In animated films like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, some of that success has also carried over to feature-length projects. The success of that series, which ran for 85 episodes until its conclusion in 1995, paved the way for subsequent animated TV shows like Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Teen Titans. But even as the vast majority of DC’s live-action projects continue to flop in theaters, the DC Universe is thriving on the small screen in the world of animation, with the latest standouts being Harley Quinn and My Adventures With Superman.īeginning with Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski’s Batman: The Animated Series in 1992, DC has had a rich history in animated storytelling under Warner Bros. What with recent box office bombs like The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Black Adam, the transition from the former DC Films regime to the DC Studios era under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran has been a costly mess, with every misfire further diminishing the brand’s credibility. Overall, watchable but unexceptional.Next year, the rollout of a new cinematic and TV universe will offer a fresh on-screen start for DC, but in 2023, the old DC Extended Universe is still in its death throes. The clock characters are not that memorable, apart from the wise grandfather clock who is quite likeable. The dialogue is pretty corny, while humour is sorely lacking with far too few gags and next to no laughs (the little that there are are so forgettable it is easy to mistake the cartoon from being humourless). The live action sequence is a little too sugary sweet for my tastes and is fairly dull, despite the cute if slightly cloying children. Not making the live action sequence so long would have helped things. The pace is uneven, some of it is zesty and then other parts drag aimlessly, making the longer than usual for Van Beuren and most cartoons actually at the time but still quite short seem longer. What little there is of story, which is right at the beginning pretty much, is nothing new. However, the story is paper thin and doesn't really go anywhere, basically just a series of scenes. Synchronisation and sound is neat, there is some charm here, some of the pace is lively and the voice work is good. The live action also isn't too badly shot, again while not amazing it was pretty nice. The clock designs are interesting and Clockland is a setting that one does immerse themselves into easily and used imaginatively. While the animation was not amazing, for black and white Van Beuren it could have been far worse. It is beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, full of energy, great fun to listen to and it not only adds a huge deal to what is going on it also enhances it. The best asset is the music, which was outstanding. There is also not much special or note-worthy here. It is a very watchable cartoon and nothing offends. Under review here is the first of the three cartoons 'Grandfather's Clock'. The series was named "Burt Gillett's Toddle Tales" and while none of the three cartoons are terrible (far from it, Van Beuren certainly did far worse), it is also not hard to see why it was short lived and more were not made. In 1934, the studio made three cartoons mixing animation and live action, besides 'Grandfather's Clock' there was also 'Along Came a Duck' and 'A Little Bird Told Me'. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing. Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |