The Dark Knight Returns Part 1, based on Frank Miller’s classic graphic novel, is due out in fall of this year, with Part 2 following in 2013. Peter Weller, best known as Robocop but always Buckaroo Banzai in my heart, voices Batman, with Ariel Winter (Modern Family) as Robin. Harvey Dent is played by Wade Williams, and Michael McKean is Dr. Wolper, a psychiatrist who lets the Joker out of Arkham Asylum.

The Hollywood Reporter has an image gallery, from which these pictures were taken.

The first clip released shows the Elite arriving, with a poor puppy dog getting the worst of the encounter:

They’re led by Manchester Black, played by Robin Atkin Downes.

Three more video clips briefly introduce the various members, all created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke. In order, it’s Coldcast (voiced by Catero Colbert) with electromagnetic powers; Menagerie (Melissa Disney), the bat-woman with pet snakes; and The Hat (Andrew Kishino), my favorite, because it’s such a silly yet unbeatable superpower, having a magic hat, and a ridiculous reduction of the character he’s inspired by, the Authority’s Doctor.

I wasn’t previously aware of Adventures by Disney, which promises to provide “immersive, hassle-free, and unforgettable group guided-family vacation experiences to destinations in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.” Disney’s recreated France, Germany, and the like at Walt Disney World; for sites like the Great Wall of China or the ruins of Pompeii, they can’t bring them to Florida, but they aim to provide the same level of service in taking you to them.

Given the strong sense of place present in many Pixar films, it doesn’t surprise me that the Scottish setting is being promoted as a key part of Brave, as well as something else for Disney to sell as a source of everlasting family memories. The new Adventures by Disney tour of Scotland promises a “9-day, 8-night quest through Edinburgh, the Isle of Skye, the Isle of Lewis, and Inverness [and] takes families through the rugged Highlands, allowing them to experience first-hand the history, culture, nature, legends, and lore of Scotland that inspired Merida’s story of bravery. … For “Scotland: A Brave Adventure,” Adventures by Disney’s trip-planning specialists worked directly with the expert storytellers on Pixar’s Brave production team to incorporate the castles, landscapes, and legends that inspired the lush settings and memorable characters in the film -– creating a Scotland experience that could only come from Disney.”

Or God, depending on whom you wish to credit for those landscapes. It sounds like quite the active vacation, with plenty of hands-on activities, including Highland Games, making pastries, lessons in Celtic music, horseback riding, archery, and tapestry-making, as well as private guided tours of the National Museum of Scotland and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Scottish home of the Royal Family. No prices are available yet, but based on the Egypt trip they offer, it’ll be over $5000 a person. Plus airfare.

Shawn (David Henrie) is going to spend at week at the house where his mother grew up, one where he will discover an amazing secret: There are little people in the walls who live on discards they scrounge from the human “beans”. But first, there’s the drive through the detailed recreation of a Japanese city. As the car moves through the credit sequence, we go with it into a more wholesome, heartwarming world.

The Secret World of Arrietty

But then, I expected no less from a Studio Ghibli release. The animation is beautiful, creating a place to get lost in. Nature is always a partner of our existence, and scenes with the teenage Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) scampering through the outdoors, fleeing the cat, are some of my favorites. I also adore the way she’s turned her room into a jungle, with flowers and leaves everywhere, and a later rain scene is equally impressive in its skillful drawing.

Arrietty and her parents (Amy Poehler and Will Arnett) are discovered by Shawn after she goes on her first borrowing trip with her father. The cleverness of their inventions, like the rock and string elevator and the way they reuse bits of castoffs, have always impressed me. (Many are taken from the original book by Mary Norton, The Borrowers.)

The conflict revolves around a fundamental question: how much can we trust those not like us? Arrietty would like to believe that Shawn wants to help them, but the adults are fearful of any notice from the big people, believing it will only bring them danger. Sadly, they turn out to be correct, as the housekeeper (Carol Burnett) is determined to prove herself right about the little people in the floor. Burnett does an amazing job, by the way, with a number of scenes punctuated only by sounds — chuckles, humming, muttering, and similar noises we make to ourselves.

I’ve previously linked to the movie trailer as well as a series of clips if you’d like to see samples of the movie.

Throughout the story, I felt relaxed, allowing myself to sink into this escape. Although there are scenes of both adventure and danger, those, too, were reassuring in their artistic achievement. It was just what I needed, to visually soak in these beautiful images and reminders of what’s important: family and friends. Between the scenes of little people life and the garden environment of the home, the movie is full of imagination in so many ways.

This story is perfect for animation, since the characters of various sizes can be drawn without worry about matching up special effects. It’s a gorgeous film with an involving story, although what happens isn’t the only point. How it happens — or rather, the way we see it unfold, in a fully realized drawn world — is the true source of enjoyment. This may very well be my new favorite Ghibli film.

Special Features

The two-disc Blu-ray combo pack comes with a DVD copy of the movie and these extras:

• The original Japanese storyboards — I was amazing to see this was the entire 94-minute film in storyboard form, with the soundtrack played on top.
• 14 minutes of Japanese trailers and TV spots, with English captions — These are very repetitive in imagery, using the same few shots from the movie, but fans will like seeing how the film was promoted in its home country. No menu listing is provided, only chapter stops to move through the 27 clips. Near the end are five or so insurance company tie-in ads.
• A music video for “Arrietty’s Song”, performed by singer/ songwriter/ harpist Cécile Corbel. There aren’t any movie clips included, just performance footage with some nature images inspired by the film. The clips were put in the other video, see below.

The only extras on the DVD edition are a music video for “Summertime”, performed by Bridgit Mendler, voice of Arrietty, with a certain amount of twang, and a two-minute making-of for that music video. I would rather not have seen Mendler in person, since she comes across as a typical Disney starlet-in-training. Her portrayal doesn’t match my view of the Arrietty character, although it is nice to hear that she wrote the song herself. These two features can also be seen on the Blu-ray.

The movie soundtrack is available in English, French, or Japanese, and/or with subtitles in English, French, or English for the hearing-impaired. (The studio provided a review copy.)

Iron Man Anime

Iron Man Anime is a two-disc set, with six episodes on each disc running about 23 1/2 minutes an episode. When you start it up, the default is subtitled with Japanese audio. It’s also possible to run them dubbed, with an English audio track, in which Tony Stark is played by Adrian Pasdar. The credits are in Japanese, not subtitled, so I don’t know why Jeph Loeb, Alan Fine, and Dan Buckley were listed. (Although since Loeb is now head of Marvel Television, that probably explains his credit.)

I couldn’t get used to Tony Stark speaking Japanese and looking so much like a blow-dried 80s yuppie. The strong shadows would have worked better for me in a manga, but then a figure would move, and it reminded me of David Bowie’s “Blue Jean” video, with the shaded face paint.

The Iron Man armor, which is computer-generated animation, is a much more effective visual, but not enough so for me to keep watching the cartoon. Since I didn’t see enough to be sure I was getting the whole plot, here’s how the studio describes it:

Tony Stark arrives in Japan to help implement his goal of world peace by building the Arc Reactor, a carbon-neutral power plant, that once operational will be able to provide limitless (thus free) energy to the world. Set to retire his Iron Man persona, and about to mass-produce a line of Iron Man armor known as “Iron Man Dio”, Stark’s plans are derailed by a series of high-tech Mech monsters. Zodiac, a top secret organization funded by the terrorist group A.I.M., is out to disrupt the Arc Station, steal the Dio armor, and put an end to Iron Man.

When I first turned on the dubbing, I forgot to turn off the subtitles, and I was amused by the mismatches. Most were due to the audio elements being longer than the visual text, but a couple did change, such as when a sleeping co-worker is awakened. On the screen, it reads, “I’m full…” but the English dialogue says, “One more sake,” giving a very different impression of the nap. Because of the additional information in the audio dialogue, I recommend watching these dubbed.

If my experience is anything to go by, though, this is for collectors only, those who want every Iron Man DVD available or those who follow Madhouse’s anime releases. I’m not sure superhero fans will like the different visual look, and anime fans have a lot more entertaining choices available, shows that were envisioned as such to begin with. If you’d like to see for yourself, here’s a clip featuring the Tony Stark character:

and one with Iron Man:

Special Features

There are a small number of bonus features, but they’re your typical promotional pieces, short and lacking depth. Disc one has two special features:

“The Marvel Anime Universe: Re-Imagining Iron Man” (10 minutes) praises how superior anime is to Western animation, especially if you look at the character as a mecha. Warren Ellis (credited for story) participates, along with several executives, who summarize the plot and visuals. Lots of mention of the “Marvel universe” and its importance, but no mention of specific creators (unless talking about the animation studio Madhouse as one entity counts).

“Voicing Tony Stark: Interview With Keiji Fujiwara” (5 minutes) is subtitled footage of the actor answering a few questions about playing the character. With his shades and his goatee and a little age in his face, I’d watch him play Tony in live action.

