Pirates of Dark Water - Not a bad jitatin show

The Pirates of Dark Water was a short lived action/adventure cartoon that premiered back in 1991. Despite its excellent mythology and interesting characters the show was plagued by delays, high costs and poor toy sales. Eventually it was cancelled after just 21 episodes. I remember watching the series when it was originally aired in the early 1990s, it wasn't my favorite cartoon but I thought it was creatively unique and tuned in often. Being a Hanna-Barbera production the show eventually re-aired on Cartoon Network and its spin off channel Boomerang in the mid 1990s. Though ultimately a bust, the Pirates of Dark Water did have its fans and eventually became a miniature cult hit as reruns aired regularly. Despite the best efforts of this loyal - but small - fan base however, the show has never been given a proper ending.

The story for Pirates of Dark Water takes place on the alien world of Mer. Besides its two moons, the most distinguishing characteristic of Mer would be the twenty different seas that comprise it. Scattered throughout these bodies of water are small islands where various intelligent life has developed. With so much water - and so little land - nautical travel is naturally the largest means of transportation. Unfortunately the planets oceans are being devoured by dark water. Dark water is a black, oil like substance that aggressively attacks anything it comes into contact with, including boats. Spreading like a cancer throughout the planet, its only a matter of time before all of Mer becomes enveloped in this deadly liquid. The worlds one hope lies in Ren, prince of Octopon. Together with his unlikely, but loyal crew of misfits, Ren must track down the 13 treasures of Rule. Only with their power can the Dark Dweller (the source of Dark Water) be destroyed and balance restored.

One of the Pirates of Dark Water's greatest strengths is the premise described above. Though not groundbreaking it is very well conceived and completely engaging, especially for an older action/adventure show. As for the writing itself, the series has its ups and downs, mostly due to shifts in tone. While some of the stories featured nefarious threats and a good balance of action and humor, other episodes were just so childish and immature they didn't even feel like they were a part of the same show. One particularly bad instance of this can be found in the episode "Little Leviathan". In the story Ren and his crew help a baby leviathan (who sounds just like Uni from Dungeons and Dragons) that has been caught in dark water. Once rescued the creature becomes smitten with its saviors and begins to follow them, comedic hijinks then ensue. Compare this to an episode like "The Dark Disciples" which featured a dark - almost "Thundarr the Barbarian" like story - and you'll see just how uneven the viewing experience was at times. Shifts in tone weren't isolated to just the stories either. Visually speaking, episodes like "The Little Leviathan" portrayed creatures as wide-eyed cartoonish scamps, like something out of a My Little Pony cartoon and nothing like the rest of the show (I'll have more to say about his later). I can't say for sure, but I believe the reason this happened was because the show fell into a bit of a middle world timing wise. Taking place after the horrendously tame 80's action/adventure cartoons but before Batman the Animated series, Pirates of Dark Water appears to have been pulled in two different directions. One was dumbed down and child friendly, the other darker and more serious. Still I really like the show's core story which was conceptually excellent and populated with great characters. Pirates of Dark Water had all the right ingredients, it just didn't always use them correctly.

Having just mentioned that Pirates of Dark Water features great characters, now seems like a good time to talk about the shows cast. Starting with the good guys we have Ren, Ioz, Tula and Niddler. Ren is the show's central character and he readily fits the "young hero on a quest to save the world" archetype. Though perhaps a little cliché, Ren does work nicely as both the voice of reason necessary to keep his crew together, as well as the driving force needed to keep them on task. But while I thought Ren was merely manageable, I found Ioz to be loads of fun. Gruff, pragmatic, treasure obsessed and an absolute chauvinist, Ioz can always be counted on to make greedy and inappropriate comments. Though these characteristics may seem negative, Ioz's failings provide a nice counterbalance to the noble nature of Ren and his quest, plus he's unflappably loyal. Tula is the lone female crew member and she is kind of a cross between Ioz and Ren. While she shares many of the core values of Ren she is more than willing to steal or even "betray" a couple comrades for her own purposes. There are only two actual betrayals by Tula - one at the beginning of the series and one at the end - and both times it's made very clear that Tula is either pretending to betray her crew mates or heavily conflicted about it. Still the fact that Tula's allegiance is so questionable makes her a very interesting character to watch. Tula does have a couple other roles in the show as well. One of these happens early in the series when Tula discovers that she is an ecomancer, a person capable of communing with nature and bending certain aspects of it to her will (kind of like a hippy wizard). The other is that she is a quasi love interest for Ren. Though the show never really gets too romantic (thankfully) it is clear that Ren and Tula are meant to play out the standard action/adventure romance seen so often in the genre. Niddler is the shows comedic relief. Unlike the rest of the crew Niddler is not human but instead a Monkeybird (basically a cross between and monkey and an bird, duh). When he's not flying people around from place to place, Niddler spends most his time complaining about how hungry he is or gorging on mengamellons, a monkeybirds favorite fruit. While I don't really care for Niddler I will admit that he makes a far better sidekick than your average action/adventure animal, plus he actually feels like a part of the team. Besides, he's not half as annoying as Snarf from the Thundercats.

