The Blu-ray Blog » Wonder Woman

Upcoming TV and Animation on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video: Friends, DCU Animated, Scooby Doo, more

Brenden — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:50:29 +0000

Every now and then, Warner Home Video throws open its virtual doors and allows their executives to participate in an online “chat” with consumers. These sessions generally involve a lot of requests for TV shows and films that are either steeped in legal issues, in really desperate need of an expensive remaster/restoration or so niche that there’s barely an audience to warrant distribution. That’s another way of saying that most of the stuff we ask for gets shot down. This past Monday, the Home Theatre Forum hosted another chat with WHV, this time with execs from the TV and Animation divisions. The full transcript is available to read here but we’ve culled the pertinent Blu-ray news from the lengthy document so you don’t have to wade through it yourself.

Sadly, there’s not much Blu-ray news this time around. It looks like the studio is working on bringing the hit sitcom Friends to Blu-ray as well as actively evaluating the DC Animated Universe programs for a high-def re-issue:

“We hope to release Friends on Blu Ray but we cant share any further details at this point but its looking good ”
“We are evaluating the entire DC Comics animated library for Blu-ray”

The studio also stated that they’re looking at the classic Scooby Doo series, Looney Tunes, earlier seasons of Smallville and the Peanuts series for release on Blu. They also seem interested in finding a way to release Babylon 5 in high-def but the standard-def CGI effects might keep this from happening.

“we’ve definitely considered releasing Babylon 5 on Blu Ray, however, there are some technical issues with the CGI that make this release difficult. We’ll continue to investigate further in the event we’re able to address it.”

Sadly, there are currently no plans to bring programs like V (“Remastering costs are high so there are no specific plans at this point.”), the classic Lynda Carter Woman Woman series (“right now our focus is on current shows that have been shot in hi def”), One Tree Hill (“We don’t feel the time is right”), The Big Bang Theory‘s first two seasons (Season 3 is out on Blu on September 7), Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken to Blu-ray.

Personally, I’m really hoping to see the Batman: Animated Series on Blu-ray, as well as additional seasons of Justice League, this time with a correct 16:9 presentation and lossless audio!

[VIDEO] Wish List: Super Friends Season 1

Brenden — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:51:00 +0000

It’s Saturday morning. I like to have a coffee (and pie, if it’s available) and watch a few cartoons before starting my day. Sadly, there’s not much on the old tube these days that holds my interest. Thank goodness for this collection of episodes from the first season of The Super Friends!

I’ll be the first to admit that the content here is pretty cheesy. But often so much so, that it’s actually quite funny! The first episode opens with Superman play-wrestling with junior team member, Marvin, a character who could just as easily be hanging out with Scooby Doo as a bunch of super heroes! In fact, the team has their very own Scooby, in the form of Wonder Dog (no relation to Wonder Woman.) Like I said, totally silly stuff.

Silly, yes. But also very, very long. Each one of these episodes clocks in at around 45 minutes! Unreal! As much as I enjoy these shows, the silly stories and lack of characterization tends to lose its charm after the 15-20 minute mark. It’s hard for me to believe that children could sit through episodes of this length way back in 1973, when the series debuted.

Illustrator and character designer Alex Toth’s Batman model sheets

But there’s a lot to love here. Chiefly, the brilliant minimalist character designs of master illustrator, Alex Toth. This stuff is fantastic! The animation team barely manages to stay on model but when they nail the designs, they look great. I really wish Warner had included a featurette about Toth and his work for animation studio Hanna Barbera on the DVD. In fact, any sort of featurette detailing the early years of this groundbreaking series would have been appreciated. Ah well. Maybe the Blu-ray edition that will hopefully be issued in the coming years will be a little more comprehensive. One can only hope!

Upcoming Animated DC Universe Blu-ray: 'Green Lantern: First Flight' Trailer and Interview, 'Superman/Batman: Public Enemies' Trailer

Brenden — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:55:45 +0000

I can’t hide my dirty secret any longer – I’m a comic book nerd. I love seeing my old-favourite DC Comics heroes on the big screen. I also love animation. Warner’s DTV plan to hit us with an original superhero film a couple of times a year is kind of blowing my mind! It’s like getting chocolate in my peanut butter every six months. And the new trailer for upcoming fall release Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, posted above for your drooling pleasure, is extremely chocolaty!

