At last, a movie based on a game that might actually be good!
It's "The Oregon Trail" and it's coming to theaters everywhere next ...
PSYCH! Sorry, it's not for reals.
But watching the "official trailer" for "The Oregon Trail" movie — a movie that doesn't actually exist — certainly makes me wish it did. After all, if Hollywood can make a movie out of a game like "Super Mario Bros.," then surely it can make a movie out of the most famous educational game of all time.
I mean, 'cmon, "The Oregon Trail" may be old-school, but it tells the dramatic story of a pioneer family's 19th Century journey across the great American frontier. It's a tale rife with heart-pounding action and gut-wrenching character development. Not to mention, westerns are, like, totally in these days.
As it turns out, the spooferific "Oregon Trail" trailer comes from Half Day Today! The LA-based production group that brought us previous funnies like "Tiger Woods Voicemail Slow Jam Remix" and the "Dr. Seuss Rap."
Those of you alive waaaaay back in the stone ages of gaming (1970s) may remember that "The Oregon Trail" was an educational game — a game meant to teach the kiddies all kinds of real life skillz. You know, like how to properly plan for a cross-country journey, how to hunt for your food and how to ford a river with a wagon and a team of oxen.
As elementary schools adopted revamped versions of the game in the '80s and early '90s, it skyrocketed to popularity with 11-year-olds everywhere who were more than happy to pretend they were actually learning something from a video game.
"The Oregon Trail" trailer does an excellent job of mining chuckles out of memorable moments from the game, like say the famous pronouncement: "You have died of dysentery." (Who doesn't like a good poop joke?)
When you're done checking out the faux trailer, be sure to check out the unaired Super Bowl ad Half Day Today did for Google — it features a man having an, uhm, difficult time adjusting to the strains of being a new father. Alas, it was rejected.
For all of you "Oregon Trail" fans out there, you can find an excellent, gussied-up version of the game these days in Apple's App Store.
And if you enjoyed this filmic tribute to gaming, be sure to check out Gamervision's spot-on trailer for another faux movie that I, personally, would pay good money to see. It's the "God of War" movie, done all indie-film style.
Paging Wes Anderson: Have we got a project for you!
You can follow Winda Benedetti as she fords a river with her team of oxen right here on Twitter.