From a villainous perspective, there are numerous antagonists in Pirates of Dark Water. That said, the only regulars worth mentioning are the Pirate Lord Bloth and his most persistent crony Conk. Conk is a very small man who excels at the art of surviving. No matter how dire the circumstance Conk always finds a way out, a good skill to have when you work for a ruthless pirate like Bloth. As for Bloth himself, he would be the physical antithesis of Conk. A massive man both in stature and girth (the guy is probably a foot taller than anyone else in the show) Bloth is as strong as an ox and has a very intimidating presence. Once again I like how the Pirates of Dark Water cast balances itself out. With Conk you have a very unimpressive and comical villain whose limited vocabulary is only matched by his limited intelligence. With Bloth however, you get a much more physically menacing and frighting opponent who speaks with an intelligent - almost british - accent, thus he appears more sophisticated than his lackeys. I have to say that while both Bloth and Conk may not be overly original, they still manage to be very interesting, something your average villain from the time period wasn't. It's this kind of depth that really sets Pirates of Dark Waters characters apart. The cast not only plays well off of one another they all have history, a past that you want to see explored. Too bad the show ended before we ever got to see it.

I mentioned earlier that Pirates of Dark Water never got a proper ending. I say this because - unlike other action/adventure shows of the time period - Pirates of Dark Water had a very finite goal built into its premise, finding the 13 treasures of Rule. Unfortunately only 8 of these treasures were found before the show's premature cancellation, therefore any viewer who invested interest into seeing Ren's quest completed left the show feeling unfulfilled. This is very unfortunate because the show clearly squandered numerous episodes with filler, episodes that could have been put to better use had the producers known that the series would only finish with twenty-one installments. Though frustrating, you can't really blame the studio or producers for this negative outcome. After all if the show had been successful, filler would have been needed to maximize its earning potential. As it stands though we are left hanging with no resolution whatsoever. A far too common occurrence in entertainment.

Visually the Pirates of Dark Water is both excellent and flawed in its execution. What I mean is that while the show has fantastic production design, on model characters and occasionally good animation, it also sports inconsistent creature design, poor choreography and awkward movement. Let's start with the production design. The world of Mer looks great. The warm color pallet - consisting mostly of reds and oranges - has a very unique and exotic feel about it. Characters also look nice, whether it's the beautiful gypsy-like appearance of Tula or the grotesque - almost fish-like - visage of Bloth, the design work for each character is spot on. But while the the world of Mer - and its inhabitants - feature a mature and appropriately alien appearance, the show would sometimes stray into "caricature land". On more than one occasion - the most obvious being the aforementioned "Little Leviathan" episode - Pirates of Dark Water would create silly, and/or childlike creatures with really big eyes and overly expressive mouths. This was in stark contrast to the more realistic and often fearsome looking creatures that inhabited the world of Mer, thus these one-off characters didn't feel like they belonged. Sadly, this inconsistent creature design mars otherwise excellent art direction and makes for an inconsistent viewing experience. Doubly frustrating is the fact that visual representations like this are exactly the kind of things that make people roll their eyes and spout off nonsense like "cartoons are just for kids". Pirates of Dark Water is the kind of show that's supposed to debunk that kind of talk, not reinforce it.

As for the animation itself, Pirates of Dark Water varies between mediocre and good. The first five episodes look solid (probably the best in the series) with a couple of scenes standing out as excellent (please keep in mind that I'm grading on a curve, this show does not come close to today's action/adventure standards). After that the animation became more mundane and awkward. Most of the fight choreography was stiff and unconvincing, things like running always looked awkward and a lot of the staging suffered from a lack of creativity. On the positive side the show maintained a consistent appearance. Even great shows like Batman the Animated series bore shifts in character models and animation styles depending on the studios that worked on them. Luckily Pirates of Dark Water was able to avoid this (for the most part anyway). Though I would have to rank Pirates of Dark Water as one of the better looking shows from its time period, most of the success stems from its design and not its animation (which really isn't that much better than other 80s action/adventure shows). If I had to choose a phrase to sum up my feelings about the show's visuals it would be "average execution of beautiful concepts".

