Marvel's "Bruce Timm"

It's pretty impossible to make any type of cartoon nowadays that isn't compared unfavorably against the stellar DC Animated stuff made over at Warner Bros. Animation. People are always arguing that Marvel should hire Bruce Timm for a project or two but while that's great and all, I don't really see it happening. Bruce Timm is such a DC/Warner Bros. staple, that I just can't imagine him crossing over to the other side. There was one person that I always thought had been overlooked.

If I had my way, one person I'd love to see working on Marvel shows again would be Tom Tataranowicz. He was the guy they brought in as a supervising producer to save the 94 Iron Man and Fantastic Four series from their horrible first seasons. Before that, he had done lots of great work over at the legendary Filmation studios, and he was also a key factor in the old and current Biker Mice from Mars series. Tom T. was responsible for the awesome second seasons of Iron Man and the FF. The seasons that gave us stuff like Armor Wars, The Inhumans Saga, the coolest animated versions of Dr Doom, Iron Man, The Hulk, Galactus, Thor, Daredevil, etc. The shows were co-inhabiting the same universe and while each series had it's own distinctive look, they all were able to bring these iconic characters to life and capture that feeling you get when you read Marvel's classics for the first time. Heck, every time I pick up a comic, I still imagine the characters speaking with the voices used from those episodes.

It's a real shame that those shows are remembered more for how awful their first seasons were, instead of how well done and faithful their second seasons were. The man had a real love for the Marvel characters and understood what made them great. He also did the great first season of UPN's Incredible Hulk series before the television execs unceremoniously dumped him and his crew, choosing to make that horrible second season that basically starred the worst possible version of She-Hulk, with the Hulk tagging along as her co-star.

A Tom T. helmed Marvel project might not happen anytime in the near future, what withTom being busy over at Gang of Seven and with Marvel Animation steadily improving under the direction of guys like Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson and Frank Paur, but that doesn't mean that I'll give up the dream anytime soon. I hope to see lots of great stuff from both Mr. Tataranowicz and Marvel Animation in the future.

Here are some great interviews Marvel Animation Age conducted with Tom Tataranowicz.
Tom talking about the 1994 Fantastic Four series
Tom talking about the 1994 Iron Man series

Make Mine Animated

In honor of my having sat through Next Avengers for the third time, still pretty fond of it, I decided to follow up on my previous post but this time it would be about Marvel's DTV line. So this will be my wishlist of movies that would probably never have a chance of being made into a Marvel Animated Feature.

1) Iron Man vs Dr Doom: Doomquest - I've thought about this one since my first viewing of Invincible Iron Man. I don't really see much need for a solo Iron Man DTV sequel expect to redeem themselves from the very flawed first effort and maybe capitalize on his big screen popularity. I can't think of another story as well equipped to do that as this classic. He would face off against Marvel's greatest villain ever. Medieval England would also be an awesome setting. Another reason I'd love to this, besides being a huge fan of the match-up would be to hear Marc Worden as Iron Man again. I think he does a really cool Tony Stark and even if you missed any of the previous movies just check out the Iron Man's Adventure shorts at MarvelKids.com. This guy is golden. Another great voice that could be cast would be Simon Templeman from the '94 FF series. No matter what anyone says of that series, I have to say that he was the quintessential Doom. Charming, sophisticated, arrogant, funny, sinister, and threatening. I've never heard any other actor in any medium capture all of those qualities in Doom as fully.

2) CGI Marvel Super Heroes - I can't imagine anyone arguing about the quality of the cgi animation done by Blur Studios in either the Iron Man's Adventure shorts or the hi-def cut scenes from Ultimate Alliance and X-Men Legends 2 video games. It's simply gorgeous stuff. After viewing a ton of other Blur animated shorts and cut scenes, I think it would be pretty criminal to never have them work on a full length feature. I also love the way their New York looks; It actually looks like NYC. I've heard that they're supposed to do The Goon movie, and that has me pretty excited, but a Marvel Super Heroes feature would have me even more so. I have no idea how much this would cost, or if it would even be cost efficient for a Direct to DVD, but I have to say I think it would be well worth it. Heck, I'd even buy all the copies if I had to.

3) Luke Cage/Iron Fist: Heroes For Hire - They've been a classic and underrated duo for over 30 years now and they haven't even made it into any type of show as yet. Lately they've been popping up in video games and a lot of good comics and I think it's the perfect time to see them come to animated life (especially since the John Singleton movie may never happen. It would be worth it just to see Colleen and Misty.

4) Wolverine: Origin - This was probably too character centered and not action packed enough to make the transition but what a great story. It would make for a cool period piece and it would be incredible to see it animated.

5) Young Avengers - This will never happen but that doesn't mean the kids don't deserve a feature. Who cares if some say it's redundant to focus on another team of teen Avengers after Next Avengers was already done ? I love the kids and it was also one of my favorite Marvel series of this decade. I don't care if the kids only got a cameo in someone else's cartoon, I'd take it. Maybe it would help spur them to actually get around to getting Vol. 2 of the book started as well.

6) X-Men: Murderworld - Arcade + Murderworld = endless possibilities. You can pretty much use any locale or villain (perfect robotic duplicates but does it really matter ?) and it would be great to see Arcade, who's never been used outside of the comics and some video games. They could even tie it into the Wolverine And The X-Men series ( the voice cast and character designs are top notch) and since it would be a spinoff movie, they wouldn't have to worry about it not tying into the mutant rights themes the show will most likely be focused on.


7) Requels ? - The first four movies were really focused on establishing the heroes but never really dove into some of the more memorable aspects from these characters histories. Doctor Strange didn't get to battle entities in otherworldly Ditkonian dimensions. The Avengers weren't able to face off against classic villains or get caught in the middle of a Skrull/Kree war. Sheesh, the things I would give to see Cap punch the taste out of Baron Zemo's mouth would make an endless list. Iron Man didn't even get to win a decent fight. It would be pretty cool to see any of these brought to life.

*Honorable Mentions* Spider-Man, Power Pack - It looks like Greg Weisman and the Spectacular Spider-Man crew might get around to some movies after the series runs it's course. Just imagining an adaptation of a storyline like Kraven's Last Hunt or The Green Goblin's Last Stand makes my hair stand on end. I wouldn't object to seeing Power Pack or Spider-Girl if Marvel ever decides to do more kid targeted animation.