In 1992, at a science fiction convention in Denver, Colorado, I had my first glimpse of Batman: The Animated Series. That night we watched footage from “On Leathery Wings,” which focused on a battle between Batman and the Man-Bat in Gotham City. From that point on, I was addicted to the DC Animated Universe as produced by Warner Brothers Animation. Over the next few years, I watched Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.
Each of these series proved not only that a cartoon could be more adult in nature and still appeal to kids, but that it could deal with more serious themes of love and loss, dedication, sacrifice, and justice. No longer were these kiddie cartoons, but something deeper.
So when Superman: The Complete Animated Series was released in November 2009, I was very excited to see it – spread across a 7-disc collection, all 54 episodes plus commentaries, making-of features, trivia, and more. Not only could I see these episodes again, but I could show them to my daughters and share these great stories with a new generation of animation lovers.
Starting with the destruction of Krypton and Kal-El’s parents sending their only child to an unknown life on a distant planet, the series begins with a bang. I hadn’t seen the original three episodes (“The Last Son of Krypton” parts 1-3) in many years and was happy to find that they were still emotionally relevant and packed a punch to start the series right.
Some of my favorite villains of all time are in these episodes – Lex Luthor, Braniac, Lobo, Darkseid, Bizarro, Mr. Mxyzptlk, and many many more. You even encounter many of the heroes like the Flash, Batman, Supergirl, Green Arrow, etc.
It’s also interesting after all these years to go back and listen to the many different voice talents involved in production. Tim Daly (Wings, Private Practice) as Superman, Clark Kent, and Bizarro… Clancy Brown (Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers) as Lex Luthor… Dana Delany (China Beach, Desperate Housewives) as Lois Lane… Michael Ironside, Gilbert Gottfried, Lisa Edelstein, Joely Fisher, Ron Perlman, Malcolm McDowell, Michael Dorn, Lori Petty, Brad Garrett, William H. Macy… the list goes on forever. It reads a virtual “Who’s Who” of actors and actresses from then and now.
Since all of these series stopped airing new episodes, I have to say that the number of animated shows I still catch regularly has dropped dramatically. The style of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series and all the rest hearkens back to the Max Fleischer Superman series from the 1940s mixed with modern techniques for the time. There’s something about the style that WB Animation used for all of them that can’t be matched by more modern, CGI or mixed media animation these days.
Fifty four episodes aired over the course of a bit more than three years between September 1996 and February 2000. And though they may have run out of stories from the original comic books, I probably would have continued to watch!
In addition to the episodes themselves, which I really enjoyed watching again, there are a number of extras scattered through the seven discs that really make the collection worthwhile. Creator commentaries, making-of featurettes, trivia tracks, and more are distributed across the main six discs.
For me, the feature on Disc 7 – “The Despot Darkseid: A Villain Worthy of Superman” – really shows the difficulties faced by writers trying to come up with viable villains for the hero. Darkseid is definitely a worthy villain from outside the normal Superman universe. The writers and directors involved in the animated series talk at length about Jack Kirby and the contributions he made to comic books. Darkseid brings a true evil, fascist dictator – almost an Anti-Superman – with great strength and intellect to the DC Universe. Suddenly Superman could be hurt and the whole world is in peril.
If you were a fan of Superman: The Animated Series when it originally aired in the late 1990s or have been catching it on Toon Disney, I think Superman: The Complete Animated Series is an amazing collection. Having all of these episodes in one place makes it entirely too easy to fall back into the habit of watching them after schoolwork!
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up Superman: The Complete Animated Series and other awesome animated titles from Amazon below:
In 1989, Danny Elfman, from the band Oingo Boingo, scored the soundtrack to Batman starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson and directed by Tim Burton. From that moment on, whether Elfman was working with Burton or without, he had solidified himself in my mind as a composer with a unique edge and flair.
Over time, I found myself consciously comparing each of the soundtracks after Batman to that first great exposure to his work. By doing this comparison, I found signature elements in each soundtrack that uniquely identified Elfman’s work.
With Terminator Salvation — Original Soundtrack I really had to hunt to find that signature sound. In my opinion, this is one of Elfman’s best, because it strives to be unique for the continuation of the Terminator franchise, yet holds true to the sounds of the original movies. The thudding metal sound of the original Terminator score by Brad Fiedel was inspired, but Elfman has taken the melding of man and machine to another level.
