Wolverine: Origin

The next motion comic DVD will be available on July 9, adapting the Wolverine: Origin comic “written by Eisner Award winner Paul Jenkins from a story by Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, and Bill Jemas with captivating artwork by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove.” Remember those Jemas days at Marvel? Here’s the plot synopsis:

Wolverine is the best there is at what he does — although of course, what he does isn’t very nice. But long before he was a member of the X-Men, a tormented experiment of the Weapon-X project, or even a savage bar brawler known as Logan — he was simply a young boy.

What incredible forces created this man, the world’s greatest killing machine? For years, Wolverine has searched desperately for answers from his past, from the wilds of the Canadian Wilderness to the teeming cities of Japan and beyond. And despite his perseverance and longing for the truth, he remains an enigma to himself and those around him. But, in this landmark event, Marvel reveals all: the birth and childhood of young James Howlett… the intriguing secrets of his family history… and the tragedy that changed everything.

Bonus content includes interviews with the creators and illustrators, described as “an exclusive retrospective with the Eisner Award-winning creative team behind Origin.” (Bear in mind, since they’re throwing “Eisner” around a lot in this press release, that Jenkins worked on Inhumans, which won “Best New Series” in 1999. Wolverine: Origin did not win any Eisners.)

It’s kind of weird to me that the cover art, by Joe Quesada and Richard Isanove, looks more suited to a horror movie than a superhero comic origin. But they’re just reusing the image from the book cover, anyway.

Lego Batman: The Movie
DC Super Heroes Unite

Out on Tuesday is Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite, a long title for a short (71 minutes) computer-animated original movie. It’s awfully cute, though.

This film caused lots of giggling at our house, part just from the weirdness of seeing these characters as Lego, but more from how fun it all was. (I worry that some six-year-old is going to be disappointed that his Lego figures don’t walk and talk and clap by smacking their U-shaped hands together.) I kept being amazed by what I was seeing, and what they all said, and their expressions, and the goofiness. Once of the Joker’s henchman actually holds someone upside down and shakes him until coins fall out of his pockets.

It’s a high-tech throwback to Saturday morning fun with a unique visual design sense. Each surprise brought new laughs from sheer enjoyment. There are lots of neat details, rewarding close attention, whether it’s Batman’s alternate suits or the Lego skeleton floating in the chemical pool.

It looks rather like any DC animated film, sleek and plastic, until you get close up. The characters, Superman and Batman, have those blocky legs. Capes are weird in Lego superhero world, since they’re grained to look like rough fabric. Bald Lex Luthor is particularly strange, since without hair, all we see is the nub on top of his head block.

The movie retells the plotline from the LEGO Batman 2 videogame. The action starts when Lex and Bruce Wayne are up for a Man of the Year award at a ceremony crashed by the Joker. Luthor is running for President, and he enlists the Joker’s help to win. We also get Catwoman, Two-Face, the Riddler, the Penguin, Harley Quinn, Robin … a whole gallery of heroes, plus Lego bats and sharks.

Superman’s an overwhelming do-gooder while Batman is jealous and hurt that his pal didn’t come to see him get an award. After Lex and the Joker team up, releasing a bunch of villains from Arkham Asylum along the way, Batman reluctantly gets help from the Big Blue Boy Scout. Seeing the three heroes interact is funny, as Robin looks up to Superman while Batman is grumpypants, muttering to himself about Superman’s powers destroying the evidence.

There’s lot of welcome humor (even in the end credits). Particularly, I find, when they use the Lego abilities. For instance, one vehicle during a chase splits in half, while another time, Robin turns his cycle into a boat in mid-air by reconfiguring the bricks. Also, I loved the way they played the classic theme every time Superman appears. That fanfare is inspirational.

