Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
03-29-13 | 05:05 PM
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Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Timm has been a fixture at Warner Bros. for so long. It'll be interesting to see how the animation department changes with his departure. Will they follow the path he set or go off in a different tangent.
Newsarama
Report: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros.’ line of DC-based super-hero animated series and movies have gone through some big changes in recent months, and it’s about to go through some more.
The website Visions From Krypton is reporting that Bruce Timm has stepped down from his long-time role as producer of Warner Bros.’ various DC animated projects. Timm, who started at Warner Bros. back in 1989, helped redefine DC in the animation medium with his work on 1992’s seminal animated series Batman, following through with spin-off movies and subsequent series like Superman, Batman Beyond and the Justice League series. The last major project Timm took part in was the two-part movie adaptation of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
According to VFK’s Edward Gross, Timm had been planning to step down as an overall producer for awhile. Originally his plans were to focus on the then-flagging Green Lantern: The Animated Series but that has since been announced as cancelled. Reportedly, Timm is now working to “develop some of his own projects” says VFK.
Stepping in to replace Timm in this pivotal role is former storyboard artist James Tucker. Tucker got his start with 1996’s Pinky And the Brain series, and has worked on a number of Warner Bros. DC projects since including directing episodes of Batman Beyond and Static Shock and producing the last season of Justice League and the entire Batman: The Brave & The Bold.
“Bruce had done a lot since Justice League Unlimited ended,” Tucker is quoted in an interview with VFK, “so it’s been quite a haul. I can’t speak for him, but I think going out on Dark Knight Returns was a special thing for him. If he was going to make the break, that seemed like a good time.”
Tucker goes on to say that with his tenure as Supervisor Producer, he hopes to be able to use “more of a variety of characters” in future DC animated projects. Although he says the adaptation of Dark Knight Returns was “long overdue, he isn’t focused on doing more direct adaptations of comic book storylines.
“I can’t go into specifics,” Tucker tells VFK, “but I have a feeling when we announce our next slate of movies, people are going to be very excited because we will be using Batman, Superman and Justice League as a gateway to exposing other characters.”
Warner Bros.’ line of DC-based super-hero animated series and movies have gone through some big changes in recent months, and it’s about to go through some more.
The website Visions From Krypton is reporting that Bruce Timm has stepped down from his long-time role as producer of Warner Bros.’ various DC animated projects. Timm, who started at Warner Bros. back in 1989, helped redefine DC in the animation medium with his work on 1992’s seminal animated series Batman, following through with spin-off movies and subsequent series like Superman, Batman Beyond and the Justice League series. The last major project Timm took part in was the two-part movie adaptation of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.
According to VFK’s Edward Gross, Timm had been planning to step down as an overall producer for awhile. Originally his plans were to focus on the then-flagging Green Lantern: The Animated Series but that has since been announced as cancelled. Reportedly, Timm is now working to “develop some of his own projects” says VFK.
Stepping in to replace Timm in this pivotal role is former storyboard artist James Tucker. Tucker got his start with 1996’s Pinky And the Brain series, and has worked on a number of Warner Bros. DC projects since including directing episodes of Batman Beyond and Static Shock and producing the last season of Justice League and the entire Batman: The Brave & The Bold.
“Bruce had done a lot since Justice League Unlimited ended,” Tucker is quoted in an interview with VFK, “so it’s been quite a haul. I can’t speak for him, but I think going out on Dark Knight Returns was a special thing for him. If he was going to make the break, that seemed like a good time.”
Tucker goes on to say that with his tenure as Supervisor Producer, he hopes to be able to use “more of a variety of characters” in future DC animated projects. Although he says the adaptation of Dark Knight Returns was “long overdue, he isn’t focused on doing more direct adaptations of comic book storylines.
“I can’t go into specifics,” Tucker tells VFK, “but I have a feeling when we announce our next slate of movies, people are going to be very excited because we will be using Batman, Superman and Justice League as a gateway to exposing other characters.”
Newsarama
03-29-13 | 05:24 PM
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
End of an era
03-29-13 | 05:30 PM
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Yeah, I'm not sure how this will be going forward. Sounds like they are started fucking shit up when they canned YJ and GL. Oh well. Hopefully now that Disney has Marvel, they start doing good things like the other Avengers series recently canned and not the mediocre Spider-Man one.
