I don’t know what is the worse idea, an all-CGI 3-D Smurfs movie, as Paramount had planned, or a CGI/live-action mix, as Sony Animation is now planning for our beloved blue communists friends. I guess if we only think back to Alvin and the Chipmunks and Underdog, it’s easy to think Sony’s new plan for The Smurfs is a terrible idea. But I think the second Scooby-Doo movie worked pretty well as far as cartoon adaptations go, and there’s a chance Hollywood could do a good job again, despite the majority (including Garfield: The Movie, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, the first Scooby-Doo) being on the bad side.

That said, I’m still no fan of the trend. However, if it must continue, I think it would be interesting to see any of the following 15 animated series, all of which feature the necessary mix of talking animals (or inanimate objects) and humans, turned into live-action movies with CGI characters:

1. The Yogi Bear Show - I feel it’s inevitable that we’ll be seeing this one soon enough. And if Hollywood is feeling lazy enough, the plot can be a remake of the animated feature Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! Steve Carell will play Ranger Smith, of course.
2. Help!…It’s the Hair Bear Bunch! - Few people remember this Yogi Bear-like series starring three hippie bears, one of whom had a straggly afro. The movie would involve the usual plot in which the bears escape from the zoo and are chased by the human zoo-keeper and his fat assistant. I’d love to see the sweet production design that goes into the bear’s bachelor pad cave. And aside from the fact that CGI bears would make the invisible motorcycle easier to work with, live-action bears have been proven to be a much worse idea (see The Country Bears).
3. The Great Grape Ape Show - This would be kinda like Peter Jackson’s King Kong, only without the intention of making the CGI look realistic. I’m not sure what the plot would be, but going with the King Kong idea, they could probably just have Grape Ape and Beagle Beagle visit New York (or another city) to allow for plenty of accidental destruction (isn’t that the only reason Transformers‘ last act was in a city?).
4. Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with a caveman instead of a talking dog. They could probably just have a guy dressed up in a very hairy costume for the prehistoric superhero, but as long as CGI characters are bringing Hollywood so much dough, they might as well render him on a computer, too.
5. Speed Buggy - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with a talking car instead of a talking dog. And I bet audiences will be more comfortable with a CGI talking car than with a CGI talking dog.
6. Dynomutt, Dog Wonder - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with superheroes. Hey, I hear superheroes are big at the box office this century. Actually, I’m really, really surprised we haven’t heard about this one yet.
7. Jabberjaw - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with…. wait, I’m starting to see that most of these Hanna Barbera cartoons are a lot alike. But even more than Scooby-Doo, this would be like the live-action Josie and the Pussycats, except with the benefit of having a CGI shark who plays drums for the group. Because most of the action would take place under the sea, there’s a good chance this would be too expensive to produce.
8. Fangface - It’s like Scooby-Doo but not made by Hanna Barbera (however, it was produced by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who also created Captain Caveman, Jabberjaw, Dynomutt and others on this list). Instead of a talking dog, here one of the mystery-solving teens is a werewolf. And despite everyone’s love for Lon Chaney Jr. and the Teen Wolf movies, Hollywood can rarely make a werewolf these days without CGI.
9. It’s Punky Brewster - They could always just base a movie off the original sitcom (though I doubt they ever would), but wouldn’t it be much cuter if there was a CGI character? Fortunately the cartoon series had that leprechaun-gopher thing named “Glomer.”
10. Snorks - I guess there were no humans in this cartoon, but knowing Hollywood’s ability to mess with things, some could surely be added. Either the Snorks somehow venture out of the sea or a friendly scuba diving kid finds them. Though for the latter, the budget could be too high. I wonder if the Snorks could survive out of water…
11. Ghostbusters - Would be allowed for there to be a feature film version of Filmation’s Ghostbusters — you know, the one that wasn’t based on the REAL Ghostbusters? The one that was actually based on a TV series that came before the movie Ghostbusters? Hmm. I guess this one should really go in the list of live-action series calling for CGI/live-action treatment (like ALF…)
12. The Archie Show - Obviously this one could be completely live-action. But that’s no fun. And that TV movie from 1990 was extremely disappointing. Solution: CGI Jughead!
13. Rainbow Brite - Hey, I really liked Rainbow Brite when I was a kid. Is that OK to admit yet? I may have even wanted a plush toy of Twink. Or maybe I did have a plush toy of Twink. Either way, I’d be the first heterosexual male in line at the theater for this one.
14. Rugrats - This one will only be kinda CGI. It can star real kids with CGI mouths, like what they do with animals in the Babe and Dr. Dolittle movies. Oh yeah, and what they do with babies in the Baby Geniuses movies. Of course, the animated Rugrats movies each made significantly more money than the Baby Geniuses movies, so anyone who’d actually take on this idea is an idiot.
15. The Herculoids - I really don’t care if they make it all CGI, mixed CGI/live-action, all 2D animation, or what; all I care about is that I get to see Tundro on the big screen one day before I die. Back when I saw Jurassic Park for the first time, I thought the triceratops was really lame. But it wasn’t because it was obviously animatronic. It was because it couldn’t shoot rocks out of its horn like Tundro. The rest of the Herculoids, especially Igoo and Gloop & Gleep, would also be awesome to see in a movie. In fact, to be honest, I mostly just made this list in order to profess my desire for a Herculoids movie.