Clancy Brown voices Lex Luthor in Lego Batman

Although Batman (voiced by Troy Baker, videogame regular) is the star, the best-known member of the voice cast is Clancy Brown, “the definitive voice of Lex Luthor”, who also played the character in Superman: The Animated Series. Here, Superman is played by Travis Willingham; Christopher Corey Smith is a dynamite Joker; and Charlie Schlatter is the voice of Robin. (You know, I liked 18 Again!) The Joker, in particular, is hilarious in his dementia. Said Brown about the part,

“I think Lex getting some laughs is a little overdue. And it’s fun for me to go a little bit out of character. Lex is usually so sincere and scary, and now he finally gets to say something clever to get some laughs.”

Eventually, the Justice League shows up to help out, and Gotham is saved. Here’s the movie trailer (which overplays the JL involvement, in my opinion):

Creation credits are given for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, Martian Manhunter, and Bane. I guess that means the Joker, Green Lantern, and the Flash just sprung into being on their own. Then KC explained to me that second-generation legacy characters are complicated, because the question of whether to include the Golden Age creators is difficult. (Should Martin Nodell get credit for Hal Jordan?) DC also doesn’t give creator credits to editors, so situations where they had significant input may be problematic.

The Martian Manhunter as Lego looks perpetually worried.

Special Features

There are several extra features that are included on both the Blu-ray and the DVD.

“Building Batman” (15 minutes) is about stop-motion animating with Lego, hosted by Garrett Barati as he shows some children how it’s done. “Lego Batman Jumps Into Action” (38 seconds) is a teaser by Barati, as Batman tries to get ready for action.

There are five additional short films, the winners of a LEGO/DC Universe Super Heroes video contest, each about three minutes. Like the main feature, they’re cute and funny. Three cartoon episodes are also included: Two from Batman: The Brave and the Bold (“Triumvirate of Terror”, in which Superman and Wonder Woman appear, and “Scorn of the Star Sapphire”, guest-starring Green Lantern) and one episode from Teen Titans (“Overdrive”, which features Cyborg dealing with an upgrade). For some reason, this dubstep remix of Scooby-Doo is also included:

Lego Clark Kent isn’t sure what to make of Jesse Quick and Liberty Belle. (Clark Kent came with the movie; custom figures are by David Oakes.)

The initial releases on Blu-ray combo pack or DVD edition feature an on-pack freebie of a Lego Clark Kent. In case you want to recreate this (or make your own adventures), there are a ton of Lego Batman sets available. I kind of want this Superman set because it comes with a Wonder Woman mini-fig! (The studio provided a review copy.)

Heavy Traffic

Shout! Factory is putting Heavy Traffic on Blu-ray on July 16. This animated film was Ralph Bakshi’s second feature, after Fritz the Cat. It doesn’t stray far, being the story of a New York cartoonist who lives with his parents while drawing images of the city.

Based on reviews, the movie is worth watching more for the animation techniques, which incorporate live-action sequences and film clips, than the dated-sounding story about urban life in that era and the struggles of being an artist, man.

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, billing itself as “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration”, will be held in Wisconsin July 29 – August 4. Previously “The Experimental Aircraft Association’s Fly-In Convention”, the event attracts over 500,000 aviation enthusiasts and 10,000 airplanes. Which makes it the perfect event at which to hold a special preview screening of the new Disney animated movie Planes.

In addition to running the film at the Fly-In Theater on Friday night, August 2 (one week before the movie opens in theaters nationwide), director Klay Hall will be present to discuss the making of the film. The Fly-In Theater is an outdoor facility with a five-story-high screen and full sound system that presents aviation and other action movies for AirVenture attendees.

That’s not the only movie-related event at the show. Remember the Rocketeer? Well, there’s a real-life version. Yves “Jetman” Rossy, the “world’s first jet-powered man”, will make his first public U.S. flights this summer at AirVenture.

Using a carbon-Kevlar jetwing with four engines, each of which capable of a 22-kilogram thrust, the Swiss aviator is able to propel himself through the sky at upward of 150 mph, controlled by a simple throttle in his hand. The rest of the controls are left to the human fuselage — Rossy himself — who simply uses his shoulders, body, and legs to steer, pitch, and descend.

Based on this short first look, the appearance of the technological megapolis, called San Fransokyo, will be important. (I’m not sure why they just couldn’t use a future Tokyo, unless there’s some reason it’s important the movie be set in the U.S.)

