Justice League & Batman Beyond (1 Viewer)

[David Podjasek]

This is EXACTLY the attitude I find so frustrating. Hell yes, if Smurfs was composed for 1.85 and I was a fan and it was getting a DVD release I would ABSOLUTELY want it released widescreen. I am not advocating vertically pan/scanning shows that were only intended for 1.33. But I do think it makes absolute sense to release shows that were framed with widescreen in mind IN widescreen.

You can make an argument for full frame if the creators prefer the 1.33 framing, but particularly in JL's case where it is common knowledge that is not the case it makes no sense to release it in full frame.

And if you re-read my post you will see I did not say that BB S3 IS widescreen, I said it is rumored that it is open matte. I have not seen it yet so I can not confirm, but I am looking forward to the show. I have only seen the episodes that have been released to DVD so far...

 

[David Podjasek]

Thankls for the correction. Detailed aspect ratio information seems to be very hard to come by for these shows, so I am only reporting what I have been able to gather off the web. I should have made that clearer...

 

[Jim Harvey]

Batman Beyond season 3 is not in widescreen. Timm confirmed it for me himself. They didn't start animating in widescreen until the second season of Justice League.

 

[BrandonJF]

The comment was mainly illustrating how silly I find the notion that Batman Beyond was animated in widescreen.

I don't really get why the difference between this issue and an open matte live action transfer is eluding some. Someone made the "boom mic" joke previously and besides being hilarious, that comment speaks to why I can accept a 4:3 transfer and say "meh" to whether or not it's widescreen. Even when it comes down to shot composition, I believe it's impossible for them to not compose for a 4:3 frame if they are animating it. The very nature of the process forces them to compose for it. It isn't like they just scribble or have their 4 year old animate above and below the matte line because they don't care. There is some form of art going on there that I don't think can be completely discounted. In live action, the director and cinematographer can just ignore what would essentially be above and below the matte line. In animation, they CAN'T ignore it.

Plus, Timm stated he even debated with himself which version is the best one to be preserved on DVD. I mean, it wasn't even clear cut for HIM! I know he said he prefers 1.85:1, but at the same time he called the 4:3 version the more "complete" version and argued that it should be the one retained on DVD. That's why this call to arms didn't come up until season two was getting prepped. Timm doesn't seem to really be bothered as to which version of season one is on DVD. Basically, even Timm is saying "meh, whatever".

 

[David Podjasek]

Right. But I think the question is was it framed to have a safety zone for widescreen, and then matted (just like S1 of JL or Mask of the Phantasm)? I would love to know for sure either way. Like I said, I haven't even seen it yet so I don't know, but there seemed to be a couple people who though it was on ToonZone and nobody refuted it. Obviously this doesn not neccessarily mean anything...

 

[David Podjasek]

I think your've pretty much right on that count (that he is also in the "meh" camp). But I would still put the emphasis on that part that he prefers widescreen. I think that he knows he would have had to have fought Warner tooth and nail to get them to release S1 widescreen. And given the fan reaction, it seems he would not have had much support from them as far as S1 goes either.

 

[Jim Smith]

Good point. If Bruce Timm wanted widescreen for season one so much why was there no fan call 4 months ago like the one we got hear. He was silent on the box set until after it was announced for fullscreen and then he only seemed concerned over season two. Basically he prefers the widescreen for season one a bit but he doesn't seem to dislike the fullscreen to much. He had no desire for a hard fight until it came down to season two. The creaters view was the thing most widescreen fans touted but it doesn't seem to be that strong so why take a strong view yourself. I can't really see any fullscreen boycott for the season one box set.

 

[David Podjasek]

I (nor anyone else I can recall in this thread) am not calling for a boycott. Heck, I for the most part gave up hope when BT said that S2 was being prepped. That told me they were far enough along that it wasn't likely to change for S1. I'll admit that I personally was not going to buy it at first (because it does make me angry). But it is clear there will be no widescreen DVD release of S1. Ever.

And it is also entirely true that BT doesn't seem to fight it much. And hasn't (that I know of) put advance word out when the DTVs were released that were open matte either. I get the impression that he doesn't want to make too many waves. He didn't even let us know about S2 and up possibly being in fullscreen until there were some complaints after the S1 announcement. But that does not in any way invalidate his (or the other artists involved)preferences FOR widescreen. It just says that he picks and chooses his battles and that perhaps he knows his fanbase far better than I ever will.

