It was only a matter of time before the names Leonardo DiCaprio and Captain Planet would be put together in one of Nature’s most beautifully composed sentences. Yes, it is now time for the revival of [probably] Earth’s favorite superhero, Captain Planet.
According to a report by HollywoodReporter.com’s Rebecca Ford, the Oscar-winning actor’s (so surreal, so deserved) film production company Appian Way Productions is partnering with Paramount Pictures to create a Captain Planet movie. Per the report, the two partner organizations are currently working on acquiring the rights to the 1990s cartoon, Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
Jono Matt and Glen Powell are the early targets to write the script while Jennifer Davisson Killoran and DiCaprio will produce the film if all goes according to plan.
The theme of the Captain Planet animated series practically slapped its audience in the face with a very blatant pro-environmental theme. In its very first episode, a mechanized, four-legged vehicle akin to a monster is piloted by two intentionally disgusting characters as they trample through a forest only to drill for oil.
Gaia, who is initially voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, is the spiritual figure of the planet. She is alerted to the environmental destruction and pollution of the world and bestows upon five individuals magical rings. Each character hails from one of five countries: Ghana, the United States of America, the Soviet Union, Thailand and Brazil. Together, they fight environmental evils and natural disasters. Their abilities also allow them to call upon Captain Planet when needed.
His weakness? You guessed it: pollution.
Anyway, per Ford’s report, the story supposedly will take place years after the shower with Captain Planet as a “washed-up has-been who needs the kids more than they need him.”
It’s only fitting that DiCaprio would lead this effort. After all, he is perhaps the world’s most famous environmentalist. DiCaprio began his environmental-awareness campaign as early as 1998 when he started the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Its mission, in short, states, “The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is dedicated to the long-term health and wellbeing of all Earth’s inhabitants.”
And DiCaprio hasn’t shied away from using his resources as a member of the film industry. In his acceptance speech for his first Oscar he earned for his performance in The Revenant, DiCaprio said the following:
Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world… Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who will be most affected by this, for our children’s children and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.
Here’s the full speech for your viewing pleasure.
More recently, DiCaprio is preparing for the release of his documentary Before the Flood that will air globally on the National Geographic Channel.
And here’s that trailer.
Cue the chanting…
“Leo! Leo! Leo! Leo!”