Disc two has another two:

“21st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man” (7 1/2 minutes) features the same folks as in the Anime Universe segment talking about how forward-looking the armor is and a little about the character’s comic history and changing visuals.

“Special Cross Talk: Marvel Anime’s Iron Man and Wolverine” (29 minutes) puts four Japanese creators, two for each character, into a blank white room, where they talk to each other about their experience working on these properties.

X-Men Anime

X-Men Anime

There is also an X-Men Anime, with the plot described as follows:

The X-MEN are reunited following the death of a teammate and are summoned by Charles Xavier to Japan following the abduction of Hisako Ichiki. There, they confront the U-MEN, a lunatic cult that steals and transplants mutant organs to further strengthen its own army, and the battle for justice is on. Discovering a series of bizarre occurrences in the area, the X-Men investigate, only to be confronted with a terrible truth that will force them to confront long buried secrets.

The special features on that set are:

“The Marvel Anime Universe: Re-Examining the X-Men” (9 minutes, disc one) has the same talking heads and general puff-piece approach as the similar Iron Man featurette.

“X-Men: A Team of Outsiders” (10 1/2 minutes, disc one) mentions more of the comic history and the team’s concept.

“Special Talk Session: Marvel Anime’s X-Men and Blade” (32 minutes, disc two) starts off as a behind-the-scenes documentary, where several of the creators discuss their preconceptions of the brands. Then the four of them wind up sitting together and talking. Instead of a white room, they get a picture window with high-rises behind them.

I’m sorry this is such a minimal review, but I was disappointed that I wasn’t grabbed more by these offerings, and I’d rather spend more time on works that are exciting me these days. (The studio provided review copies.)

Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous

This DVD is based on the Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous book, collecting Astonishing X-Men #7–12 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. In that story, the Danger Room becomes sentient and tries to take revenges on its “oppressors” by sending a Sentinel after them. It feels to this viewer as though I’ve come into the middle of a story, with various characters referring to prior events and dealing with the aftermath of the previous story, so you may want to rewatch Gifted before viewing this.

The limited animation, presented in six 9-to-11-minute chapters (the credits run an additional minute and a half), is as effective as ever — by which I mean the actual movement is kept to small sections of the screen (as when only the lips move) or particular visual tricks (such as blurring), but it’s selected purposefully to enhance what would otherwise be a filmstrip soundtrack. Unfortunately, the voice work isn’t particularly good. Colossus has the exaggerated Russian accent, for example, but the voices don’t evoke any emotion in the listener.

Unlike the other motion comics, this disc has no special features, just the ability to play the episodes all together or individually. Also, the Fantastic Four guest-star; Ben Grimm’s animation is particularly off-putting. You can see the two teams together briefly in this clip:

The Secret World of Arrietty

The Blu-ray Combo Pack release of the animated movie about little people living in the walls of houses (based on Mary Norton’s book The Borrowers) will include the following special features:

• The storyboard version of the film
• Original Japanese trailers and TV commercials
• Music video for “Summertime” performed by Disney Channel star Bridgit Mendler, who is also the speaking voice of Arrietty
• The making-of that music video
• Music video for “Arrietty’s Song”, performed by singer/songwriter/harpist Cécile Corbel
• DVD version of the movie

The DVD edition includes only the “Summertime” video and making-of. I’ve previously posted clips of the movie if you’d like to see more of The Secret World of Arrietty.

Whisper of the Heart	Castle in the Sky

Along with this debut on U.S. home video, Disney is releasing two more Studio Ghibli movies on Blu-ray on the same day. I’m thrilled to see that one of them is my favorite, Whisper of the Heart. It’s not as fantastic as many of the others (by which I mean, it’s more realistic in tone, with fewer imaginary creatures); instead, it’s a quieter but still charming story about a young girl falling in love, screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki. It’s a great pairing for the female-centered Arrietty.

Bonus features include the original Japanese storyboards, the Japanese trailers and TV ads, and “Behind the Microphone”, showing the voice talent and footage from the dubbing sessions. Those are carried over from the previous two-disc DVD, but there’s an additional feature described that isn’t listed in that edition. It’s described as the chance to “watch the evolution of four different scenes by master artist Naohisa Inoue”.

Also being upgraded to Blu-ray is Castle in the Sky, about a boy (James Van Der Beek) and girl (Anna Paquin) seeking the legendary floating castle of Laputa. This one is directed by Miyazaki and includes an introduction by John Lasseter, the original storyboards, and a set of featurettes about creating the movie, including an interview with Miyazaki himself.

Shazzan was one of my favorite childhood cartoon shows. It first aired on CBS in the fall of 1967, as part of the wave of shows drifting away from the funny animal characters of earlier years. These cartoons were slightly more mature and provided more heroic adventure series (some superheroic and some not). Some of these other shows included Space Ghost, the semi-lighthearted Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles, and The Herculoids (which originally aired just before Shazzan on Saturday mornings). Many of my peers were probably watching The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man — which aired at the same time on ABC — but I hadn’t encountered the Marvel characters yet, because of Marvel’s erratic distribution of their comic books at the time.

As a 10-year-old viewer, I liked Shazzan plenty, initially, but as the show went on, I started to realize that all the cartoons were pretty similar, except for different bad guys. So when the show went into reruns (most Saturday morning cartoon series only produced 13 or so new episodes every season, with most repeating episodes three or four times over a year), it was easy to switch over to watching Spidey and the “other” Fab Four. (The “real” Fab Four — The Beatles — also had their own cartoon series during this era.) So, for Marvel, I saw the cartoons first, and then got into the comic books later.

Waiting for the Collection

Much later, I discovered that the legendary comic book artist Alex Toth had provided the designs for Shazzan (and for many other Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the era — most notably Space Ghost and The Herculoids). I wanted to see those Shazzan cartoons again, but they were long gone from television by then, unless you were lucky enough to live near a big city that was syndicating the old HB cartoons. (I wasn’t.) Later, I always just missed their sporadic appearances on Cartoon Network or Boomerang. When Hanna-Barbera was eventually absorbed into Time Warner, Warner Brothers finally started assembling DVD season sets featuring HB’s heroic adventure era. After they first released the more popular Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and Jetsons sets beginning in 2004, I was hoping that Shazzan would ultimately be a part of that.

Unfortunately, the economy decreed otherwise. When it took a turn for the worst, sales of old Saturday morning animation went into a tailspin, causing WB/HB to “postpone” many of the projects that they were planning. Only now, years later, are those projects finally reaching fruition through the wonderful Warner Archives “by demand” program.

Warner Archives Comes Through!

Now, all 18 episodes of Shazzan (36 individual cartoons) are available as a two-DVD set. It also includes “The Power of Shazzan” featurette that previously appeared on the WB Saturday Morning Cartoons: The 1970s Volume 2 DVD set.

As usual for the Warner Archives releases, the cartoons are “as is” (i.e. no remastering), but other than a few minor color shifts from age and a few audio anomalies — one of which is an audible “stretching” defect in the opening credits that repeats throughout the series — this collection of 45-year-old cartoons is much nicer than you’d expect it to be. There are nine episodes per disc, and each is fully chapter stopped, in case you want to skip directly to the second cartoon in each episode, or skip the opening, the introductory segment (which explains the show’s premise), or the end credits — which get rapidly repetitive in “play all” mode.

Show Notes

The show is called Shazzan (for obvious reasons), but the series is based on the adventures of two teenage siblings, Chuck and Nancy. (Their surname is never given.) As the introduction to each episode tells us, the kids find a mysterious pair of rings which, when joined together, form the magic word Shazzan. After the first time they try this, they are magically transported to the fabled land of the Arabian Knights (otherwise not specifically identified), where they meet their magic genie, Shazzan.

Like most magic genies, Shazzan is giant-sized (like 50 feet tall, or taller), immediately presenting a challenge to the animators trying to get all three characters in the same shot. Generally, Shazzan picks the siblings up in his giant hand, leading to lots of long shots of the giant Shazzan holding two tiny specks, or close-up shots of the kids in Shazzan’s huge hand with the big giant head of Shazzan looking on. Get used to these shots — you’ll be seeing them over and over (and over) throughout this DVD set.

Shazzan explains the “rules” of the ring to the kids. He will do whatever they ask of him (none of that “only three wishes” stuff). However, the one thing he cannot do is take them home, until they deliver the rings to their rightful owner — whoever that is. Shazzan never tells them, although you would think that he knows, being his former “master(s)” and all…

Shazzan also gives the kids a flying camel to help them get around. (Maybe so they don’t have to bother him about that.) The camel’s name is Kaboobie — and he is one of my favorites of a long line of cowardly HB animals. Kaboobie also talks (sorta), although he doesn’t actually speak understandable words. In fact, it’s voice actor Don Messick doing a proto-Scooby Doo voice — two years before Scooby made his debut. Hearing it today, Kaboobie often sounds like a drunken (or stoned?) Scooby Doo, getting so close to actual words, but just falling short. I never noticed as a kid, but this cracked me up as an adult — whenever Nancy was riding Kaboobie, she always demurely rode him sidesaddle.

