TAKING NO PRISONERS

Warner Bros. and the creators of Superman Doomsday are at it again with Justice League: The New Frontier, an upcoming animated movie debuting February 26th on DVD and HD formats. This time it looks like they are raising the bar in every way. In this 1950's era origin story of the Justice League, it seems they are really pushing American animation to the limits of how serious and mature a show can be. It's still a show about superheroes in tights and yet it seems this one will play more real than many TV dramas.

The list of names in the voice cast alone makes it clear that they are not playing games with this movie, nor are they casting it aside as a "cartoon" and spending no time and effort on it. With well known screen actors voicing the main characters, they sound better than I could have ever hoped to see animation in english sound in my lifetime.

I was extremely impressed with Superman Doomsday and the level of writing that went into the characters and relationships in that tale. This time they have a much larger canvas to play with and because of the time period, they've opened the door to dealing with some serious issues which still need addressing today. These serious issues are not dealt with as one might expect of a cartoon. In this show, people die and there is blood.

While Beowulf, at the box office, may have done little to help advance the cause of more mature animation, Warner Brothers and D.C. seem to be showing that there is a market for it and that they are glad to make the content to serve that market. I hope this is yet another taste of greater things to come.

Tags: DVD, movies, Art