Petition for better voice acting!

[neilf]

Here's my opinion on how to improve JL. Better voice acting and dialogue. I figured out why I don't like Green Lanterns voice. It's not the actor's natural voice and you can tell he's struggeling for that tough guy sound. Carl Weathers would be perfect for GLs voice (better acting would probably follow too). Also did anyone think that the dialogue just doesn't flow as naturally as the BTAS and STAS shows. The dialogue between characters seemed much more natural on those eps. When watching JL I sometimes get the feeling I'm listening to a Super Friends episode (I'll probably get blasted for that comment). Anyway Superman's voice and dialogue are just too corny! I'd rather see fewer characters in the episode and have better interaction (like in the BTAS and STAS) than to try and force everyone on the show. With a 9:30 timeslot the tone should be more adult/realistic (acting and dialogue/interaction). Am I way off base here? I loved the other series and just want to see this done right. :)

[The Flash]

I the think the Dialogue is great. Phil's acting does need some work, however. (read about it in my upcoming episode review :))

[Maxie Zeus]

I have no complaints with the acting, but there are places where the dialogue could stand a little polishing. And yes, most of those lines are Superman's.

[Samhaine]

I love Phil's voice acting. I just found out last week that he was Samurai Jack, too. He's that good of a voice actor. Plus, he really makes the voices for all three characters he plays (Static, Jack, and GL). I can't imagine a different voice on any of them.

[kid_flash]

Phil LaMaar (did I spell that right?) is an incredibly talented voice actor (anyone who watches Samurai Jack and JL back-to-back can realize that), and that was only added onto with JL. To me, he's very convincing as a deep-voiced black guy, and has become one of my favorites on the show. And what's wrong with it not being his natural voice? Mel Blanc did every voice on Looney Toons, and people love him.

As for dialogue, I love it. It's definitely improving with each ep.

[Jowy Blight]

When watching JL I sometimes get the feeling I'm listening to a Super Friends episode (I'll probably get blasted for that comment).

Fire away! :D

Seriously, I have no problem with the voice acting. Other then getting used to Superman's voice.

[Karkull]

The voice acting is okay (and will get better as time goes on; they're still getting a fix on how to do their characters), but the dialogue itself needs work. Superman's lines are a bit corny, and the only time that the Green Lantern sounded natural (in the pilot) was when he was arguing with the Flash.

[JL4Ever]

I really don't have a problem with the voice acting. Also, I think the dialogue is great. We've really been given a handle on each character by this point, which is saying a lot for the writers because they have seven strong characters to deal with. Yes, at times the dialogue is hokey, but that is done on purpose and is often mocked by the show itself. For example, the final sequence in "Secret Origins" when Superman gives his speech about how great it would be for everyone to come together as a group. Face it, the speech was cheesy. But the writers knew it was cheesy so they put Flash in there to point it out and make fun of it. Another example would be when Superman scolds Hawkgirl for almost destroying a ship in "In Blackest Night" instead of just disabling it. Granted, it was a corny thing for Superman to say, but Hawkgirl's reaction made the line mermorable and realistic.

[Green Lantern]

The voices do need a little work. But you know where I lay most of the blame? In the animation. Rarely do facial expressions change as much as they should when the emotion in a character's voice changes. I think they need to work more carefully with faces. That's just my 2¢.

[TerryMcGuiness]

*sigh* its really a freakin shame to see the voice actors on JL (excepting Kevin Conroy) being treated like a collective Great Satan.

George Newburn is guilty of nothing more than not being born Tim Daly!!!

He's done a great job on the show so far and while he's not perfect and his apporach is different from Dalys, I think it works extremely well.

Everyone else on the cast are all doing fine jobs as well, and I think they're voice fit the characters as they are written in the show. *Especially* Flash, GL and Wonder Woman.

The voice actors on this show (as well as alot of other things about it) have been waaaaaaaaaaay overciticized and even downright insulted at some points.

