Cartoon Network Spin-off Possible

From ign.com:

Cartoon Network has tentative plans to develop an all-anime/action channel. Click here for the details. Now, that's some really cool news. I do think the U.S. needs an all-anime network, it having grown so rapidly in popularity over the past few years. And we have Pokémon to thank somewhat for bringing anime into mainstream U.S. pop culture. But unless they feature more subbed titles than dubbed, I'd rather not see an all-anime network as much as I would one with a mix of US and Japanese action cartoons.

Of course, I'm only saying this because I'd very much like to see the original Transformers on the air again, and such a network would certainly have them considered to be picked up for the schedule. It might also give me a chance to see limited-syndication series like "Voltron: The Third Dimension" and "War Planets" which I may never get to see unless they're released on video.


New Batman Beyond Article... FIFTEEN PAGES LONG!!!

I've been bursting at the seams to spill the beans on this...

The Winter Edition (Volume 1, #4) of AnimeFantastique has an incredibly in-depth article on Batman Beyond, written by Dennis Fischer. Okay, so it's not actually 15 full pages - 2 of them are opening splash pages with the logo and Terry as Batman. And you gotta love this opening teaser: He de-powered the Power Rangers and forced ABC to endure One rough Saturday Morning.

This article is overflowing with some very specific details on the characters, backgrounds and a great deal of insight into the production and development of the series. I'm typing up the highlights of the article in the context of a review (so everything's legal and such) which will be featured in the next issue of Batman: The Animated Newsletter.

Several of the "key players" for the show were interviewed extensively for this article - Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett and also voice director Andrea Romano. There are also recent photos of each of them (except Romano) in their "natural habitat". It's easily the most detailed and informative article published on BB to date. Also included are a number of background pics (free of any characters mucking up your detailed viewing of them), screen grabs, model sheets, details on the voice characterizations, 2 pages on the show's design, and an episode guide of the whole first season with "behind-the-scenes" details from Timm, Dini and Burnett.

Just to whet your appetite, here are a few samples from the article.

Oh, a word of caution - POTENTIAL SPOILERS HERE:

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On Terry's past, from Alan Burnett:

"We are... starting to add to his background. A few years before [Terry became Batman], he was actually in juvenile hall... things had gotten that bad for him. So he's a troubled kid who is now making good and is determined to proven himself beyond just avenging his father's death."

Paul Dini further explains:

"Initially, when we [were developing Terry's character], and told his story with him avenging his father's death, we asked, 'What's going to come up?' Theoretically, he's avenged his father's death and brought [those to justice] who did it; why should he go on being Batman? We decided to... tweak it and give him more of an ongoing mission and responsibility."

According to Dini, a Batman who ahs been a lawbreaker himself will likely have more compassion for the criminals he apprehends: "We want to make him into somebody who has seen both sides of the law so there will be some compassion there. But there will also be a sense of responsibility to society as a whole."

Alan Burnett on Derek Powers:

"We [wanted] a central villain for the series, at least for the first season. But the time this gets published, you'll find out that he dies in the thirteenth show." [I guess that puts to rest any rumors of Blight's having survived that episode. --G]

On the Background Music:

This one should be kinda obvious to some, but the inspiration for BB's "orchestration" came from Bruce Timm's providing Shirley Walker with music by Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie and the Propellerheads, telling her, "If you guys are going to get this gig, the music has got to sound really ballsy, has to sound much nastier than you have ever envisioned before."

Paul Dini on Censorship:

"The biggest complaint [from the censors] was about sexuality. I have a number of really, really excellent artists on staff who just excel at drawing pretty girls, and I have a lot of really red-blooded males doing the storyboards... so they truly like to push the envelope in terms of good girl art."

Dini on the possibility of "returning" villains:

"A lot of our [new] villains [have] their origin in the older villains. Spellbinder comes from the same family as the Mad Hatter. We've only really featured one of the old villains, Mr. Freeze, [though] Bane [had a cameo appearance] in his old, old age... which isn't all that good for him. That's all you'll ever see of him. Ra's Al Ghul is in there somewhere, and we haven't dealt with him yet, though we have a couple of ideas that we'll hold back on until we figure out what we want to do for sure. For the most part, we're going to hit new villains in this series and not have resurrections going on." [This puts to rest yet more rumors rather matter-of-factly. -G]

And one other detail fans will be interested to know - Bruce Wayne does regain control of his company.

