I have not seen the new movie, but this photo series gave me (junk) food for thought. First, Christina Ricci (28) as 15 year-old Trixie? In the original series Trixie went from too young to drive barely up to marrying age. Much as I enjoy seeing Ricci (Wednesday Addams comes to mind), the chaste image of Trixie might suffer from the easily available naughty pictures of the actress.

Also, the movie stills remind me of Tron, in as much as we have live actors in CGI scenery. It really is a matter of time before inexpensive movies can be made without physical actors. Just try to tell when actual props and scenery morph into completely digital realms.

I had no intention of going to see this movie. But with Susan Sarandon and John Goodman as Speed’s parents, can it be too bad? I’m hoping that it will be self-aware camp.

Then, there is the theme music. I’ve been told that they have updated it to replace the original Japanese and the familiar American theme. (Now I’ve got it stuck in my head, see this post).

What, you may be wondering, does this have to do with the sad state of national and world affairs? Well, how about this: Compare the effort (time, money, screen space) that goes into educating the public about this particular movie based on a 1960’s imported and re-dubbed cartoon with what is spent on educating the public about, say, conservation of dwindling resources.