A new take on JL criticism

[Horatio Hornblower]

I have been lurking on this board for awhile now, and after reading some of the criticism of the JL critics, felt it was time to throw in my 3 cents. As a huge fan of BTAS, TNBA, and STAS, I have to say that Justice League is a complete travesty. The show is marred by horrendous voice acting, terrible animation, sub par music, and an overall tone that just doesn't feel right. Granted, these opinions are a reflection of my initial hopes that Justice League would be an extension of the exceptional universe that Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Andrea Romano, Shirley Walker, etc, etc, created with the Original Batman and Superman animated series. But with so many of these fine creators onboard JL, are these not legitimate hopes and expectations? After nearly 10 years of consistently lush animation, creative storytelling, and spectacular voice acting, we are being spoon fed a series that displays none of these positive characteristics. Some have speculated that the absense of Paul Dini is partly to blame. I am inclined to agree, but what about the voice direction? With Andrea Romano attached to this series, why is the voice acting so horrid? Why is the animation so lackluster? Where is Shirley Walker? My guess is that the show suffers from a lack of funding. It seems ridiculus, but could it be that the Cartoon Network does not shell out the same amount of dough per episode that Fox and WB did? I would almost bet the Farm on it. A smaller budget is the only logical explanation for the dramatic downturn in quality.

Reasoning aside, the bottom line is this. JL is not what it could or should have been. Some will argue that there were badly done episodes of previous Timm and co shows. I agree, but we are already 7 shows in with JL and not a glimmer of hope.

[Mattashell]

I've noticed something weak about the animation when watching last nights episode. They don't seem to fit into the backgrounds. Like on Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast. Obviously they have more dimension than C2C but it still has a "pasted on" feel. Is this because they use computers instead of hand painted cells? I also noticed that whenever there was fire it looked particularly bad, like it wasn't part of the environment.

Mattashell

[James Harvey]

If you noticed in PARADISE LOST Part 2, there's a scene where they reuse Flash footage from SPEED DEMONS. You can see Weather Wizard's lab in the background. To me, this gives me the impression of an under-funded show. Then again, I hear CN has extremely tight budgets on their shows - not as big as a KWB for, for example.

[Heehaw]

Horatio Hornblower, most if not all of the criticisms you've brought up are those that I've highlighted in various threads on this site. While I don't think the show is a complete travesty, I think it has nowhere to go but up. Also, congratulations on getting Jim to actually admit that the show MAY be underfunded. :p

You'd better make sure you pepper some positives in with your negatives or certain individuals will call you on it(even if there is nothing, in your opinion, worth pointing out). ;)

[Batman 80]

Welcome to the boards. As for voice acting, I think their fine.

[neilf]

It never occurred to me that the show would have a smaller budget than BTAS or even STAS. Your criticisms due point to that though. I couldn't put my finger on it before until you mentioned the pasted on look. That's part of the reason they look unnatural in some scenes, especially when they are all standing around together. As for voice acting - just look at the voice credits over the years for BTAS and STAS. There was definately more money being spent on actors which translated to better on screen chemistry. We need to remember that it's still acting even though it's animation. I will finish by saying that there are some bright spots to the show and hopefully they can get bigger budgets in the future. Thsi show is going to make Cartoon Network a lot of money. I hope they reinvest accordingly.

[GL2k2]

Hopefully next season the crew of Bruce Timm and the gang will realize how much we fans dislike parts of the show. They will also wake up when they fail to when Emmys like they have been doing.

[kid_flash]

Originally posted by Jim Harvey
If you noticed in PARADISE LOST Part 2, there's a scene where they reuse Flash footage from SPEED DEMONS. You can see Weather Wizard's lab in the background. To me, this gives me the impression of an under-funded show. Then again, I hear CN has extremely tight budgets on their shows - not as big as a KWB for, for example.

Ah, the wonders of digital rendering. Say, wasn't Bruce Timm JUST giving comments on this the other day? And how wonderful it is? :D