I grew up watching cartoons; Janguru Taitei, aka Kimba the White Lion; The Little Mermaid (Marina, not Ariel); Sinbad Jr.; and the greatest one of all – Mahha go go go, or Speed Racer.

What kid didn’t sing along when the Speed Racer theme song started playing, and what kid didn’t want to take a ride in the “powerful MACH FIVE!” Well, I certainly did, and evidently so did a couple of famous directors.

According to USA Today, the Wachowski brothers (of The Matrix series fame) are coming out with their own movie version of Speed Racer in 2008.

So far the cast looks pretty decent: Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, and Emile Hirsch as Speed.

According to the USA Today article:

The TV show was the brothers’ introduction to Japanese animation,” says Joel Silver, a friend of the press-shy Wachowskis and producer of Racer and the Matrix films. “They fell in love with the genre. They said they’d been making R-rated movies their whole lives and wanted to do something their nephews and nieces could watch.”

The film, Silver says, will have a “retro future” look and will center on Speed (Hirsch) trying to make a name for himself in the racing world despite the efforts of corporate giants to foil his career. The film also stars Christina Ricci as girlfriend Trixie and Matthew Fox as Speed’s older brother, Racer X.

I am so ready for this!

Read the full article here.