Taken on their own, Seth Green, Mindy Sterling, Dan Fogler and Joan Cusack are all scene-stealers, actors with the ability to capture the audience's attention even when they're playing tiny supporting roles. But putting them all in the lead roles of a movie, even if it's a movie that's mostly about the special effects and the high-concept plot, seems like bad idea. Can Seth Green really be as entertaining when he's forced to be the leading man?
Actually, make that leading boy-- in Mars Needs Moms, Green will play a boy named Milo, thanks to the miracles of motion-capture animation. Remember how they made Ray Winstone a buff demi-god in Beowulf? Now they'll be making Green 20 years younger. THR says the movie, based on the children's book by Berkeley Breathed, will follow Milo when he stows away on a spaceship to rescue his mom, who has been kidnapped by aliens. Cusack will play the mom, with Sterling (a.k.a. Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers) as the alien leader and Fogler as Milo's friend Gribble.
The whole cast for this Disney project is really delightful, but again, a whole bunch of scene-stealers in one movie might get ugly. I'm still unconvinced of the potential appeal of motion-capture animation to begin with, so despite my love for the individual cast members, I'll be wary about this one for now.
