one.