The show has been nothing but excellent from characterzation to art to acting. The pilot "Secret Origins" wasn't the lackluster flawed affair some people and reviewers make it out to be.

From original TAS, TNBTAS, Superman, Batman Beyond and now Justice League. I can safely say that Timm and co. have never let me down.

This show like the others before it give me the kind of quality and charge that I used to get from the comics themselves and wish I could now.

Back to subject at hand however, the voice actors are doing a great job of brining these characters to life and I dont want to see any of them go. At this point, I can't conceive of the Flash *not* sounding like Rosenbaum. :p

[neilf]

I'm not saying the voice acting is terrible - just not on par with the BTAS or STAS. Look, when you have as many cotumed heroes as we have in JL you just need to be more careful that it doesn't come off corny. I'm just looking at it from the perspective of attracting new people to the genre. You WANT people who don't usually watch this stuff to say "Hey, this isn't just a kid thing". That will only help increase ratings and get more of these types of shows "green lighted". All I'm saying is stuff like the World's Finest movie (for example) was better for getting non-animated fans to latch on. I gave a friend of mine the JL eps to take home this weekend and watch. She never watched this type of stuff before I gave her tapes to watch with her son of BTAS and STAS (including World's Finest). And she was blown away by how good this stuff could be. I'll see what her reaction is on Monday and ask her to compare the two. Maybe she'll make me realize I'm being too critical. Anyway I hope you guys don't think I'm being too jerky about my opinions - after all that's all they are, opinions. :)

[Figaro]

I just gotta say that I don't think they should change ANY aspect of the show at this point, LEAST of all the dialogue and voice work.

By thy side,

Figaro

[Justice League 2000]

ALL the voice acters in the JLA are GOOD. DID MICHAEL ROSENBAUM DID THE VOICE OF DEADSHOT? when I saw the justice league two nights ago when i hear deadshot voice was that michael rosenbaum?

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by Pete
was that michael rosenbaum?

Yes.

[Heehaw]

Except for Superman, I don't really have much to complain about with the principle cast. It's the secondary characters and "citizens" of the show's world. They are downright lame. The writing isn't very good, either. Reminds me of the original X-Men.

[neilf]

Well it doesn't look like too many people agree with me. My standards must be high - although all the people I've spoken to seem to think along the same lines. The JL isn't up to the standards set by the previous Timm and Co. BTAS/STAS. I get the feeling people are so happy to have this series they'll take an inferior product for fear it will be taken away from them. I'll give it a B. BTAS/STAS was grade A material. By the way I don't think it's necessary to get Daly back (although that would be great). But I do think the new guy needs to go back and watch STAS to at least get a better idea of how Superman should carry himself and get that authority and strength into his acting. I apologize if I've offended anyone with my opinions on making the show better. But after reading the DK2 I'm more convinced than ever that we should be able to give constructive criticism without being afraid to ruffle feathers. Maybe something else that's missing is strong supporting characters like Lois Lane, Commissioner Gordon, etc. That could be where I'm not feeling the attention to detail/realistic movie vibe stuff. Ciao! :p

[kid_flash]

Okay, here we go...

Terry's completely on-target when he says the only thing George Newbern is guilty of is not being Tim Daly. Newbern's doing an excellent job, not being Tim Daly is not one of the seven deadly sins. Get over it, people: We're not gonna get Daly. Either he doesn't want to, or he's too busy. Either way, we won't get Daly. Get over it. The guy sounds like Superman, anyway. The point is, Superman can't sound like a wimp. And I can't think of one time when Superman didn't carry authority.

Dialogue's awesome. It definitely sounds like these are real people talking. Except for Wonder Woman's grunts. Which isn't really dialogue anyway....

As for supporting characters, we've got seven main characters. You want fries with that? It's hard enough keeping track of the main Leaguers, and a guest star.

[Heehaw]

The JL isn't up to the standards set by the previous Timm and Co. BTAS/STAS. I get the feeling people are so happy to have this series they'll take an inferior product for fear it will be taken away from them

Amen!!!!


