New BB beginning on CN?

[mgibson72]

Forgive me if this has been gone over before...but what is the deal with CN's custom opening to Bats Beyond? Why was the original replaced? Did the censors not like the club dancing bit? If it was okay with Kids WB then why not CN?

Help?

[CerebralSocko]

Hey, it's on the "Toonami" block, right? Then it's no big deal - CN never shows the opening themes to their "Toonami" shows.

-Socko

[mgibson72]

Hmmm...that doesn't wash with me. For the first three or four (more?) episodes, CN did air the original beginning. It was the coolest part of that whole show if you ask me.

Any other explanations as to why CN might do that to Toonami show...especially when they run the titles to every other cartoon they have on the air?

[joshualane]

CN aired the first few eps of Batman Beyond with it's original opening because I'm guessing that they hadn't finished their own Toonami brand opening in time.

CN replaces all of the opening segments to it's Toonami shows because it's a way for them to emphasize the Toonami block and create a brand with those couple hours of TV time. It's similar to how companies will sponsor things or buy sports stadiums, they aren't just the Stallions, they are the Verizon Stallions that play in Verizon Stadium (completely made up team by the way). CN is essentially doing the same thing by letting everyone know that these are Toonami shows, not just regular Cartoon Network shows.

I personally think it's overkill to change the openings, but I'm not too worried about it.

[mgibson72]

I had an idea that that was the case, but CN also brands their Cartoon Cartoon blocks with their own little openings and still air the original titles to the individual shows.

I'm in marketing myself and understand the branding concept...but I think CN is going the wrong way with this one. With all of the image pieces that CN airs with Toonami, it's obvious to anyone that that 1.5-hour block is different than standard CN fare.

What do the rest of you think?

[MatchesMalone]

I miss Dana dancing before every episode...how could they?

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by mgibson72
I had an idea that that was the case, but CN also brands their Cartoon Cartoon blocks with their own little openings and still air the original titles to the individual shows.

I'm in marketing myself and understand the branding concept...but I think CN is going the wrong way with this one. With all of the image pieces that CN airs with Toonami, it's obvious to anyone that that 1.5-hour block is different than standard CN fare.

What do the rest of you think?

I think they could do other things on the block to brand it rather than change the beginning. Maybe have Toonami logo in the lower right hand of the screen under the Cartoon Network logo, or do like Kids WB did and just have custom made bumpers before the show, before and after commercial breaks, and maybe even at the end of the show. I understand they want the Toonami block to stand apart, but I think viewers recognize the Cartoon Cartoon blocks and the Adult Swim blocks just fine, cuz they stand out on their own and don't require the openings of the shows to be done with custom made branding openings.

[Mr. Obsession]

Actually they originally started making their own openings because they felt that most of the openings for the older shows they were airing at the time (and some of the newer shows as well, for example the N. American opening to DBZ) "sucked."

Now they do it because it's a tradition.

[mgibson72]

Actually they originally started making their own openings because they felt that most of the openings for the older shows they were airing at the time (and some of the newer shows as well, for example the N. American opening to DBZ) "sucked."
Does anyone know this for certain that this is CN's philosophy? And do they also do this for Adult Swim as well? How weird! And even if the beginnings "suck", they're still part of the show...! Can you imagine if the suits at Warners suddenly decide to take it upon themselves to change whatever they didn't like on a show?!? Oh, wait...they've done that...with ROTJ. ;)

[Samhaine]

Personally, I like the new opening. I saw the old opening for 51 episodes, more than once for almost every ep, and something new and fresh just works. Plus, how cool is it that Freeze has the last line.

There were 2 Toonami shows (that I can think of, I'm not sure if the opening to MSG was the original or not, but I wanna say not) that kept their original openings AND had the Toonami openings: Batman & Superman. They each had Toonami bumpers (the way they did the music for the Superman one was sooo cool). I would mind if they took those originals out because for Superman, they didn't air the original opening for very long (I knew many people who didn't even know there WAS an original opening) and the Batman one hadn't been seen in years, plus I've always loved it.

But in general I think they do really well with their custom openings.

[SSNTails]

Toonami logo in the lower right hand of the screen under the Cartoon Network logo,

Nah, more crap on the screen = bad. I'd rather they keep the changed intro than do something like that. I can always tack the intro onto the beginning of the ep.

For those of you that miss the original, knock yourselves out:

http://www.ssntails.org/bbintro.avi

Anyone ever notice how the gravestone in that background scene reads "McGinnis" on it? (You can only see the 'innis' part)

[Russkafin]

Y'know what I always hated? When Pinky & The Brain moved to Nickelodeon, and they stuck the Nickelodeon logo all over the opening theme song. That really burned my britches.

[SSNTails]

Yes, another one of my peeves, too. I'm definitely not a fan of branding. If you want to plaster your name in front of someone's face, do it before the show, during commercial time, or after the show. "Leave my <insert expletive-of-your-choice here> show alone."

[Mr. Obsession]

Originally posted by mgibson72

Does anyone know this for certain that this is CN's philosophy? And do they also do this for Adult Swim as well? How weird! And even if the beginnings "suck", they're still part of the show...! Can you imagine if the suits at Warners suddenly decide to take it upon themselves to change whatever they didn't like on a show?!? Oh, wait...they've done that...with ROTJ. ;)
No, it's just William St.'s philosophy towards the shows that air on the Toonami block. Everything on AS has it's original opening (because most of it's new anyway). Any of the Toonami shows that air outside of the block are always shown with their original opening.

[Naraht]

Toonami is the show...it's two hours long. A number of TV Listings will actually put Toonami down. Durring Toonami, they air a number of shows...currently Zoids, Dragonball, DBZ, and BB. When the shows are shown outside of Toonami, they use the original opening.

The only thing I dislike about the Toonami opening is the music mixing from the toonami music, to the BB music. Maybe it's cause I'm always listening to the BB soundtrak (when I'm not listening to the J&SB Strike Back ST)

People are going to complain..it always happens.

Sorry, if there was something I could do..I'd do it, but I can't..so I shant.

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

Originally posted by bloodone
Personally, I like the new opening. I saw the old opening for 51 episodes, more than once for almost every ep, and something new and fresh just works. Plus, how cool is it that Freeze has the last line.

But in general I think they do really well with their custom openings.

THIS IS FOR EVERYONE: Does anyone know if there is somewhere (on the net) that these custom openings are available for viewing? I don't have Cartoon Network and I am intrigued.

[Mr. Obsession]

Originally posted by I Hate Batmanuel!


THIS IS FOR EVERYONE: Does anyone know if there is somewhere (on the net) that these custom openings are available for viewing? I don't have Cartoon Network and I am intrigued.
http://www.toonamiarsenal.com/

There you go. Not only do they have the custom Toonami openings, they've got copies of the shows original openings, and almost every Toonami promo ever made.