Also blowing my mind is the fact that Warner Home Video was kind enough to send over this interview with Lauren Montgomery. She did a bang up job on their last release, Wonder Woman (which won a favourable review from The Blu-ray Blog). I expect Green Lantern: First Flight to be equally as solid. Check out the trailer that follows!

DIRECTOR LAUREN MONTGOMERY DISCUSSES GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT, THE
NEXT DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED ORIGINAL FILM COMING TO BLU-RAY JULY 28, 2009

Director Lauren Montgomery addresses the WonderCon audience after the West Coast Premiere of Wonder Woman in February. Montgomery’s next film, Green Lantern: First Flight, an all-new DC Universe animated original movie, will be distributed July 28, 2009 by Warner Home Video. (photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu)

QUESTION:

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
We’re actually having a lot of fun trying different artistic styles on
different movies – Bruce felt his style has been done enough, and I
just had my turn – plus I knew there were many other character
designers who are infinitely better at designing aliens that I am. We
were lucky to get Jose Lopez to create the characters for Green
Lantern. I think he even took a pay cut from his last job to do Green
Lantern, but this project really allows him to let his animation go
wild. You’ve never seen anything like some of his designs for this
film. His take on the familiar characters is fairly true to form, but
he’s designed – literally – an entire universe of completely new
characters in the different Green Lanterns, aliens and background
characters. There are a lot of awesome, fantastical creatures. Like
me, Jose is trained in animation instead of comics, so his style
really lends itself to being animated – and everything he’s done has
looked spectacular. I think it’s really looking different from
anything we’ve ever done.

QUESTION:
Did Jose ever over-step any boundaries and need to be reined in?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
Actually, his first designs were a little too stylized. For the main
characters, the designs were a little too streamlined – we had to make
Sinestro more like the comics. But once he got that figured out, he
really went crazy. It was exciting to see him come in with these
characters. Even his Weaponer designer is far different than what
we’ve seen before, but DC was okay with it. So we just let him run
wild.

QUESTION:
Were there any beyond-the-norm issues strategizing a color scheme for
a film with an entire army of characters wearing the same color?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
We tried desperately to avoid as much green as we could in backgrounds
and supporting characters, so the Green Lanterns and the rings and
their effects were the only green portions of the scene. We also tried
to stay away from copious amounts of yellow – so that would make an
impact later in the film. When you eliminate two of the main colors,
it kind of limits you, so we had to utilize a lot of shades of blue,
red and orange, and I think we were able to make it work. It was a
really wise decision on Bruce’s part to keep the green and the yellow
to the characters that were defined by that color.

QUESTION:
Did you learn anything directing Wonder Woman that you were able to
apply and/or improve upon for Green Lantern: First Flight?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
Wonder Woman taught me that you can’t board the whole movie by
yourself (she laughs), so I just let my storyboard artists do their
job on Green Lantern. I let them come up with their ideas and I
focused on keeping everything cohesive. Ultimately, I think the movie
is better for it. I guess I learned to be more relaxed and to not be
such a control freak. Which I think is good (laughs again). It
certainly made my work load a lot easier.

It’s Hal Jordan to the rescue in Green Lantern: First Flight, the all-new DC Universe animated original movie set for distribution July 28, 2009 by Warner Home Video.

QUESTION:

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
As we had already done the origin story a few movies back in Justice
League: The New Frontier, we really didn’t want to spend a whole lot
of time telling that same story over again. So in Green Lantern: First
Flight, the origin story is over and done before the opening credits.
That way we get right into Hal Jordan’s first adventure.

QUESTION:
What do the four main voice cast members bring to their roles?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
Christopher Meloni is a very serious actor and really got into the
character to understand all the little nuances of exactly what Hal was
thinking at every moment. He would ask very interesting, detailed,
unexpected questions so he could totally get the mind set, and in
doing so he was able to deliver an incredible performance that that
really defines Hal as a confident hero, but not cocky or a jerk. Hal
Jordan has a humor to him that isn’t quite as big as the Flash, but
still not stiff like Batman. Christopher was able to give us that fun
side of Hal, too.

