One of the most surprising announcements to come out of the past two weeks is not that an unnamed Spider-Man actor has a fake butt. Instead, it’s that Berkeley Breathed’s comic strip Bloom County is getting an animated series at Fox. While those are the only details about the project we know so far, we’re here to go over a quick history of Bloom County and jot down a wishlist of all the things we want to see from this upcoming series.
Bloom County has only been adapted to the screen once before when Breathed’s spin-off children’s book about Opus the Penguin was turned into a half-hour Christmas special called A Wish For Wings That Work. While the sentiment is sweet, as was the book, the special was lackluster at best. Ironically, when reflecting on the special in 2007, Breathed was quoted as saying his humor “wasn’t meant for television, even if it was done right.” With that in mind, we have a list of a few things we think might help get this flightless waterfowl of a TV show off the ground.
Jim Cummings as Opus
In the same 2007 interview, Breathed stated that his dream casting for Opus was Sterling Holloway, a voice actor known for his roles as Winnie the Pooh, the Cheshire Cat, and Kaa the Snake, among other classic characters. Unfortunately, Holloway died in 1992, so that dream is a little bit impossible to fulfill. However, most of Holloway’s roles were taken over by the talented Jim Cummings, who is very much alive and honestly probably on retainer by Disney, who now owns the Fox network, so it shouldn’t be too much of a corporate stretch to get the man hired.
Billy and the Boingers Soundtrack
For those of you who don’t know, Billy and the Boingers (formerly Deathtongue) are the resident band in the strip, made up of Opus the Penguin, Bill the Cat, Hodge Podge the Rabbit, and managed by Steve Dallas, the human. They are bizarre, occasionally wholesome, frequently dress up in KISS makeup, and have been known to destroy a few hotel rooms in their time. As the music should be just as eclectic as the band’s shenanigans, I’d actually nominate The Mighty Boosh for writing duties on this one. Regardless of who does produce the music, however, Billy and the Boingers is an absolute must.
2D Art Style
Dear whoever works at Fox and might be reading this, please don’t try and make Bloom County 3D. Yes, we know that style is all the rage lately, but there’s so much more room for diversity of style in 2D animation; plus, the comics are already drawn in 2D anyway. It’s not like Bill is supposed to look like a real cat after all, and I’m pretty sure that trying to realistically animate a Snorklewhacker would actually break the laws of physics. Best not to go down that road altogether and just avoid the potential apocalypse.
Celebrity Cameos
Less so in the revival series, but the original run of Bloom County was chock-full of cameos. From Charles and Diana to American politicians to Diane Sawyer, you were never quite sure who was going to turn up at any given time. Dan Rather? Gilligan? Jimmy Hoffa? Who knows, really. While the cameos in the revival series have been drastically cut down, there is still plenty of room for celebrity parodying and shout-outs, which brings us to our final bullet point.
Biting Social Commentary
Bloom County is extremely socially conscious. It’s not an offensive comic by any means, but Breathed is not afraid to take aim at people, concepts, or society as a whole if he sees something deserving of critique. The humor does not tread on eggshells for anyone, and it’s one thousand times better that way. While Fox isn’t known for being skittish with its social commentary on shows like The Simpsons or Family Guy, that’s really at the core of what Bloom County is, in both its funny and heartfelt moments. Fox needs to commit to this, and also be unafraid to take aim at its own network and parent company.
