Geek Chic: A peak into the DC Animated Universe

Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam
Though not as financially successful as the Disney canon of animated films (they did have a good 50 year head start)

"Hey, Ted, kids like mice, right?"

I can’t think of another animated house that has as solid a portfolio as the WB Animated Premiere line. (The animated Marvel films are very hit or miss, more often than not in the miss category. How do you mess up the Ultimates? Twice, might I add.)

 

Pictured: Considerably less interesting than Wolverine.

 

For the intents and purposes of this article I will be talking about t only the related DC Comics based animated films (unless you really want me to talk about Cats Don’t Dance or Pebble and the Penguin. You don’t.) Batman Mask of the Phantasm was originally intended to be a straight to video release. Warner Bros. fresh from seeing all those Dollar signs in their eyes from Batman and Batman Returns merchandising, apparently saw the possibility of a new Batman string of merchandising as a make shift between Returns and what would eventually become Batman Forever. The film was not a financial success, though many critics said that the film had a better narrative structure and even favored it over either of the Burton Batman films.

 

That isn't a misprint. It says penguin commandos.

 

Barely recouping its production costs at the theatre, it would be the last of the animated DC films to not be released straight to video. Over its multiple releases over the years on DVD and VHS, the film has turned a substantial profit and eventually led Warner’s to release more animated films based on other characters in the DC canon. If Batman: The Animated Series owed its creation to the Batman films, Batman and Mr.Freeze was delayed because of Batman and Robin’s lack of success (and insuring wave of suck)

 

Artists rendering of wave of suck.

 

on its delay reaching the market. The film was apparently completed sometime in 1997 but Warner, not wanting the stink to transfer, held the film off til 1998, hopefully improving its chances at success. And as they eventually went on to produce another Batman animated project, they were, by all accounts, correct. The first non-Batman animated Warner film was a little miss for me. They used all of the designs from the Superman Animated series that was produced from 1997-2000, but used none of the timeline or actor in their roles. I’m not saying that you can’t recast them or do another interpretation (as they did eventually with the Superman: Doomsday project) but why go to the trouble to reproduce so many details of the animated series and then ignore everything else about it. Granted I may have been out of the intended age range for the film, assuming that most 10 year olds wouldn’t remember a cartoon that was on television roughly the same time that they were born.

 

" Someone flip it to nick @ nite."

 

Regardless, for us longtime fans, it was just kind of confusing and could have easily been solved but not having them look like their animated series counterparts. After that slight misstep, the films have been bating 1000. Green Lantern and Wonder Woman’s eventual live action interpretations will be doing well to reproduce the quality of these entries. The Superman/Batman films (based on the comic of the same name) are probably my favorite of the DC animated films (this should come as a surprise to no one, as I have both a Superman and Batman tattoo on my left and right biceps respectively.)Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, New Frontier and Batman: Under the Red Hood are also adapted from existing material that are worthy successors to their sources. (Which took til 2005 for a live action adaptation to think to use the 60 plus years worth of stories as the basis for the film, which resulted in Batman Begins. Good call, Nolan.) Batman: Gotham Knights had a very interesting premise, letting different anime directing segments and allowing them to translate the Dark Knight as they saw fit. Not necessarily fitting anywhere as far as continuity is concerned, is never the less a fascinating exploration of Batman. One of the next full length adaptation is set to be based on the seminal Grant Morrison series All Star Superman. (not to be confused with All Star Batman and Robin the boy wonder, which was terrible and further sullied Frank Miller’s legendary reputation and also part of the aformentioned wave of suck.) Superman/Shazam is a collection on shorter subject, mini films, which will be a first for the series. (Not the minifilm format, but the fact that it will be a collection with out a full length animated film to partner with it.) I would honestly prefer the longer format, but seeing as how I have purchased and watched every other DC animated project over the last 17 years, I can guess that I will likely invest in it as well. If you haven’t spent the time to watch these films and have a Netflix account, you really should sit down when you have some time on your hands and explore some of that universe.

DC Comics Animated Films

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998)

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)

Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006)

Superman: Doomsday (2007)

Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Wonder Woman (2009)

Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)

Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

All-Star Superman (2011)

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011)

Upcoming DC Animated Projects

Batman: Year One (2011)

Justice League: Doom (TBA) (Adaptation of Tower of Babel story arc.)

Superman Vs. The Elite (TBA) (based on “What’s so funny about Truth, Justice and the American way?” )

Dark Knight Returns (based on Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns.)

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