03-29-13 | 05:43 PM
#5
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
The fact that they were "direct adaptations" of published stories and graphic novels was what I loved about the Bruce Timm DC animated movies. I guess I can stop buying them now. Really sorry to see Bruce leave the helm. He did a FANTASTIC job!
03-29-13 | 05:44 PM
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From: Building attractions one theme park at a time.
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Here's more from Tucker on the direction he wants Warner Animation to take:
I’d love to use more of a variety of characters, but that’s something I don’t have control over. Granted Dark Knight Returns was long overdue to be adapted and I’m glad they did it and did it superbly. But beyond that, I’m not really interested in replicating, image by image, word for word, something that was in a comic book, because you can’t replicate that experience or feeling. You’re basically getting a secondary experience, so you have to make it your own in order to make it work as a movie…
Our challenge is that people want us to do these other characters, but if they don’t sell that threatens the whole line. So the way to do it is to be smart. If we know we’re going to use Superman, Batman and the Justice League, how do we use them as gateways to these other characters? If Batman, Superman and Justice League bring in the average person who’s not a comic book fan, once you have them you insert a Huntress or a secondary character like Oracle as a means of introducing them to more of the world. But you’re not going to be able to do an Oracle movie.
Our challenge is that people want us to do these other characters, but if they don’t sell that threatens the whole line. So the way to do it is to be smart. If we know we’re going to use Superman, Batman and the Justice League, how do we use them as gateways to these other characters? If Batman, Superman and Justice League bring in the average person who’s not a comic book fan, once you have them you insert a Huntress or a secondary character like Oracle as a means of introducing them to more of the world. But you’re not going to be able to do an Oracle movie.
03-29-13 | 08:26 PM
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Well this definitely sucks. Bruce Timm was a huge part of what made the DC Animated Universe what it is. I really don't know how things will be going forward without him. I'll probably still check out the direct to DVD/Blu-ray films as they come out but I dunno.
Well pretty much anytime they've tried something outside of Batman or Superman (with exception to Justice League but they're both in that too) things haven't really turned out that well. I agree though I do wish Warner/DC would expand it's horizons a bit and try more characters. The Flash has yet to be attempted and Wonder Woman had one movie which fans seemed to love but for some reason (sales?) she hasn't gotten anything else either. Green Lantern's animated films have been kind of meh all around but I think if the right story was used it could be good.
Well pretty much anytime they've tried something outside of Batman or Superman (with exception to Justice League but they're both in that too) things haven't really turned out that well. I agree though I do wish Warner/DC would expand it's horizons a bit and try more characters. The Flash has yet to be attempted and Wonder Woman had one movie which fans seemed to love but for some reason (sales?) she hasn't gotten anything else either. Green Lantern's animated films have been kind of meh all around but I think if the right story was used it could be good.
03-29-13 | 08:54 PM
#10
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Tucker sounds like little more than a corporate shill and toady in his comments. Bruce Timm was the heart and soul of DC animation for over two decades, and the first thing Tucker says as the new boss is he will be moving away from comic book adaptations.
What was amazing about Timm is that he intimately understood comic books and the inner workings of superhero stories, from the very beginning. I predict a bold, new direction for DC animation, right into the dregs that Marvel's animation has become of late. Expect to see a lot more corporate interference and "synergy" across various media platforms.
If Timm walked away because Cartoon Network canceled Green Lantern, I will never watch another program on that channel ever again. If he left for a bigger payday from Marvel or a Hollywood studio, I wish him well.
What was amazing about Timm is that he intimately understood comic books and the inner workings of superhero stories, from the very beginning. I predict a bold, new direction for DC animation, right into the dregs that Marvel's animation has become of late. Expect to see a lot more corporate interference and "synergy" across various media platforms.
If Timm walked away because Cartoon Network canceled Green Lantern, I will never watch another program on that channel ever again. If he left for a bigger payday from Marvel or a Hollywood studio, I wish him well.
03-29-13 | 09:19 PM
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
I'm sad to hear this. All good things must come to an end, but it doesn't make it easier to know that.