Victor Garber has this intimidating presence and power behind his
deliveries where you can hear that Sinestro knows what he’s doing,
he’s been through this before and he’s pretty sure of himself. He
gives Sinestro a very believable sense of suave sophistication.
Sinestro is not your typical evil villain, and Victor Garber makes him
seem like an incredibly intelligent, worldly guy who believes he is
doing the right thing, even though he might not be doing it the
correct way.

Kilowog is this big, hulking creature and he needed a voice that was
really recognizable and had a strong presence. Michael Madsen was able
to give us these line readings that we really didn’t expect – you
can’t help laughing at his intonations – and he ends up with some of
the funniest lines in the whole script. He even did some fake burps
that are just ridiculous – you’ll actually hear a couple of those in
the movie. It was just a match made in heaven, really.

Boodikka is not just your doe-eyed, token female – she has strength
and believability without losing the feminine qualities of our primary
female character. There aren’t a ton of women in the Green Lantern
Corps – apparently it’s a male-dominated industry (she laughs). Tricia
Helfer has a really sympathetic quality to her voice that captures the
quieter side of Boodikka, but Tricia also has this amazing strength in
her voice. She was able to make Boodikka this wonderful, relatable,
three-dimensional character.

QUESTION:
What made Alan Burnett’s script right for this first Green Lantern film?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
Alan delivered a Green Lantern script that really explored what being
a space cop is all about. He didn’t focus purely on the heroic Hal
super power approach – it’s more of an overall Green Lantern Corps
story and Hal’s existence within that group. And it’s not Hal on
Earth being a super hero – we’re in space for virtually the entire
movie, so Alan gave us multiple backgrounds and scene settings so we
could explore the galaxy. That made it even more interesting – seeing
and exploring different alien locales and lifestyles. Being away from
Earth is incredibly liberating in terms of design possibilities.

QUESTION:
Without any spoilers, do you have a favorite scene?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY
We have a scene about 17 minutes into the movie when Hal and Sinestro
go into this establishment looking for a killer, and even though
you’ve already seen some of the alien Green Lanterns, this is the
first time you get an eyeful of the alien characters that Jose Lopez
designed. The place is packed with all these really cool aliens, and
they’re all so crazy looking. But you know their personalities
immediately. It’s a very tense, cool scene and you really get to see
how different that world is from Earth. That’s the defining scene from
the movie that lets you know you’re not in Kansas anymore.

For more information, images and updates, please visit the film’s
official website at www.greenlanternmovie.com

.
.
.
Green Lantern: First Flight
is available for pre-order at
Amazon.com for $19.99,
30% off the MSRP of $29.99.

Wonder Woman Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:07:38 +0000

Wonder Woman (2009 – Blu-ray)

The Story:

Pretty good. Exactly what I was expecting. Not as focussed, structurally sound or iconic as i’d hoped but completely serviceable. To be fair, nearly every single criticism I can throw at producer Bruce Timm, director Lauren Montgomery and crew’s animated Wonder Woman film can be explained away by it’s two most villainous foes – budget and running time.

Scribe Michael Jelenic by way of Gail Simone‘s story makes a grand effort of attempting to tell the definitive origin of DC Comics‘ Amazonian princess by amalgamating and slightly reshaping the best and most iconic elements found in the comic book series and on television. This Wonder Woman can’t fly like the comics or Justice League cartoon incarnations and won’t fight in heels like Linda Carter but is steeped in the Greek mythological background stuff that makes the modern DC version of the character feel timeless. In fact, the film skews heavily toward the sword and sandal tone, only allowing a hint of what Princess Diana’s adventures in “Man’s World” might feel like. And I think that’s where it fails for me.

