Article on the making of the "Justice League" animated series

[BigFatHairyDeal]

From The Voice of Krypton site, part 1. Looks interesting.

(Can we link this here?).

Although interest in the concept of a Justice League series was mounting, Timm resisted – until about the time that production on Batman Beyond was winding down and there was a sense of determination to keep the production team together on a new project. According to Justice League co-producer James Tucker, at that time the Kids WB expressed interest in a new series that would skew to a young audience.

Development was done on a Batman Anime show that kind of reflects on what Teen Titans became,” he reflects. “And we developed a more youth-oriented version of Justice League. Thank God both of those projects never happened, although there’s a tape out there of a very kiddified Justice League that included Robin and a teenage female version of Cyborg. It was our attempt to try and do something that wasn’t as edgy or as dark as we would normally want to go. At the time, Kids WB totally passed on the Batman Anime idea and we actually did test animation for the Justice League idea.”

Mod Note: Posting the link is fine!

[Wonderwall]

Cool stuff I'm looking forward to the rest. Not a lot that I didn't already know from the countless interviews Bruce has done on the DVDs, sites like WF, and Modern Masters. However there were a few things I didn't know like a Batman Anime and that the awful Avengers show from the late 90s helped shape a little on the line up of the show. I knew about the 90s JL that they had in mind when they were first developing STAS and that Morrison's run where he brought back the big 7.

[Yojimbo]

I agree, neat article. I think the Batman anime the tip of the iceberg. I remember they also pitched the Batman Beyond Mars one, a Kamandi one, a young Aquaman along with that Arkham and Catwoman movies in '99.

[the greenman]

Part two is up. I'm actually grateful to the team for building a cohesive universe. They could have started from scratch with each show.

[Yojimbo]

Part Three is up and it focuses on Superman and the JLU format.

[the greenman]

Superman, ugghhh. Honestly, I think they gave him a very good arc. It was STAS that I first heard him refered to as Alien in a derogatory manner by Luthor that just made this version feel fresh. JL was only partly good cause they increased the distrust for Superman by adding in the Justice Lord psychology in there. All in all, they obviously toned him down a lot for the sake of the team.

[Yojimbo]

Here's Part 4, mostly about casting.

Part 5: Casting Green Lantern and Superman

Part 6: Casting Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl

Part 7: Secret Origins and In Blackest Night

Part 8: The Enemy Below, Paradise Lost, War World

Part 9: The Brave and The Bold, Fury, Legends.

First time I heard that story about "Legends" but I love the episode even more now.

Part 10. About "Injustice For All" and "The Demon Within"

[animagic1]

Interesting read.

Thanks for posting these, guys.

[DBTrilogy100]

The site now has Part 11 up, discussing "Metamorphosis" and "The Savage Time".

They brought up some of the creepy aspects about Simon Stagg and the idea of how "The Savage Time" was thought of.

[Wonderwall]

First time I heard that story about "Legends" but I love the episode even more now.

Which part are you talking about. iread it the other day but nothing jumped at me that I hadn't heard from the commentary track from the first season set.

The site now has Part 11 up, discussing "Metamorphosis" and "The Savage Time".

They brought up some of the creepy aspects about Simon Stagg and the idea of how "The Savage Time" was thought of.

I think that was the one good part of Stagg but I still thought he was a poor villain. For whatever reason the corn that Bruce talks about I just didn't like while I love it in Legends or This Little Piggy( though not as much as Legends ). Gotta get caught up on these.

[BigFatHairyDeal]

It gave us the chance to give Wonder Woman a mini-romance, it’s her first kiss from a man.

Oh yeah, that opens a can of worms, for sure.

I enjoyed the anecdote about Hitler and how his genocide plans made him a less efficient conqueror. Very interesting.

We were definitely more comfortable with the show at that point, Superman doesn’t get his ass kicked quite as badly throughout that show, because at that point we realized we had a problem and were taking steps to avoid that.

Many years ago, for a joke I watched this episode and decided to count how many times each JL member screamed in pain in this 3-parter, and if memory serves, Superman won big time, followed by J'onn in a distant second, although everyone else was a distant third or worse.

[Yojimbo]

Which part are you talking about. iread it the other day but nothing jumped at me that I hadn't heard from the commentary track from the first season set.

The Marvel part. It's been awhile since I watched with commentary.

I think that was the one good part of Stagg but I still thought he was a poor villain.

Correct if I'm wrong, but I remember years ago, users were debating what happened to Stagg at the end and I think it was Bruce Timm who flatly stated "He's dead." That was probably the highlight of the episode discussion. Not the first and not the last of many deaths on the show.

[Wonderwall]

The Marvel part. It's been awhile since I watched with commentary.