Because both Chuck and Nancy each wear one of the magic Shazzan-summoning rings, a recurring formula of the series is to figure out new ways to keep the twins separated, thus heightening the suspense and delaying the inevitable appearance of Shazzan — which as kids, we were impatiently waiting for.

What Is Judy Jetson Doing in the Desert?

Shazzan was voiced by the late Barney Phillips, a film and TV actor best known for recurring roles on the original Dragnet and Twelve O’Clock High, and for a featured role in the Twilight Zone episode “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” For Hanna-Barbera, Phillips was the voice of Porthos on The Three Musketeers cartoon shown on The Banana Splits Show.

Chuck was voiced by Jerry Dexter, a voice actor who specialized in young men, including Aqualad, Alan M. on Josie and the Pussycats, and Ted on Goober and the Ghost Chasers, among many others. The very recognizable voice of Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson, Penelope Pitstop, Josie in Josie and the Pussycats) was the voice of Nancy. And as previously mentioned, Don Messick was the voice of Kaboobie, as well as various bad guys on the series. You can hear a little of everyone in this clip:

One other piece of audio trivia: Many of the music cues and unique sound effects heard in Shazzan were first created for the original Jonny Quest show, and later recycled (as virtually everything at HB was) for other shows, including Shazzan. Listen for them!

Um… Wait a Minute…

Shazzan is one of those series that only kids can really love because they don’t care about background or motivations or unanswered questions — which this series revels in — and ultimately nothing is resolved. (Spoiler Alert: the series doesn’t have a final episode. The kids never get home — or at least we never see it.) There are other disturbing elements to this series that are never explored. We don’t know much about how the kids live when Shazzan is not around. In one cartoon, we’re shown that the kids summon him when they need to eat, and he provides a feast. But what about shelter? The same episode shows the kids sleeping on the floor of a cave. Can Shazzan not conjure up a place for them to live? Or do they have to ask him first?

Plus, Shazzan often deals with all of the various evil genies/ monsters/ giants/ thieves that the kids encounter in violent and somewhat sadistic ways. All the while banishing foes, he is cheerfully chuckling “Ho-ho-ho-HO!” to himself. This eventually led to two things: Shazzan was one of the prime shows under attack by parents’ groups against violence on TV in children’s programming, and secondly, it was memorably, and viciously, parodied (as “Shazzang”) by Robert Smigel as part of his Saturday TV Funhouse series, which originally aired on Saturday Night Live. (It’s also on the SNL: Best of Saturday TV Funhouse DVD.)

Shazzan has also appeared on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (but what old HB character hasn’t?). Here’s a fun one — Kaboobie the camel cameoed on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Where? Here’s a hint: B’wana Beast was riding him (and not sidesaddle!).

The Outro

Shazzan is not one of the classic Hanna-Barbera series, although it is fondly remembered by those who saw it as kids for its adventure and exotic locale. Plus, the Alex Toth connection makes this a series for serious reevaluation just for that alone, although the animation isn’t up to the strength of Toth’s designs. The writing also leaves something to be desired. (Both the animation and writing are mocked in “The Power of Shazzan” featurette — by animators and animation historians yet!)

Re-watching the series as an adult, it’s difficult to watch these episodes marathon-style, as all the shortcomings and oddities are quickly brought to light. I’d recommend watching not more than a couple episodes at a time. Strangely, I would recommend Shazzan for kids, providing that adults watch along. (There will be questions.)

Let’s let the kids — Chuck and Nancy — have the final say:

NANCY: Isn’t Shazzan a wonderful genie?!
CHUCK: No kid should be without one!

(The studio provided a review copy.)

Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is the newest Princess in the Disney stable, but she’s a bit more determined and self-aware than some of their others. Her willfulness is symbolized by her wild hair (a sign of Pixar’s animation skill), and she’s got a useful skill, archery, that’s hot right now (due to the success of The Hunger Games). I’d have rather seen Pixar’s first female-starring movie NOT be a fairy tale, but I’m still curious to see the film.

I love the wild-eyed look in this concept art by Shading Art Director Tia Kratter and Character Art Director Matt Nolte. This drawing was created to define Merida’s everyday, informal dress.

Can you believe Cartoon Network is 20 years old? They’re also the #1 TV channel among boys 6-11 years old, at least in early prime time (7-9 PM). And they’re announcing plans for new and returning series.

You can read the whole lineup in Heidi’s post on the subject, but the only one that stands out to me is yet another Batman animated series. Beware the Batman will be CG animated and is being promoted as “a cool, new take on the classic Dark Knight franchise”. Here’s more from the press release:

Beware the Batman incorporates Batman’s core characters with a rogues gallery of new villains not previously seen in animated form. Along with backup from ex-secret agent Alfred and lethal swordstress Katana, the Dark Knight faces the twisted machinations of Gotham City’s criminal underworld led by the likes of Anarky, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad and Magpie.

I’m curious who will be voicing the title hero. I also giggled at the use of the word “swordstress”, since they had to emphasize that Katana’s a Girl!

Additional new shows include DreamWorks Dragons: The Series, a spinoff of How to Train Your Dragon, and planned for 2013, another Lego co-production in an attempt to replicate the success of Ninjago. Sadly, missing from the returning show list is Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. I hope that’s an oversight, because there’s plenty of mystery left!

Marvel Anime: Iron Man

The two Marvel Anime cartoon series are coming to DVD on April 24 from Marvel Animation and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Each Complete Series is a two-disc set including 12 episodes and bonus features.

The Iron Man Anime features Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) as the voice of Tony Stark, while the X-Men Anime stars Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights) as Cyclops. The Iron Man plot revolves around Tony Stark trying to create a new kind of power plant in Japan while mass-producing his armored suits. These are the special features.

• “Re-Imagining Iron Man” explores the plot and themes of the anime series.
• “21st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man” introduces fans to Tony Stark’s high-tech suits and gadgets.
• “Cross Talk” roundtable discussion with the creators of the Iron Man and Wolverine anime series.
• “Voicing Tony Stark”, an interview with Japanese actor Keiji Fujiwara.

Marvel Anime: X-Men

The X-Men travel to Japan in their series to solve a kidnapping, where they fight the U-Men, who are transplanting mutant organs into their army. Their set has similar special features.

• “Re-Examining The X-Men” takes viewers behind-the-scenes of creating the X-Men’s mutant tales.
• “X-Men: A Team of Outsiders” provides an in-depth exploration of Marvel’s most heroic and infamous mutants.
• “Talk Session” roundtable discussion with the creators of Marvel anime’s X-Men and Blade.

EB is a young rabbit and the latest in a line of Easter Bunnies. Dad (Hugh Laurie) is grooming him for his role, but as EB (Russell Brand) hits his adolescence, he decides he wants to be a rock drummer. Brand’s got just the right quality of whining and determination and unsure bravado to play a teenage runaway, as well as the overacting he’s asked to do when EB is being particularly dramatic.

Hop

Their world is full of molten chocolate, candy eggs, and marshmallow and jellied shapes in a fantastic candy factory staffed by fluffy yellow chicks. It’s reminiscent of those seen in Willy Wonka and Toys, only much more so, since there’s no physical limitation on the size or grandeur of all the many delicious treats. It looks beautiful on Blu-ray, color everywhere you look.

The candy factory as shown on the Hop movie poster

The gorgeous James Marsden is Fred, a California slacker who hasn’t found his purpose in life. (Unfortunately, he reads as a little too old for this part of the role, but I’m sure his experience working with special effects was a big help in talking to things that aren’t there.) His down-to-earth sister Sam is Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory), while his parents are Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins. Fred and EB meet when both are running away from home. Fred hits EB with his car, and after some slapstick shenanigans due to Fred’s surprise that the bunny talks, they become roommates at a convenient mansion in which Fred is house-sitting.

When EB hops off and we see giant stone heads, I said, “oh, of course they live on Easter Island, duh”. His dad sends the Pink Berets (a rabbit ninja commando squad) out to find him, while Carlos, the chick second-in-command (voiced by the marvelous Hank Azaria), aims to take over the job.

Carlos wants to be the Easter Bunny

Unfortunately, the ending of the movie is spoiled by a prologue that sets up Fred’s fate. It would have been a better, more surprising film without that knowledge ahead of time. I also, after seeing the rabbit poop jellybeans, am glad I never particularly liked that kind of candy.

The animation was glorious, imaginative, and full of detail to gather on rewatching, while the live-action provided a welcome contrast. They blend remarkably well together. It seemed real, that these fanciful creatures could be running around our world. The movie moves quickly, too, at a sprightly hour and 35 minutes.

James Marsden and EB in Hop

I found it amusing for light holiday entertainment. It can’t quite decide whether to be charming or cynical, so sometimes the tone varies, but it sure put me in the mood for a good Easter basket and chocolate bunny.

