DC Universe Animated Original Movies

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » February 28th, 2009, 4:41 pm

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... /index.htm

Coming this summer...

Post by **Randall** » February 28th, 2009, 10:41 pm

Wow, July already! Nice to see it coming so soon. Should be cool.

Post by **Ben** » March 1st, 2009, 4:42 pm

I think we did actually mention this was coming up in a recent post on the full Wonder Woman specs.

There's a trailer for Green Lantern on that disc, which of course comes out this Tuesday.

Post by **Rodney** » March 2nd, 2009, 7:32 pm

I like the Green Lantern so I will be on the lookout for this one.

Post by **eddievalient** » March 2nd, 2009, 8:46 pm

I'm way behind on the DC animated movies. I've only got Gotham Knight so far. I'll look forward to this one, though.

Post by **Darkblade** » March 4th, 2009, 8:06 am

The movie is due for a July Release date...And the spirit comes out on my friend's birthday!
http://www.movienewz.com/dvd-calendar/

Post by **Ben** » March 4th, 2009, 5:24 pm

Hey...are we just posting stuff to be ignored! First the total Mary Poppins bypass, then missing our original announcement of this title, and now this!

Randall posted the full press release last night:
http://www.animated-news.com/2009/green ... more-10408

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 6th, 2009, 1:51 am

This film would not have been made if the relaunch of the Green Lantern comic book series four years ago hadn't been successful.

Props to Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, and the GL editor who made it all work again (for the first time in decades!) in the Green Lantern: Rebirth Mini-Series.

Here's hoping the animated film and the live-action adaptation hold true to the core of the character.

It's too bad Martin Nodell, Julius Schwartz, Gil Kane, and John Broome didn't live long enough to see this all happen...

Those men were the true fathers of the Green Lantern mythos. Nodell created the original version of GL (Alan Scott), and the other three expanded upon that original concept and co-created Hal Jordan, the second and definitive Green Lantern.

Green Lantern has all along had the potential to be as big as Batman and Superman. The Hal Jordan version is the examplar hero among all the versions of Green Lantern and the obvious choice for the movies.

Post by **Rosengeist** » March 6th, 2009, 2:35 pm

Yeah Green Lantern! He's always a fun character to see, though perhaps that's because he doesn't get as much exposure as some of his comic book peers.

So here's a question. Do you think the comic book hero film genre has made a permanent come back or do you feel that it will tucker out soon? I had felt a few years ago that eventually the market would become over-saturated with comic book films and they would fade away for a few decades, but for the most part these films seem to keep bringing in decent bussiness. Do you think it's a sign of the times that these films do so well? Maybe stateside people like the idea of American (o.k, we've mostly done American comics) heroism on that kind of a grandiose scale. Maybe we're more drawn to fantasy in bleak times?

Any thoughts on this? Is this the right place to bring up this question?

Post by **Ben** » March 6th, 2009, 2:56 pm

Superhero movies are the 1930s and 40s musicals of today.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 6th, 2009, 3:11 pm

Rosengeist wrote:Has the comic book hero film genre has made a permanent come back or do you feel that it will tucker out soon?

Like most things, it'll go in a cycle.

When enough mediocre films get made and the general public gets sick of it, the cycle will die out.

People forget the last cycles of these films really began with Superman the Movie (1978). In a way, it capped off a lot of other character adaptations but those happened mainly on television -- the Spider-Man and Hulk TV series of the late 1970s, the made-for-TV Captain America and Dr. Strange movies, and The Greatest American Hero TV series.

Another cycle happened with Batman when it started in 1989. It capped off the Flash TV series, the Mantis TV series, Black Scorpion (movie and TV series), and more importantly led to the DC Universe Animated adaptations which have been the most critically acclaimed action-adventure cartoons even done on television. The DCUA started with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 through Superman (1996), another Batman series (1997-1999) and ultimately culminated with Justice League/JL Unlimited (1999-2005). DCUA really hasn't ended as it's continuing in direct-to-video movies but set within their own continuities.

Recent live-action adaptations of superhero films really kicked off with X-Men back in 2000 and it still hasn't really slowed even though in my opinion the last really good superhero film was Iron Man. X-Men started and ended as a mediocre (critically, IMHO) series and even the generally liked Spider-Man movie series ended with a mediocre release. (Yeah, I know Spidey 4 is in the works but chances are I'll pass on it... I don't need to slow down and watch every trainwreck in progress!)

We'll see what happen in the future. The current hero wave has definitely lasted longer than I would have expected. I still like the DC animated stuff better but the core mentality of audiences is to prefer live-action over animation even in spite of all the compromises in back-story and character designs. As long as the films continue to make money, like anything else they'll continue to be milked for what they're worth past the point of viabillity. It hasn't stopped Friday the 13th or Halloween movies from being made, has it? Those film series haven't been good for over twenty years now!

The only sure film genre is action-adventure and even that has its up's and down's. Most of these are mindless explosion and fightclub violence but they are the most basic (re: cheap) mass-culture films to make short of the fart comedy/fratboy series. You also really don't have to worry about dubbing and getting the point of the story cross-culturally in most action films. Their basic nature pays for the films. No question to my mind that Indiana Jones was the biggest thing that ever happened in action-adventure. (It spoiled me to the point that I write off most action-adventure films AFTER Raiders.) Bigger than Bond even though Bond has lasted through several recast leads and its own share of bumps.

Bond's proven he can be recast and the audience will follow if the new actor has enough charisma. Indiana Jones has begun and ends with Harrison Ford so he has an inherently limited shelf-life.

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » March 6th, 2009, 3:31 pm

It's like those Wonder Woman and Hulk Vs films?.

Post by **EricJ** » March 6th, 2009, 4:40 pm

Once Upon A Dream wrote:It's like those Wonder Woman and Hulk Vs films?.

I wouldn't be quite so quick to put that "And" in there...

Yes,
A) Bruce Timm at Warner/DC wants a piece of Lionsgate's Marvel direct-video action, and
B) they're using animated DTV's to hash out and clarify all the problems the studio's had with getting those live-action WW and GL movies started, just like LG/Marvel used their Iron Man, Dr. Strange and Thor animateds as "practice".

But LG's "Hulk Vs." had comic fan-canon coming out of every pore, while "Wonder Woman" basically thrashed about a lot of ex-"Justice League Unlimited" retcon origins and Paradise Island side-spinoff stories, while never quite getting around to seeing Ms. Eagle-bra fight the bad guys...We literally see a lot more of Diana's friends and family than we ever see of HER.
(It's also jarringly not-for-kids PG-13, with at least two decapitations for starters, unlike LG's more CN-friendly Avengers videos.)

...Bruce, you can play Marvel's notes, but you gotta learn to play the music.

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » March 7th, 2009, 4:55 am

Wonder Woman is not PG-13? I thought it is from Jill Hill's article.
Anyway I think Hulk Vs should be rated higher then PG-13 (Like they cut people's hands like that...) I only have the Wolverine segment so the Thor segment might be different,that reminds me,the live action Wonder Woman movie will be released?.

Post by **eddievalient** » March 7th, 2009, 6:52 am

Just out of curiosity, Once, how can you only have one segment of it? I was under the impression that instead of one feature length film, the dvd had two shorter films (being a Hulk fan, this is most definitely on my list of stuff to see). Did they release them seperately where you are?

DC Universe Animated Original Movies

Green Lantern animated film takes flight....