The film may be this summer’s biggest evidence for Superhero Fatigue, but Green Lantern isn’t going away, oh no. He’ll star, as planned, in GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES on the Cartoon Network this fall. A new trailer was just released and you can download some wallpaper. The show is produced by Bruce Timm in a 3D animated style much influenced by THE INCREDIBLES, and features Hal (Josh Keaton), Killowog (Michael Clarke Duncan) and others going up against Red Lanterns.
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Just as a follow-up to yesterday’s look at DC Entertainment, while live-action has been hit or (very) miss for WB, DC characters continue to do well in animated form, both on cable and direct-to-dvd movies. These are still valuable franchises.

19 COMMENTS

  1. The standard of the animation looks poor – like the sort of thing they were churning out about five-ten years ago – was this done on the cheap?

  2. There is no superhero fatigue. The average audience member just don’t wanna go see a bad movie featuring a character they don’t know. The final Batman movie will prove this.

  3. I’m sure my nephew will be all over that series. Looks great for the kids, which is the intended audience.

    Although I’m really surprised the Red Lanterns are going to be part of this? Are they going to vomit blood like in the comics? I don’t understand why they would pick some of the most violent and disgusting characters in the DCU to include in a kids show.

  4. I hope Cartoon Network treats this better than they did the Justice League cartoon. They kept ordering seasons of that and then running it so sporadically you never knew it was on.

  5. They should have released the cartoon first and maybe then the movie could have made more sense to people. Still be a bad movie…but might make it a little easier to swallow

  6. I wouldn’t be too surprised if CN runs this show inconsistently during inconvenient time slots. This seems to be their usual M.O. for DC animated fare for several years now.

  7. However you can buy, for a quite reasonable price, entire seasons of DCU shows, on iTunes. I’ve got season passes to Brave & Bold and Young Jusitce right now, and also the new season of Doctor Who.

    No commercials, superb definition, and downloaded by iTunes when they’re available. Bliss!

  8. Green Lantern: The Animated Series … Why can’t they just call it “Green Lantern”?

    “The average audience member just don’t wanna go see a bad movie featuring a character they don’t know.”

    This doesn’t make any sense, and never did. If people don’t want to see a movie featuring characters they never heard of, how did STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK become mega-hits? Obviously, someone saw the trailers and thought they looked good.

    Does anyone really need to KNOW Green Lantern prior to seeing a movie? If the trailer looks interesting, people will see it. If it doesn’t, they won’t.

  9. “how did STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK become mega-hits? Obviously, someone saw the trailers and thought they looked good.”

    Actually, this is untrue. STAR WARS became a cultural touchstone over the course of an entire year or so from audience word-of-mouth. RAIDERS became an overnight hit because people were already aware of the already earned pedigrees of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who seemed to be promising an homage to old fashioned movie serials. I never saw the trailer for RAIDERS, and yet I was first in line at my local cinema on opening day.

  10. There is something about this CGI animation that turns me away. If it’s not Pixar, it just looks cold and lifeless with no soul to it like that terrible MTV Spider-Man cartoon. Kids may like it but clunky animation like this looks like the newer CGI Strawberry Shortcake and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stuff and is stiff. I’d rather this be 2D instead.

  11. Rich, the key word is bad movie. I haven’t seen it yet, and I do intend to, but the word of mouth is bad and the trailers didn’t do it for a lot of people. You can have a well-marketed and well-made movie without a big name and people will go (Iron Man) or a well-marketed and mediocrely made movie with a big name and people will go, but mediocrely made without a big name? This is not a recipe for success.

    Indiana Jones and the original Star Wars had the singular advantage of being mind-numbingly awesome.

  12. “Actually, this is untrue. STAR WARS became a cultural touchstone over the course of an entire year or so from audience word-of-mouth.”

    Sorry to go off topic, but this is false. Star Wars is pretty well known for being an instant hit. According to wikipedia:

    “It immediately broke box-office records, effectively becoming one of the first blockbuster films, and Fox accelerated plans to broaden its release. Lucas spent most of the day in a sound studio in Los Angeles. When he went out for lunch with his then-wife Marcia, they encountered a long queue of people along the sidewalks leading to Mann’s Chinese Theatre, waiting to see Star Wars. Even technical crew members, such as model makers, were asked for autographs, and cast members became instant household names.”

    I can’t speak for Green Lantern as I haven’t seen it, but I don’t think audiences have a problem with new characters. It’s just a higher risk for the studio.

  13. As someone who saw Star Wars in the movie theater as a kid….yes it was absolutely a SENSATION right from the git go. My family was talking about seeing it weeks ahead of time and were counting the minutes until we could go. And the toys and phenomenon launched IMEDIATELY.

    Same thing with RAIDERS. My grandfather couldn’t wait to see it.

    Bear in mind, at this time there was little cable of home video, so people had fewer choices. If something new and interesting opened at the theater and got good reviews, they would go see it. It isn’t like now where “pre-awareness” is what you need to cut through the chatter.

  14. Heck when I was thirteen- I hitchhiked 10 miles on Rt 287 from my house to a theater in Morristown to see Star Wars on opening weekend- all because my stepdad refused to drive me there unless I got a haircut.

    I sure showed him who was boss.

    ~

    Coat

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