In regards to voice acting Pirates of Dark Water had to navigate some tricky water. Rooted heavily in pirate culture, the show could have easily fell into various pirate clichés. I can just imagine heavily accented "aarrrs" and "iiiieee" being thrown around haphazardly - like some Scooby-Doo villain - while Bloth tells Ren to walk the plank (shudder). Thankfully none of these things happen, instead Pirates of Dark Water nails its voice casting perfectly and provides the actors with unique dialog designed exclusively for the show. I'll start with the actors. Just about all the main characters in Pirates of Dark Water feature superb voice work. George Newbern nails the youthful determination of Ren with ease. Jodi Benson sounds exactly how Tula appears, headstrong and sexy. Ioz was voiced by two different actors, Hector Elizondo in season one and Jim Cummings in season two. Surprisingly enough I didn't even notice the difference with both actors gruff portrayal of Ioz being spot on. Best of all would have to be Brock Peters work on Bloth though. With a maniacally twisted accent Peters really digs into his dialog with gusto and creates a villain that can be both scary or funny depending on what the situation calls for. Personally I think this is one of the best sounding action/adventure shows done prior to 1993.

Complementing the superb voice acting is some surprisingly creative dialog. Though not brilliantly written, the dialog from Pirates of Dark Water does feature some original expressions created specifically for the show. My favorites would have be the oft used "Noy Jitat" and its shorted version "Jitatin", I also liked "Jongo-longo". Besides just sounding cool these phrases serve as a subtle reminder that the world we're watching is an alien one, that and they allowed the characters to curse (after all they are pirates). This clever replacement of swear words is a trick used often in science fiction/fantasy shows, after all censors can't tell you something is vulgar if the word isn't even real.

The Pirates of Dark Water is one of those shows that possess great foundational elements, but not so great execution. While the core story, characters, production design and voice acting all shine brightly - even after 20 years - the animation and writing feel tarnished and dated. Couple this with the dissatisfaction born from an incomplete story and you can't help but feel frustrated. Yet what I truly want isn't a proper ending to this show, I want an entirely new series. With so many 80's cartoons getting rebooted as of late (upcoming GI Joe, Thundercats and Voltron) I would love to see Pirates of Dark Water get a fresh start. Something a little darker (but not too dark) with a more focused narrative and far less compromise. Now that Johnny Depp has made pirates popular again - and higher action/adventure standards are the norm - I feel that Pirates of Dark Water would stand a real chance of making a comeback, that or it could get cancelled prematurely again and piss-off a whole new generation of fans. Anyway if you would like to watch Pirates of Dark Water (and you should), you can pick up the 4-disc, manufacture on demand, set from the Warner Archive here. It contains all 21 episodes, but no special features or picture restoration. Still, this is - most likely - the best copy of the series currently in existence, so fans of the show should not hesitate to purchase.

The Maxx - more 1990s MTV goodness

I've mentioned this before, but for the sake of those who don't know I'll do so again. I love MTV's off the wall animation from the 1990s. Much like Cartoon Network's Adult Swim imprint, MTV produced some really fantastic, mature and experimental animation back in the day. The Maxx is one such experiment. Based on Sam Keith's popular comic book, The Maxx is perhaps the most direct adaption of comic book source material ever, both in terms of visuals and story.

Sam Keith first published The Maxx in 1992 under the upstart banner of Image Comics. Image came about when superstar artists Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefield, Marc Silvestri, Eric Larson and Jim Viatelo bolted from Marvel Comics in 1991. Once established they reached out to other popular creators and offered them the chance to publish their own books, Sam Keith was one such artist. Keith was probably best known for having drawn Wolverine in Marvel Comics Presents. Both celebrated and criticized for his unique art style - which led to off model renditions of popular characters - Keith was finally free to "cut loose" with The Maxx. Unlike most superhero comics, The Maxx delved deep into psychological and metaphysical subject matter, thus making it a perfect match for MTV's late night cartoon show "MTVs Oddities".

The premise of the Maxx goes something like this. Most of us inhabit two worlds, the real world where we are at the mercy of circumstance, and the world within, the unconscious safe place where we can escape. The Maxx shifts between these two worlds against his will. Here (the real world) he lives in a box inside of an alley. The only person who cares for him is a freelance social worker by the name of Julie Winters. But in the other world - Pangea - he rules the outback and is the protector of Julie, his jungle queen. Sounds pretty crazy huh? Well it is, but in a good way.

As you can probably discern from the description above, the writing of The Maxx is very ... unusual. Though The Maxx dresses up like a superhero the story isn't really about that, it's about the psychological condition of the show's characters. Not just the mental state of Maxx mind you, but Julie Winters and The Maxx (you could also include the teenage girl Sarah as well). This is some pretty intense subject matter when you get right down to it, issues like suicide, rape, guilt and repression are all major themes in the show's narrative. Though calling the series "dark" would be an oversimplification, it would certainly not be without merit. To put it bluntly, the show can really mess with your head.