And here’s a concept art image, tweaking a real-world landmark.

The plot involves “brilliant robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada” trying to foil a criminal scheme to destroy the city. He, his robot companion Baymax, and “a reluctant team of first-time crime fighters” work together to save San Fransokyo.

I’m glad to see some lesser-known projects getting media attention, and I liked the modern, youthful feel of the comics. Then again, anything that isn’t a 30-year-old franchise has an advantage in feeling fresh when it comes to corporate superhero comics. The concept was originally created by Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau in 1998 before the team appeared in two miniseries, the three-issue Sunfire and Big Hero 6 and the five-issue Big Hero 6. Those comics mixed new and established characters (in Sunfire and Silver Samurai), so it sounds like the idea is being tweaked if the movie team are all first-timers.

Superman: Unbound

As the film opens, Lois is a hostage, but her helicopter is rescued by Superman’s cousin Supergirl (in the outdated belly-shirt costume). A strangely stretched Superman shows up (seriously, look how long his head is!), and his first lines to his cousin are “Kara, what the hell were you trying to prove out there?”

These are not the characters I know, either in behavior or visually. Clark is drawn two heads higher than Lois, which seems too exaggerated. This sounds picky, but when Clark and Superman are both portrayed with such ridiculously extreme physiques, it just makes everyone seem stupid not to notice that they’re the same person, the only one who’s that freakishly tall.

Other scenes feature obviously scratchy lines, to the point that it looks like the Xerox machine dropped out part of them. I found it strange that Lois’ eyes were colored purple (to match her really heavy eyeshadow), but maybe they picked it to coordinate with her pink laptop. Way to support the “tough reporter” character, but when she’s having her big dramatic speech in tight tank top and purple running shorts, that suggests to me that the filmmakers either are lazy when it comes to costume design or they’re really concerned with us knowing she’s a hot woman.

The two good parts of the film are the cast and the chemistry between Lois and Clark. Their relationship can be hard to comprehend, as they’re flirty and together, but keeping it a secret, then they fight a lot. She wants him to save her but yells at him for being overly protective. If the movie was longer, these conflicts could be developed more realistically, instead of being dumped at us so quickly that they seem like sudden reversals. Still, I’m glad to see them as a couple, and one with the potential for such good interactions.

The voices are outstanding. Matt Bomer has the gravity of Superman without being stodgy. Stana Katic makes for a strong and dynamic Lois. Molly Quinn sounds young without being childish, a good choice for a Supergirl portrayed as a moody teen and wearing the weight of survivor’s guilt. Frances Conroy is her adoptive Ma Kent. (Pa is shown sleeping once, so he doesn’t ever talk.) For really obvious comic relief, Diedrich Bader does what he can with the boorish Steve Lombard.

Supergirl tells Superman of how Brainiac’s ship and robots captured the entire Kryptonian city of Kandor, for additional scenes of mayhem. (The thing about using robots is that Superman can beat them to death without it seeming too violent, even though for some unknown reason they have spinal cords.)

He heads out to space (in his convenient crystal ship? I dunno, this is where not reading the original comic, Superman: Brainiac, makes it hard for me to know how this all fits together) to find another planet where Brainiac is taking over to beat up a bunch more robots. We’re a third of the way through the film, and now it’s time for a lot of fighting and watching aliens get killed. Unfortunately, this also means separating Superman from all the other characters.

I do understand that they’re trying to show what a huge threat Brainiac is, so that we fear more the idea of him destroying Earth, but Superman’s interaction with his girlfriend and his niece was what was keeping my interest, so I got bored quickly. At least it all moved fast.

The shame of these movies is that there’s a “happy ending” attached here that just cries out for followup, but we’ll never get to see it. Particularly since it contradicts the current DC continuity. As a side note, the only modern character to get a “created by” credit (Siegel and Shuster are credited for Superman) is Ron Troupe, who’s credited to Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummet (sic), which should have 2 Ts.

