Thunderbirds are go?

[Hitcher]

High on the list of things that changed my life is Thunderbirds. This was a television series broadcast when I was still aged in single figures. We didn’t have TV at home in those days. For special occasions, like watching the Tokyo Olympics, The Lone Ranger and Thunderbirds, we used to go across the road to the Hoskin’s place and watch their set.

We were hardly imposing on our neighbours, as there was only one channel available. In black and white.

I’ve always been a boy with an over-active imagination, so Thunderbirds was just amazing for me on that score.

In those days the moon was untrammelled by human feet. Colour television had yet to arrive in Taranaki. The digital watch, microwave oven, electronic digital calculator and even the cassette tape recorder were unheard of.

Yet, on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific, the Tracy family had managed to construct a technological paradise stocked with exotic kit that not only defied present day realities, but also most of the known laws of aerodynamics and other practicalities, such as a total lack of the minions necessary to make an enterprise like that run. Home-helpers Kyrano and his daughter Tin-Tin were good but surely not superhuman?

The Tracys were supposed to live in the year 2063, but for me at any rate, they lived in the same “now” as I did.

Practical realities counted for little, as each week we were swept up and into tales of brave derring-do, knowing that International Rescue would, after a bit of sweat and bother, eventually triumph over the forces of evil and darkness. Yay!

Yes, we knew it was make-believe. In certain lights you could even catch a glimpse of the strings that made the puppets move. Their expressionless faces dripped with meaning and, in the case of baddies like The Hood, malevolence. It was great stuff.

Now it appears that Weta Workshops, backed with Hollywood gold, is going to apply its 21st century animation and digital image manipulation techniques to resurrect Thunderbirds. Why? Clearly because there’s a dollar in it. It must also be easier to start from scratch then it is to convert very old tech television film shot in 4:3 format into something that meets today’s high tech audience viewing needs.

I hope that Weta doesn’t get too carried away with its enhancements. There is something fundamental to the delivery of Thunderbirds in having characters whose only moving facial parts are their eyebrows and lips. Characters that leap out of chairs and spruik around, rather than saunter or even walk. Nobody has ever seen Lady Penelope or ever-faithful Parker get into or out of the pink Rolls Royce. Why? Because their strings would get caught in the doors. That must really hurt.

Everybody used to have a favorite Tracy. Mine was Virgil (named after Mercury astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom). I’m a Thunderbird 2 kind of guy. I’m in the business of delivering solutions, rather than the first-on-the-scene, rip-shit-and-bust Scott, largely harmless Gordon and extremely forgettable Alan and John. I never really figured out what John did in Thunderbird 5 way out there in space. He must have been bored shitless most of the time.

I’d love to spend a day on Tracy Island. Why? To see how Thunderbird 3 gets home and back into its concealed swimming pool launch site. I’ve never seen a rescue barge or tower crane anywhere near Tracy Island.

At Cape Canaveral in Florida the rocket launch platform is several km away from any people or damageable property. The force from a freshly-ignited Saturn V rocket or Space Shuttle ensemble was enough to make birds fall from the sky. Yet on Tracy Island, old man Jeff stands in the lounge window and watches Thunderbird 3 go skywards out of the swimming pool only a couple of metres away. That’s what I call toughened glass!

Imagination is a marvelous thing. In my case my imagination is prepared to accept all sorts of credibility deficiencies if I’m getting swept along in the moment. I hope Weta doesn’t overdo the animation and make Thunderbirds too “lifelike”. That just wouldn’t be FAB in my book.

[gunnyrob]

I spent many,many happy childhood hours watching the Thunderbirds. Hope they do it justice, unlike those losers who put out that turkey in 2004.

[mashman]

Perhaps you could offer your services as an avid fan to validate their attempts. A force field would work well instead of tuffened glass... and yes, Thunderbird 2 was always my face, although I was always semi-disappointed by the fact that it never just fell off the end of its launch platform. Surely such G forces would have had Virgil's internals seeking a sharp exit?

