Because there’s nothing the kids these days love more than Depression-era shorts of homely men fracturing each other’s skulls with wrenches, there’s going to be a new Three Stooges cartoon series. The new effort follows several less-than-fondly remembered animated Three Stooges shows from the ’60s and ’70s and will presumably be a distinct entity from the Stooges cinematic universe inexplicably under development.
The new cartoon, called simply The Three Stooges, is a joint effort from C3 Entertainment, the company that owns the Three Stooges name (and is responsible for this thing); U.K.-based distributor Cake Entertainment; and, most interestingly, Titmouse Inc., the animation studio behind such shows as The Venture Bros., Metalocalypse, and Superjail! In fact, Superjail! co-creator Christy Karacas has already directed a pilot animatic, though the plan, according to a statement from the companies involved, is to spread the 11-minute episodes among a “broad group of established directors.” C3, Cake, and Titmouse will be shopping the show to potential buyers at upcoming animation festivals.
On the other hand, in announcing the show, the companies made repeated reference to the “Three Stooges brand,” so maybe it’s time to just pack it all in, this thing we call life on earth. Or maybe the best way to update the Three Stooges is to have them all talk and think like modern marketing drones. “Why, you knuckleheads! We’re supposed to be curatin’ content for a social-foist, multiplatform experience, and you two mugs keep goofin’ around!” “Aw gee, Moe, woik isn’t really consistent with our poissonal brands,” and so on.