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Justice League (TV series)

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Justice League
Image:Justiceleague-intro.jpg </small>
Genre Animated television series
Running time 20-23 minutes per episode
Starring Carl Lumbly
Michael Rosenbaum
Kevin Conroy
Phil LaMarr
Susan Eisenberg
George Newbern
Maria Canals
Country of origin Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Original channel Cartoon Network
Original run November 17, 2001–May 29, 2004
No. of episodes 52

Justice League was an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 2001 to 2004 on Cartoon Network. It is based on the Justice League and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics. After its second season, it became Justice League Unlimited, and ran an additional three seasons.

Contents

[edit] History

Animator Bruce Timm, having successfully adapted both Batman and Superman into animated television programs in the 1990s, took on the challenge of faithfully adapting the Justice League comic book. Ignoring the sidekicks, pets and other extraneous elements of the earlier Super Friends show, the line-up of this new JLA adaptation was created with two things in mind: to pay tribute to the original line-up of the Justice League of America while also reflecting racial and cultural diversity. Significantly, the well-known (but much-deprecated) superhero Aquaman was left out of the lineup (although he would be used on the show) in favor of a second female on the team - Hawkgirl - and the African-American Green Lantern John Stewart, who has worked with the League in the comics before, was used rather than either of the better-known modern-era Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner, even though Rayner had appeared as Green Lantern in the Superman animated series. (In the second season, Rayner is described as a Lantern in training under Stewart's old mentor, explaining his absence. Both he and Jordan make brief appearances in Justice League Unlimited.)

The show met with significant success, partially due to loyal fans already familiar with these incarnations of the characters, and partially from a new generation of viewers. The two-part nature of most episodes led Cartoon Network to choose to air the episodes back-to-back.

According to audio commentary on the DVD release of Season 2, the second season finale "Starcrossed" was expected to be the final episode of the series. However, in February 2004, Cartoon Network announced a follow-up series, Justice League Unlimited, which premiered on July 31, 2004. Justice League Unlimited features a greatly expanded roster of heroes, usually with only a few appearing in any given episode, although there are a few featuring just about the entire roster fighting against one giant enemy.

[edit] Casting and character changes

Tim Daly, who voiced Superman in his previous animated series, did some early recordings, but ultimately he was unable to reprise the role due to his involvement with the short-lived remake series of The Fugitive, resulting in his being replaced by George Newbern. Newbern was heavily criticized by fans during the first season, who felt that his Superman was too stiff and lacked both the everyman feel and heroic authority that Daly brought to the role, which Bruce Timm said was more his fault and the fault of his staff than Newbern's and has openly defended Newbern. Since then, many fans have agreed that Newbern improved significantly during the second season and have more or less reached a consensus that Newbern and his predecessor Daly both had their merits in regards to their portrayal of Superman.

Superman was initially redesigned to have a bit of a squint to his eyes and slight wrinkles that was also meant to make him look older, in addition to having a noticeable shining streak to his hair; additionally, he was redesigned to appear larger in physical girth than in his previous series. Fans did not like the older appearance and in the second season the streak was toned down the point of almost disappearing and the squint was removed.

Most of the characters retained their general comic book origins and continuity, with Wonder Woman being the notable exception. In the Justice League series continuity, the premiere story arc "Secret Origins" marked Diana's first foray away from her Amazon island with the storyline of Diana competing against her fellow Amazons to be the ambassador of peace to man's world having been completely removed, and she is referred to directly as a "rookie" superhero during her first encounter with the League. (Subsequent episodes touched on her attempts to adjust to her new world). Additionally, the character of The Flash was portrayed as somewhat younger and significantly more brash than his comic book counterpart (in fact the animated version of the character takes on a number of personality traits of Plastic Man, who provides a similar comic relief function in the Justice League of America comics). Major changes were also made to the Hawkgirl character; see Hawkgirl (animated) for details.

Maria Canals was cast as Hawkgirl based on her Hispanic accent, which the producers felt would make Hawkgirl appear more foreign and alien against her team mates. The character of Hawkgirl became romantically involved with the John Stewart Green Lantern as the series progressed, while a relationship between Wonder Woman and Batman was hinted by the show's creators.