Magnificently brooding and complex the series does suffer from one big problem however, it ended before the story had a chance to finish. Despite being only 13 episodes in length the show actually caught up to the comic books rather quickly, thus it was only able to cover the first eleven issues (the story arc would later finish in issue twenty). The hope was that they could get a second season and finish the story then, but ultimately MTV decided not to renew the series (apparently MTV made this choice before the first episode even aired). The result is that the final episode of the series really doesn't leave the viewers with enough concrete answers and many of the foreshadowed hints sprinkled throughout the show go unfulfilled. Though incredibly frustrating this is not an uncommon occurrence in TV, fortunately you can still buy the source material and read how the story ends.

A cartoon like The Maxx is not for everyone (certainly not children). While the writing is excellent the subject matter may rub some people the wrong way. Being based on a comic book others may even find the lack of traditional superhero storytelling disappointing. Personally I felt the story was both original and refreshing, even if it was a little morose. Compared to the other Image comics that made their way into animation (Spawn, Savage Dragon and Wild CATS) it certainly proves to be a far more honest adaptation. Spawn was okay but the HBO cartoon was actually more adult than the comic. Both the Savage Dragon and Wild CATS went in the opposite extreme and tried to be toned down, "kid" friendly versions of themselves. Only The Maxx sought to be exactly what it always was, a psychologically twisted story about very flawed, three dimensional characters with problems.

Visually The Maxx is an amazing mix of various medias. The show uses actual artwork from the comic book, animation, CGI (some of the earliest you'll see on TV) and even live action very effectively. With so many styles at play one would expect a very visually inconsistent series, this is not the case however. Truth be told The Maxx looks very unified and polished despite its limited budget, even by today's standards it still looks good. A lot of the credit has to go to the youthful exuberance found in the shows creators. While many veteran animators scoff at the idea of using someone else's art or layout, The Maxx's creative staff was so young and inexperienced they didn't care about such egotistical nonsense, they just loved the source material and wanted to make a great cartoon. This naive passion made for a very fearless show, one that wasn't afraid to experiment with things like digital coloring and digital ink, it also allowed the series to overcome its budgetary limitations by making the project a labor of love.

In many ways The Maxx reminds me of today's motion comics. A relatively new media, motion comics take the actual artwork from a comic book, cut it up digitally and add music and voice overs. The Maxx does a lot of these things as well, but far better than any motion comic ever has, or ever will. While a motion comic is strongly bound by the layout and artwork found in its source material, The Maxx was not afraid to expand on - or even break outside of - its predecessors original structure. Vice versa, a full fledged animated show won't use any real comic style layouts, instead opting for the more traditional storytelling found in most cartoons. So it's like you're getting the best of both worlds, a faithful comic book adaptation, but with genuine animation.

The show did have visual hiccups however, occasionally the animation didn't quite match up with the original art styles for example, or a comic book image would not animate well. Still The Maxx's look and feel was - by and large - a huge success. The use of minimal animation was masterful, CGI was surprisingly effective and tasteful, original art was integrated flawlessly and the translation of Sam Keith's layout was near perfect. Given Rough Draft Studios appreciation of the source material - as well as Keith's own involvement - this was definitely a project of personal importance to those involved, and it shows.

Normally I don't spend a lot of time talking about a show's voice acting unless the performances are exceptionally good, or exceptionally bad. Fortunately in the case of The Maxx it's the former that holds true. Featuring the voices of Michael Haley, Glynnis Talken, Amy Danles and Barry Stigler, The Maxx is a very well acted show. Michael Haley probably had the most difficult job being that he was the voice of the Maxx. Since the character needed to be both a tough guy and a simpleton Haley had to really work the dialog carefully, luckily he was up to the challenge and pulls off the roll admirably. Glynnis Talken strikes a spot-on balance of determination, world weariness and emotional damage when voicing the social worker Julie Winters. Amy Danles uses a great melancholy sound to bring jaded teenager Sarah to life. Finally Barry Stigler gives a pitch perfect performance as the know-it-all, arrogant and just a little angry Mr. Gone. I am not exaggerating when I say that the core characters from The Maxx could not have been cast any better.

Musically The Maxx hits all the right notes as well (Hah!). From the jazzy, beatnik opening to the aborigine sounding outback music, The Maxx always sets the right tone. Haunting, irreverent, or just plain silly the music from this show has flavor, a distinct taste that is unmistakably "Maxx" (insert smelly homeless joke here).

Obviously I'm recommending this series to anyone who likes "off the wall" storytelling, or is just a fan of the original comic book (keeping in mind this is not a show for children). It's unfortunate that the story was never really completed in animation, had the series been able to finish with the original story arc I think it would have been an instant classic. Regardless, The Maxx is a very worthwhile purchase. Though it's a manufacture on demand DVD the price is very reasonable and the extras include a short interview with the shows creators and commentary on all (count them all) 13 episodes.

