The Goon - Eric Powell talks about why it had to be animated

“I always felt that the material would work better animated, just because of the bizarre nature of the characters and the atmosphere of the stories,” Powell told MTV News. “But American audiences don’t always embrace animation when it’s not a bunch of cute animals singing and dancing — so I was a little hesitant about it.”

“I thought maybe we should pursue a live action film,” continued Powell. “But then I saw the work of ‘Blur’ and spoke with [producer David] Fincher and learned about the way they want to do it the way they want to treat it, and I was sold.”

Still, when you look at the overall numbers for top-grossing comic book adaptations, see 2007’s “TMNT” standing as the top dog among CGI films, and note that its $54.1M just barely cracked the Top 50 superhero flicks, it’s hard to justify animation. Heck, all you’d have to do for “The Goon” is put Mickey Rourke back in his Marv makeup from “Sin City,” add some depression-era clothes and — voila — you’ve got your Goon.

However, Powell believes that moviegoers are ready for a film like this for a few reasons.

“I have the feeling the Adult Swim crowd is there, and that wasn’t there before,” said Powell. “And films like ‘Beowulf’ have come out that aren’t family-style animated films. I think the doors are opening. American audiences are starting to embrace different types of material animated.”

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