In the comic books, the Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onzz has a power called "Martian Vision" which has been shown both as a beam of pure force (an extension of the telekinesis that allows him to fly), and essentially the same as Superman's heat vision. Neither power was ever shown in the series, dropped presumably in favor of his phasing power, shapeshifting, and telepathy. The Martian Manhunter was only referred to by that name in one episode and otherwise called simply J'onn.

Although the series itself is animated in traditional 2-dimensional style, the opening credits are rendered in 3D with toon shading.

[edit] Characters

Cover art for Justice League Adventures #1.Art by Bruce Timm and Alex Ross

The seven founding members of the Justice League in the animated series are:


[edit] The 8th Justice League Member

Prior to the premiere of Justice League Season 2, interviews stated that the team was to have had a temporary addition. The episode Hereafter which had Superman supposedly killed would prompt the rest of the team to recruit a new member. Originally, the new member would be Captain Marvel. However, legal rights prevented that appearance. Lobo would be chosen instead, since the 8th member had to be the least likely suspect. [1]

Other recurring charcters:

[edit] Episodes

See List of Justice League episodes

[edit] DVD releases

Season Releases

DVD NameRelease DateEp #Additional Information
Season OneMarch 21 200626 Contains a set of 4 DVDs with all of the episodes from the first season as well as audio commentaries, interviews, and other special features.
Season TwoJune 20 200626Contains a set of 4 DVDs with all of the episodes from the second season as well as audio commentaries and a panel discussion involving the production team of the series (although the set packaging indicates a featurette hosted by voice actor Phil LaMarr, no such featurette is actually in the set


Image:JLtitleshot.jpg

Individual Releases

DVD NameRelease DateAdditional Information
Justice League April 23 2002Contains all three parts of "Secret Origins". A mini-DVD version of this disc has also been released.
Justice on TrialApril 23 2002Contains "In Blackest Night" and "The Enemy Below".
Paradise LostJuly 22 2003Contains "Paradise Lost" and "War World".
The Justice League Collection:April 13 2004 Contains previous "Secret Origins," "Paradise Lost," and "Justice on Trial" DVDs in a three-pack with a slipcase.
Starcrossed The Movie:July 13 2004 Contains "Starcrossed" in both widescreen and fullscreen. A mini-DVD version of this disc has also been released with only fullscreen.
The Brave and the BoldOctober 19 2004Contains episodes "The Brave and the Bold" and "Injustice for All".
Challenge of the Super Friends to Justice League: Contains the previously released "Justice League" (Secret Origins) DVD along with two Super Friends discs in a slip-case.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

The Bruce Timm DC animated universe
Television series: Batman: The Animated Series | Superman: The Animated Series | The New Batman Adventures | The New Batman/Superman Adventures | Batman Beyond | Static Shock | The Zeta Project | Justice League | Justice League Unlimited
Feature-length films: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm | Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero | Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker | Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
Comic books: Batman Adventures | Superman Adventures | Justice League Adventures | Batman Beyond | Gotham Girls
Web cartoons: Gotham Girls
Video Games: DCAU Video Games


Justice League
Characters

Members | Villains

Related teams

Justice Society of America | Outsiders | Teen Titans | Young Justice | Super Buddies

Headquarters

Secret Sanctuary | Justice League Satellite | Justice League Watchtower

Ongoing series

Justice League of America (vol. 2) | JLA: Classified | Justice League Adventures / Justice League Unlimited | Justice

Previous series

Justice League of America | Justice League International | Justice League Europe
Justice League Task Force | Extreme Justice | JLA | Formerly Known As the Justice League

Other media The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure | Super Friends | Legends of the Superheroes | Justice League | Justice League Unlimited
bg:Лигата на Справедливостта (анимационен сериал)

es:Liga de la Justicia (serie animada) he:ליגת הצדק (סדרת אנימציה) it:Justice League (serie animata) pl:Liga Sprawiedliwych pt:Liga da Justiça (desenho animado) th:จัสติส ลีค (ฉบับแอนิเมชัน)

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