This fable feels most at home when exploring the lives, characters and mythology of the Amazonian world. It spends a glorious amount of its brief seventy-odd minute run-time focused on the toga/sandal crew and reasonably little on our protagonist’s fish-out-of-water, island girl in NYC arc. A grave mistake, if you ask me, as that’s where the character really shines, where she becomes the Wonder Woman that we all know and love. That version, the ideal status quo for the character is what the whole narrative leads us to in a denouement which really pays off. But along the way, the rush to explore every nook and cranny of the Amazonian plight leads to a juxtaposition of tone and style that doesn’t always work, as if the climax of of Frank Miller‘s 300 was randomly staged in downtown Washington DC without much explanation. In fact, a lot of things get glossed over or unexplained in this story. Like the Invisible Jet that suddenly appears on the primitive Amazon island, for instance.

And, if the production team’s comments are to be believed that sloppiness comes as necessitated by restricted budget and time. Sadly, it seems this vision for Wonder Woman was simply too epic to be contained in a short DTV feature. This is meant to be storytelling writ large and long. The music cues, riffing heavily on Shore’s Lord of the Rings (with a little of Kilar’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula thrown in for good measure) tell us as much right off the top. But you can feel the edits, the glossed over details, the deleted dialogue and scenes, the moments you were meant to love that ended up on the cutting room floor or the directors storyboard pages, as it were. I mean, this thing works well and looks good for a short, modestly budgeted video project. But ultimately, it serves best as a blueprint for Hollywood to follow and expand upon as they bring Wonder Woman to life, live-action on the big screen.

The Disc:

Wonder Woman hits Blu-ray on a BD-25 with a VC-1, 1080p encode that averages 17mbps. Audio is encoded as Dolby True HD 5.1 48 kHz 1641 kbps. The movie, featured on disc one of the two disc set, looks and sounds quite average. Video is softer than it should be, most likely as a result of the diffusion filters used by Moi Animation Studio – a stylistic choice – and exhibits some occasional mild compression artifacting. On the plus side, the film appears vibrant with deep blacks and an over-all pleasing visual experience.

Extras on disc one include a stellar commentary track from Bruce Timm, Lauren Montgomery and crew where they speak candidly and in depth about the production. Also, two featurettes provide insight into the history and social relevance of the character. Four hand-picked episodes of Justice League featuring Wonder Woman heavily in the plot round out the extras of interest. The remaining features are all promos for other DC and Warner discs. What’s missing, in this reviewer’s opinion, is a doc outlining the creation of the film. I would love to see some production art and meet more of the team responsible for the film, outside of what little is shown in the old promo.

Disc two provides a digital copy of the film, compatible with mac and PC. That’s all folks!

The Final Word:

I really love that Warner is putting it’s muscle behind these DTV releases. Despite any criticisms that I might have, i really enjoy the DC heroes in their various animated incarnations. And I can count this Wonder Woman film among my favourites. With a decent transfer and a handful of compelling features I can’t help but give this disc a recommendation. As a PG-13 film, it’s clearly focussed at fans and certainly not made for children but most viewers who enjoy animated adventure films will get a kick out of it.

Learn more about the animation of Wonder Woman in my review over at Frames Per Second Animation Magazine.

Buy the Wonder Woman Blu-ray Disc on Amazon.com
MSR List Price: $29.99
Amazon Price: $21.99
_
_
_
_
_
_

'Wonder Woman' Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:56:47 +0000

‘Wonder Woman’ Blu-ray Disc Review … http://snurl.com/cxul1

Green Lantern Animated Blu-ray Details, Trailer Revealed

Brenden — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:52:02 +0000

At long last, Warner Home Video and DC Comics have unleashed the details of their next direct to video animated spectacular, Green Lantern: First Flight. Following hot on the heels of the Wonder Woman animated DTV, Green Lantern is set to hit shelves far earlier than I’d expected with a July 28th street date. Details below:

Green Lantern: First Flight – Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def
Street Date: July 28, 2009
Order Due Date: June 23, 2009
Languages: English and Spanish
Video: Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: Dolby Surround Stereo
Rating: PG-13
Runtimes: Disc 1 – Estimated 75 min.
Disc 2 – Estimated 210+ minutes
Price: $34.99 SRP

Extras:
• Over three hours of extra content
• Two Featurettes
• Digital Copy Download
• Four Episodes of Justice League hand-picked by animation legend Bruce Timm (Two Episodes Exclusive to Blu-ray edition)

The image above is from the 2 disc DVD release.