Special Features

“Kandor: History of the Bottle City” (17 minutes) gives the history of the concept, as told by Mike Carlin, Marv Wolfman, scriptwriter Bob Goodman, Dan DiDio, and others. It’s neat to see the comic art by Gary Frank and others, but too much of this is simply retelling the concept we’ve already seen portrayed. But if you stick that out, they bring up Nightwing and Flamebird (Superman as Batman was always fun) and talk about the science fiction roots of the Kandor stories.

“Brainiac: Technology and Terror” (25 minutes) goes back to the 50s in exploring the roots of the villain’s creation but also covers the implications of a cultural fear of technology. I was surprised that they were able to say so much about this character concept.

There’s also a 10-minute sneak peek at Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, the next DC original animated movie; an audio commentary by Mike Carlin, Bob Goodman, and James Tucker (supervising producer and director); a digital comic excerpt from the source material by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank; and four Superman: The Animated Series episodes — “The Last Son of Krypton, Part 1”; “New Kids in Town”; and “Little Girl Lost, Parts 1 & 2”. (The studio provided a review copy.)

When time travel allows a past wrong to be righted for Flash and his family, the event’s temporal ripples prove disastrous, creating a fractured, alternate reality where the Justice League never formed, and even Superman is nowhere to be found. Amidst a new world being ravaged by a fierce war between Wonder Woman’s Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans, Flash must team with a grittier, more violent Batman and government agent Cyborg to restore the continuity of Flash’s original timeline.

Typical of the DC films, the voice cast looks amazing. Barry Allen (Flash) will be Justin Chambers (Grey’s Anatomy), with his co-star Kevin McKidd as Thomas Wayne (Batman, which presumably makes sense to those who read the comic by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert). Nathan Fillion returns as Hal Jordan, with Kevin Conroy as Batman (as it should be). Sam Daly (following in his father Tim’s footsteps) is Superman, Dana Delany is Lois, Cary Elwes is Aquaman, and Ron Perlman is Slade and Deathstroke.

The Blu-ray extras are planned as follows:

• A Flash in Time: Are there other dimensions? Can time travel get us there? And if The Flash existed, could he really travel through time? Interviews with experts in mythology and theoretical physics and top DC writers will examine the science and legacy of the storytelling behind the fiction.
• My Favorite Villians! The Flash Bad Guys: Acclaimed DC Comics writer Geoff Johns and others share their favorite Flash villains in this short film that gives viewers a glimpse into the Flash’s world through the eyes of some of the nefarious characters he has encountered over the past 70 years!
• A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe animated movie:. An in-depth look into the next DC Animated feature film, spotlighting the cast and crew.
• From the DC Comics Vault: Bonus cartoon episodes
• The Flashpoint Paradox Audio Commentary

“A Boy and His Atom” uses stop-motion animation to show a figure dancing, jumping, and playing ball. It’s rudimentary, jerky, and looks like it was made with BBs, but when you realize what you’re viewing, it’s amazing. Particularly since, when exposed to a whole new way of seeing the world, these researchers decided to make a cartoon! There’s something important there to be said about the essentiality of art.

This news article about the film says it’s just under 250 frames, created on a copper surface, and magnified more than 100 million times.

Mulan

Mulan

The animation wasn’t as attractive as I had hoped — it looked more to me like good TV animation than feature-film quality, but I’m spoiled by the many amazing techniques they use these days. The settings and backgrounds are beautiful, but the foreground movement doesn’t always live up to their quality. The overall design is simplified, and the dog was flat-out weird to see, very cartoony. The horse, on the other hand, reminded me of Hercules (the Disney animated movie that came out just before this one). The transformation sequence, when Mulan makes her decision, is impressive, as is the final sequence in the city at night. The martial arts fighting is also well-done and believable.

Mulan’s character (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, singing by Lea Salonga) is intriguing, writing cheat notes on her arm and demonstrating imagination and initiative. It almost made up for the first song, about needing to be prettied up in order to be married off; that’s the Disney princess that’s more commonly known. Still, many viewers can relate to Mulan’s disappointment at not being able to be who her family wants her to be. Her skills aren’t valued because they’re unusual and don’t fit into the mold, yet they’re precisely what’s needed, although the family doesn’t recognize that.

Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) and her father (Soon-Tek Oh)

Early on, there’s a lot more slapstick than I wanted, from the fat matchmaker (because large women are always funny, right?) to the ridiculous accidents that occur. Once the dramatic section begins, however, I liked the movie much more. That’s driven by the conscription of Mulan’s aging father into the army to fight invaders. To save him, she disguises herself and goes in his place.

Mulan trained by Shang (BD Wong)

It took Mushu, the tiny dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy, a little while to grow on me. I found him annoying until he started taking care of Mulan during training. Other famous voices include Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, George Takei, James Hong, and BD Wong as the love interest, Shang (sung by Donny Osmond). I was impressed that the grandmother is voiced by the immortal June Foray and sung by Marni Nixon.

Mulan (in disguise) with Mushu

I was a bit shocked when there was a silent break and the movie brought home the message “war is not fun”. I didn’t expect the film to be so blunt with such a necessary warning. I was subsequently impressed when physics saved the day, until we were then expected to believe a rope could hold two adults and a horse. Overall, I found the ending much stronger than the beginning, and I was left liking the film.

Mulan II

This direct-to-video followup has all of the same voice cast, except Mark Moseley substitutes for Eddie Murphy as Mushu.

Mulan has returned home, where she’s training a bunch of little girls how to be tough and strong, yet gentle and peaceful, in a song about the need for balance. Shang has been promoted to general, and he’s come to ask Mulan to marry him. Because that would mean Mushu losing his place in the family pantheon, he’s decided to break them up. (This plot point is strained, just to give Mushu something to do, and unfortunate, since it’s very selfish and sitcommy.)

Mulan and Shang are summoned to the Emperor for a mission. In order to forge an alliance, they must escort his three daughters (Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, Lauren Tom) to be wed to princes of a neighboring country.

Sandra Oh, Lauren Tom, and Lucy Liu voice the princesses

As you might guess, the film is very anti-arranged marriages, thus historically inaccurate. It’s not clear why Mulan is so against this idea, since she was going to be part of one until she flunked with the matchmaker in the first movie. The princesses fall in love at first site with the trio of accompanying soldiers (Mulan’s friends from the first film), perpetuating the idea of romance and silly feelings as the best basis for relationships. Opposites may attract, but they may not be a great basis for a long-term commitment. I know this is a kids’ film, and they went with classic motivations and conflicts, but in this setting and context, it felt poorly chosen to me. Also predictable.

The message of the film becomes “your duty is to your heart”, which justifies selfishness and emotion over logic and responsibility. I did like the way that Mulan and Shang could laugh together and laugh off the stupid things Mushu kept doing to try and break them up, until the requirements of the melodrama took over the characterization. There are parts of Mulan II that are worth watching, mostly those focusing on Mulan alone or with Shang, but it’s a very mixed bag.

Special Features

The 3-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray comes with both movies on one Blu-ray disc and 2 DVDs, one for each film. The Blu-ray extras for Mulan are:

• Audio commentary by producer Pam Coats and directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook
• Seven deleted scenes, 22 1/2 minutes total, introduced and explained by the directors and animators
• Backstage Disney, featurettes on the making of the movie, covering “Mulan’s Fun Facts” (2 min, trivia popups over some old-looking video), “The Journey Begins” (4 segments, 16 min, about the Chinese influences and the animators’ trip to the country), “Story Artists’ Journey” (2 segments, 9 min, about finding Mulan’s character), “Design” (3 segments, 14 min, on art, character, and color designs), “Production” (2 segments, 10 min, different stages in creating 2 different scenes), and “Digital Production” (2 segments, 9 min, about the then-new computer techniques they developed)
• Five music videos, plus five minutes on the “Songs of Mulan”
• Two short pieces on Mulan internationally in other languages

The DVD is lacking most of the featurettes but has the commentary, music videos, and deleted scenes.