When I saw Terminator Salvation on opening day, the soundtrack did what all great soundtracks do… blended into the background when the action of the characters on screen was important, and accented some of those important moments to make them stand out that much more. And with a mix of powerful action-oriented tracks and softer ones, I think he struck a balance that is difficult to do in any action or science fiction movie, let alone a reboot of the Terminator franchise.
I was unable to tell which orchestra was used for the non-electronic or synth portions of the soundtrack, but the blend between machines and men with the music was just as profound as the battle raging in the movie itself. The use of strings, powerful drums, horns, and soft guitar meshed with the metallic clanks, machine noises, and battle sounds beautifully.
Among my favorite tracks on the soundtrack album are “Broadcast” and “Marcus Enters Skynet”. “Broadcast” builds to a satisfying crescendo that cries out to me with the horns and strings. And “Marcus Enters Skynet” slows the pace a bit to allow us to experience what Marcus is feeling as he discovers his true nature and rebels against the machines.
In addition to the score for the movie, the soundtrack also includes Alice in Chains’ song “Rooster.” This track was used in one of the movie trailers that I can recall and fit in perfectly with the storyline of the Terminator universe. It’s hard to argue with lyrics like “Ain’t found a way to kill me yet…” when talking about John Connor, who has now managed to survive four movies and multiple attempts on his life.
The last Elfman soundtrack that sounded promising was for Wanted in 2007. It had its moments, but the soundtrack for Terminator Salvation worked beautifully for me.
If you like soundtracks and are among the few fans of the original Terminator movies and actually enjoyed Terminator Salvation (like me), be sure to pick up Terminator Salvation — The Original Soundtrack at a retail store near you or online.
In 1999, a new Batmancartoon series began to air on television – Batman Beyond. This was a darker, futuristic world where Bruce Wayne has had to give up the cape and cowl and eventually finds an apprentice, Terry McGinnis, to take up his cause. In my opinion, this was a fantastic series that ended too soon. It was only on television for three seasons (52 episodes) and a direct-to-video movie. The final Batman Beyond episode ended in December 2001.
In January 2001, Batman Beyond spawned a spin-off called The Zeta Project. Zeta, an android built to infiltrate and assassinate protected targets, has an epiphany during one particular assassination when he finds that one of his targets is innocent. Because of this, he decides that he no longer can kill and goes rogue. Along the way, he helps people, gains a friend (Ro), and is pursued by Agent Bennet from the NSA who is obsessed with bringing Zeta back into the fold or destroying him in the process.
Zeta originally appeared in a couple of episodes of Batman Beyond — “Zeta” and “Countdown” — which are both included as extras on the second DVD in the set. Miss Martel, a new teacher at McGinnis’ high school, seems a bit odd to him and his friend Max, so he has to investigate and see what he can do to help. He comes to learn of Zeta’s plight and helps him escape the agents pursuing him.
In the series, Zeta has changed a bit to make him more appealing. And the addition of Ro Rowen, a 15-year old runaway girl, helps educate him in how to be more human and blend in. As such, he gains some humor to temper his mechanical personality.
“The Making of Zeta – How the Character and the Series Evolved” provides a great transition between the dark world of Batman Beyond and the Zeta Project series. Bob Goodman, creator/producer, wrote the episodes where Zeta appeared initially. It’s interesting to hear the writers and voice actors talk about how Zeta spun off. Alan Burnett, producer of Batman Beyond says it’s “Like the Fugitive, but with a Robot…” And it definitely has that feel.
The Zeta Project was directed more at kids than Batman Beyond. This series was directed to be not as dark or gothic as Batman Beyond and hopefully appeal to the girls in the audience as well. I think it succeeded on both counts. This was the same era when Static Shock began airing, which was appealing to that younger audience as well.
It was interesting to sit and watch this series with my daughters. My eldest, now 8, really engaged with Ro’s spunk and sarcastic nature. And my youngest, now 4, just enjoyed the mix of action and humor I think. So it does appeal to the audience that they were looking for.
This DVD set includes 12 episodes from the first season. It also aired a second season of 14 episodes, which should also be released sometime in the future.
