How do you spell ambitious animation? When it comes to DC Entertainment — S-H-A-Z-A-M!
Warner Bros. Animation has announced that on November 9, they will release the DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection, a DVD with animated takes including Superman and Captain Marvel, The Spectre, Green Arrow and Jonah Hex.
The Superman/Captain Marvel cartoon, which will last 22 minutes, shows how young Billy Batson crosses paths with Clark Kent… only to gain mysterious powers from an elderly wizard, as well as a murderous foe in the form of Black Adam. Jerry O’Connell will reprise his role the Big Red Cheese, while George Newburn will reprise his role as Superman from the Justice League cartoons.
In addition, you’ve got 10-12 minute shorts including the Spectre animated short written by Steve Niles; the Greg Weisman-penned Green Arrow adventure, in which he protects a 10-year-old princess from the League of Assassins; and Jonah Hex, voiced by one of his biggest fans, Thomas Jane.
August 5th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Didnt Jerry o connell also play Cap In Justice League as well in the Clash?
but they dont mention that?
August 5th, 2010 at 11:20 am
And will there be an action figure w/ the 2-disc Best Buy edition? Preferably in the style of the Wonder Woman/Green Lantern figures and NOT the Red Hood/Owlman figures (read: statues w/ moving arms)?
August 5th, 2010 at 11:41 am
While the article dosn’t mention the “Clash” episode specifically, it credits O’Connell as “reprising” his roll along with George Newbern, so it’s covered.
August 5th, 2010 at 11:55 am
So…this makes putting the shorts in with previously released DVDs pointless? Why add shorts that have already been released(or will be in Green Arrow’s case) and make all new shorts that showcase little known characters and maybe find an audience for someone other than Superman & Batman?
Personal opinion, I have no interest in buying a DVD that is mostly made up of things I’ve already bought and watched!
August 5th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
wow 22 mins of new material – gee whiz mr can i give ya my money now!
stick superman on something and they expect ppl to buy it, i thought DC had more respect for its customers.
August 5th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Derrick – The article was edited, it didnt say that at first
August 5th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
actually i’m glad this dvd is coming out. i never buy the two disc editions of the dvd’s so i miss out on the shorts. i’d rather buy this disc so i have them all in one place. the two discers we buy are usually more money for very little value. you get bruce timm or someone introducting two episode of like justice league or batman tas that he likes — well i own all of them so i don’t need it. this way i get what i want (the shorts) and it’s one hit, instead of a hit everytime a new dc movie comes out.
as for 22 minutes of new material –> think about the fact that the movies are only 70 minutes at max. so it’s 1/3 new material, and i thought they announced they were going to give us extended versions of at least the Spectre cartoon?
August 5th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Personally I like this move. It allows people who have watched the films either through pay-per-view, Netflix instant or just bought the less expensive non-Blu Ray DVD to see the shorts (I am one of those). I don’t think that they will sell tons of these, but enough that they will do a new one every 3 or 4 years.
August 5th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
First…I like the drawing of SHAZAM/Captain Marvel, he looks cool there.
The art style looks promising in the sample image. It looks like a blend between American and Japanese influences. As far as the duration of the animation…I suppose we will just have to be happy with a 22-minute animation featuring Superman and Captain Marvel, but unless the opening and closing credits are completely omitted (or extremely short)…the actual animation is probably only 18-20 minutes long. Also, taking into consideration that it won’t contain commercials…I estimate that it’ll the same length as a WB episode of the JLA.
So, all-in-all…it’s better than nothing.
August 5th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
I’d like to see additional shorts on this …
August 5th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Works for me. I only buy the Single Disc version of the main features, so I usually miss out on the shorts. Having them all on one disc will be nice, too.
August 5th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I like the idea of collecting them onto a single DVD, but how much is it going to cost?
If all we get is a 22 minute feature, and three 10 minute shorts, that’s less than a hour of material. Kinda skimpy for a whole DVD, doncha’ think? I won’t be paying more than $10 for it, and that’s being generous.