For Mulan II, the extras (all duplicated on the DVD) are:

• Backstage Disney: Voices of Mulan (3 min), which shows some of the actors in the studio
• Four deleted scenes, about 10 minutes total, introduced and explained by unnamed staff — I’m assuming they’re director and producers
• A music video

(The studio provided a review copy.)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Bob Hoskins was perfect casting, seeming slightly caricatured himself. He’s also great at the physical clowning required to interact with a co-star who isn’t there. He plays a down-on-his-luck private detective, Eddie Valiant, sent to get the goods on the no-good Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner). Her husband Roger’s boss, head of the studio, wants to open Roger’s (Charles Fleischer) eyes so he’ll focus on his work. Soon after Valiant gets involved, there’s a murder. Roger’s the top suspect, forcing Valiant into Toontown to confront the ghosts of his past and his hatred of toons.

The plot is familiar from old-school private eye movies, but the real appeal is how forward-reaching the moviemaking was. People had appeared with cartoons on film before, but they were all shot flat and static. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a quantum leap forward in showing the interactions much more realistically and three-dimensionally.

You can sometimes notice the different layers between the human actors and the drawn characters, but it’s still magical to see, for example, Jessica Rabbit pull a handkerchief from Stubby Kaye’s pocket and run it over his head. It’s the practical effects — the objects moving as though manipulated by the toons — that make this film so unusual.

Beyond that, I didn’t appreciate, when I first saw the movie back in the day, the old Hollywood studio elements, aside from the animation history, and the 40s costuming and design. Now, they helped build the feeling of another time. I also hadn’t realized that Mae Questel, the original Betty Boop voice from 1930-1939, performed the character again here. What a nice and neat acknowledgement.

The opening Baby Herman cartoon looks more textured, less crisp than I’m used to seeing today’s computerized animation on Blu-ray. That contributes to the nostalgic feel. Overall, I’d forgotten how enjoyable and funny this film is. This release was a great reminder and excuse to watch it again.

Special Features

All of the special features from the earlier two-disc DVD release are ported over, with one exception, and there are no new extras. Those features include:

• The three Roger Rabbit short cartoons:
  • “Tummy Trouble” which puts him and Baby Herman in the hospital
  • “Roller Coaster Rabbit”, best of the three, a bizarrely inventive cartoon with the world’s deadliest amusement park ride
  • “Trail Mix-Up”, going camping
• 
  “Who Made Roger Rabbit” (11 min), a chirpy special hosted by Charles Fleischer with on-set footage, including with him in the rabbit suit. (Although his acting was voice only, he was on-set to provide it and wore a rabbit costume to look more like the character.) Some of this is way too slow and boring, based on what we know now about the movie, but the parts that are interesting show the devices built to manipulate props; footage before the cartoons were added; and the animation techniques used.
• Two options that run with the movie: a filmmakers’ commentary and a “Toontown Confidential” trivia track. (The latter is found under the “Set Up” options on the Blu-ray.) My favorite part was when it translated for Donald Duck.
• A deleted scene, “The Pig Head Sequence” (5 1/2 min), introduced by Robert Zemeckis.
• “Before and After” (3 min) shows more of the filming footage and storyboards contrasted with the final version once the animation was added. Watching this makes Hoskins’ performance all the more impressive.
• “Toon Stand-ins” (3 min) shows another technique they used, with actors interacting with rubber figures in place of the toons.
• “Behind the Ears” (37 min) is the big making-of.
• “On Set!” (5 min) covers the filming of the scene where Eddie Valiant rides in Benny the Cab. Neat to hear Hoskins’ actual British voice.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack claims that “The Valiant Files”, an interactive image gallery, is available on the DVD included, but I couldn’t find it. Comparing it to the earlier two-disc set, the Combo Pack DVD appears to be the same as the first of the two discs. (This impression is reinforced by how one of the options on the disc says “insert disc two”, which isn’t included with the Blu-ray.) Unfortunately, the Valiant Files feature was on that second disc in the prior DVD set, so this might be a mistake on the Blu-ray box copy.

