[jcoley2]

FOX SPINNING OFF ‘24′ INTO KIDS CARTOON

Hollywood — Starting this fall, viewers can see what Jack Bauer was like as a child as Fox will spin off “24″ into a Saturday morning cartoon. “We’ll see a little Jack Bauer as a member of the Cub Scouts, torturing Arab kids at camp who look suspicious,” says “24″ creator Joel Surnow.

Just like the primetime series, the cartoon, “24: Little Jack,” will depict a 24-hour period in the life of young Jack Bauer.

“Just because we’ll show Jack as a little kid, doesn’t mean he’s going to stop kicking the ass of all those Arabs he runs into,” says Surnow. “We’re getting our message across to adults that it takes a lot of torture to get the truth from these terrorists, and we believe that children need to see that as well because they’re growing up in an extremely dangerous world.”


"I think spinning off the show into a cartoon expands the brand of ‘24′ in a clever way,” said Barbara Matthews, an analyst with the media group Barlow and Thomas. “Children are always looking for heroes and Jack Bauer is one of them.”

A recurring theme of “24″ has characters faced with the decision of whether or not to let something tragic happen for the sake of a greater good. In the pilot episode of the animated series, little Jack Bauer uncovers an alleged plot by several Arab cub scouts to disrupt a Sponge Relay Game.

“We spent a lot time doing research on this game,” says Surnow. “Using a sponge, team members must take the water from a filled bucket and squeeze the water from the soaked sponge into an empty bucket. First team to fill the empty bucket wins.”

Surnow said he chose the Sponge Bucket Game because it provides opportunities for little Jack to interrogate the little Arabs.

“There’s a great scene before the game starts where little Jack takes an Arab kid named Abdul and sticks his head in the water-filled bucket,” says Surnow. “Jack keeps his head under the water until he drowns. The kid did not give Jack the answers he needed, and for the greater good of the Cub Scouts of America, Jack had to send a strong and clear message.”

Some other familiar characters will also turn up on the animated series, including little Chloe O’Brian, who is a senior analyst at CTU on the primetime series.

“Little Chloe is a member the Brownie Girl Scouts and its camp is in the same area with the Cub Scouts,” explains Surnow. “None of the other Brownies like little Chloe because she completely lacks any social skills and is not good with the hygiene. But she helps out little Jack.”

In the pilot episode, the young Jack and Chloe communicate with each other using two cans and a long string. Chloe informs him that her intelligence shows that several other Arabs are planning to put Xlarieastchaline (itching powder) into the Scouts’ sleeping bags. A teenaged David Palmer, who was the President of the United States in the primetime series, turns up in the series as the leader of the Boy Scouts, a higher level in the scouts order.

According to sources, Palmer’s character will survive as assassination attempt at the hands of an evil little Charles “Charlie” Logan, who also was the U.S. President in the nightime series. The attempted murder involves putting peanut butter in a sandwich that David Palmer eats when Charlie knows full well he’s allergic to peanuts.

“Any proud American parent will be thrilled to have their child watch this show,” said Surnow

[Mugge]

It's May 1st today, not April the 1st.

[AWR]

The sponge bucket game ...