It’s a safe bet to assume that you, your parents, or a friend of your parents grew up owning a View-Master. Considering that the stereoscopic viewing devices were made in the late 1930’s it’s probably safe to say that your grandparents had one too. Currently owned by Mattel, they’re not quite as commonplace as they were back in “the day” but that’s not stopping the toy company from trying to adapt the viewing device into a major motion picture.
Maybe you can blame it on the success of “Barbie,” but Mattel got a taste of that sweet, sweet blockbuster money and they seem to want more of it. But seriously, View-Master? If you’re not familiar with them they’re a pair of plastic goggles that you insert cardboard discs into. The discs have a series of pictures based on a particular theme or location that show up in 3D in the goggles. There’s a lever on the side that you pull on to change the image until it completes the circle of pictures and you’re back where you started. So, how and why is this a movie?
The announcement made by those involved state that Sony and Mattel will partner with Escape Artists to produce the upcoming film. The only details they’ve given are that it’s intended to be a “four-quadrant family adventure film.” By “four-quadrant,” they mean it’s a film that will appeal to men, women, under 25, over 25. Which, when it comes to a movie inspired by View-Master is just… really saying nothing about what the heck this film is supposed to be. Is it going to be about magic glasses that transport people to the hills of Vermont or the forests of British Columbia?
What exactly does the View-Master bring to a film? If it’s about visiting exiting locales for an adventure, Indiana Jones did that. With a whip instead of goggles. And who asked for this movie anyway? Well, the answer to that is “no one” but if Mattel thinks the product line is viable for a film, maybe they know something we don’t?
If we find out more about this project we’ll let you know, just because we want to find out what on God’s green, View-Master, stereoscopic image Earth, this movie is going to have for a plot. We’re still betting on magic goggles.
