Is the French Tagline for John Carter the best yet?

Yesterday Disney released the international poster for it much discussed John Carter, opening March 9, directed by Andrew Stanton and based on the Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Spanish tagline, you’ll recall, was “Dos Mundos, Un Heroe” – Two Worlds, One Hero.

Today comes the French poster — same artwork, different tagline: “Un Nouveau Monde Vous Attend” — A New World Awaits You.

Now, juxtaposed against the shot of John Carter, Sola, Dejah Thoris on thoats and Woola on the side, marching across the dead sea bottoms of Barsoom — I find this tagline more evocative than the Spanish one, and possibly the best yet, not because it’s absolutely the best tagline anyone could come up with–but because it’s one which matches Disney’s vibe and the film and Stanton — all together in one, and doesn’t bother me as a Burroughs enthusiast either.

The thing that most defined Burroughs’ books was the imaginative transport, “escape” if you will, that transported John Carter and hence the reader to a strange and glorious world that, as a reader, you would find yourself yearning for. Carl Sagan said he used to stand in the yard as a 12 year old with his arms outstretched imploring: “Take me home to Barsoom”, and that’s how the books made you feel. You wanted to go there.

“A New World Awaits You” is a very alluring concept. Who doesn’t want renewal like that? Who doesn’t want the escape that such would provide?

It’s appealing, intriguing, and it fits all ages. If I’m a parent of a 12 year old contemplating taking the kid to see this, I’m reassured. But as an adult, I’m intrigued.

I think I like it.