Dialogue's awesome. It definitely sounds like these are real people talking.

Nah, they sound like actors. Very unnatural and reminds me of X-Men. Go back and check out BTAS and STAS for real people perfection.


Newbern's doing an excellent job

Purely subjective, but I think he pales in comparison to Daly. Plus, Supes is drawn poorly this time around. At least the "S" is looking better.

[BeastBoyWonder]

I don't have any complaints with the voice acting...it might not be perfect, but its still good!

[Brainiac]

Yeah...I mean, I think we're definitely being a bit too critical here. We FINALLY have an animated JL show, and should be happy enough for that. And the voice acting isn't terrible at all...it may just need a little work. But that's normal. The voice actors are trying to get the characters down, and I think they've done a good job thus far....

[kid_flash]

Originally posted by Heehaw


Purely subjective, but I think he pales in comparison to Daly. Plus, Supes is drawn poorly this time around. At least the "S" is looking better.

Okay, true enough. But as I've said countless times, we can't have Daly. If we can't have him, Newbern's the guy I want as Superman. As for Supes being drawn poorly, I do see that pop up, but for the most part it's good.

Y'know, though, animation/sci-fi/comic book/whatever nerds never cease to amaze me. We ask for something for YEARS (yes, years), and when we finally get it, we whine. BE HAPPY! Those guys are putting a huge effort into something they have little experience with (they've been doing animation for years, but this is a whole new step), and ya think it's terrible based off a number of episodes I could count on one hand.

[Heehaw]

We ask for something for YEARS (yes, years), and when we finally get it, we whine.

Only because it isn't as good as it could be and the creator(s) have proven that they can do better(BTAS)

And don't call me a nerd :)

[neilf]

No one has said it's terrible. It's just that it could be be better. As for wanting Neubern on Superman - how can you say that with such conviction after a handfull of episodes that you could count on one hand? They have a good show. It just isn't as good as it could be. You're not going to convert people who are on the fence about wether animation is okay for adults with this show. And yes we were asking for this - and yes I'm happy (especially my son) but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give our opinions on how it could be better. If it's one thing we've seen over the years it's that Bruce Timm and Co. are constantly tweaking this stuff to make it better. I'm just relaying my thoughts on how it could be better. I have an emotional connection to this stuff (especially Superman) because a few years ago my son was sick with cancer (he's in remission now and is doing great!) and we logged a lot of hours watching the STAS (and BTAS)series. It brought a lot of comfort to my son and I probably have very strong opinions on how Superman should be handled. Anyway after watching BTAS and STAS as much as I have I feel that JL could use better acting. The voice work comes off at times like typical Saturday morning cartoon stuff as opposed to serious acting like BTAS/STAS. Sorry to ramble guys. These are just my thoughts and I really appreciate Toon Zone and having this forum to talk to you guys. :)

[Maxie Zeus]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with criticizing a show, and especially with criticizing a show that we love. The fact that we love it doesn't rule out being aware of its flaws, and being able to discuss them.

And in a back-handed way, our criticizing the show here can rebound to its improvement. The people who have given us JL do drop in here to see the feedback-- to see what is working and what isn't, and we can help them out by giving honest and constructive criticism.

It's the "constructive" part that critics and defenders of the show are going to have to get used to: Defenders will have to recognize constructive criticism when they see it and not get their knickers in a twist. Critics are going to have understand that simple JL-bashing isn't going to win them any friends.

Good criticism: "Superman's powers seem inconsistent. If his super strength is going to fail at a key moment, it would be good if there was a reason for it to fail (like he has just been electrocuted) instead of it just being a plot device to let the bad guy escape."

Bad criticism: "Superman sucks in JL."

See the difference, everyone? :)

Added: For a terrific example of good, solid criticism and discussion, see Tim Drake's review of part 1 in "The Enemy Below" thread (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13704&perpage=20&pagenumber=4)