Kotaku
Aged between, lemme see, around 22-40? Like spacemen and earthworms? Let's dance. Because Douglas TenNapel, the creator of Earthworm Jim, has just signed a deal whereby he'll act as creative consultant on not only a new Earthworm Jim game (Earthworm Jim 4), but also a new animated series and feature film as well. No details on timeframes or anything like that - for the game or cartoons - but publisher Interplay will no doubt have something to say about that come E3.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., April 22, 2008 — Interplay Entertainment Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: IPLY) announced today that the company signed a partnership arrangement with Earthworm Jim creator Douglas TenNapel to relaunch the videogame icon.TenNapel will serve as a creative consultant on Earthworm Jim 4, and will simultaneously develop an animated series and feature film to expand the well known brand.
TenNapel created the original Earthworm Jim character, which Interplay developed into a video game with Shiny Studios for the Sega Genesis console in 1994. The game became an immediate hit, and later spawned sequels on various computer and video game platforms, including Earthworm Jim 2, Earthworm Jim 3D, and Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy.
The iconic character became a virtual hero whose popularity took him far beyond video games into TV and toys. An animated Earthworm Jim television series, produced by TenNapel, aired for two seasons from 1995 to 1996, on The Kids WB! with Dan Castellaneta of "The Simpsons" providing the voice for the title character.
Comments
Awesome!
earthworm jim, he's such a groovy guy...
You hear that?
Thats the sound of me shitting myself with joy
i love it! i hope it is done well, and doesnt crush fond childhood memories!
This is beyond GROOOOVY.
Now, can we also get the original cartoon series on DVD, please?
I want Earthworm Jim on XBLA. Also Boogerman!
It's like every holiday has just come at once.
Interplay? I mean...INTERPLAY? I was unaware they still existed.
Remember the N64 kid?
That's me right now. x10
Whoa, NELLY!
Do you guys remember the level where you had to catch the falling puppies with a marshmallow, and when you missed they splattered and your sidekick went werewolf and ATE YOU?!
Life is too good
Woohoo! First the Neverhood Movie, and now this.
Count me in! Though certainly not on my list of top games of all time, Earthworm Jim 1 & 2 are fond memories from my gaming youth. I still remember reading about the first one in an issue of Game Informer, probably around the same time Sonic and Knuckles was launching. Oh yes...sweet, sweet memories.
EARTHWORM JIM,
THE SOIL HE DID CRAWL
EARTHWORM JIM,
A SUPER SUIT DID FALL.
JIM WAS JUST A DIRT EATING,
CHEWING LENGTH OF WORM, FLASH
BUT ALL THAT CAME TO A CRASH
AND GAVE HIM LOTS OF POWER
EARTHWORM JIM,
HE'S SUCH A GROOVY GUY
EARTHWORM JIM,
HE ROCKET'S THROUGH THE SKY
CRUISING THROUGH THE UNIVERSE
HAVING LOT'S OF FUN,
HERE COMES EARTHWORM JIM YOU KNOW
THAT HE'S THE MIGHTY ONE
--- LOOK OUT ---
LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA....
DESPITE HIS GREAT BIG MUSCLES
AND HIS REALLY BIG RAY GUN,
JIM IS STILL AN EARTHWORM
BUT THEN HE'S THE ONLY ONE,
WITH A SUPER SUIT TO MAKE HIM REALLY SUPER STRONG,
JIM CAN BE A WINNER IF WE ONLY SING ALONG...
(ALRIGHT)
EARTHWORM JIM,
WE THINK HE'S MIGHTY FINE
EARTHWORM JIM,
A HERO FOR ALL TIME
EARTHWORM,
EARTHWORM,
EARTHWORM,
EARTHWORM, JIM
HOORAY FOR JIMMMMMMMM
Oh, OHHH!!
Joy!
I always wished to see more of Earthworm Jim, it seemed it never took off like it could have. This is good news!
I'm really digging the groovy new classic games love. Am I doing that right? "Groovy"?
:) awesome.
I want this now, although I could never get past Buttville in the first one, that was really hard.
here's hoping for some good old fashioned cow launching, goat tickling, lawyer whipping, booger bouncing fun
:)
please, EWJ...you were my hero
It's no Freespace 3, but hell if this isn't FANTASTIC news.
Groovy! (Kotaku will be sick of this phrase before we even get to next E3.)
Christmas came early.
Sweet. I have hope for the new game now.
Groovy.
For some reason I loved the Earthworm Jim cartoon as a kid. To this day I chuckle when someone mentions haggis. For some reason I never got into the game. Maybe I'll give this new version a go.
I'm 18 and I watched the show, played the Gamegear games and had some action figures. Please count me in your demographic too Luke!
Heh, I have that PC version of EWJ.
