Justice League & Batman Beyond (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Green]

Barring all this aspect ratio stuff....Are there ANY fans of the shows here? All I hear on these boards is anomorphic this, and widescreen that....

Let's talk about the cartoons themselves for once.

I just bought Superman volume 2 and have almost completed it. LOVE IT! I'll be getting Batman animated series 3 and 4 this weekend and will eat popcorn and watch these great cartoons until I'm silly. Love Bane in series 3. Wish they hadn't changed him so much for series 4. He looks like a leather queen. Can't wait for the Justice League either. I've seen most of season one on Cartoon Network but am blind on the seasons after that. Should be great viewing!

 

[Ric Easton]

Matthew,

I think a lot of us love these shows. That's why we want to see them presented in the best possible light. Um, that's widescreen for me.

 

[Matthew Green]

I know....But the episodes or what you liked about them are usually never discussed.

 

[Jim Smith]

I sent my letter today. I did specify in it that I would not buy Season two in pan scan. I also specified I was absolutly fine with season one getting fullscreen.

I wonder what the possibility of Static Shock and Zeta Project getting boxed set releases soon. Both are in the same continuity as Justice League and Batman Beyond and both belong as part of our complete DC animated Universe collection.

 

[Rob T]

I would love full sets of Static Shock.
Never saw Zeta Project though.

 

[Sam Favate]

I prefer the widescreen versions, at least for the seasons that were made that way. The X-Files DVD sets switched to widescreen when the show did.

I have another question: Since this release is 4 discs and 26 episodes, how many 4-disc sets will it take to bring us up to date on this show? Three? Four?

 

[BrandonJF]

Discussion about the show itself should probably be in the "TV and HDTV Programming" forum. This thread has been pretty much dead-on topic for the forum it's in.

 

[BrandonJF]

Is this a conspiracy theory or is there some info out there suggesting this is true? I would honestly be shocked at that bit of info. What would you consider to be the OAR for Teen Titans and The Batman (both of which have never aired in widescreen)?

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Calling out the fans here and repackaging our "reasoning" isn't necessary. I'd prefer S1 to be widescreen, as the animators intended it. However, it was initially shown fullscreen, and has the visual material to support such a release. Given a choice for S1, I'd take the recommended WS set. But I don't have a choice, as S1 is probably done and done. I usually don't write or call over these things, but I'll be making a special effort to do so (call, write, and e-mail, before and after I buy S1) for Justice League, because it's a special show. S2 will be a dealbreaker, BUT S1 is not. It's not my preference, but there isn't a need to take the S1 hardline. All it might do is cost the fans later.

They are great shows, and I'll support them, and the creators, as intelligently and reasonably as I can.

Take care,
Chuck

 

[todd s]

My daughters were thrilled when Batman volume 4 came out. Their favorite episode..."Girls Nite Out" was on there. That is the one where Batgirl & Supergirl team up to fight Livewire, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. They love that its only the girl heroes and villians.

 

[David Podjasek]

If you search for "widescreen status" at toonzone net DCAU forum you will find a post I made there inquiring about which shows were produced in widescreen. I'd post a link but I'm still not allowed.

Several people there who I believe to be knowledgeable have stated that one or the other is in widescreen.

Looking at a couple of episodes of The Batman, it didn't look like it could accommodate matte bars without completely loosing the action in many shots. I highly doubt WB is producing widescreen-unfriendly cartoons these days.

And there are a number of people who claim to have seen Teen Titans in widescreen, and that it is obvious from the opening (at least in later seasons) that part of the picture is missing.

But no hard evidence at this point. Just heavy suspicion and claims...

Certainly if they were animated at approx 1.85:1 I would consider that OAR and the 1.33 versions pan/scan (assuming the creators of the show didn't disagree).

 

[Robert Floto]

Sign me up for a widescreen version of any and all seasons. I must admit that as much as I love this program I'm not sure if I can bring myself to pick up the first season in fullscreen. I personally disregard any earlier comments that fullscreen is the OAR of the first season.

Most of you know that I work as an animator, and I can say with a small amount of certainty that whether or not there was "additional material drawn and animated" is completely beside the point. There were also likely additional shots and scenes that were cut from the final program. If the producers decided those scenes shouldn't be in the final cut, should we tell them that since they were drawn and animated they should be? I've worked on numerous projects that required widescreen composing of 4x3 shots. Just because there was a safe area doesn't mean we meant for that area to be seen. Often times we did it to follow continuous movements from other shots. This isn't a probelm with shooting live action, but can be in animation.

According to Bruce Timm, widescreen is the OAR. I believe him over anyone else. Widescreen is the way I saw it broadcast, widescreen is the way it was meant to be seen, widescreen is the way my 16x9 display wants to show it to me.

I'm writing my letter right now...

 

[Ric Easton]

And besides, sometimes in those un-matted fullscreen shots you can see the boom mic over the Flash's head.

 

[Jonathan_Clarke]

Ok Ric, now that is funny.

 

[David Lambert]

WARNER'S DECISION!

 

[Sam Favate]

Re: Warner's decision

Makes sense to me, and I think it's the best possible compromise.

Thanks to Dave for the update!

 

[Daniel-M]

I am pleased

 

[John Simon]

Thanks for the hard work, Dave.

As I said earlier, while I would've preferred a widescreen version of Season 1, it wasn't a make-or-break decision for my purchase. But with subsequent seasons planned for release in widescreen, I'm one happy fan!

 

[ElijahS]

I'm fine with Warner's decision. In all honesty, I haven't seen more than two episodes of JLU, so the DVDs (which I will definitely get) will be great regardless. Same goes for Batman Beyond, which came out when I was (foolishly) avoiding Batman.

 

[John*D]

GJ Dave, thanks for the update! We can always stretch S1.