While trying to keep up with all the casting news for the Wachowski brothers feature-length, live-action Speed Racer adaptation, I missed this bit of news.

As I've written before, the character of Chim Chim, Speed's monkey pal, would be played in the movie not by some animatronic 'bot or CGI creation, but by an actual flesh and blood chimp. Unfortunately, the chimp bit an actor on the set and was beaten, or so PETA was told, and the animal rights group sent a letter to producer Joel Silver asking him to stop using a real chimp.

When I heard Speed Racer was coming to Nicktoons, I figured it was the original cartoon, but no such luck. Instead, a newer version is being created to (not) coincide with the upcoming live-action film version from the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix), although having both debuting around the same time will definitely result in the kind of synergy studios crave.

The new Speed Racer 'toon is being produced through Lionsgate and Animation Collective, the studio behind Kappa Mikey, an anime-inspired comedy that also airs on Nicktoons.