Shortly after it was confirmed that
The Batman would not be returning in the fall, Warner Bros. Animation sent out a press release last week to
announce a new Bat-series,
Batman: The Brave and The Bold, which had already been rumored for a couple of months.
Quote:
Batman isn't going at it alone this time! From Warner Bros. Animation comes the latest interpretation of the Batman franchise. Our caped crusader is teamed up with heroes from across the DC Universe, delivering nonstop action and adventures with a touch of comic relief. Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Aquaman and countless others will get a chance to uphold justice alongside Batman. Though still based in Gotham, Batman will frequently find himself outside city limits, facing situations that are both unfamiliar and exhilarating. With formidable foes around every corner, Batman will still rely on his stealth, resourcefulness and limitless supply of cool gadgets to bring justice home.
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So for those hoping this would continue the continuity established in
The Batman, the "latest interpretation" bit would have shot down any hopes of that. Having never been a fan of
The Batman, this would have to be an improvement, right? Wrong. Check out these character designs:
Different people have said it reminds them of different things, but what immediately came to my mind when I saw it was this:
That's the Batman figure from Mattel's Super Friends line, toys aimed at very young children ("3+"). Also, have a look at the cover art from the first issue of
Super Friends, the Johnny DC title, "based on the hot toy line from Mattel,"
according to DC Comics. The similarities are obvious and many.
Mediaweek says, "the half-hour series Batman: The Brave and the Bold promises to be a more lighthearted throwback to the Batman of the 1960s and '70s, before The Dark Knight franchise turned the cowled crime fighter into an angst-ridden existentialist." So why is Batman being reduced to a goofy, grinning schmuck, reminiscent of his appearances on
The New Scooby-Doo Movies? Because the guy behind the show has a very low opinion of your little boys and girls.
Quote:
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a 30-minute animated action/adventure created by Warner Bros. Animation and executive produced by Sam Register.
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Sam Register was Senior Vice President of Original Animation for
Cartoon Network (he now has a first-look development deal with them, as well as a development and production deal with Warner Bros. Animation), and he's responsible for taking what was once one of the most respected categories in the medium (the cartoons based on DC Comics superheroes), and turning it into a joke.
Teen Titans was the beginning, transforming the 1980s Marv Wolfman reboot into an Americanized-anime mockery. Only a small handful of episodes could legitimately be described as "good"; most of them were barely watchable. Despite Register's idea that a series must be written for the lowest common denominator to attract a sizable young audience, the show's ratings could never top
Justice League or
Justice League Unlimited, the series Register
believed too complicated for "six-, and seven-, and eight-year-olds". Oops. "Everything really needs to make sense in the story," he said. See? He thinks American kids can't follow
Justice League Unlimited. Hell, he doesn't even think the youngsters are bright enough to grasp the concept of a superhero's secret identity. "Again, that's for clarity for the kids. We're not doing alter egos. They walk around town in their suits. They go to movies dressed as superheroes. Everyone sees them as superheroes. They go to a party as superheroes. They're superheroes full time." Despite all the publicity and promotion it received,
Teen Titans' first DVD release, "Divide and Conquer" (six-episodes), was outsold by "
The New Kid" (also six-episodes), the first DVD release of
Static Shock. "The New Kid" didn't have nearly the marketing power to drive its sales, but this was a show decidely
not written
down to kids. Double oops.
Amazingly enough, Register sold Warner Bros. on
another DC series, this time bringing
The Batman to Saturday mornings, and even managing to have restrictions imposed on the
Justice League Unlimited staff. What a guy with such a low opinion of kids' intelligence is doing working in cartoons is beyond my understanding, but there he was, pushing his sanitized version of Batman into the rotation.
The Batman brought about a "reimagining" of the Penguin as a portly master of martial arts, the Joker as a hunching, barefoot, and red-eyed acrobat who sports weird, anime-inspired hair and bounces off walls, Poison Ivy as a high school student and friend of Barbara Gordon, Clayface as a former GPD officer and Bruce Wayne's best friend (the producers never heard of Harvey Dent?), the Riddler as a whining, goth Marilyn Manson clone, and Mr. Freeze as a common thief. Somehow, Register managed to turn Batman into something that was even worse than his
Teen Titans experiment. Meanwhile, back at Cartoon Network, where Register holds the title of vice president,
Justice League Unlimited suddenly found its Saturday night 8:30 PM time slot changed to 9:00 PM, and then to 10:00 PM in the final season, which also saw several weeks between new episodes that were not only completed, but had already aired in other countries. None of this managed to hurt its ratings, but the show was not picked up for another season, anyway.
Jealous much, Sammy boy?
James Tucker, one of the very knowledgeable and talented producers of
Justice League and
Justice League Unlimited, went on to produce Sam Register's third series based on DC lore, the subpar
Legion of Super Heroes cartoon. I gave
LoSH a chance because of Tucker, but Register's influence was just too overwhelming for the series to do anything for me. Once again, the stories and dialogue were heavily dumbed down, but it seemed as though people may have finally begun to see through Register's act.
LoSH only lasted two thirteen-episode seasons before being dropped, and Mattel couldn't get retailers to buy into a line of action figures based on the show. So this failure should spell doom for Register and his weak brand of entertainment, right? Apparently not, because now he's poised to plunge Batman even further into the depths of absurdity with his new project. He's bringing Tucker along, who says in this
interview with
Comic Book Resources that the show is, "more Batman as a superhero as opposed to Batman as a dark avenger." Also
joining the show's staff is
Matt Wayne, another superb talent from the
Justice League Unlimited team (he was the story editor and wrote fantastic episodes like "Patriot Act" and "Alive", in addition to
Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms). They'll do the best they can with the material, just like they did with
LoSH, but any team is only as good as its leader. Before Sam Register is done, he'll have them cranking out one boring, simplistic, and sterilized episode after another.
If Register ever wants to see how a show for the youngest of audiences
should be produced, he should try taking lessons from
Paul Dini's
Krypto The Superdog. Fortunately for the Last Dog of Krpyton, Sander Schwartz served as executive producer. Even though Register was involved in his capacity as VP at Cartoon Network, he didn't have his fangs firmly implanted in its throat.
Sam Register Thinks Your Kids Are Stupid