Star Wars the Clone Wars - when the prequels go ... right?

I love Star Wars. Like many people my age I grew up during the franchise's original release, the memories of which I cherish to this very day. Sadly, once the original trilogy concluded there was a 7-8 year period where Star Wars became less relevant, fading like the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi into pop-culture history. In the early 1990's things started to turnaround though, with the release of Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" novel Star Wars found new life in the form of bestselling books. Before long new toys were being produced, comic books published, video games created and eventually "updated" versions of the three beloved films were released in theaters. By the end of the decade Star Wars was - once again - a dominate force in the entertainment industry.

Then came the prequels. Without a doubt the most anticipated films of my life, the Star Wars prequels proved the old adage that you can never go home again. In other words they were horrible. Not Twilight horrible mind you, just very flawed films in need of heavy story edits, better casting and better characters. Since the release of "The Phantom Menace" Star Wars has continued to spiral out of control. The extended novel universe went to hell during its "New Jedi Order" storyline, toys have become too plentiful and too expensive, comic books are a crapshoot and the latest CGI cartoon continues to run a very tired Clone Wars concept into the ground. Why do I mention all this? Because even as the Bantha carcass that was the Star Wars franchise continues to be picked clean, there are still a couple of bright spots left to remind us why we loved Star Wars to begin with. One would be the Knights of the Old Republic video games, an immersive adventure set in the Old Republic era. The other would be Genndy Tartakovsky's fantastically conceived Star Wars the Clone Wars cartoons.

Unlike the current CGI Clone Wars series seen on Cartoon Network, Tartakovsky was given the rare opportunity to create a Star Wars story his own way, as opposed to the Lucasfilm way (and before the Clone Wars became overused). Premiering in 2003 Tartakovsky's Clone Wars was made up of 20 three-minute shorts totaling one hour in length (this would be seasons 1 & 2). The stories were a mixture of standalone and interconnected events taking place during various battles throughout the galaxy. The second hour (season 3) was comprised of 5 twelve-minute episodes and featured a more in-depth story which ends right where the third prequel film (Revenge of the Sith) begins. Though stylistically different from other Star Wars vehicles, Tartakovsky's Clone Wars works surprisingly well, probably because the cartoons creators stuck to what they knew best, action.

For those who don't know, Genndy Tartakovsky was the man behind both Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory, he also played a big part in the success of the Powerpuff Girls. If you've seen any of these cartoons then you should've noticed how stylized the action is, a staple mark of Tartakovsky shows. Being such a strong visual communicator Tartakovsky is also known for keeping dialog sparse, choosing instead to tell his stories through pictures rather than words. With the Clone Wars my fear was that Tartakovsky would try and modify his directing style to better fit the Star Wars universe. Thankfully this was not the case, and all of these elements are used effectively throughout the series.

The writing from Star Wars the Clone Wars is actually pretty minimal. With the initial episodes being only three-minutes each, there just wasn't a lot of room for complicated story. The twelve-minute episodes that followed do have more substance - with the plot playing out more like a short film - but action is clearly the focus of the series. This is an amusing contrast to the actual prequel movies which have been panned for having far too much "political intrigue", and not enough action. Despite the "lack" of deep narrative however, Tartakovsky's Clone Wars never leaves you feeling cheated, quite the opposite actually. The short running times of each chapter forced the show's creators to streamline everything into a micro format, eliminating anything that is unnecessary and emphasizing only what's important. It's the cartoon equivalent of a powernap, all the substance of a 22 minute show but packed into a far shorter time frame. Taken individually - or all at once - each episode of the Clone Wars is a perfect example of how less can be more.

Besides the tight storytelling and great action, Tartakovsky is also a master of making things look - for lack of a better word - cool. Clone trooper infiltration of a city, awesome. General Grievous chasing three jedi all over Coruscant, nice. Mace Windu vs. an entire droid army, fricking mind blowing. Even really silly ideas - like the jousting villain Durge - work surprisingly well. It would be so easy for a lesser director to falter here, to make these concepts look cheesy or formulaic. Not Tartakovsky, just about everything he does is both awe inspiring and innovative.

Visually Star Wars the Clone Wars is very much a Tartakovsky cartoon. Everything from the characters to the vehicles to the environments are highly stylized and use minimal detail. It's this minimalist approach that makes Tartakovsky an unusual fit for the Star Wars universe, in some ways he's not a good fit at all. The cartoony look associated with his work is a stark contrast to the hyper detailed "dirty" space look that Star Wars usually exhibits. This is why I was afraid Tartakovsky might try and change his animation style, thankfully he didn't. As for the quality of the visuals themselves, they are excellent. When moving the animation is very fluid and energetic, colors are crisp and backgrounds fantastically quirky. You wouldn't mistake the show for an animated feature or anything, but it still looks very high end. Like many cartoons these days the Clone Wars does feature some CGI, thankfully the Tartakovsky style of animation is a perfect match for this and everything blends together seamlessly. In short, this is a very polished show.