I don't know if I would label Tucker an outright corporate shill, being as he's been with Timm at DCAU for years. It sounds like DC wants to go in a different direction and Timm doesn't agree with it. That happens, unfornuately.
It seems that the public at large isn't interested in anything DCAU-related outside of Batman and Superman. They have tried. Wonder Woman is great, but I think it underperformed.
I don't know if I would label Tucker an outright corporate shill, being as he's been with Timm at DCAU for years. It sounds like DC wants to go in a different direction and Timm doesn't agree with it. That happens, unfornuately.
It seems that the public at large isn't interested in anything DCAU-related outside of Batman and Superman. They have tried. Wonder Woman is great, but I think it underperformed.
03-29-13 | 11:01 PM
#14
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Three things put Warner Bros. TV animation on a path of destruction...
1. Shooting their load on "The Year of the Green Lantern." Look that quote up. They actually thought The Green Lantern was gonna be HUGE. This was an overall mistake by the entire Warner Bros. company. Hoping to turn a C-list character into the next Iron Man. I got news for WB... The Green Lantern sucks and plain and simple, there's too much green. The lead actor you chose for your "tent pole" franchise is no Robert Downey Jr.. This had ramifications across all of your platforms... Your plans for "synergy" were pretty much fucked from the get go.
2. CGI. Well, wanting to compete with the Lucas' of the world thinking kids actually care about how their animation is made. No, they care about good stories. The actual animation is secondary. Memo to Warners execs, CGI is a waste of fucking money. It's why every other animated series kicked Green Lanterns ass. 2D animation is cheap and fast to produce. This is not to be said about CG. The single episode budget for Green Lantern was 3 to 4 times that of a regular 2D episode. They thought they'd save money overall with pre loading the assets... i.e., all your main characters are designed before you start production... to save costs on having to have a staff artist throughout the entire typical three season run of a show. Well, that didn't work either but I won't go into detail on that.
3. Not enough funny... comedy is king on all of the networks right now... Nick, CN, Disney. Even Tron failed on Disney... I hate to say it, boys action is dead right now.
WB needs to get rid of that "CG is gonna save WB" mindset. Concentrate on good old fashioned 2D... leave the CG for the big boys like Pixar, Dreamworks, et al. This is why WB's upcoming Batman CGI is doomed to fail, kids don't give a shit about TV CG... and kids don't care about action right now. WBTVA is basically putting all their chips on black right now hoping to win...
1. Shooting their load on "The Year of the Green Lantern." Look that quote up. They actually thought The Green Lantern was gonna be HUGE. This was an overall mistake by the entire Warner Bros. company. Hoping to turn a C-list character into the next Iron Man. I got news for WB... The Green Lantern sucks and plain and simple, there's too much green. The lead actor you chose for your "tent pole" franchise is no Robert Downey Jr.. This had ramifications across all of your platforms... Your plans for "synergy" were pretty much fucked from the get go.
2. CGI. Well, wanting to compete with the Lucas' of the world thinking kids actually care about how their animation is made. No, they care about good stories. The actual animation is secondary. Memo to Warners execs, CGI is a waste of fucking money. It's why every other animated series kicked Green Lanterns ass. 2D animation is cheap and fast to produce. This is not to be said about CG. The single episode budget for Green Lantern was 3 to 4 times that of a regular 2D episode. They thought they'd save money overall with pre loading the assets... i.e., all your main characters are designed before you start production... to save costs on having to have a staff artist throughout the entire typical three season run of a show. Well, that didn't work either but I won't go into detail on that.
3. Not enough funny... comedy is king on all of the networks right now... Nick, CN, Disney. Even Tron failed on Disney... I hate to say it, boys action is dead right now.
WB needs to get rid of that "CG is gonna save WB" mindset. Concentrate on good old fashioned 2D... leave the CG for the big boys like Pixar, Dreamworks, et al. This is why WB's upcoming Batman CGI is doomed to fail, kids don't give a shit about TV CG... and kids don't care about action right now. WBTVA is basically putting all their chips on black right now hoping to win...
03-29-13 | 11:21 PM
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
03-29-13 | 11:33 PM
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
I know this, because that's what the demographics tell us.
