Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

All right, this is a substantially dumb question, but since he's appeared on TMNT (pretty popular in it's own right) both new and old, is there a possibility we'd see Usagi up there in lights? Animated, of course, not live-action with make-up. Ugh. Or is that too much of a stretch for the character's somewhat cult-ish background?

I don't think there would be any funding for it.. I also doubt that Sakai would have enough time to draw an entire Usagi movie. Making an animated film takes alot of time..

I also doubt that Sakai would have enough time to draw an entire Usagi movie. Making an animated film takes alot of time..

Of course, he wouldn't have to draw the whole thing himself-- animation studios could probably use the existing Usagi canon to develop the necessary renderings and run from there. Sakai-sensei would merely have to glance at their work, and offer opinion. The trick is to make sure that whatever movie studio might be interested in funding the idea would have the sense not to amend the basic sensibility of the Usagi continuum (picture the unyeilding horror of Usagi, Gen and Tomoe dancing and singing for ten minutes about how much they like the cherry-blossom festival. Eeurrrgh...).

Yea they could have a whole studio do it.. But they would have to mimic Sakis style.. It could be done.. But I think even if they did this it would be a straight to DVD film... Still that would be AWESOME!

picture the unyeilding horror of Usagi, Gen and Tomoe dancing and singing for ten minutes about how much they like the cherry-blossom festival.

Right after this scene, Spot is kidnapped by the mean ol' Lord Hikiji, who can't stand happiness, and then Usagi gets depressed because he thinks that Spot doen't love him anymore and starts singing about why did Spot had to leave him. Right after the song, Gen finds a clue that leds the gang to believe that Spot might have been kidnapped, and soon they start singing a song about how doing mean things is bad, and how if they put their hearts together, their power would be awesome and justice would be served. So they take off to find Hikiji, and after a quick fight against hundreds of ninja and ronin (the gang didn't kill all of them, just roughed them up a bit) they face a mutated super-Hikiji who shoots lasers from his eyes. Tomoe, Usagi and Gen aren't capable of defeating mutated super-Hikiji and almost die, but then Spot shows up displaying a very sad face with huge eyes à la Puss in boots of Shrek 2 and mutated super-Hikiji repents of his evil ways and starts crying, but then Tomoe, Usagi and Gen tell him that it's a very good thing that he has learnt the lesson, so everybody starts singing a merry song about they joy of friendship and the power of love .

I think I may have a career as a script writer in Disney... only time will tell...

[prolonged shriek of moral horror]

There was an Usagi CGI movie/series in the works once, but it got scrapped. The only way this could happen (without Stan selling out to the kiddie markets -- which he wouldn't of course), would be for UY's popularity to continue to increase...and increase.. until some big time producers took notice and decided to propose the movie/series/whatever... And about the only way Stan would allow it to happen is if it truly preserved the essence of the series!

The whole thing with TMNT is obviously out-of-continuity stuff done just for the fun of it, but you can't help but be thankful for all the great publicity UY gets out of it. It's strictly crossover stuff, like what has happened in the past in comics (the TMNT comic, Boris the Bear, Patrick Rabbit, etc...)...a true UY-only series or movie would be fashioned just like the comic book. There may be some slight changes here and there to ease the conversion from comic to film (think Akira or the countless other manga-to-anime films that have been done). But damn would it be awesome....!!!!

Back in the day when the TMNT movies were made it would have been cool to see a UY movie.. Back than it would have looked alright.. Now it would just look to goofy.. Too bad..