I mentioned earlier Tartakovsky's penchant for sparse dialog. What I meant by this is that long sequences of events - especially ones related to action - will often take place with no words. This doesn't mean that everything is silent - quite the contrary - in the absence of dialog sound takes on a whole new level of effectiveness. With noises normally overlooked now emphasized, sounds relating to things like frustration, elation, struggle and annoyance become far more effective. You would be hard pressed to find a better use of sound and silence in animation today.

Musically Star Wars the Clone Wars uses the same orchestra style music synonyms with the franchise. This is a good constant since the show is such a visual departure from the movies. Voice acting is good all around with many of the voices used in later incarnations of the Clone Wars stories. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this series is very well put together in all phases of its production including audio.

Looking back over this review I think I spent more time talking about Genndy Tartakovsky than I did the actual show itself. With that in mind I'll finish by saying that Star Wars the Clone Wars (often referred to as the microseries) is an excellent series. With an overall run time of just over two hours the show isn't particularly long, but what it lacks in length it more than makes up for in content. If you're a fan of Star Wars, action/adventure animation or Genndy Tartakovsky then this is a must watch. Unfortunately both DVD volumes of the series are out of print, so tracking down copies can be tricky. The best place is probably Amazon, though new copies are outrageously priced the used copies are still pretty affordable.

Atlantis - The Lost Opportunity

It was the turn of the century and feature film animation found itself at a crossroads. With the success of CGI film studios like Pixar, Hollywood started to ponder a move away from traditional animation. Seeing its own classically animated films return less and less at the box office, Disney tried to regain its swagger by creating an epic feature that would use both hand drawn and computer generated images. The film was Atlantis, a $120 million dollar extravaganza that spared no expense in both production and promotion. Unfortunately Atlantis was met with mixed reviews and a modest box office return of $85 million dollars domestically (the film did recover its production budget with the world wide box office however). Adding insult to injury Dreamwork's Shrek and Pixar's Monsters Inc. would go on to be huge hits - both critically and financially - that same year. Looking back at it now, this was probably the tipping point where traditional animation lost its credibility as a feature film medium.

With a premise like finding the lost city of Atlantis it should come as no surprise that I was very pumped for this film. I'm a longtime Disney fan and getting an animated feature with roots in science fiction seemed like a dream come true. Unfortunately the movie fell far short of my expectations and I found myself massively frustrated for the second time in just one year (the first frustration being with Fox's Titan AE).

The story of Atlantis centers around Milo Thatch, a linguistics expert working in the boiler room at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. Milo believes the key to finding Atlantis can be found in an ancient book called the Shepherds Journal and needs funding for an expedition to find it. Unfortunately for him the Institution's board believes that both the Journal and Atlantis are nothing more than myths and refuse Milo's proposal. This rejection is doubly painful because Milo's deceased grandfather - who raised him - was ridiculed for his own obsession with the fabled civilization. But Milo's luck takes a turn for the better when eccentric millionaire Preston Whitmore steps into the picture. Turns out Whitmore was a friend of Milo's late grandfather and he's already found the Shepherds Journal. In need of a linguist to decipher the Journal, Whitmore offers Milo a spot aboard his privately funded expedition to find Atlantis. Joining Milo is a band of eclectic experts including Demolition specialist Vinny Santorini, medical officer Dr. Sweet, geology expert "Mole" and tomboy mechanic Audrey Ramirez. Leading the expedition is Commander Rourke and his second-in-command Lt. Helga Sinclair. The last character worth mentioning is Kida, the 8,000 year old Atlantean princess who serves as Milo's love interest later in the story (Personally I would have been a little more apprehensive about hooking up with Kida if I were Milo. That girl has to have been around the block more than once in the last 8,000 years, I'm just saying). Sounds interesting enough right? Unfortunately the final product can't live up to the strength of its own premise and many animation fans left the film feeling unfulfilled.

Before I discuss the writing of Atlantis I want to offer the following warning. The next four paragraphs all contain minor story SPOILERS. Normally I try to avoid this but the movie is almost ten years old and most of the issues I had were very specific. If you don’t want to know any story details then skip the four paragraphs following this one.