I've already said too much... listen, it's a small industry. Let's just leave it at that.
Power Rangers is a live action show... you can't compare that to an animation series. Korra isn't a DC/Marvel "action" hero... sorry, I'm using terms like "action" when referring to specific animation. Korra, although may be considered "action/adventure" it is not your classic comic book "action" hero.
03-30-13 | 01:30 AM
#17
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Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Three things put Warner Bros. TV animation on a path of destruction...
2. CGI. Well, wanting to compete with the Lucas' of the world thinking kids actually care about how their animation is made. No, they care about good stories. The actual animation is secondary. Memo to Warners execs, CGI is a waste of fucking money. It's why every other animated series kicked Green Lanterns ass. 2D animation is cheap and fast to produce. This is not to be said about CG. The single episode budget for Green Lantern was 3 to 4 times that of a regular 2D episode. They thought they'd save money overall with pre loading the assets... i.e., all your main characters are designed before you start production... to save costs on having to have a staff artist throughout the entire typical three season run of a show. Well, that didn't work either but I won't go into detail on that.
WB needs to get rid of that "CG is gonna save WB" mindset. Concentrate on good old fashioned 2D... leave the CG for the big boys like Pixar, Dreamworks, et al. This is why WB's upcoming Batman CGI is doomed to fail, kids don't give a shit about TV CG... and kids don't care about action right now. WBTVA is basically putting all their chips on black right now hoping to win...
2. CGI. Well, wanting to compete with the Lucas' of the world thinking kids actually care about how their animation is made. No, they care about good stories. The actual animation is secondary. Memo to Warners execs, CGI is a waste of fucking money. It's why every other animated series kicked Green Lanterns ass. 2D animation is cheap and fast to produce. This is not to be said about CG. The single episode budget for Green Lantern was 3 to 4 times that of a regular 2D episode. They thought they'd save money overall with pre loading the assets... i.e., all your main characters are designed before you start production... to save costs on having to have a staff artist throughout the entire typical three season run of a show. Well, that didn't work either but I won't go into detail on that.
WB needs to get rid of that "CG is gonna save WB" mindset. Concentrate on good old fashioned 2D... leave the CG for the big boys like Pixar, Dreamworks, et al. This is why WB's upcoming Batman CGI is doomed to fail, kids don't give a shit about TV CG... and kids don't care about action right now. WBTVA is basically putting all their chips on black right now hoping to win...
03-30-13 | 10:23 AM
#18
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Tucker has been there for a long time, so while Timm was the heart and soul, I'm not ready to write off DC animation just yet. And to be honest I agree with him about the 1 to 1 adaptions. As excited as I was for these movies, almost all of them have left me cold. The ones that worked the best for me, Justice League: Crisis of Two Earths and Wonder Woman took inspiration from other stories, but weren't adaptations of specific stories. I would be very happy to see them move more in this direction.
But Timm was that dude, and I'm grateful that he was the guy that shaped DC animated over the last 20 years.
But Timm was that dude, and I'm grateful that he was the guy that shaped DC animated over the last 20 years.
03-30-13 | 12:19 PM
#19
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
I don't think necessarily all the stories have to be direct adaptations of comics but there are a lot of good comic stories available that I'd love to see adapted. I hope that this new guy doesn't drop that angle completely in favor of all new stuff.
03-30-13 | 03:15 PM
#20
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
We've seen completely new stories for superhero animation before, they rarely have the depth or intricate plotting of direct comic book adaptations. Adapting existing comic books works so well for animation because the entire story has already been storyboarded...in the comics.
Though this new regime might sway me if they could produce a Legion Of Superheroes movie, preferably with Superboy or Supergirl.
Though this new regime might sway me if they could produce a Legion Of Superheroes movie, preferably with Superboy or Supergirl.
03-30-13 | 05:13 PM
#21
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
So it appears that maybe the first article wasn't entirely correct. This makes it sound like he's just stepping down from the direct to DVD/Blu-ray films. If that's correct it's good news at least for the television side of things.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=44577
Update: A Warner Bros. rep has written to clarify that Timm has not left Warners entirely. He has stepped down from his role as a supervising producer for the DC Universe Animated DVDs. Original story follows.
