In 2017 and
independently-developed videogame was released on Microsoft Windows and Xbox
One that became popular enough to be ported to other platforms in the following
years. What could have been a basic “run and gun” action game went beyond
thanks to its character design and presentation, which evoked the “rubber hose”
animation style from the early 20th Century, prominently used in “Popeye
the Sailor Man” and even Disney characters before Walt began producing animated
movies. Now, “Cupman” by creators Chad and Jared Moldenhauer makes its first
big step outside the gaming arena by having an animated series produced, by
none other than Netflix itself.
USA Today has it that streaming giant Netflix has made the
videogame “Cuphead” into another addition to its ever-expanding original
content programming. The platform announced this Tuesday, July 9, that they are
developing an animated series adaptation called “The Cuphead Show,” which will
retell and expand the basic story plot that drives the original game. In a case
of going full circle, the executive producers for this project alongside the
Moldenhauer Brothers will be King Features Syndicate, creators of “Popeye” and “Betty
Boop” which were the most memorable examples of the rubber hose animation technique
employed by the “Cuphead” developers.
The game, and upcoming Netflix
show, will feature the misadventures of the brothers Cuphead and Mugman, who have
anthropomorphized cup and mug respectively as heads. They get into trouble upon
losing their money while gambling at the Devil’s Casino, forfeiting their souls
as a result. The Devil offers to let them off by having them work as his “debt
collectors,” pursuing other people that ran out on the Devil rather than pay up
their souls. Here is where the retro styling pays off, with one of the Cuphead
brothers’ targets being a dead ringer for Popeye’s antagonist Bluto, for
example.
Coming to you in full color and cine-sound, it's...The Cuphead Show! Witness the wondrous Inkwell Isles as you've never seen them before in an original series inspired by classic animation styles of the 1930s. Now in production by the talented team at @Netflix Animation! pic.twitter.com/4xA59eVLra— Studio MDHR (@StudioMDHR) July 9, 2019
King Features Syndicate and the
Moldenhauers, under their Studio MDHR company, will be joined as executive
producers by Cosmo Serguson from “Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling.” Dave
Wasson of Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Shorts” will also bring the new-age rubber
hose aesthetic to “The Cuphead Show” as co-producer along with Netflix Animation.
This is the latest in a string of videogame adaptations being planned by
Netflix, with the earlier “Castlevania” series proving the viewership viability
of the concept. No release date has been given for “The Cuphead Show,” but it
is confirmed to be in production.
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