If I had to describe the story of Atlantis in one word it would be “underdeveloped”. What I mean by this is the film doesn't provide enough detail or explanation for many of its plot points. Want to know why Atlantis sinks into the ocean? Because the king wanted a super weapon ... that's it, that's all you get. Or how is it the people of Atlantis can learn to speak English so quickly? Sure their language was the basis for many of today’s modern dialects, but that's not really good enough. Knowing some root elements of a language and speaking said language are two completely different things. After all English (or any language for that matter) has evolved and changed over the years; so how could a society isolated from the rest of civilization for over eight millennia learn it in just a few brief seconds? But while these plot points feel unabashedly lazy, they pale in comparison to the issues brought about from the revelation regarding Atlantean lifespan. While recounting her younger years Kida implies that she witnessed the fall of Atlantis. Milo quickly realizes this would make her over 8,000 years old and subsequently points this out to Kida. Her response … “Yeees”. And there you have it, a bombshell revelation suggesting that much of Atlantis' population is thousands of years old gets a "Yeees". Later, one can deduce that the crystals the Atlanteans wear are responsible for this (though the film does not say this explicitly), but the whole thing feels so underdeveloped and cast aside I could not help but feel frustrated.

The flippant manner in which Atlantean lifespan is addressed isn't the real problem here though, the giant plot holes it creates are. For example, the citizens of Atlantis are no longer able to read their own language. This would make sense if hundreds of generations of Atlanteans had passed and the knowledge was gradually lost. But since Kida - and presumably others - were all around when Atlantis fell, how is it that none of them can read? Did everyone, including the adults forget how? Combine this with the fact that given 8,000 years just about anyone could decipher a language and you've got a nice big plot hole staring you right in the face. This same issue shows up again when Kida takes Milo to see a flying machine she has been unsuccessfully trying to start for ages. Being a linguistic expert (boy that's convenient), Milo quickly reads the vehicles instructions and reveals the simple three step ignition sequence ... put hand here, insert crystal and turn it one way then back the other. Wow Kida, 8,000 years and you weren't able to figure that out on your own using trial and error? Good God, you're supposed to be an advanced race, one that hasn't even seen a single generation pass, yet you can't deduce something that simple? My car is harder to start than that. It would have made much more sense for the Atlanteans to simply be descendants of the cataclysm survivors. Descendants whose culture is being lost and thus they need an outsider to help rediscover it. Personally I wonder if the original script for Atlantis included this long lifespan fiasco. Being that it's common practice for movie scripts to get "retooled", I could easily imagine the story of Atlantis receiving "enhanced" ideas, the kind that create large plot holes like the ones found here.

The characters comprising Atlantis are also frustrating, mostly because I couldn't bring myself to care about any of them. Commander Rourke and Lt. Sinclair are complete cyphers that have no backstory or motivation beyond clichéd greed. Mole is similarly barren and serves only as comedic relief. Even the secondary characters who do get a backstory like Dr. Sweet, Vinny and Audrey can't escape the two-dimensional characterization that plagues this film. Don't get me wrong, the crew is likable enough. Vinny and Dr. Sweet in particular made me laugh on numerous occasions. The problem is that I didn't care about anything the cast did or had done to them, even the expedition's obvious "betrayal" left me feeling underwhelmed. In the end only Milo is given any real depth, but while he has motivation (to prove his grandfathers theories on Atlantis are correct) it fails to deliver any real emotional impact. Compare this to Scar's betrayal in the Lion King, or the robots sacrifice at the end of the Iron Giant. Those scenes sent a chill up your spine, they made you care, not so much with Atlantis.

Even forces outside the movies control conspired to undermine it. Atlantis was released in the summer of 2001, about one year after Fox's animated flop Titan AE. Why does that matter? Well for those of us who watched Titan AE the previous year Atlantis reeked of deja vu. Lets run down the similarities:

• Eclectic crew trying to find a lost place(or)thing. Check
• Main character possessing unique abilities necessary for finding lost place(or)thing. Check.
• Betrayal by eclectic crews greedy leader and second-in-command. Check.
• Subsequent life or death battle between said leader and second-in-command. Check.
• True power of lost place(or)thing is unleashed causing the revitalization(or)rebirth of something. Check.

Now I'm in no way implying that these films purposefully aped one another, in fact I'm sure they did not. What I am saying is that these unfortunate coincidences detracted from the latter films original viewing, in this case Atlantis. Sitting there in the theater I was stunned by the number of thematic parallels and plot twists, especially the betrayal. Of course this doesn't matter anymore since the films are both a decade old, but for people like me who really wanted both Titan AE and Atlantis to be good, their similarities and shortcomings will forever be linked.

When it's all said and done the story of Atlantis just doesn't work in its final form. It's hard to tell if the movie was under or over developed, but it definitely feels incomplete. Ambitious to a fault, Atlantis suffers from an overly ambiguous mythology, two dimensional characters, horrible plot holes and formulaic storytelling. Though the film is completely watchable don't be surprised if you find yourself sensing something amiss. Kind of like you're waiting for the last couple pieces of a puzzle to fill in, sure you can tell what the picture is, but it still doesn't look finished.