What does come over on the Combo Pack DVD is a “Trouble in Toontown” game that wasn’t moved to Blu-ray. What’s missing from the original are the lengthy animated menu sequences where Benny the talking taxi walked you through the disc — no big loss, in my opinion, since they were a bit annoying to navigate while trying to compare the two sets. (The studio provided a review copy.)

Wreck-It Ralph
(4-disc Blu-ray 3D with digital copy)

Poor Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) has been cast as the bad guy. His important role is to provide the conflict and give the others, particularly Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) (and through him, the player), a feeling of accomplishment. He’s so frustrated about it, though, that he ends up living down to the limited role others restrict him to. His emotions hit him so hard they cause him to overact, thus justifying the “regular folks” shunning him. Anyone who’s wondered what it would be like to be popular and beloved but feeling uncomfortable in their own skin can relate to Ralph.

On the 30th anniversary of his game, after once again being rejected, Ralph decides to try something different. He focuses on the idea of gaining a medal to prove his value. This leads him into the overwhelming military shooter game “Hero’s Duty”, where he meets Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch).

After a series of misadventures, he winds up in the candy-themed racing game “Sugar Rush”.

There, he meets Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), who’s got her own quest to prove her skills in spite of King Candy (surprisingly, Alan Tudyk, doing an excellent Ed Wynn imitation) and her condition of having a “glitch”.

One of the neat things about this movie is how all four of the main characters I’ve mentioned have development arcs, where the abilities they may have bemoaned wind up helping. Also outstanding is the casting, with the on-screen characters resembling their actors, who were great choices for the various roles.

The idea of everyone getting together from all the arcade games after hours is a classic one, previously most often imagined with physical toys, but translated here into a meeting place accessible through electric circuits. I’m glad all the various game property owners got with the appeal and feeling of the movie to allow the Pac-Man ghost and the Mario Bowser Koopa to appear in the Bad Guys meeting, for example.

The animators did a terrific job making Felix’s expressions resemble McBrayer’s, especially during the awkward party scene. And then there are the in-jokes, as when the various candies gather to watch the final race. It’s all those goofy bits that make it so enjoyable, even multiple times through. Plus, I find the interaction between Felix and Calhoun wonderful to watch. See a little of it here:

It’s a heartwarming movie that, in spite of the candy world, isn’t too sugary. Since it’s Disney, it even includes a princess! Mostly, I like the way that everyone comes to recognize the good in themselves and others.

Special Features

Wreck-It Ralph (2-disc Blu-ray with DVD)

The extras are slight but entertaining. Owning Paperman is itself enough for me.

Paperman (6 1/2 minutes) — Gorgeous. Deservedly won the Oscar. This is how you tell a love story, with determination and wonder and curiosity and magic. And it shows how effective (and universal) wordless storytelling can be. I love the style, where you can see the pencil lines yet it’s still got the smoothness of CGI. I found myself noticing, this time through, the antique details, such as the 40s cars and the old-fashioned train doors and the men’s suits and ladies’ hats.

The Gamer’s Guide to Wreck-It Ralph — A Blu-ray exclusive. Press pause and Chris Hardwick shows up in 10 different clips to point out Easter eggs and other trivia. Cute, but we couldn’t figure out how to actually pause the movie without seeing him when we wanted to see the credits.

Bit by Bit: Creating the Worlds of Wreck-It Ralph (16 1/2 minutes) — Director Rich Moore and his team talk about their video game nostalgia and the design inspirations for the movie.

Alternate and Deleted Scenes (14 1/2 minutes) — Four deleted scenes, plus an introduction by the director. You can watch them with or without commentary by him.

Video Game Commercials (2 1/2 minutes) — Four fake ads for the games shown in the movie.

They apparently weren’t able to find a way to get the best movie extra, playing the Fix-It Felix game itself, on the disc. (The studio provided a review copy.)

Cartoon Network released its 2013 schedule plans, and the cartoon shows Young Justice and Green Lantern weren’t on it. The latter, in particular, was a second chance at trying to make the property a franchise after the failure of the big-budget movie. ICv2 has more speculation about what this means, saying “it brings up the question of whether or not the Green Lantern property will ever be anything more than a niche hit in the comic market with little or no mainstream appeal.”