Special Features

The Blu-ray Combo Pack comes with a DVD copy and UltraViolet digital copy code. There are a bunch of extras, but they’re all only 1-3 minutes each, good for short attention spans. (The movie is also available on DVD or, for $5 more, DVD with digital copy. The DVD version from the Combo Pack includes all the same special features as the Blu-ray.)

The new mini-movie promised is “Phil’s Dance Party”, three minutes of chicks Phil and Carlos dancing against a plain white background. (In this clip, the voices are by David Mallow and Jim Cummings, respectively, not Hank Azaria.) They’re set up to be breakout characters, like the minions from Despicable Me, but for me, they don’t have the same charm. They’re more impressively animated, though, with all that yellow fluff. It’s a shame that their chunky round bodies make dance animation less than detailed. Here’s a sample:

There are six short looks, one for each of the major actors — Russell Brand, James Marsden, Hugh Laurie, Hank Azaria, and Kaley Cuoco — plus writers Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul, and Brian Lynch. They’re all very complimentary, suitable for promotional purposes. Writer Ken Daurio gets another (stupid) piece as “Phil’s choreographer”.

There’s the requisite tie-in two-and-a-half minutes with young singer Cody Simpson talking about recording a remake of “I Want Candy” as the movie’s theme song. Two more promo pieces showcase Russell Brand, whom I wasn’t too thrilled to see in person; I liked him better as the bunny. One makes rabbit references while another puts him interviewing live kids.

Beyond three games, the final two special features showcase Carlos. One sends him to the movie premiere (three-and-a-half minutes) while another, the “Post-Coup Commentary”, has Carlos narrating his version of a summary of the movie (three minutes). (The studio provided a review copy.)

Shout! Factory’s Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: The Complete Collection is another major archeological animation excavation and reclamation. First airing on CBS from 1963 to 1966, the show was the second major production from Total TeleVision (TTV) and a big stepping stone in quality to their third, Underdog. Shout! Factory’s new collection is a 6-DVD set including all 70 episodes of Tennessee Tuxedo, 38 episodes of The King and Odie, 12 episodes of Tooter Turtle, 35 episodes of The Hunter, and 5 episodes of Klondike Kat — although some of the episodes are not the same as what is listed in the accompanying program guide. (Yes, sadly, there are some technical and quality control issues with this set. I write about this in more depth in the final section below.) For material of this age, however, and considering that the show was never stored properly after the cartoons first aired (and the masters were once thought “lost”), we’re very lucky to get this much. There’s a total of 16 hours of classic television animation on this set, all at a very reasonable price.

Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales

The special features lead off with a 26-minute documentary, “Tennessee Tuxedo Never Fails!”, with interviews with TTV creative director and writer Buck Biggers, voice actors Larry Storch and Bradley Bolke, and TTV historian Mark Arnold, who also wrote the set’s accompanying 16-page booklet and was a consultant on the box set. Episode commentaries are provided by all four of the above, plus current voice actor Wally Wingert. Some (but not all — they could not be found) of the short “Riddles” segments from the original network broadcasts of the show are included. Plus, there’s a feature collecting many of the show’s interstitial, credit, and opening sequences, most all from inferior sources because the originals are either long gone or misplaced.

I’ve previously covered the animation history of TTV, as well as a description of the Tooter Turtle and Klondike Cat series, so no need to repeat those here. Also, many original viewers might remember that The World of Commander McBragg was also occasionally a part of Tennessee Tuxedo and His Pals. It was, but all those cartoons have been collected on Shout! Factory’s Underdog collection. Let’s take a look at some other TTV stars.

“Uh… Gee, Tennessee…”

Most young viewers at the time of its original 1963 broadcast (like me) didn’t realize that the Tennessee Tuxedo cartoons were educational. Pretty much every TT cartoon began when TT and his lovable, but dumb, walrus pal Chumley encountered some problem that they couldn’t solve at the Megapolis Zoo where they lived or ran into something when they frequently escaped. So they would visit their pal, a college professor named Phineas J. Whoopee (one of the great cartoon names of all time), a “Man with All the Answers”, who would help them with their questions with the aid of the Three Dimensional Blackboard (or 3DBB for short). This was the 1960s version of the iPad — except expandable to about four by six feet simply by pulling on the edges. I want one of those.

Later, armed with knowledge, TT would always thank the professor by saying, “Phineas J. Whoopee, you’re the greatest!”

Watching these cartoons today — almost 50 years after they were made — adds an entirely new level of comedy (at least for adults), as much of what Mr. Whoopee is teaching is seriously out of date, especially most everything science and technology-related. Today’s parents who are sharing these cartoons with their kids should expect strange looks, odd questions, or a lot of “That’s not right!” from today’s young brainiacs.

Tennessee and Chumley visit the Professor

The characters’ “origin story” is quite odd in that it was actually Chumley that zoo director Stanley Livingston (and his assistant Flunky) wanted, as he was a rare South Pole walrus. Tennessee simply accompanied his friend to the zoo. Something that I had forgotten, that greatly amused me — In the early episodes, Chumley frequently walked around with a big bag labeled “Oysters”, munching on them and talking at the same time. (As if he didn’t have enough trouble being understood…) Tennessee was very strong-minded (and somewhat ego-driven), constantly shouting his catchphrase “Tennessee Tuxedo will not fail!” — usually as he was just about to fail and needed Mr. Whoopee’s help.

Other recurring characters in the cartoons include Tennessee and Chumley’s zoo pals, Yakkety Yak and Baldy the Eagle, as well as Tennessee’s rival Jerboa Jump, a kangaroo rat, and his henchman, the boxing Tiger Tornado. They also ran afoul of a machine gun-toting gangster named Rocky Maninoff, who often referred to them as “bo-bo’s”.

If you loved corny puns and bad humor, Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales was your show — starting with the pun in the title. (“Tuxedo and tails”, get it?) It was probably funnier back then, when more people actually wore tuxedos other than for prom. There were a lot more bad jokes on the show, many used as interstitials (show transitions) between the cartoons, and a few of these are also on the DVD.

“Would You Believe…?”

Don Adams

Probably the most memorable thing about Tennessee Tuxedo was his voice, provided by comedian Don Adams shortly before his starring role as Maxwell Smart on Get Smart in 1965. Adams was also another famous animation voice — that of Inspector Gadget. Amazingly, he pretty much used the same voice on all three shows, which Adams claimed was an exaggeration of The Thin Man actor William Powell’s voice. Between these three shows and his popular stand-up (and recording) career, Adams must have set some sort of record for voicing the largest number of memorable catch-phrases in entertainment history. Go-Go-Gadget Catchphrase!

Larry Storch was the other famous voice on Tennessee Tuxedo, voicing Professor Phineas J. Whoopee. Said to be an imitation of actor Frank Morgan (the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz), Storch’s voice for Whoopee sounds nothing like the real Larry, better known as Sgt. Agarn on F-Troop, in films like The Great Race, and dozens of guest appearances on sitcoms, variety shows, and movies. His other animation voices include The Joker (The Batman/Superman Hour) — the first actor to do so — and the near-forgotten Warner Bros. character Cool Cat, star of the very last WB theatrical cartoon in the classic era. Storch is also to “blame” for Cary Grant being associated with the phrase “Judy, Judy, Judy”, something that Grant never said. Storch used the phrase when he impersonated Grant in his stand-up performances.

Chumley the Walrus was voiced by Bradley Bolke (pronounced “Bowl-kee”). He was not the original Chumley voice, as that voice actor was replaced by Bolke after six episodes. He later “looped” his voice into those episodes, but there’s a few places in episode three (“The Lamplighters”) where you can hear the original voice. Bolke’s career as a voice artist was brief, but he also voiced Jangle the Elf in Rankin-Bass’ The Year Without a Santa Claus.

The King and I

The King and Odie continued from the first TTV show, King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (1960). When that show went off the air in 1963, the series continued (as The King and Odie) on Tennessee Tuxedo.

Leonardo was the goodhearted but inept king of Bongo Congo, a small fictional African nation. His mild-mannered, but very effective, assistant was a skunk named Odie Cologne, a bad pun on Eau de Cologne. The King and Odie were surrounded by misguided (or downright bad) folks who caused plenty of trouble and frequently attempted to take over Bongo Congo by overthrowing Leonardo. Primary in this was Leonardo’s ne’re-do-well (and incompetent) brother, Itchy. He was usually referred to as “Itchy Brother” and frequently teamed with a gangster rat named Biggie Rat. (I remember that the “bad” kids in my neighborhood were referred to as “Biggie Rats” for a number of years, even by some parents.) Biggie employed an evil German scientist/ inventor named Professor Messer (German for large knife or sword) and occasionally got help from the flirtatious Carlotta, who just happened to be Odie’s sister.

In the new cartoons produced for the Tennessee Tuxedo show, Biggie Rat and Itchy Brother were employees of Mr. Mad, a mad scientist with a weird echo-y voice and a domineering personality. Even Biggie Rat deferred to him.