I'll have a full review of the article for BTAN this weekend, which I will again post here after it's published for those who don't subscribe or who can't wait for Harley to post up the latest issue.

To subscribe to BTAN, write to juno@direct.ca and type "Subscribe" and your e-mail address in the subject field.

And if any of you want to know how to obtain a copy of AnimeFantastique for yourself, it could be a little troublesome to obtain a copy. From my observation, it has very limited distribution. I was fortunate that I had advance notice seeing Batman Beyond pictured for the cover in Previews 2 months ago and immediately put my order in for it. I even posted about it here, if anyone remembers. Since my order came in at the local comic shop last Wednesday, I have not seen the mag available anywhere else.

However, you can order it directly or call an 800 number to find the location nearest you offering it. The details for this can be found on the FAQs page for CinemaFantastique's Official Site.

Interesting side-note here: Pokémon is spelled incorrectly in the article as "Pokeman". And the name of this mag is AnimeFantastique. There goes my idea of the obsessively-attentive-to-detail otaku (devoted anime fan) stereotype.

New Iron Giant Article

Also included in this latest issue of AnimeFantastique is a 4-page article on Iron Giant. It features more lovely pre-production art (including a rough CGI of IG himself), rough sketches of Annie and Dean, a model sheet and lots of quotes from Director Brad Bird. A very thorough article overall.


Batman Beyond in TV Guide

I didn't get any advance notice on this one - and if it hadn't been for BTAN, I'd have missed it entirely. I found a copy of this barely in time - got the last copy on the shelf after visiting 6 different locations. It was the October 9-15 issue of TV Guide, which has now been replaced with the current edition. (Good luck to all trying to find a copy now). But it's a nice, short little article on Batman Beyond by Frank DeCaro. Timm, Dini and Burnett are all interviewed briefly.

I was pleased to see these comments from the "Terrific Trio":

"The show we're doing now is exactly what I would have related to as a kid," says Burnett. "We like to write smart stories that appeal to the 12-year-old in us. Adds Timm, "We are the fans of the show. We make it to please us." To which Dini adds, "We're not the first people to work on [Batman] or the last. But it's nice to think our version of Batman is a show that people someday will think of as a good show from when they were growing up."

The article closes with this comment from Timm, "After Batman Beyond, I hope we can go on to something without black pointy ears."

Another interesting side-note:

The author of this article is the same Frank DeCaro who does the "Let's Go Out At the Movies" *gay* film review on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show". Read the article in that context, and it almost seems a little awkward. But who takes "The Daily Show" seriously anyway, right?

Osmosis Jones Title Change

It has been confirmed by Animation Artist that the WB is indeed changing the name for the next feature-length animated film formerly known as "Osmosis Jones". However, they have not yet decided what the name will be.

New Collectibles @ The WBSS

Besides the new P&TB shirt that came out recently, there is also a brand spanky-new P&TB yo-yo. And no, this isn't that cheap plastic blue one that was previously released. This is a high-quality officially licensed product of the Yomega: The Yo-Yo With A Brain... and in more ways than one for this particular product. ;-) The design is transparent plastic, with only one side featuring pics of the mice's heads over a bluish hypnotic-type background. It's selling for $12, but that's what most high-qual yo-yos are selling for these days, them being as popular as Pokémon in the last year.

I also thought I'd mention that Animaniacs Splat Ball is available in Sears' 1999 Wish Book. My copy from Southpeak's PR-Guy Bob Chase should arrive any day now (or so I've been told), but I can't find that it's reached any stores yet in my area, or that Southpeak has even released the game. I heard Ron "Keeper" O'Dell somehow got an advance copy. Lucky for him. I did get an advance copy of the new Wild Wild West interactive game based on the movie, but I didn't think any of you would care.

And one final item and I'm done. I stopped at Toys R Us 2 days ago and found they're putting tons of stuff on clearance to make room for Christmas inventory. I found a copy of the interactive/electronic "Super Look & Find Animaniacs" book from WB Reading/Publications International for a very very low price, and a copy of P&TB's "Interactive Coloring Book", a CD-ROM title from Southpeak's Crazy Paint line, which I also paid literally nothing for.

That's all for now.

Gookie