In place of this two shows are two new DC series: Teen Titans Go! and Beware the Batman. The former features Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg in “all-new, comedic adventures” with a cute, chibi-style design. It’s coming April.

Character-driven comedy is the order of the day as this new take on the superhero series focuses on the funny business that happens between saving the world and living together as teenagers without adult supervision. The series stars the principal voice cast from the original Teen Titans.

Beware the Batman will be “a cool, new take on the classic Dark Knight franchise” and is promised to feature “new villains not previously seen in animated form”. It looks very dark.

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.

It’s CGI and coming next summer as part of the DC Nation block, which launched last year. I like this explanation by a Beat commenter, who blames the cancellations on the lack of toy support.

Also new for the CN is an all-new series for “the world’s most famous cat-and-mouse duo”, The Tom and Jerry Show. Plus, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Inc. returns.

Originally planned as a direct-to-home-video release, this 3-D film will now be in theaters on August 9, starring Dane Cook as the plane Dusty. Dusty wants to be an air racer but unfortunately has a fear of heights. As the press release says,

Dusty’s not exactly built for racing, so he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.

The mentor is rumored to be voiced by Stacy Keach. DisneyToon is already working on a sequel, Planes 2: Fire and Rescue.

Newly announced voices include Frances Conroy as Ma Kent, Wade Williams as Perry White, Diedrich Bader as Steve Lombard, and Stephen Root as Zor-El. I think I’m going to have a hard time with Jimmy James as Supergirl’s dad — I kid! Root is quite talented and I’m sure will voice the character appropriately. Meanwhile, Bader goes from the heroic Batman in The Brave and the Bold to the jerky Lombard. Range!

Superman: Unbound

Extras on the Blu-ray have been announced as follows:

• Sneak Peek at Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, the next DC original animated movie
• Featurette — “Kandor: History of the Bottle City”, about the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor taken hostage by Brainiac, the villain of this movie
• Featurette — “Brainiac: Technology and Terror”
• Audio commentary by Mike Carlin, Bob Goodman (scriptwriter), and James Tucker (supervising producer and director)
• Four Superman: The Animated Series episodes — “The Last Son of Krypton, Part 1”; “New Kids in Town”; and “Little Girl Lost, Parts 1 & 2”
• A digital comic excerpt from Superman: Brainiac by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

This one talks about how hard it is for animators to “go back” to authentic 8-bit design:

CartoonBrew has the news that Reel FX has announced they are developing a CG-animated film based on Beasts of Burden, the way cool animal comic by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. Director is planned to be Shane Acker, who directed 9, and the film will be written by Darren Lemke (Shrek Forever After).

No official title for the movie yet, nor a release date, although I’m guessing it would be 2015 at the earliest.

In the second, Ralph has made it into the game only to discover that a life of hedonism can be pretty boring.

I admit, the game made me laugh. I don’t think it would have gone with the movie as we saw it, but as a satire of certain kinds of games and programming limitations, I thought it was funny.

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, a new direct-to-video animated film from Marvel Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, will be available on Blu-ray (list price $30.99) and DVD (list price $26.99) on April 16.

Both formats include an UltraViolet copy and two featurettes, described as ““Tale of Technovore”, exploring the animation, story, and the adaptation of Marvel characters for the anime film, and “S.H.I.E.L.D.: Protecting the Marvel Universe”, giving viewers an all-access look and brief history into the organization as portrayed in the comics and adapted in the film.” The Blu-ray also has an “interactive art gallery featuring the conceptual art produced by Madhouse for the film.”

The plot involves Iron Man on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and chasing Ezekiel Stane after a “deadly terrorist attack”. (Is there any other kind?) He teams up with the Punisher, while Black Widow and Hawkeye chase them. SPOILER: One of the victims killed is “his best friend War Machine, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes”. (That was part of the press release.)

Playing off the success of Marvel’s The Avengers, this film includes a number of familiar guest stars, as shown in the promo art released.