As the first TTV cartoon show, King Leonardo established a TTV trend for having voices that were impersonations of popular actors and/or comedians. Jackson Beck (best known for Bluto in the Popeye cartoons, but he also narrated sketches on the early Saturday Night Live) voiced King Leonardo, imitating film actor Eugene Pallette (My Man Godfrey, The Adventures of Robin Hood). Jackson Beck also voiced Biggie Rat as an impersonation of Edgar G. Robinson.

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Interestingly, a number of sources incorrectly indicate that TV actor/producer Sheldon Leonard is the source of Leonardo’s voice. I think this may be due to the fact that Leonard actually performed the title voice in a different, but contemporary, animated show, Linus the Lionhearted. Linus the Lionhearted is often mistaken for a TTV show, as it was also sponsored by ubiquitous cereal manufacturer General Foods’ Post Cereals. In fact, all the characters on the show were based on the characters pictured on the cereal boxes — Sugar Bear/Sugar Crisps, Lovable Truly (a postman)/Alpha Bits, and Linus the Lionhearted/Crispy Critters.

The voice cast on the show was amazing: Besides Leonard, Carl Reiner, Ruth Buzzi, Jonathan Winters, Jesse White (the Maytag repairman), Jerry Stiller and Ann Meara, and veteran voice actor Bob McFadden all provided regular voices. This was one of my favorite shows on Saturday morning at the time — and we will probably never see it again (except on YouTube). In 1969, the FCC decided that characters on cartoon shows shouldn’t also be hawking products (cereal, toys, etc.) on the same show, and Linus the Lionhearted (often said to be the main source for this ruling) disappeared from TV forever.

More trivia: The two male lead characters on The Big Bang Theory (Sheldon and Leonard) are named after Sheldon Leonard as the show’s writers are big fans of his work. Another bar trivia game won! You’re welcome.

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Odie was voiced by frequent TTV voice actor Allen Swift (Riff Raff, Simon Bar Sinister), imitating actor Ronald Coleman. Swift also voiced Itchy Brother, who just sounded itchy.

King Leonardo never achieved the popularity of other TTV shows, mostly because it wasn’t syndicated as much or frequently shown, despite the fact there were a total of 104 different segments produced. Interestingly, it was shown in 2006 for about a year on the now-defunct Black Family Channel (BFC) Kids TV programming block. During its original run, there was an eight-issue comic book series by Dell/Gold Key, and several well-read issues are still in my collection.

One other note about King Leonardo: For its initial run in 1960, it was originally broadcast in black & white, despite being produced in color. By the time Tennessee Tuxedo began airing, there were more color televisions in America, so by then most Saturday morning cartoons were broadcast in color. That’s how old this series is…

The Hunter was a fairly nondescript series of cartoons that originally aired on the King Leonardo show and continued on Tennessee Tuxedo (although I think those episodes were all reruns by then). The Hunter was actually a bloodhound detective, who generally fought an evil fox, cleverly named The Fox. The Hunter also worked for a policeman unfortunately named Officer Flim Flanagan. Really, the only thing this series had going for it was that Kenny Delmar provided the humorous Southern-accented voice of The Hunter, based on Delmar’s radio character Senator Claghorn on the Fred Allen Show, which in turn inspired the creation of Warner Bros.’ popular Foghorn Leghorn character. So, somewhere in Animation Land, The Hunter and Foghorn are first cousins, which I guess makes The Hunter not so bad.

You May Have Problems Adjusting Your Set

Despite the cornucopia of great almost-lost early television animation in Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: The Complete Collection, there are some (mostly minor) problems with the set, many of which will be invisible to the average consumer and inconsequential (or acceptable) to those animation fans who know how rare this stuff actually is.

As with the previous Underdog set, some (five) of the listed cartoons are not actually on the set but have been replaced with other cartoons from the same series. After the packaging and booklet were printed, it was discovered that the audio was missing for these cartoons. On-screen disclaimers explain their absence.

Which leads to a few minor quality control issues with the set, in that some animation fans (in reviews at Amazon.com) have indicated that the titles listed on the packaging in some cases are not the same as the actual titles of the cartoons. I’m not so sure about this one, since 1) many of the original title cards for the cartoons are long-missing (cut away and misplaced when the cartoons went into syndication decades ago), and 2) my own research indicates that many reference sources (both online and in print) are also pretty sketchy on details to begin with, especially about TTV shows. So who really knows? Even TTV biographer Mark Arnold doesn’t really know for sure. (He says so in his book Created and Produced by Total TeleVision Productions: The Story of Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, and the Rest.) Sometimes information gets lost to the mists of time and failing memories.

One episode, “Monster from Another Planet”, on Season 2, Disc 2, is obviously incomplete. It’s shorter than other episodes and cuts off just as Tennessee and Chumley are going to visit Mr. Whoopee, eliminating the last couple minutes of the cartoon. This is a very unfortunate mistake.

Finally, sharp-eyed animation aficionados (also on the Amazon page) are saying that the image-enhancing digital video noise reduction (DVNR) process was used to extremes on this set. This is also probably true, as there is evidence of some blurring and even some black outlines breaking up. DVNR is controversial with many hardcore animation buffs, and situations like this have popped up on other DVD animation collections, most notably the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 — for which Warners actually went back and fixed the problem and offered disc exchanges.

Here’s my two cents on this subject: Just because you can achieve perfection with digital technologies like DVD and Blu-ray on new projects, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to get that perfection on material that is 30 to 70 (or more) years old. Let’s be real. If you have millions of dollars to throw at a restoration project as folks like Lucas or Spielberg or Warner Bros. can, you can get close to perfect on older material. But most animation reclamation projects are done by smaller companies (like Shout! Factory) who just don’t have the resources (or subsequent sales — animation fans need to realize that their purchases for quirky “cult” projects like the TTV shows, are indeed “cult” sales — not mass market like Disney features and Warner Bros. go-to characters Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, and Scooby Doo) to actually make animation sets as good as they would like to. Especially when elements are long missing and occasionally have to be pulled from bootleg sources.

To me, having something is infinitely better than having nothing at all. There are still a lot of amazing animation out there that may be “lost” forever because a) it’s not popular enough for mass sales to have it properly restored, or b) can’t be restored enough to perfection to keep the “hardcore” animation fans from complaining about it.

Is there too much DVNR on Tennessee Tuxedo? Probably. But 80-90% of casual fans won’t even notice. They’re just happy that they can now own episodes of a childhood favorite for a reasonable price, in as nice a package as can be presented at this time. One wishes that Shout! Factory would print their packaging after they finalize what’s on the actual discs, but sometimes you can’t have everything.

Much thanks to Shout! Factory for their never-ending goal of resurrecting great old stuff — not just animation, but classic live-action television and forgotten music. I believe their next major vintage animation project (tentatively scheduled for June) is the theatrical UPA Mr. Magoo, now unedited (unlike its previous presentation from another company). And sometimes, they just collect stuff that should be collected. (You should really check out their amazing Ernie Kovacs collection.)

Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales: The Complete Collection is a slightly flawed but essential piece of animation history. Anyone who loves old television cartoons needs to see it. Always remember, Tennessee Tuxedo does not fail!

(The studio provided a review copy.)

Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention

Each show runs 29 minutes, with a standard minute-long animated introduction (the same every show), a show-specific introduction with the characters (about another minute), five or six topic segments running three to five minutes each, and some interstitials with Wallace and Gromit between the filmed pieces. They usually have a small continuing storyline and a tie-in to the topic, such as during the flight episode, which has Gromit accidentally launched in a rocket. You can view the introduction, in which Wallace wakes up while Gromit prepares the TV studio.

I found the segments intriguing and informative. I had no idea all of this was going on among scientists and inventors today. It’s inspiring to the imagination, and I hope some of the younger viewers will be enthused to create and experiment for themselves. I also appreciated the variety of subjects and presenters; it wasn’t all older white guys. The episode topics are as follows:

“Nature Knows Best” presents inventions inspired by Mother Nature. Segments cover a German company designing flying structures based on aquatic creatures; robots that eat flies for energy to power themselves; kinetic sculptures powered by wind; information on how termites live and build their mounds as inspiration for architecture; and a history of ways to breathe underwater.

“Reach for the Sky” explores flight with reports on jet packs; designing an updated astronaut suit; kite and airship design using the magnus effect (whirlpools of air currents); homemade rockets and fuel; and bicycle-powered craft and other human-powered designs. Each episode also has a segment of funny footage. This time, it’s very familiar, as it covers attempts at flying that were miserable failures.

Wallace and Gromit have a TV show

“Home Sweet Home” looks at household chores, including domestic robots and the problem with making them look humanoid; a boy who built a windmill to provide electricity to his village in Malawi; a history of tea-making devices; Einstein’s refrigerator design; and the inventor of the windup radio.

As usual, Gromit does all the work

“Come to Your Senses” starts off with an exploration of how to make things invisible before covering early attempts at mobile communication; inventing an artificial arm; using bees’ sense of smell to detect explosives; and glasses that substitute for lack of vision by delivering signals to the wearer’s tongue.

