DOES IT GEL OFF THE CEL? SATURDAY-MORNING SUCCESS DOESN'T GUARANTEE DATE-NIGHT ATTRACTION.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

When loudmouth Fred Flintstone hit the big screen in the form of John Goodman in 1994, delighted moviegoers flocked to the theaters. But when a top-notch cast that included Robert De Niro brought ``The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle'' to life two years ago, the film barely registered.

Starting when Robin Williams donned a sailor suit in the 1980 flop ``Popeye,'' popular cartoon franchises transformed into live-action feature film have experienced vastly different fates in Hollywood.

Now Scooby-Doo and his human pals Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred, an indelible part of the Saturday morning cartoon ritual for generations of kids, will try and make that same tricky transformation with the June 14 release of ``Scooby-Doo.'' Many wonder if the Warner Bros. film will connect with audiences as Fred and Barney did eight years ago or if it will join Popeye and Olive Oyl in the box office basement.

``Cartoons are inherently thought of by the public as being for kids only, and it's tough to turn a property into a live-action film that will cross over to older audiences,'' said Adam Farasati, box office analyst at Reel Source. ``There really have been a lot that didn't work.''

``Scooby-Doo'' will not only feature a computer-generated version of the title canine character, but also a cast of young stars headed by Sarah Michelle Geller, who has legions of fans from her ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' television series. Her real-life fiance, Freddie Prinze Jr., will play Fred to Geller's Daphne.

``So much of the appeal of 'Scooby-Doo' to young adults and older teens goes beyond watching the show,'' Farasati said. ``These are characters that are so campy they are ultra cool in many circles. Warner Bros. has the right idea in that they've clearly put together a cast that crosses over to the teen audience, well-known icons in the teen industry.''

Lorenzo di Bonventura, president of worldwide productions at Warner Bros. Pictures, said there are specific challenges when transforming a half- hour cartoon into an appealing live-action, feature-length film.

``You have to entertain the audience for a longer period of time and have as many twists and turns as possible,'' di Bonventura said. ``Live-action demands a different process.''

But the coolness factor is crucial, according to Farasati, whose company advises movie theater owners on the box office prospects of upcoming releases.

``A film like 'Scooby-Doo' skates a very thin line between campy and uncool, and campy and very cool,'' Farasati said. ``We think `Scooby-Doo' is going to do fairly well because Warner Bros. has done a good job marketing this film as fun to the younger audiences, hip to the teen audiences and retro to young adult fans of the show.''

Warner Bros. hopes to avoid the fate of another recent live-action version of a Saturday morning cartoon, ``Josie and the Pussycats'' which aimed at being cool. But it hit theaters with a thud last year, scraping up a mere $14.2 million in ticket sales despite a cast of popular young actresses such as Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson.

``The movie was targeted at young women who had never actually heard of the cartoon,'' Farasati said. ``People have to be familiar with that franchise.''

The film version of ``Rocky and Bullwinkle'' also had only limited appeal even though De Niro was joined in the cast by Jason Alexander and Rene Russo, who played the villainous Boris and Natassia. It grossed a mere $25.9 million.

``They didn't succeed at all in making the film seem hip to a wide range of audiences,'' Farasati said. ``People couldn't figure out who the movie was for. Kids weren't interested because it wasn't a cartoon, and adults weren't interested because it seemed like a kids' movie.''

Because it is has continued to play on the Cartoon Network on cable, ``Scooby-Doo'' at least begins with more of an awareness level with the younger generation than a property like ``Josie'' did.

``We are starting with an incredible leg up,'' di Bonventura said. ``We have a tremendous advantage in that parents grew up with the television show, people in their mid-20s grew up with it and our kids grew up with it and all have a tremendous love for these characters. We think we're going to have a nice success on our hands.''

But despite decades of trying, it is clear that the success of the real-life version of a cartoons is entirely unpredictable even when something sounds like a sure-fire hit.

Robin Williams was the red-hot star of the ABC sitcom ``Mork & Mindy'' when he starred in the musical, live-action version of ``Popeye'' opposite Shelly Duvall as his girlfriend, Olive Oyl. The film, directed by the respected Robert Altman (``M*A*S*H''), seemed to have all the ingredients, but it was critically panned and met with indifference from the public.

Then a decade later, the cartoon ``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' made a transformation to the big screen and was wildly successful. The initial live-action version of the humanoid turtles surprised the industry when it grossed an enormous $135.2 million at the box office.

Said Farasati: ```Turtles' had the potential to be a small adolescent-targeted film or to cross over to many different audiences.''

A sequel quickly followed the following year. ``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze'' took in a solid $78.6 million. The moviegoing appeal of the series had diminished by the time ``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time'' hit theaters in 1993, grossing a solid, but unspectacular $42.6 million.

The next year, the live-action ``The Flintstones'' became a $130.5 million box office smash for Universal Pictures. The studio then waited six years before making a ``prequel'' to the original film and moviegoers no longer had the same enthusiasm for the Stone Age family from the town of Bedrock. ``The Flintstones in Viva Las Vegas'' sold only $35.2 million worth of tickets in 2000 and featured none of the stars from the original or the movie.

``The name recognition alone gets you awareness, but it doesn't necessarily inspire people to go into the theaters,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. ``People know the characters and the premise, and you have to give them a reason to go and see these characters again.''

FROM LITTLE TO BIG SCREEN

Some animated favorites have made a successful live-action transition to the silver screen, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, right, while others have stumbled both with the public and the critics. Here are some of the more notable successes and failures of the past quarter-century:

``Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000)

Gross: $260 million

``The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas'' (2000)

Gross: $35.2 million

``The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle'' (2000)

Gross: $25.9 million

``George of the Jungle'' (1997)

Gross: $105.2 million

``Boris and Natasha'' (1992)

Gross: n/a

``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze'' (1991)

Gross: $78.6 million

``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (1990)

Gross: $135.2 million

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001) Gross: $14.2 million

(2 -- color) ``Popeye'' (1980) Gross: $24.5 million

(3 -- color) ``Scooby Doo'' Warner Bros. Opens June 14

(4 -- color) ``The Flintstones'' (1994) Gross: $130.5 million

(5) ``Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''

Box:

FROM LITTLE TO BIG SCREEN (see text)

Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.