Oh right the Avengers bit, yea didn't know that part either.

[Dusty]

I am loving these articles, (it's also cool that they used my JL desktop for the 8th article too, lol.) Anyways, after reading these, I was so surprised that when I saw the episodes back when they first aired, I had almost the exact same reactions to them that the creators did, lol.
(can't fight urge... I feel one of my "JL season one rules" moments coming on...)
...I still just can't fathom how so many people disliked the first season of JL so much... as it was so much fun, action packed, well animated and written, bright colored, yet also dark when needed. But yeah it was just so cool... it didn't feel so "forced" (lack of a better word) I mean there are a few episodes in the latter seasons I liked, but a lot of the time for me, the show just felt really forced or was written just to please certain fans and what not, (which then again was the majority I suppose, maybe I'm just a freak or something for liking the first season most, lol.) The latter seasons and JLU IMO... did not feel as fresh and fun, or as well done as the first.
Biggest thing was people complained about Superman's powers... (which again I never understood, as he got destroyed far more in every episode of STAS but he was alone in that show, so he HAD to finish the job himself,) but he still barely managed to do so... plus he would have Supergirl save his butt on a few occasions, or Batman... ("The Demon Reborn" ughhhh, so lame.) Anyways James Tucker even pointed that out in the actual "behind the Justice League" feature on the season set and in these recent interviews... but whatever I guess, because after all the complaining... BT and Co. went ahead and upped Superman in more than just powers, they pumped him full of testosterone and jerk-wad-ness. His attitude IMO was made so bad it was to the point to where it didn't feel like I was watching Superman anymore... more like, I was just watching a show with Batman, GL, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl,... And some dude who threatens to kill other dudes, is cocky, and has more of a bad attitude than Batman, HG, and GL combined. It was almost the same thing with Wonder Woman, I originally loved this take on her. I thought the first season of JL and her DTV were the best representations of her on screen. But sooo many people complained about her too... (that was an even bigger mystery to me, as she was pretty darn powerful and awesome in the first season... but as with Superman her character was changed almost completely... again IMO... it was overkill, as she too became very jerk-wad-ish... just like Superman.
Though, I still enjoyed a few later episodes of the show, but there were many times that I just got to the point where I began zoning out when WW or Superman came on screen. I liked "Twilight" when it first aired, or at least most of it, again I wasn't fond of the snarky Superman and his willing to kill Darkseid and in doing so allow Orion to die too. Again it kind of went downhill from there for Superman and WW's personalities in further episodes.


Okay, I really, really am done now, I am stepping off my soapbox... you may allow the tomatoes to be thrown and the public humiliation to commence!!!
Also I look forward to more of these articles. Thanks for the original link BigFatHairyDeal, and also thanks for all the other links Yojimbo!



D.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Funny how War World got groans. I thought The Demon Within was by far the worst episode of Season One. J'onn willingly betrays the League, but it's never brought up again and wiped right under the carpet.

Interesting, though, that the article claims that the one hour format really brought in the ratings. It's a shame that modern titles are shunning multi-part episodes, because they're really the highlight of Justice League.

[Wonderwall]

I didn't like Demon Within back then but I like it more since rewatching it on DVD. It wasn't so much as J'onn willingly betraying them as Morgan La Fey using her influence on him during a moment where he was feeling vulnerable. He was able to break out of it on his own and save the world. Aside from being friends and teammates they wouldn't need to hold it over him.

[Gold Guy]

Interesting, though, that the article claims that the one hour format really brought in the ratings. It's a shame that modern titles are shunning multi-part episodes, because they're really the highlight of Justice League.

I agree, I loved the 1-hour setup, it was less annoying than the generic "to-be-continued" sign at the end.

Anyway, as someone who loves Justice League, I have really been enjoying these articles!

[ToonEGuy]

Bruce's comments on "The Enemy Below" are interesting cause he seems to acknowledge one of my main gripes about most digital cartoons having coloring that looks too bright, and it sounded like he wasn't completely happy with the look of the original Justice League because of that. I'm glad that they toned down the colors when they made Justice League Unlimited, cause that's one of the reasons I find it artistically better overall than the first series and why I just enjoy watching those episodes more.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

I agree, I loved the 1-hour setup, it was less annoying than the generic "to-be-continued" sign at the end.

Anyway, as someone who loves Justice League, I have really been enjoying these articles!

Yeah, although the DVDs have the episodes split in two so I think that sort of hurts the structuring on both episodes because the first half has to build up to a cliffhanger. I noticed in the Justice League Unlimited special feature about switching formats that it make doing comedy episodes easier, but I think it would have been just as easy to pull a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and pull two storylines across a full 42-44 minute episode.

[Yojimbo]

First 4 episodes of season 2 in Part 12