“Better Safe Than Sorry” is about protection, from ejector seats to another view of space suits; using unmanned drones, or even pigeons, to gain information without risking troops; a weirdo who filed a ton of patent applications; and the story of Hedy Lamarr’s invention of a torpedo guidance system using frequency changes, a technology that’s a key part of the mobile phone switching system in use today.

“Getting From A to B” wraps up with unusual ways to get around, including a one-person submarine, electric cars, a flying saucer propelled by laser beam, a railway run by vacuum air pressure, and a personal electric transport vehicle created by Sir Clive Sinclair, who previously made major strides in popularizing the pocket calculator, the digital watch, and the personal computer.

The extras are six “Your World of Invention” segments (38 minutes total) on gadgets you can make yourself, with a lot of effort and equipment, inspired by segments from the show: Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway, Wind-Powered Sprinkler, Fin Ray Grabber, Air Rocket, Spy Camera, Upside-Down-O-Scope. These are all live-action, with nothing to do with Wallace or Gromit. (The studio provided a review copy.)

Wizards (35th Anniversary Edition)

Noted comic creator Mike Ploog gets an “illustrated histories” credit (in that funny fake-computer typeface that was prevalent during the late 70s, meant to symbolize the film’s theme of the struggles between “technology and magic”) for his work drawing the prologue, narrated by Susan Tyrrell. (She was in both Rockula and Cry-Baby, as well as a lot of other stuff.)

The main story is a classic quest. Twin wizard brothers are polar opposites in a far-future post-apocalyptic wasteland that resembles a typical fantasyland. The funny, dumpy, bearded one (who sounds like Peter Falk but who is actually Bob Holt) has a fairy girl helper wearing what appears to be two see-through handkerchiefs (they carefully draw her nipples in) and a diaper-looking G-string (yet the movie is somehow rated PG). He represents magic, as embodied by a kingdom of elves and winged creatures. (The setup resembles that in Cheech Wizard.) The evil brother is using technology for propaganda, as well as an army of risen dead and demons, and he’s sent a cartoony red stormtrooper after the good wizard. They turn the agent (who gets the name Peace) and with the aid of an elf warrior, the four (wizard, fairy, elf, robot) set off for the bad guy’s lands to defeat him.

Many colorful effects and unusual visuals back up the fantasy story. (You can see how this would serve as an effective try-out for The Lord of the Rings.) It’s a suggestive movie, the kind some might have watched with the aid of enhancements. The part that intrigues me most is how the bad wizard has a “dream machine that inspires armies with ancient war images” that turns out to be a projector running footage of Hitler and the Germans. (For some reason, the 70s was a time to explore Hitler in popular culture, with The Producers, All This and World War II, The Boys From Brazil, and They Saved Hitler’s Brain, among others.)

I much better now appreciated all the different artistic effects, especially knowing how long ago this was made. The single-tone illustrations against a psychedelic film animation loop were striking and reminiscent of the era. The “going to battle” footage (rotoscoped from live-action film) is striking in how it’s been manipulated. (I’m not talking about the later sequence, where various monsters march off to the strains of a disco backing track, bouncing up and down as though strutting to the beat.) That’s the reason to see it, the visuals, since the story and characters are flat, familiar, and simplistic. The last surprise to today’s viewer is how few names, relatively, appear in the credits. It’s kind of amazing when compared to today’s computer-animated films with their pages of squads.

The anniversary edition is a very nice package, from the opening credit page of the book through the concluding poster art illustration. An introductory message from Bakshi thanks fans for their support of the movie over the years. The hardcover booklet covers some high points of the movie’s concept accompanied by design art and sketches. It also talks about how the release interacted with that of Star Wars, the same year from the same studio.

The special features carry over from the previous Blu-ray release. “Ralph Bakshi: The Wizard of Animation” is a 34-minute documentary on the creator with his participation. He discusses the origin of Wizards as his attempt to do a family film as well as the history of his career. The special is mostly him talking to the camera or voicing over footage or historical photos. There are two theatrical trailers and a TV spot used to advertise the movie as well as 12 different still galleries covering the characters and related material. (The studio provided a review copy.)

The newest DC original animated movie, Superman vs. the Elite, comes to home video on June 12 as a Blu-ray Combo Pack (list price $24.98) and DVD ($19.98), both with UltraViolet digital copy included. It’s based on “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?,” published in Action Comics #775, by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke with Lee Bermejo. Kelly wrote the screenplay, and the comic is available in trade paperback.

The Elite are a new band of vigilantes described as “less ethical” because they’re willing to kill villains. (This team was based on the Authority, a similar concept published by WildStorm.) Robin Atkin Downes (whom I liked in Justice League: Doom as Alfred) voices Manchester Black, their leader, while George Newbern is Superman (the role he played in the Justice League animated series). Pauley Perrette (NCIS) is the new Lois Lane.

It’s a fascinating question, whether Superman is outdated because he won’t use lethal force, but it’s not one I’m sure a cartoon can handle effectively, since the temptation will be to make the Elite strawmen who are clearly in the wrong. It’s an especially difficult topic to tackle in an atmosphere where DC Comics has ramped up its levels of violence in the comic books themselves. I like reading about superheroes who hold themselves to high moral standards, and I believe that there’s always another option to do the right thing for justice. I’m not sure many of the creators working on the characters today agree with me, though. I look forward to seeing how it plays out in this movie.

Here’s the trailer:

Extra features include

• a sneak peek at Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1, the next original DC animated movie
• “The Elite Unbound: No Rules, No Mercy”, a short documentary about the creation of those characters, which discusses using the Authority as inspiration and “how the Elite became the answer to that book, and a fresh approach for DC Comics in the post 9/11 world.”
• A second featurette on “Superman and the Moral Debate”
• Two bonus episodes from Superman: The Animated Series handpicked by producer Alan Burnett: Brave New Metropolis and Warrior Queen
• A digital comic copy of Action Comics #775 (although the last few “digital comics” on disc from Warner I’ve seen have just been links to their webstore on comiXology)
• Sneak peeks at previous releases All-Star Superman and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
• A photo gallery promoting the upcoming live-action The Dark Knight Rises
• Audio commentary by members of the creative team

Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention

In this show from Aardman Animations, Wallace and Gromit act as hosts, introducing real-world inventions to viewers. Here’s the official description:

Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention sees world-renowned inventor Wallace and his faithful sidekick (turned camera dog) Gromit turn their hand to presenting for the very first time, hosting a six-part series from the basement of 62 West Wallaby Street. They take an enthusiastic look at some real life cracking contraptions, from gadgets that help around the home to the mind-boggling world of space travel and much more in between.

Through the end of this week (contest closes March 16), you can enter to win a DVD copy at the official website. (From what I can tell, the Blu-ray and the DVD have the same content.)

In a clip from the show, here are the two beloved characters preparing for the show:

while here they introduce a segment on electric cars:

Following up on my piece about the complete Underdog box set, here’s some more information on the other cartoons that ran with Underdog, produced by Total TeleVision as back-up features. In each half-hour episode, Underdog occupied two of the four cartoon slots. The primary back-ups were Go Go Gophers and The World of Commander McBragg.

Go Go Gophers was set in the late 19th Century in the American West. U.S. Army Colonel Kit Coyote and his Sergeant (named Okey Homa, but his name was seldom mentioned in the cartoons) are tasked with securing the town of Gopher Gultch by wiping out the last two (very clever) surviving Gopher Indians: Ruffled Feathers and Running Board. Ruffled Feathers was the brains of the operation, although he only spoke faux “Indian” (mostly it sounded like gibberish).

Go Go Gophers was blessed with a real earworm of a theme song (“Go Go Gophers, watch ‘em Go Go Go…”), and the series was popular enough that it was spun out into its own series in 1968. Reportedly, it was, at least in part, based on the comedy/western F Troop, staring Ken Berry, Forrest Tucker, and Larry Storch. If you’ve ever seen the show, it was about as close as a live-action show could get to a cartoon. (Well, that and The Great Race.)

The World of Commander McBragg was a very short cartoon (usually lasting all of 90 seconds). McBragg was a pompous braggart (good name, huh?), and the cartoons were pure formula, consisting of McBragg cornering a member of his gentleman’s club and relating a far-fetched or impossible adventure, always concluding with an unlikely escape (and a terrible pun from the listener). Many of McBragg’s stories were inspired by the tales of Baron Münchhausen. McBragg also cameos in a 2006 episode of the Simpsons, “The Seemingly Never-Ending Story.”

Klondike Kat first appeared on the third season of Underdog. (I think… There’s a lot of confusion and misleading information about TTV’s secondary characters floating around, so it’s hard to know what to believe.) Klondike Kat was a Canadian Mountie (leading to speculation that he was a parody of Jay Ward’s Dudley Do-Right), but the real star of the cartoon was the sly and mischievous Savoir-Faire, a French-Canadian mouse thief with the wonderful catchphrase “Savoir-Faire is everywhere!” As a viewer, you always wanted to root for the spunky mouse, but somehow the bumbling Klondike Kat would “always gets his mouse”, which usually meant an unsatisfying ending.