He may just be smart enough (unlike me) to know not to try to convice the fans of the show that composition is more important than extra image at the top and bottom. They (for the most part) just don't agree. At this point I almost wish I hadn't tried. It certainly doesn't seem like it was worth the effort. But then, I had expected the members of the Home Theater Forum to pretty much agree instantly, as they usually do about these things. Isn't it even the "forum mandate" or something to present material as the creators intended? Apparently not when that material is animated.

So the fans don't agree so I will stew in my juices, buy S1 on DVD in fullscreen for now, and it will just be watched a hell of a lot less than the future seasons.

I am at least delighted that WB listened and will release later seasons in widescreen. I DO thank the other fans for that, as they put a lot of heart and hard work into it. I wish they saw the opther issue differently, but what ya gonna do? One step at a time, I guess...

 

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---

Having just this afternoon stumbled upon the news of the March release of the JL and Batman Beyond season 1 sets, I'm obviously behind on the conversation here. Thus, I'm still in the blissfully happy stage of just being glad these sets are finally going to be released.

However, I'm sure I'll make to the next stage, which is when I start asking all of the usual questions [Will the packaging be the same as the STAS and BTAS sets? Will there be a decent amount of bonus features? etc].

Just so I understand things correctly, is it true that someone, somewhere has received word through Warner Home Video that they are already prepping JL season 2 for DVD, and that it will be an anamorphic WS set?

And, for what it's worth, I'm with Jason_V: if WHV responded to the calls for WS as quickly as it appears they did, then kudos to Warner. You're my hero.

It's great to see that at least a few bonus features will be included. Right now, I'm happy just knowing that I'll be able to see all of the episodes. With every season of JL and JLU, I've missed at least two and sometimes more episodes because of one reason or another. It's been driving me crazy for years, because I've read about them on the message boards, and they sound great. I'll finally be able to see at least SOME of them...

mattl

 

[Sam Favate]

News also came this week that WB is preparing an animated Superman movie for DVD release, called Brainiac Attacks. No idea where it will fit in TAS continuity.

 

[todd s]

Another piece of good news for the animated Superman movie. Tim Daly will be reprising his voice talents for Supes.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Did Batman Beyond have a series finale? I lost track of the show after the first season.

 

[David Williams]

Sort of. TPTB went back to the Batman Beyond future in the JLU S4 finale to tie up loose ends with the episode, Epilogue.

 

[Jason_V]

I taped and watched "Epilogue" back when it first aired, thinking it was a regular JLU episode. I got about halfway through when it hit me that it was a follow-up for BB.

 

[Jim Smith]

From what I hear the movie is set to be released on DVD in June day to date with Superman the Animated Series Volume 3 and Justice League Season 2. All part of Warner promoting Superman Returns in theaters. I am hoping it takes place between Legacy and Secret Origins and *spoiler* explains how Superman won back the Earths trust after leading the attack on it.

 

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---



Okay, now I'm confused.

This is the first I've heard about STAS Vol. 3 and JL Season 2. What is the exact release date in June, and where did you find this information? Do you have a link? I knew Warner was talking about JL Season 2 because of the whole widescreen/not widescreen issue, but I didn't realize it was that close to release. I mean, if it's true, it's great news, but I'm a little skeptical because of the short time between JL Season 1 and 2. Of course, I certainly would like to be proven wrong...!

I'd heard about the new Superman DTV release, but I also read that, although the character designs are "based" on STAS, Bruce Timm and Co. are not involved. Is this correct?

mattl

 

[Jim Smith]

It is set for mid 2006 so I figure that could only mean near the release of Superman Returns. Its not offical but I would bet money on it since it makes perfect marketing sense.

 

[David Lambert]

STAS Vol. 3 is just this week having staff assigned by the studio to produce the DVDs, and no release date has been set yet, nor have content decisions (i.e., extras) been finalized. It's all just getting rolling. Nothing newsworthy yet. I expect that JL S2 is the same way.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Thanks Dave. I believe I saw that episode. Is that where:

he discovers he is a clone of Bruce Wayne?

 

[David Williams]

Not really, no.

He discovers Bruce Wayne is his father. He initially believes he is clone, but what really happened is that Amanda Waller replaced the genetic code in Warren McGinnis' reproductive system with Bruce Wayne's during a routine inoculation. So Terry McGinnis is really the biological offspring of Bruce Wayne & Mary McGinnis.