August 5th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
I’ve been buying the Bluray versions of the films, so I’ve already got the other shorts. Seems like they should include this Shazam short on a future film release, rather than gouge their regular customers who have been supporting these shorts through purchases all year.
August 5th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
i hope this oppens the door for full lenght animation for captain Marevl i ve been re-reading jerry ordway´s re interpretation in power of shazam and it rocks! besides he turns 70 this year !! he desersves it!!
August 5th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
this way those who did not get the dvds that had the shorts can now get the shorts. or if they only want the shorts. this way fans can have them. plus the fact saves having to buy every movie for the shorts only.
August 5th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
I think this is a good compromise for people who have only purchased the single-disc versions of the animated films, or the films on iTunes, etc. I have all the 2-disc versions but I don’t feel as though WB is gouging me for this (assuming the price is reasonable). After all, you get more than just the shorts in the 2-disc/Blu-Ray special features. I also like the retrospectives and bonus DC episodes. If they plan on adding special features to this release (maybe a history of Captain Marvel feature?) I think it will be worth getting.
August 5th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I’m definitely getting this video; it looks great.
August 5th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
OK, I just found WB’s press release on this. It says the first 3 shorts will be pressented in “extended format” and the the disc will also include additional DC Universe episodes picked by Bruce Timm.
August 5th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I was hooked until they said Superman/Clark was in the Shazam short. I thought the straight to DVD animated movies DC are producing were to showcase the many Characters that DC has in its Library in these movies. It seems to me, that Superman and Batman have been in enough flicks that they have put out they could have skipped them on this project. Seeing a appearance by Superman or Batman in a short which could give the spotlight Solely to another character does not make me want to open my wallet. Like many, I buy the single DVD, so getting all the shorts in one place would have been nice. BUT I think I’ll wait until they produce a DVD of shorts with no Bats or Krytonian on it. You can Love it or hate, I think I’ll pass on buying this.
August 5th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I, for one, have been hoping they’d do something like this. I don’t mind watching the “main films” in the line-up, but didn’t want to buy them just for the Showcase cartoons, which I’m more interested in. This way, I’ll be able to bypass the 2-disc sets and get EXACTLY what I want.
Good show, DC Entertainment!
August 5th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
i’ll have to wait a year and get it at a discount price from someone on ebay or amazon.. not interested in paying $20 for 75% stuff i’ve already seen..
August 5th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
I’m happy for this.
A few points of interest:
*It looks like the art for the Shazam story (as well as at least part of the story itself) is a rendition of the Superman/Shazam mini that came out a few years back. That’s why Superman is featured in the animated version. The only new addition will be Black Adam.
* I just wish they’d release a full length feature with just the Marvel Family. Fans have been begging for this for years. I’m just worried that with the release of this short film, that it might mean that we won’t be getting anything else for the Marvel Family.
August 5th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Sounds good to me. I can keep buying to single disc editions of the full length films and not miss these.
August 5th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
I would rather just see Captain Marvel be the subject of the next full length project.
August 5th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Cool now I dont feel so bad not spending 5 bucks more for the 2 disc “special editions”. I hope they keep doin this each year.
August 6th, 2010 at 4:04 am
They’ve also said all the stories will have commentary tracks on them. That’s a damn good reason to double dip.
LOL and they should keep letting Timm pick episodes of the shows to put on them. At this rate if he keeps it up we’ll have all the episodes on Blu before they produce actual sets of the cartoons for us to buy again.
August 6th, 2010 at 6:48 am
All shorts and new? If they made’em longer and closer with mini-seasons, then it might redeem DC in my eyes. Obviously a guy like JT Krul isn’t going to change that.
August 6th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
These make sense movie do it TV shows DBZ did it
January 17th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
This post is great. Thank you for this post. I like this type of people who share knowledge with others.
January 17th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
There is clearly a whole lot to understand about this. I believe you made some great points in Features also.
January 17th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Thanks for the imformative info.Very nice blog layout. Easy on the eyes. Thanks and happy holidays.
February 11th, 2011 at 9:36 am
Wonderful article! It had been exceptionally inspirational, so I appreciate your challenging perform! I’ll make positive to share this using a number of friends who I know would like it.