Tooter Turtle was a repeat segment on Underdog, as the series was originally created in 1960 and originally aired on King Leonardo. He was kind of a dimwitted character, who would always call on his friend Mr. Wizard (a lizard) with “another favor to ask” — usually a desire to be transported to some other destiny. Mr. Wizard would always oblige, things wouldn’t work out, and Mr. Wizard would always have to return him, with the magic catchphrase “Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome; time for this one to come home.”

What was bizarre about Tooter Turtle was his impact on popular culture, with references to him (or the cartoons’ many catchphrases — most of which were big hits on childhood playgrounds back in the day) in such places as The Matrix, The Replacements’ album Tim (in which Mr. Wizard’s incantation is a part of a song lyric), a reference in the novel Bright Lights Big City, and an episode of Lost. The cartoon obviously also made an big impact on Tom Servo of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, as he would frequently quote the cartoon’s catchphrases (especially “Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome”).

Underdog v. Rocky and Bullwinkle

I have one last misconception to dispel, this time about Total TeleVision in general. Many people thought that the TTV group and the cartoons of Jay Ward (Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle) were all part of the same production company. A lot of this was based on how all these shows had a similar sense of writing style and humor (slapstick for kids, inside jokes for the adults) and a very similar animation style (deceptively crude to many adults, but kids didn’t care). The production studios were, in fact, completely separate, but both companies had their animation done at the Mexican studio Gamma Productions, which explains why all the shows look very similar.

The other major connection is that most all of the shows (especially the early ones) shared the same sponsor, General Mills cereal. Since General Mills was footing the bill for many of these shows, they technically “owned” them (or at least controlled them). After many of the shows were no longer first-run on Saturday (or Sunday) morning, they entered the syndication process, And since General Foods controlled both the TTV and Jay Ward shows, they occasionally “mixed and matched” elements between the two animation companies. A Commander McBragg (TTV) segment might air alongside a Rocky and Bullwinkle (Jay Ward) adventure, or a Fractured Fairy Tale or Bullwinkle’s Corner (Ward) segment might appear on the TTV Underdog show, leading viewers to believe there was a connection between the two companies when there was not.

Interestingly, Underdog includes an inside joke about the similarities of the animation between TTV and Jay Ward shows. At the end of most of the four-part Underdog stories, the townspeople would look up in the sky and say (just like in Superman), “Look up in the sky!” “It’s a bird!” “It’s a plane!” Then an old woman would say “It’s a frog!” And another guy would look at her funny and say “A frog?!?” Then Underdog would charmingly chime in with, “Not bird, nor plane, nor even frog, It’s just little old me… (and then Underdog would clumsily crash into something before finishing, sheepishly) “…Underdog.”

According to Mark Arnold, the frog in question was Jay Ward’s Hoppity Hooper, which debuted shortly before Underdog in fall 1964. Another animation mystery solved. I’ve waited 48 years to find that one out.

More on the Way

There’s more on the way! Also out now from Shout! Factory is a six-DVD collection of Tennessee Tuxedo and His Pals: The Complete Collection. And I’ll be back to review it — just as soon as Mr. Wizard brings me back home… Drizzle, drazzle…

One of the more interesting things about Underdog is the number of misconceptions many people have about him.

Misconception #1: Many people think the the very popular Underdog balloon is still a part of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

It’s not. The balloon was retired in 1984 — after debuting in 1965, just one year after the debut of the cartoon show on NBC. There was even a special episode of the TV series that originally aired right after the parade in 1965.

Underdog: The Complete Collector’s Edition

The reasons that people think the Underdog balloon is still active are likely twofold. First, there was an entire episode of Friends that featured the balloon, although it was never seen, except in stock footage. (Episode #9, “The One Where Underdog Gets Away”, originally aired on November 17, 1994, ten years after the balloon was retired.) Second — and more recent — is the great 2008 Coca-Cola ad (first aired on the Super Bowl) where the Underdog balloon battles the Family Guy’s Stewie balloon over a frosty Coke balloon in the skies over NYC. (This commercial, of course, was all done with CGI.)

Misconception #2: This one was primarily known only in animation circles. For a number of years, it was thought that all the Underdog cartoons were lost in a fire (as well as all the cartoons produced by Total TeleVision Productions (TTV), including King Leonardo, Tennessee Tuxedo, and Go Go Gophers).

Happily, this one is not true either, as the recent release of Shout! Factory’s nine-DVD Underdog: The Complete Collector’s Edition proves. Shout! Factory has conveniently divided up this set into three individually packaged DVD sets (by season), so it’s possible that they may sell them as individual season sets at some point in the future.

Underdog: The Complete Collector’s Edition contains

• all 124 Underdog “episodes” (episodes meaning the four-and-a-half-minute cartoons, two of which were shown as part of each show)
• all 48 episodes of Go Go Gophers
• all 48 episodes of The World of Commander McBragg
• the first 14 episodes of Klondike Kat (originally airing in Season 3; the rest would air on The Beagles)
• 12 episodes of Tooter Turtle, which originally aired on King Leonardo
• and 2 episodes of The Hunter, also both originally airing on King Leonardo.

One of the two Hunter episodes isn’t the one listed in the packaging, due to the discovery that the cartoon had no audio — made after the box and booklet went to press. It’s been replaced with another episode. (There are more Hunter episodes on the way on Shout! Factory’s Tennessee Tuxedo box set.) For those keeping score, this Underdog set contains about 21 (or more) hours of cartoon fun.

Rough Spots

Although most of the pieces of the original 1964 Underdog cartoon show have survived, some are in better condition than others, so there is an occasional difference in picture quality due to different sources for the footage. The original series was long ago cut up and rearranged when the series entered syndication, and some of the original material (mostly interstitial and credit sequences) were lost or misplaced for many years. Many of these are presented in a five-minute bonus feature, and it quickly becomes clear why they didn’t put them back into the regular episodes. Most of them are in terrible shape (some are only in black & white) — and watching them over and over again as part of the regular episodes would be very annoying. I am just happy to know that at least we get the opportunity to see them at all, in any condition.

It’s probably a small miracle that any of this footage still exists, in any form. The cartoons were saved individually by subject to be inserted and re-inserted into different syndication packages after the original run of the show. Most of the original bumpers and inserts have been lost in their original state and only exist via inferior sources. Mark Arnold, animation historian and consultant to this DVD set indicates (in comments for the box set on Amazon.com) that even the audio for some cartoons was lost, forcing them to pull alternate audio from bootlegs to match up with pristine (but silent) video prints.

This is the only downside to this collection, and it’s an incredibly minor one. The folks at Shout! Factory have done a fantastic job of reassembling all of the various pieces of the original Underdog to provide a viewing experience as close as humanly possible to seeing the show as it was originally broadcast on Saturday morning in the mid-1960s. As one of those original viewers, I can directly attest to how well they achieved their goals in producing this amazing missing piece of animation history. I had a lump in my throat as I watched — and remembered every word from that first episode I first saw as an eight-year-old in 1964. Granted, I probably saw that episode a lot. Underdog was on the air, bouncing back and forth from NBC to CBS, for an astounding nine-year run, 1964 though 1973 (less a two-year break, from 1970 to 1972). There were a lot of reruns, since the show stopped producing new episodes in March 1967.

Underdog Lore

That Underdog is so beloved is no accident. Despite its somewhat dubious origins — it dates from the era where a single sponsor (General Mills in this case) basically funded the entire show as a place to regularly show ads for their extensive line of sugary breakfast cereal — the show is utterly charming, with one of the best lead characters in TV animation history. As the opening narration reminds us in every episode, Shoeshine Boy (Underdog’s secret identity) is “humble and lovable”. He was. And enduringly sweet while almost always speaking in rhyme.

Underdog was your basic superhero story. He had a secret identity (Shoeshine Boy), a girlfriend (Sweet Polly Purebred), dozens of villains (Simon Bar Sinister, Riff Raff, Overcat), aliens (The Marbleheads, The Magnet Men), and a secret to his amazing powers (The Underdog Secret Energy Pill). That part was all for the kids. Underdog also worked as a parody and satire, not only mocking superheroes, but a large part of society as well. And that was for the adults. At this early stage of TV animation, only Underdog and the Jay Ward produced material — notably Rocky and Bullwinkle — were doing things on this dual level.

It’s also interesting to note that Underdog was around for more than a year before the debut of the live-action Adam West Batman TV show in 1966. Underdog also beat Superman (The New Adventures of Superman) to Saturday morning by two years. It seems only the Fleischer Superman theatrical cartoons of the 1940s, Mighty Mouse, and Popeye preceded Underdog in superheroic animation. Underdog‘s success may have inspired a flood of superheroes (some silly, some not) in the two years following his debut, including Atom Ant, The Mighty Heroes, Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles, Super 6, and Space Ghost.