Cartoonist Bruce Timm, who shepherded a majority of the DC animated universe titles over the past two decades, has stepped down as supervising producer at Warner Bros. Animation to develop his own projects. He's been replaced by James Tucker, a veteran of "Batman: The Animated Series," "Justice League" and, more recently, "Batman: The Brave and the Bold."
“Bruce had done a lot since 'Justice League Unlimited' ended, so it’s been quite a haul," Tucker told the fan site Voices From Krypton. "I can’t speak for him, but I think going out on 'Dark Knight Returns' was a special thing for him. If he was going to make the break, that seemed like a good time.”
The 52-year-old Timm joined Warner Bros. in 1989 and worked on "Tiny Toon Adventures" before partnering with producer Eric Radmoski to create "Batman: The Animated Series," giving birth to the DC animated universe. Airing from 1992 to 1995, "Batman" gave way to "Superman: The Animated Series" and "Batman: The New Adventures," both of which Timm developed with Alan Burnett and Paul Dini. Timm also co-created "Batman Beyond," "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited," the final series in the DC animated universe. His most recent television work was as executive producer of the recently canceled "Green Lantern: The Animated Series."
Timm's reach also extended to Warner Bros. Animation's direct-to-video features, ranging from 2000's "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" to 2008's "The New Frontier" to his final DC animated project "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns."
Cartoonist Bruce Timm, who shepherded a majority of the DC animated universe titles over the past two decades, has stepped down as supervising producer at Warner Bros. Animation to develop his own projects. He's been replaced by James Tucker, a veteran of "Batman: The Animated Series," "Justice League" and, more recently, "Batman: The Brave and the Bold."
“Bruce had done a lot since 'Justice League Unlimited' ended, so it’s been quite a haul," Tucker told the fan site Voices From Krypton. "I can’t speak for him, but I think going out on 'Dark Knight Returns' was a special thing for him. If he was going to make the break, that seemed like a good time.”
The 52-year-old Timm joined Warner Bros. in 1989 and worked on "Tiny Toon Adventures" before partnering with producer Eric Radmoski to create "Batman: The Animated Series," giving birth to the DC animated universe. Airing from 1992 to 1995, "Batman" gave way to "Superman: The Animated Series" and "Batman: The New Adventures," both of which Timm developed with Alan Burnett and Paul Dini. Timm also co-created "Batman Beyond," "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited," the final series in the DC animated universe. His most recent television work was as executive producer of the recently canceled "Green Lantern: The Animated Series."
Timm's reach also extended to Warner Bros. Animation's direct-to-video features, ranging from 2000's "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" to 2008's "The New Frontier" to his final DC animated project "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns."
03-30-13 | 05:20 PM
#22
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
As I said in the YJ thread, I wonder if this means I'll never get my dream of Young Justice DTV movies.
03-31-13 | 02:16 AM
#23
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansit.../news/?a=76671
There is the report above, that Timm is taking some time off and is supposedly coming back to helm some top-secret Justice League cartoon. I don't know what to believe, the PR people at WB know that Timm is basically considered the patron saint of DC's cartoons and the fallout would not be pretty if he shows up in a year running Marvel's animation.
There is the report above, that Timm is taking some time off and is supposedly coming back to helm some top-secret Justice League cartoon. I don't know what to believe, the PR people at WB know that Timm is basically considered the patron saint of DC's cartoons and the fallout would not be pretty if he shows up in a year running Marvel's animation.
03-31-13 | 03:48 PM
#24
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?! I find it very hard to believe DC would ok a continuation of the DCAU as I knew and loved it. I, of course, would welcome it, but I'll believe that when I see it.
03-31-13 | 03:59 PM
#25
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Bruce Timm Exits Warner Bros. Animation
I honestly never understood why they were so against using the estabished DC Animated Universe anyways to be honest. Timm and company created a great universe for the DC heroes with shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and Justice League/Justice League: Unlimited. To throw them aside and just establish new stuff while I can kind of see why it was done was a bit silly in my opinion. Sure some newer fans might not know all the back stories to all the old episodes unless they went back and watched them but I think it could have been done in a way that established continuity yet was friendly to new fans.