EDITORIAL: Hollywood Destroys Another Childhood Favorite

I hate Hollywood. Here I am, having a perfect Saturday. Went to yoga, had a good breakfast, pot of Irish coffee, made a batch of homebrew and see Diamonds with Kirk Douglas is on TV. This is a great movie, but suddenly my mind draws a blank and I can’t remember who played the madam at the brothel. [Lauren Bacall, if you’re interested, can’t believe I forgot that.] So I check IMDB.

What’s the first thing I see on IMDB? #1. Captain America trailer, #2. Thor trailer, #3 Mr. Popper’s Penguins trailer!!! What??? Mr. Popper’s Penguins? Yes!!! You’ve never heard of this I’m sure, but the book by Richard and Florence Atwater was one of my favorites as a tiny little ‘bot. It’s one of the larger books my brother used to teach me to read, and one of the first I read with chapters, that required a bookmark. “My God,” I thought, “they’re making one of my favorite all time books into a movie. This is going to be great.” Then I watched the trailer:

Mr. Popper is not a a New York yuppie with a high class apartment. Yes, he turned his love for his penguin friends into a musical act, but this pop routine is just evil. And he would never, ever, ever, be portayed by Jim Carrey. Way to go Hollywood. You have officially ruined everything that was ever wonderful.