Don’t be surprised to find a commentary track and preview of the next DC Comics animated adventure on the disc when it ships.

Wonder Woman Animation Comes to Blu-ray

Brenden — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:44:16 +0000

The Invisible Jet Touches Down March 3rd

Warner Home Video brings us DC Comics‘ famed Amazon Princess, in her premiere animated adventure, Wonder Woman on Blu-ray and DVD on March 3rd, 2009. Since Joel Silver can’t seem to get his act together with his live action adaptation, anyone interested in the adventures of Princess Diana of Themyscira would be well advised to pick up this origin story upon release. Details from the press release:

Wonder Woman – Blu Ray
Street Date: March 3, 2009
Order Due Date: January, 20 2009
Languages: English and Spanish
Audio: Dolby Surround Stereo
Rating: PG-13
Runtimes: Disc 1 – 75 mins.
Special Features 185 mins (Total runtime 260)
Price: $34.99 SRP / No MAP
UPC: 883929020775

Produced by the multiple Emmy® Award winning animation legend Bruce Timm, Wonder Woman is an origin– story and features a stellar celebrity voice cast including Keri Russell (Waitress, Felicity), Nathan Fillion (Desperate Housewives), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Rosario Dawson (Sin City), Oliver Platt (The West Wing) and David McCallum (NCIS).

Wonder Woman: Blu-Ray will feature collectible packaging as well as 185 minutes of incredible bonus features such as:

-Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream – She is one of the pillars of DC Comics. We examine why Wonder Woman is important in the grand scheme of the DC Super Heroes and how her raw strength and power helped define a new generation of empowered women, who realized that their gifts of intellect and strength were just as powerful as their male counterparts.
-Wonder Woman The Daughters of Myth – The riveting documentary historically defines the meaning of the Amazons and how this links in with the evolution of the Wonder Woman character from comics to screen.
-Audio Commentary: featuring commentary by Gregory Noveck (Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs, DC Comics), Bruce Timm (Producer), Lauren Montgomery (Director) and Michael Jelenic (Screenplay).
- Bruce Timm’s Top Picks: Popular episodes from the Warner Bros. archive of Justice League/Justice League Unlimited animation featuring Wonder Woman; all personally selected by Bruce Timm, producer of this Wonder Woman feature film. All formats include “To Another Shore” and “Hawk and Dove,” exclusive additions for Blu-Ray: “Paradise Lost, Parts 1 & 2.”
-Digital Copy Download– Warner Bros. is including a Digital Copy of Wonder Woman on the DVD which will provide fans a legitimate means to enjoy their favorite action hero anywhere they want on their portable video device. Formats supported include: iTunes, Windows Media Player. Restrictions apply. Consult product packaging for details.
-Sneak Peak: The next DCU Animated Original Movie.
-Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess – This featurette includes both a thumbnail history of the character of Wonder Woman featuring interviews with DC Comics creators and artists (Paul Levitz, Dan DiDio), and behind the scenes footage of the upcoming made-for-DVD release punctuated with interviews from the production staff and voice talent behind the film (Keri Russell, Alfred Molina, etc.)
-Widescreen (1.78:1)

The Blu-ray Blog » Wonder Woman

Upcoming TV and Animation on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video: Friends, DCU Animated, Scooby Doo, more

Related posts

[VIDEO] Wish List: Super Friends Season 1

Related posts

Upcoming Animated DC Universe Blu-ray: 'Green Lantern: First Flight' Trailer and Interview, 'Superman/Batman: Public Enemies' Trailer

Related posts

Wonder Woman Blu-ray Disc Review

Related posts

'Wonder Woman' Blu-ray Disc Review

Related posts

Green Lantern Animated Blu-ray Details, Trailer Revealed

Related posts

Wonder Woman Animation Comes to Blu-ray

Related posts