A pleasant surprise: John Carter the Man of Mars

This was it

The theater darkened. All quieted as the traditional roller coaster ride through floating drinks and exploding popcorn kernels signaled the show was about to start. The last installment of Harry Potter was underway and like starving men we hungrily awaited.

But first, of course, we must prove our worthiness by suffering a final test: the dreaded (and seemingly endless) stream of movie trailers for the upcoming year. The bad horror flicks that just won’t go away. The serious drama that’s predictable but will still probably win an Emmy. The dance story that’s unrealistic but if you add hip-hop, it suddenly has instant cool. But sometimes … when your teeth are ground down next to nothing, and you’re just about to black out from the mind-numbing pain, sometimes a director will mercifully give you a reprieve.

John Carter. That just says it all.

Disney is making a film of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic, The Princess of Mars, under the title John Carter, due out March 9, 2012. The story is a mix of mystical powers, science fiction and good old imagination.

A Confederate Civil War vet, Carter and a colleague travel to Arizona to mine for gold. While on the trip, they are attacked by Indians and sent on the run. John is cornered in a cave where he is surrounded by a mysterious light that one moment has him on Earth, but in the next, on the red surface of Mars.

The stories (originally serialized) of John Carter gave rise to characters like Tarzan and Conan the Barbarian, and greatly influenced many of today’s science fiction and fantasy writers. I’m excited to see a film paying homage to Burroughs’ work.

New worlds. New adventures.

I first discovered this series in elementary school. Not at actual school, mind you, but on one of my mother’s many trips to weekend garage sales. On one occasion, in which I actually decided to get out of the car, I came across a book with artwork that took my breath away. A Conan-like man holding a sword with a flowing red cape. A barely covered, yet proud woman crouched in front of him. Both framed by a dark, alien landscape that only dreams are made. It was beautiful. It was drawn by Frank Frazetta—a master.

I had no clue what the story was about as I read the back cover. In all honesty, it was a far cry from Cleary’s Ramona. Luckily, I still took the plunge (with my mother’s ok). In doing so, a whole new world of literary genius was opened up to me.

Have you read any of the Man of Mars books? What did you think of the story? Will Disney do the story justice?

Cheers,
April

Tagged as: Conan, disney, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Harry Potter, John Carter, Man of Mars, Tarzan