Yet another of your favorite childhood toys is getting its own big-screen version. This time the toy making the jump to movies is Play-Doh, the “modeling compound” — as it’s described on the box — that’s been enjoyed by kids for generations. Hasbro is turning Play-Doh into an animated movie through its film studio, eOne.
According to Deadline, the movie is being written by Emily V. Gordon of The Big Sick fame, and produced by Jon M. Chu. In a statement, they said “the team looks forward to bringing the audience a moldable, pliable, iconically scented story about the importance of imagination.”
(They’re not kidding about that iconic smell. I really hope Play-Doh is not presented in Odorama.)
Hasbro has spent the last 15 years turning their beloved action figures and games into various movies. Some have been hugely successful; the Transformers franchise is now six movies deep with another on the way, while the horror movie based on Ouija did well enough to get a sequel. Others have petered out quickly and quietly. Remember Battleship? I do not, and I’m pretty sure I saw it.
Most of these productions have been in live-action, although there have been plenty of Hasbro-related animated movies through the years. Remember Transformers: The Movie? Of course you do, because it was so violent and filled with robot death that it scarred you for life.
Play-Doh might seem like an odd fit for a movie since it’s an arts and crafts toy that has no stories and no characters. But think about it; LEGOs have no stories or characters and that turned into an enormous franchise for Warner Bros. a few years ago; in a handful of years they cranked out four big-screen LEGO Movies before losing the license to Universal.
Play-Doh, with its endless options for creativity (not to mention its many licensed products based on other concepts) would seem like it has the potential for a similar cinematic concept. At the very least, you know that the toy line based on the movie based on the toy line will be a lot of fun.
Great Movies That Became Horrible Franchises
Sometimes the best movies make the worst franchises. In the ten examples below, inventive, groundbreaking cinema became the source material for some of our least favorite film series.
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