After 76 years of trying to bring John Carter to the big screen, it’s looking like it might finally happen under Pixar’s helm. Of course, with this kind of history, news is easy to throw over your shoulder with a shovel-full of salt.

First it was animation pioneer Bob Clampett, then icon Ray Harryhausen, Disney, Paramount, Robert Rodriguez, Brad Bird and now Andrew Stanton of Finding Nemo and A Bug’s Life. Like a convoluted flea-flicker lasting seven decades, Slashfilm is reporting that Stanton is the last player to be lateralled the ball and is headed toward the endzone.

The endzone being sometime near 2011, a mere 80 years after the project was first conceptualized.

If it does get off the ground, it will be a breath of fresh air for fans of the indelible American author who created Tarzan and his voluminous Barsoom series chronicling adventures on the red planet. With Pixar promising a mix of live-action and animation, this film might just be worth the wait.

If I had to dream-cast this, I’d say our very own Neil Miller to be John Carter, if only for their matching physiques. For now, file this one away, and we’ll be back with leaked production stills sometime around October 2010.