Amazing Voice Work

Wally Cox

A large part of the character’s charm is due to the voice actor hired to perform as both Underdog and Shoeshine Boy — Wally Cox. Cox was one of the pioneers of early television, starring in the popular television show Mr. Peepers, which ran from 1952-1955. Mr. Peepers was a junior high school science teacher, as well as a bit of a nebbishy bumbler, traits which would carry over to the character of Underdog/Shoeshine Boy. Cox was a natural fit for the character as conceived.

The role of Underdog proved to be a good one for Cox, as it led to him being cast on the popular game show Hollywood Squares. Cox was one of the original “squares” (upper left) from the original pilot until his untimely death in 1973.

Norma MacMillian played Underdog’s girlfriend, Sweet Polly Purebread. She also performed the voice of Casper the Friendly Ghost, Goo in Gumby, and both Davey and Sally on Davey and Goliath. She was an on-screen actress with numerous roles on television shows, but she was probably best known for playing Aunt Martha on commercials for Kraft Foods mayonnaise in the 1980s.

Allen Swift was a former children’s television host before becoming a well-traveled voice actor for an incredible number of animation projects in a very long career. He’s best known as the voice for both Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff, the two main villains on Underdog, although as a utility player for the show, Swift also voiced many of the minor villains, such as Batty-Man and Overcat, as well as many of the alien characters who appeared. Swift was a regular on TTV’s other programs, where he played Itchy Brother, Odie Colognie, and Tooter Turtle on King Leonardo and Tennessee Tuxedo; he was also Tubby and Scotty on The Beagles. Swift worked with Rankin/Bass on many of their projects, most notably as the majority of voices in Mad Monster Party, a 1967 full-length theatrical film (incidentally, co-written by Harvey Kurtzman with character designs by Jack Davis).

George S. Irving was better known as a Broadway character actor in numerous productions, including the original production of Oklahoma!. He’s best known for roles in Irene and Me and My Girl. But he also worked in animation, performing numerous villains and minor characters in Underdog, as well as acting as the show’s narrator. He was the Indian Running Board in Go Go Gophers (the one who talked in fake Indian language and said “Whoopee Doopee!” a lot), as well as minor roles in TTV’s other shows. Millions of people know him best as the voice of the embittered Heat Miser in Rankin/Bass’ The Year Without a Santa Claus.

The Origins of TTV

Total TeleVision was formed by four men: Buck Biggers, Chet Stover, Treadwell Covington, and artist Joe Harris. All four were former ad men. Biggers and Stover originally had the account for the General Mills food corporation, and their job was to create TV animation to sell their breakfast cereals. Around 1960, they all left their advertising jobs to create Total TeleVision (TTV) to produce the cartoon series that would “host” the General Mills commercials. (Usually, that’s the other way around. Back then, shows were created specifically to please sponsors.) TTV had four success stories in King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (1960), Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963), Underdog (1964), and The Beagles (1966). Underdog was by far the most popular of them all.

Special Features

Buck Biggers was the primary creative force of TTV, ultimately writing over 500 scripts, and composing all the theme songs — both words and music. Biggers contributes several commentaries on this Shout! Factory DVD set, as do voice actors George S. Irving and Wally Wingert (a current voice actor, best known as the voice of Jon on various Garfield series, and — my favorite — the voice of MODOK on The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes); Alison Arngrim (actress, best known for playing Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie — and also the daughter of Norma MacMillan, the voice of Sweet Polly Purebread); and Mark Arnold, writer of Created and Produced by Total TeleVision Productions, the definitive history of TTV, and also author of this box set’s informative liner notes on the history of Underdog.

Another TTV founder, Joe Harris, appears in a bonus feature, narrating (and providing simulated voices) for a never-before seen and wonderfully charming storyboard for Underdog. There’s also a new 30-minute documentary on the show — “There’s No Need To Fear… Underdog Is Here!” — featuring contributions from Biggers, Irving, Arngrim, and Arnold.

Not Without Controversy

Unfortunately, Underdog did not escape scrutiny by the parental groups determined to blanderize all cartoons with the goal of “protecting the children” by making sure that everything on Saturday morning was no longer funny or even made sense. Underdog originally got his powers by eating an energy vitamin pill. When taking one, he would always recite this rhyme: “The secret compartment of my ring I fill, with an Underdog super energy pill!” While there was no problem with these scenes during the show’s original run, for a while in the 1980s and ‘90s, these scenes were dropped for fear that children might associate them with drugs. These scenes have been restored for the Shout! Factory DVD release.

It’s so good to see Underdog brought back and reassembled (as best as can be) in a high-quality format such as DVD. Kudos to Shout! Factory for getting this out under what must have been occasionally trying circumstances. (Shout! Factory provided a copy for review.)

Fillion previously was the voice of Green Lantern in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, which also resulted in some promotional interviews. He has also been the voice of Steve Trevor for the Wonder Woman DVD movie, and that meant an interview available then as well. So the reason I’m running this isn’t because it’s new, it’s because Fillion seems like a nice guy — and at the bottom, there’s a funny video (not from Warner) that shows just how much of a sense of humor he has about these roles. Before then, though, he discusses comics, voice recording, and heroism.

Photo of Nathan Fillion by Gary Miereanu

Q: This is your second run with Green Lantern. Do you now take full equity in the character?

Nathan Fillion: I don’t think I can take full equity in this character — too many people have a chunk. Ryan Reynolds gets the right-of-way on this one. Right now, I feel pretty Green Lantern-ish. But sooner or later, I think I’ll be a poor man’s Green Lantern.

Q: How did the role in Justice League: Doom compare with the voicing of Green Lantern: Emerald Knights?

Nathan Fillion: It was definitely different this time. A little more action, and more conversational. Last time, it was like reading prose. We referred to last time as biblical, as though we were reading bible passages. Far more narrative, because Hal Jordan was really just relating stories of the Green Lantern Corps, and then being one of many contributing to the main story that weaves its way through the short stories. This time, it’s all action.

Q: During your recording today, there were times when we could see a sly smile come across your face. What were you thinking?

Nathan Fillion: This kind of work, it makes me happy. Makes me smile. When I’m doing these voiceovers, I kind of like to live in the moment. You suspend reality for just a second. You know what Green Lantern looks like, you know the situations, you know the characters that surround him. So I kind of just like to live in that moment for half-a-second like I’m there… and it makes me (smile).

Q: Super heroes inspire so many folks these days. Who inspired you as a kid?

Nathan Fillion: It’s always kind of in retrospect that you look back and think, “That was a really big deal.” But looking back, it was my dad and my brother who inspired me. My father has no fear. We don’t have to worry about things like stopping meteors from hitting the Earth. We’re not super. The things we worry about are every day social situations where something might be awkward or out of our control. My dad has never wanted to feel uncomfortable or awkward. He kind of says it like it is. If you’re comfortable enough to do that thing, he’s going to be comfortable enough to comment on it quite honestly. He always sort of controls every situation like that. He’ll just say. “You’re kind of a jerk, aren’t you?” He’s that kind of heroic guy.

My brother has those same qualities, but he’s more diplomatic about it. He’s more of a gentle giant. His leadership style, he says, is the velvet glove over the top of an iron fist. You get the soft velvet, but if you push against the glove, you get the iron fist.

Green Lantern in Justice League: Doom

Q: What are your first memories of comics?

Nathan Fillion: We had the Wee Book Inn, a second-hand bookstore (in Edmonton). You came in with a stack of comic books, and they’d kind of leaf through them for their value, and then say, “Alright, from these 60 comics, you can have 35 from our used copies,” and then my dad would fork over another 10 bucks or so we could have our full stack of 60 comics. Every few months, we’d go back to the store and get a fresh influx of comics. We’d only keep the ones we really, really liked. And my dad knew somebody who owned a proper comic book shop — which kind of went the way of Dungeons and Dragons and eventually closed. I think if they’d stuck with comics, they’d have still been around. So I was really into comics. My brother and I would take turns with who got to have that comic book rack in their room. We’d go back and forth. Then eventually my brother got a little older, and then I started collecting and getting cardboard backs and plastic covers. Proper collecting. And then you’ve got to say, “Okay, what am I going to do, spend all my money on comics?” Because it got a little expensive. So… comics or girls? Comics or girls? Hmmm…

Q: And now rather than just collecting comics, you’re in them. How does that strike you?

Nathan Fillion: I’m a fan. I am very fortunate in that now I have a piece. Forever I will have this piece of Green Lantern. “Ah yes, he voiced Green Lantern back in the day… when they were still doing it on TVs and not holograms.” I’ll always have a chunk. It’s nice to be a fan and own a piece.

Now, here’s the video, featuring Tim Daly (the voice of Superman), Fillion, and special cameo by Michael Rosenbaum (the voice of Flash), showing the kind of play many comic fans dream of.