Though I’d seen a few comic books in my youth, my first exposure to the Batman phenomenon was in 1989 when I saw Tim Burton’s Batman on the big screen. From that moment on, Michael Keaton captured the duality of Batman for me – playboy by day (as bazillionaire/tychoon Bruce Wayne) and crime fighter (Batman) by night.
Then in 1992, Batman: The Animated Series really drove that home the comic legacy of the Batman character. Paul Dini and around 30 other writers took the Gotham City from the pages of DC Comics and breathed life into the heroes and villains that walked its streets. It was really the series’ four seasons that Batman graced my television screen that made me appreciate the depth of what DC Comics and Bob Kane had created from the late 1930s to today.
In 2008, a new chapter of Batman animation would unfold as Batman: The Brave and the Bold. But where previous incarnations of the world were portrayed in a serious vein, this new series amped up the campy, fun nature once seen in another Batman television product starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin in the 1960s.
The Brave and the Bold uses Batman (voiced by Diedrich Bader – The Drew Carey Show) as the straight man while still managing to incorporate the classic heroes and villains of the DC Universe with humor. Now DC Animation and Warner Brothers are releasing the first 13 episodes of season one in a two-DVD set – Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Season One – Part One.
In the first 13 episodes, we see an amazing array of heroes share the stage with the Dark Knight… We meet the Blue Beetle (Will Friedle, Batman Beyond, Kim Possible) as he’s just getting used to his alien powers; Plastic Man (Tom Kenny, SpongeBob SquarePants) who’s constantly struggling with his criminal side; the Red Tornado (Corey Burton, who seems to have been in 100+ different cartoons over the last 30 years) who is an android trying to understand what it is to be human…
We also meet:
Green Arrow
Wildcat
Deadman
Bronze Tiger
The Atom
But Aquaman (John Di Maggio, Futurama, Penguins of Madagascar, Ben-10) is by far my favorite. He manages to be endearing and annoying at the same time. Larger than life and willing to tell of his adventures to anyone who will (willingly or unwillingly) listen.
Not to be outdone, we also see many of the classic villains appear along with some I had never heard of… Kite Man (Jeffrey Combs, The 4400, Justice League, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), gliding thief, nemesis and former employer of Plastic Man; Black Manta (Kevin Michael Richardson, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Cleveland Show), a surface dwelling criminal who seeks dominion of the sea; Gorilla Grodd (Di Maggio in another role), super-intelligent gorilla from Gorilla City seeking revenge over the human race; and many more…
Kanjar Ro
Gentleman Ghost
Fun Haus
Morgaine le Fey
Slug
Chemo
Despero
Terrible Trio
Clock King
Owlman
Honestly, when I watch an episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold it’s a very guilty pleasure. It’s fun to see how cheesy some of the lines can be (deliberately) and how the bad guys inevitably foul up and let the good guys win. These are definitely simplified hero vs. villain stories, but they’re great for kids and adults who want to become kids again for a little while.
Other than the episodes and a game trailer, you don’t get any extras, but that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying any of the 13 great episodes in this collection.
So if you’ve seen an episode or two and want to catch up or simply want to have a good time, be sure to check out Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Season One – Part One. I’m very excited to see when Part Two comes out so I can enjoy my favorite episode of the series so far – “Mayhem of the Music Meister!” starring Neil Patrick Harris as the Music Meister!
This article first appeared at Blogcritics.org here.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up Batman: The Brave and the Bold today and enjoy some campy fun!
Iron Man is a popular fella these days. With Iron Man 2 hitting the big screen on May 7, 2010 it’s only natural that we’d see a resurgence in the prior efforts to bring the Iron Man hero to life from the pages of Marvel Comics. So when I heard that Iron Man: The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series was coming to DVD, I had to check it out. Though I’d seen a few episodes here and there on Jetix or Disney XD, I knew I had missed many of the episodes and wanted to see the series from beginning to end.
Let me start by providing a bit of history about Iron Man. He’s been around for a while as the veritable Tin Man of comic books. Tony Stark, heir to the Stark Industries (or Stark Enterprises in the animated series) fortune, follows a similar path to Bruce Wayne from DC Comics. However, where Wayne plays the role of a playboy and uses his dour, more serious Batman persona to fight crime. Stark is actually a playboy. Well, at least until he gets kidnapped and has to build a special device to keep himself alive after a serious wound to his heart. The Iron Man armor is originally built to help Stark escape his captors, but it evolves into much more as he tries to redeem himself by saving others. Stan Lee, his creator, has been quoted as saying that Stark was based on Howard Hughes – a brilliant inventor, womanizer, and a bit of an adrenaline junkie who eventually goes a bit crazy.