[pete376403]

Our first son was named for Scott (wifes idea, had to go with something...)

[Road kill]

OK,,,what does FAB stand for ?

2063,,,sorry your wrong,,it was 1965-66 or very close to about then.

I know this bit because I was there.

[unstuck]

OK,,,what does FAB stand for ?

It is a Canadian gay magazine.

[unstuck]

OR........It could mean Fully acknowledged and briefed.

[Swoop]

Mine was Virgil (named after Mercury astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom).

They were named after the Mercury 7 astronauts.

http://www.fab1.co.nz/characters/characters.htm
Aimed squarely at the lucrative US market, the Tracy family was based on a concept similar to the TV series Bonanza with Jeff Tracy even taking on an appearance similar to Lorne Greene. Jeff Tracy's sons were named after the first 5 American astronauts into space via the Mercury space project, Scott Carpenter, Virgil Grissom, Alan Shepard, Gordon Cooper and John Glenn (Gerry later wrote to the surviving astronauts with signed photos of their Thunderbirds counterparts, dryly stating , "Now you know why you became so famous").



When Team America was made, the idea wa to make it as close to "Thunderbirds" as possible. They went so far as to make things non-believeable as a puppet show and ended up at a "lower grade" than anticipated, to make the strings show up and the "walking" actions more ... "basic".


We can only hope that the newer evolution will be as close to the true originals as possible. But perhaps with more gizmo's and machines to spice things up a bit.

[FJRider]

OK,,,what does FAB stand for ?

In the original series ... it was the response to a radio message. (as in ... message received and understood etc) and stood for nothing at all.

After pressure from fans of the show ... it was then advised that it stood for "Fully advised and Briefed"

FAB1 was Lady Penelopa's Rolls Royce.

FAB2 was her yacht.

[oneofsix]

According to Gerry FAB didn't stand for any thing other than the 60s way of say fabulous or OK.

Thunderbird 3 was shown in at least one episode descending into its under pool chamber. Of course Brains had come up with a more efficient engine that didn't have the blast effect.

As for what to do on Thunderbird 5 when nothing much is happening, I would guess much the same as what people do with internet access when bored, troll whatever your sexual preference is, no wonder some thought he was gay. Imagine having access to all those CTVs etc he could get at from Thunderbird 5, talk about spying on office romances

[Laava]

Fuckin A Bro!

[Tigadee]

Great story Hitcher. There was an attempt like this in 2004 but didn't take off [pardon the pun]. As you said, hope Weta will make a good job of it.



RIP Gerry Anderson...

[mashman]

Great story Hitcher. There was an attempt like this in 2004 but didn't take off [pardon the pun]. As you said, hope Weta will make a good job of it

Looks like old Scott has been hitting the Grecian 2000 a little hard there.

[MD]

Awesome reading there Hitcher.

I too have fond memories of being clued to the little black and white tv in awe of those flying machines. Being a practical lad I too was puzzled as to how they retrieved the T2 pods constantly being dropped into the sea? Were our oceans being polluted by discarded green pods?

So many questions. How did they get the aircrafts back into their underground bays? Who cleaned, repaired and refueled them. If they slid down tubes from the lounge to the Birds, how did they get back up afterwards? There must be stairs hidden somewhere and I wanted to see and explore them.
If no one knew about their Island what about the delivery guys supplying food and fuel. I was a clever lad and saw these flaws in the story. But I forgave Gerry these details assuming he was still working on the finer stuff for later episodes. I do remember getting really excited when they did finally show a Thunderbird returning and landing. Must have been T3 as Laava mentioned. T3 was my fav. Had a plastic toy I treasured of it for years.

edit- Yeah I'm worried they will ruin it like that 2004 movie. Mind you I was worried they would stuff up LOTR, being a big fan of the books, but they pulled that off perfectly. So I'll give Weta/RT the benefit of the doubt for now.

[Grizzo]

Mmmmm...Lady Penelope.
If I was a string puppet, I wouldn't mind gettin tangled up up in that