Cow Launching FTW! Great news. Fingers crossed it will survive the 2D-to-3D conversion more like Mario did, rather than what happened to poor old Sonic... unless it's a new 2D game, which would be even sweeter.
FOR THE LOVE OF *************** CHRIST! RELEASE THE OLD CARTOON SERIES ON DVD!
And new cartoons? Will they be related to the old one? I'm pretty sure most of the voice actors are still alive, Jim was done by Homer Simpson after all...
Its about time. Jim needed to be in Brawl, but NOOOO. Well, I am wicked happy to hear of more Jim, and I have way high hopes for a new title. Hooray!
My brain just exploded from that awesome news. Excuse any seapage.
APPLES!!!
Oh yes, this is some of the best damn news ever. I never thought I'd see the return of EWJ. :)
I recently downloaded the whole cartoon series, and it was as awesome as I remembered it, so this announcement made me wet my pants!
21, but damn excited by this news!
GroooooOOOOOoooovy!
hope there's a good deal of platforms for this
OH YES YES YES, OH MY, ALL OVER MY FACE AND MONITOR, YEAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHH.
Oh they better bring back the same writers and voice actors. Earth Worm Jim is one of the best cartoons ever.
@SmokeyTab: Lyrics are wrong, but only the first two verses.
It is:
Earthworm Jim!
(Not sure about this part) Munchin' soil he did crawl.
Earthworm Jim!
A supersuit did fall!
Jim was just a dirt-eating, chewy length of worm flesh,
but all that came to a crashing end, ha ha ha!
This is such awesome news!
Oh man, back in elementary school my friends and I were ALL about Earthworm Jim... the games of course, the toys, and the cartoon show were all awesome.
If they can make a worthy sequel, I will definitely be interested
Yes. Yes. Oh fuck yes!
@StopTheOncoming: Greatest comment ever.
Oh hell yeaaahhh!
I was pumped when I heard about 1 & 2 coming to te VC, but this, this just made my day, on a Tuesday no less.
@el_rezzo: Pssh 23 next week and i'm excited about this like a little schoolgirl getting her first barbie. Squeeling will commence after i press submit.
<3.
Hey, I'm only 19, and I freakin' loved Earthworm Jim 2 on my Genesis! The cartoon was great, too, but I only got on that right before it was canceled. Anyway, me and my friends had little cow figures that we'd play with during recess in elementary school, finding more and more creative and disruptive/destructive ways of launching them (shouting "COW LAUNCHED" every time, of course).
Anyway, I may or may not be a normal case, as my earliest memory is of Legend of Zelda with my dad. A bit of an earlier start than some of my peers, perhaps?
Sorry for the double-post, but I have to get this out of my chest, anyone else here ever saw the cartoon in Spanish? "Jim el terricola"? WTF!? They just tarnished an awesome hero's image with the suckiest name ever...
@StopTheOncoming: It was only ectoplasm, right?
I'm excited, and scared at the same time. I'm really excited to see this franchise get new life, but I'm scared it'll just be a huge disappointment.
@peAr_nectAr: There was a ghost!..just a ghost..You believe me right?...Right?...
Ah screw it,
*sees Cute Pokemon Thread*.
<_<
>_>
GHOST IS BACK BRB.
Now we just need some Cool Spot and Zombies Ate My Neighbors
@chemical_eng_mx:
Well, he IS an Earthling <_<
Alright, lets get Pixar or Dreamworks on it.
Oh right, they only want to make movies that at least has appeal meter of 600 million USD.
I sincerely hope they do not fuck up the transition of current-gen.
There is two things I distinctly remember in my crime-ridden neighborhood; it was the copy of EWJ that bonded a Korean and the local eses.
@Dauragon C. Mikado:
Second.
Oh hell yes!
Also count the people aged 20 because I sure as hell remember EWJ.
19. first game i got for my giant red game boy was earthworm jim. grew up watching the show, and holy shit i cannot wait
@mike566: And Toe Jam and Earl. Then I may die happy.
I have EWJ 1 (for the Genny), EWJ 2 (for the SNES) and EWJ Special Edition (for the Sega CD), and I am hoping for the best...and we'll jest fergit that EWJ 3D evvver existed...
I can't believe nobody else has said this yet but...
Groo-vy!
~
damn, argh beat me to it.
Man... wow... can we make this a double dose of happy by announcing new MDK games in the vein of MDK 1? I'd gladly give a kidney for MDK 1 on PSN/XBLA with updated graphics.
Doug TenNapel's also working on a Neverhood Movie.
I am smitten with delight.
@mike566:
Toejam and Earl. YES. kthx.
I just blasted every pair of pants I own.
COW LAUNCHED!!
There is a God.
*Jumos on the TJ&E/Cool Spot/ZAMN bus*
We may ride this bus to realms of nothingness, but damn it, we'll party like hell along the way!
There's really only one thing to say to about this: COW LAUNCHED!
YES PLEASE