The character has been around since the early 1960s and changed over time to reflect current technology and more modern villains. Recently we’ve seen Iron Man on the big screen in 2008′s Iron Man movie, which earned nearly $600 million worldwide, the sequel which is hitting theaters this month, and a new animated series in 2009 – Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Obviously Stark and Iron Man are back in the mainstream media in a big way.
Back in 1994, the series Iron Man hit television for a couple of seasons. Created by the same producers (Marvel Entertainment and Saban Entertainment) who brought us the X-Men animated series from 1992-1997, Iron Man never really gained the following of its mutant counterparts.
The first season tended towards single episode storylines and definitive good vs. evil plots. And, though it seems strange to say, the characters were very cartoonish and almost slapstick at times. Iron Man/Tony Stark worked alongside his friends James Rhodes/War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Spider Woman as they fought battles against the forces of the Mandarin – Dreadknight, Blizzard, Blacklash, Grey Gargolye, Hypnotia, Whirlwind, Living Laser, MODOK, Fin Fang Foom, and Just Hammer. Though all of the characters are from the comic books, these were very simplified stories with a clear beginning, middle, and an end. When compared with the X-Men series, the plots pale in comparison.
Add to that the horrible attempts to work in early computer generated graphics as Tony dons the armor and you start to understand that the series just never really came together.
Contrast the first season with the second season however and it’s like night and day. Without the early CGI and with a slightly different animation and story style, the series worked a bit better. By focusing on more complex storylines such as Jim Rhodes facing his fear of drowning and dying in the War Machine armor and bringing less one-dimensional foils into play such as Madame Masque, Arthur Dearborn, The Leader, and so on, the show gained much more depth.
It was also very interesting to see characters such as The Leader, a gamma ray affected villain, was worked into the Iron Man story. The Leader of course wants to rid the world of his nemesis, Dr. Bruce Banner, and his alter ego the Hulk. But as with many series, we end up being overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters thrown into a single episode. Mandarin steals the spotlight as the main Iron Man villain, but we’re far too quickly introduced to Hulk and his story before the 26 minute show wraps up.
Though the animators and writers did their best to use a huge number of recurring Iron Man characters from the source material, the first season seemed to simplify things too much and the second season, though an improvement, seemed to miss its mark as well. Now that I’ve seen all the episodes of the series, I understand why it didn’t have the power or fan support of its sister series X-Men.
The computer generated graphics weren’t the only animation errors either, especially in the first season. Many strange inconsistencies would appear, such as characters blurring if things didn’t quite line up or where a character might wear something in one scene, but when cutting to a different view they might be wearing something very different.
The voice cast for the series was an interesting mix of actors – from Robert Hays (Airplane!) as Tony Stark/Iron Man and James Avery (Philip Banks on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) as Jim Rhodes/War Machine to Jim Cummings (who seems to have done voice acting for every cartoon since the mid-80s) and Jennifer Hale (who’s been doing voice acting in games and cartoons since the early ’90s). Much of the voice work was great, but there were some places where actors would have to voice characters other than their own if actors weren’t available to do pick-ups after the fact.
If you’re an Iron Man fan and like ’90s-era cartoon styles, the 3-DVD set for Iron Man: The Complete 1994 Animated Television Series is probably a worthwhile investment for your collection. But if you’re hoping for more Jon Favreau/Robert Downey Jr. magic, you might want to skip it and check out the X-Men animated series collections instead.
This article was originally published at BlogCritics.org here.
The DC animated team, much like their counterparts at Marvel, don’t seem to take much vacation. In July 2010, Batman: Under the Red Hood hits stores in Blu-ray and DVD. This time, Batman must figure out who the mysterious Red Hood is before it’s too late…
Bruce Greenwood (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Jensen Ackles (The Red Hood), Neil Patrick Harris (Nightwing), John DiMaggio (The Joker), and Jason Isaacs (Ra’s Al Ghul) take the animated stage to explore this story that may open old wounds…
Included with the other extras is an animated short featuring Jonah Hex, DC’s western character who’s also getting the live-action movie treatment on June 18. So though the trailer for the live action movie looks a bit hokey, hopefully the animated short will keep us entertained.
Keep an eye out for this one to be available for pre-order… I know I will!
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!!
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There used to be an Amazon ad here, but since Amazon and the state of Colorado can't agree on how to handle taxes, they've blocked my affiliate account. From now on or until this is resolved, links to products will be through Barnes and Noble.
In 2008, a new chapter of Batman animation would unfold as Batman: The Brave and the Bold. But where previous incarnations of the world were portrayed in a serious vein, this new series amped up the campy, fun nature once seen in another Batman television product starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin in the 1960s.
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