In the summer of 1987,Mel Brooksbrought forth what could arguably be the greatestStar Warsparody to have ever existed. Among other hilarious pieces of satire,Spaceballsgave us the Schwartz instead of the Force, a half-man, half-dog named Barf in place of Chewbacca and transformed the Empire’s Death Star into a giant robot maid that sucked the air out of planets. Even though it wasn’t well-received during its initial theatrical run, this space opera spoof has gained an enormous cult following, so much so that a sequel is in development.But there’s a ghost inSpaceballs’ past that I’m worried will affect this new movie. You should be, too.
Just as there is a substantial time gap between the ’80s original and the planned follow-up movie (40 years), a similar gap occurred whenSpaceballs: The Animated Seriespremiered on the now-defunct G4 network back in 2008. I could talk about the various video game shows featured on that channel all day long, but when it comes to this show, my memory doesn’t serve me well enough, and that’s for a good reason. The execs saw the writing on the wall quickly enough, and the cartoon versions of Lone Starr, Princess Vespa, and Dark Helmet only lasted one season. What happened?
Whilethe original movie became beloved over time, critics panned the show right out of the gate.Spaceballs: The Animated Serieseven saw Mel Brooks return as co-creator, executive producer, and writing director. That singular piece of trivia is the reason why I am afraid for the sequel’s success. I understand that nostalgia is much easier to monetize than original IPs these days. Hollywood money machines are always eager to pluck something from the ’80s or ’90s in hopes of helping the industry.But whether you consider it a sequel, a spinoff, or a stand-alonething, this disastrous animated attempt from the late 2000s reeks of carelessness and desperation.
Spaceballs: The Animated Series
The ‘Spaceballs’ Cartoon Was Not Good
Lone Starr and Princess Vespa’s marriage is forgotten, and he and Barf team up with Dark Helmet, Colonel Sandurz, and other antagonists on multiple occasions. Not to mention, every single episode heavily relies on the spoof of an already-established piece of pop culture.The character designs look like something out ofArcher, not to mention they are hardly recognizable from their movie personalities. Even if Mel Brooks didn’t make these changes himself, he likely approved them. If this is what he thought was suitable for fans, we are all in trouble going forward.
Lucky for us, two factors can hopefully reroute theSpaceballssequel from failing. Based on what we already know and according to the casting news, the 2027 revival will be a live-action production with the financial backing of Amazon. At the very least, there is no chance of Flash animation-level visuals. The other — and much more affirming — is the sheer amount ofnewStar Warscontentto rip off. There have been eight movies and seven different series since the theatrical release ofSpaceballs.
Mel Brooks Had Josh Gad Sweating Through a Frantic ‘Star Wars’ Refresher
The famed ‘Spaceballs’ director and comedian needed a bit of help understanding just where that galaxy far, far away has gone today.
If Mel Brooks can imprintthe classicSpaceballstype of humor(fourth wall-breaking, puns and all) on all the newStar Warscontent he’s missed out on for the last 38 years, we should be OK.There are plenty of new characters and new situations that can transform into comedic bits (like the infamous high ground scene fromEpisode IIIand Palpatine returning inThe Rise of Skywalker). On the other hand, if he feels the need to sacrifice a cohesive storyfor as much parody as he can,the sequel will be forgotten as easily and quickly as the late-stage G4 cartoon.
If you haven’t noticed, the recently releasedSpaceballs 2announcement video references only oneSpaceballsproduction. They want you to forget that the animated show ever existed. I will not, but I hope Mel Brooks and company do improve on their biggest mistake.If you want to seeSpaceballs: The Animated Seriesfor yourself, the show is available to rent onApple TV+,Fandango, andPrime Video.