If you liked Batman Beyond and are looking for a more kid- or family-friendly but still action-oriented animated series from the early part of this decade, be sure to check out The Zeta Project, Season 1.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up Zeta or Batman Beyond on DVD at Amazon:
All I can say is “wow” to this movie. And I’ll supplement that with a quote from Spinal Tap… “This One Goes to Eleven…” 150 minutes of build, catch your breath, build again cycles — every time you catch your breath and think they’ve reached a climax, they hit the next gear.
Rating:
Ledger deserves at least an Oscar nod, preferably the dang award. Nolan should get a best director nod. And Nolan & Goyer should win for best screenplay.
Yes, it’s that good.
Without giving anything away that hasn’t been shared in the trailers… the movie picks up a year after the first movie ended. Crime is down. Gotham has a new White Knight of a District Attorney. And Batman has been making an impact.
But criminal forces are shifting. A new player is in town – calling himself the Joker – and he’s causing trouble for cops and the mob equally. What’s scarier is he has a vision for the future of Gotham City…
All the gang is back from Batman Begins. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Batman. Michael Caine as Alfred. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. Gary Oldman as Lt. Jim Gordon. And they’ve changed a face from the old crew — Rachel Dawes, played by Katie Holmes, is now played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She does a great job of stepping into those shoes as an Assistant D.A.
There’s some new faces also, including Anthony Michael Hall as reporter Mike Engel and Nestor Carbonell as the Mayor of Gotham. And it goes without saying that Heath Ledger is there as the Joker, in one of his final performances before his untimely death.
But beyond the amazing cast that was assembled and Heath Ledger’s amazing performance was the story… Exploring themes of growth vs. decay, the corruptibility of man, and what it takes to be the hero who’s needed, but not necessarily wanted. Heady topics.
Nolan has painted a masterpiece with this movie. It’s going to be tough to top with another one.
A scale of zero to 4 just doesn’t cut it. This one goes to 11.
Go see this at the theater — IMAX or your standard theater will do — and hold on to your seats. It’s one hell of a ride.
–Fitz
p.s. Oh and one more thing… Here are some reviews some friends of mine and from around the web…
It’s going to be a busy few weeks coming up as far as movies go. We’ll be out of town this weekend, so we’ll miss the Wall-E opening weekend, but I’m looking forward to:
The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins comes out July 18, 2008. I’m very geeked up about this film. It’s one of four tentpoles in my summer of movies… Iron Man, Indy IV, Hellboy 2, and The Dark Knight. Everything else will fall somewhere beneath the tent made by these four poles IMHO.
I knew that it was going to be serious. Take the serious tone of the origin movie Batman Begins and ratchet it up a few notches with the same cast and director. Toss in some seriously insane villains. And hope you don’t end up with a horrible mess like Batman Forever. I think with Chris Nolan in the director’s chair, this will be nothing like the horrible mess that was the last mixed up multi-villain Batman movie.
And as if they wanted to just ratchet it up a bit more, I just saw this post on Ain’t It Cool News today.
Harvey Dent as Two Face. He’s an iconic Batman baddie. Friend of Bruce Wayne changed into a psychopath by a freak accident. Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey in this movie and if this face is even a bit true to what we’ll see on screen after Dent’s accident, I’m even more intrigued. This is hideous. (See it after the break.) (more…)
Just saw this lovely story reported on ComingSoon.net from the AP and CNN about how filming a scene for the new Batman movie (The Dark Knight) had to be cancelled due to the pollution in Hong Kong harbor. What an amazing concept. They found fun things like salmonella and TB in the water and didn’t want to subject cast or crew to such conditions.
Just bizarre. Proves though what I’ve heard from many people who have traveled to Asia (China especially). Pollution is horrible there. Air quality is bad. Water is bad. And the Olympics on 2008 will be there… Can hardly wait to see the political fall out of that decision…
Anyway… Have to say this is the first time I can remember hearing about a movie not being able to film scenes on location due to pollution!!
Each of these series proved not only that a cartoon could be more adult in nature and still appeal to kids, but that it could deal with more serious themes of love and loss, dedication, sacrifice, and justice. No longer were these kiddie cartoons, but something deeper.
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