Luckily the visuals from Atlantis do look very complete, not surprising being that it's a Disney animated feature. Animation is always smooth, movements are natural and characters stay on model. Backgrounds are similarly beautiful with great design work and a cool (mostly blue) color pallet. The only complaint I had was that a couple of scenes - specifically those early in the film - looked flat, like they forgot to add shading. Though it doesn't really hurt the film at all I still found these rare occurrences jarring enough to take notice. Fortunately Atlantis manages to effectively do something that other animated features of the time often couldn't, it convincingly blended CGI and cell animation. Unlike Titan AE and Sinbad, Atlantis really does a good job of making computer generated images look like they belong in the traditionally animated environments. Yes you can still tell the CGI from cell pretty easily, but the overall illusion holds together quite nicely and that's what really matters.

Character designs from Atlantis are a little different than your average Disney film, but in a good way. Mike Mignola (artist and creator of Hellboy) was a production artist on the movie and his influence is very noticeable, especially in the angular look of the people (as opposed to the rounded look found in many other Disney movies). Of course there's still a Disneyfied quality found in many of the films characters - Kida and Dr. Sweet for example - but other people like Lt. Sinclair and the faceless gas-mask soldiers have a great edge about them, much like a Mignola comic book. Overall I thought the design and execution of Atlantis's visuals were a win, had the film's story been able to deliver this could have been something special.

The voice acting and music of Atlantis is all very good. My favorite actors were probably Micheal J. Fox (Milo) and James Garner (Commander Rourke), but everyone turned in a solid performance. Being one of Disney's non-musical films Atlantis's music lacks the distinct sound found in many of their other animated movies, still the music does its job well and I had no complaints.

So there you have it, an animated film with superior craftsmanship including: great animation, excellent design, good voice acting and solid music. Too bad it's wasted on an underdeveloped story that - despite its promising origins - fails miserably. To be fair Atlantis never stood much of a chance for success. With the creatively sentimental story of Monsters Inc. and the humorous pop-culture writing of Shrek, audiences just weren't interested in another "safe" Disney film. I doubt that even a perfect take on the story of Atlantis could have succeeded in the face of those odds. Still I think that the opportunity to create something timeless was lost here and that's truly unfortunate. As for recommending the film I'll say that it's worth a watch, if only for the visuals. I wouldn't go out of my way though.

G.I. Joe Resolute - Thats more like it!

Being a fan of 1980s action/adventure cartoons can be tough, after all they were just glorified toy commercials containing little to no substance. Their fear of watchdog parent groups made them ridiculously tame and silly, something any child over the age of ten came to quickly realize and ridicule. Production value was minimal, music was repetitive, voice acting generic, in short ... they were bad cartoons. Still some part of me loves these cheesy shows and wishes that the magic I felt as a child could somehow be recaptured. Of course my - and many others - hope has not gone unnoticed. Again and again studios have tried to update the cartoons from my youth in an attempt to cash in on both their commercial potential and nostalgia value. Transformers has seen numerous incarnations including a handful of cartoons and two blockbuster (but bad) movies. Similarly GI Joe has several cartoon reboots and a lackluster live action film to its credit. Even He-Man got re-imagined on Cartoon Network back in 2002 and has a feature film script in the works. Financially these projects have seen a varying degree of success, but not even the best among them could meet, let alone exceed my expectations.

Where did they fall short? Well the new He-Man cartoon had the right idea, it featured intense action while staying true to its roots. Unfortunately the show's stories proved to be childish and ultimately frustrating to watch. Transformers Beast Wars was really well written, but the characters just weren't the same as the ones I grew up with. GI Joe Sigma Six was dumb, same goes for Transformers Animated. As for the live action movies ... well don't even get me started on those. So why is it that none of these remakes hit the mark for me? Probably because what I want is so specific. I want an updated version of my favorite childhood cartoons, one that respects the characters I loved while maturing the content to something more appropriate for a person my age. Of course what I want doesn't really make for a fat profit margin so the odds of seeing such a thing are remote at best. Then the impossible happened, GI Joe Resolute was created. Originally shown on Adult Swim as an eleven part series (5 minutes each), GI Joe Resolute was literally everything I ever wanted from a modernized GI Joe cartoon; Intense action, beautiful animation, over the top villains and great characters, all wrapped together in a sixty minute story that managed to be both intelligent and cheesy at the same time.

Written by comic book veteran Warren Ellis, the story for GI Joe Resolute wastes no time setting its tone by showing the crime scene of recently murdered Cobra agent Major Bluud, this is shortly followed by the bombing of GI Joe's aircraft carrier the Flagg. Just five minutes in and you know this isn't going to be some campy 1980s retread of the original cartoon. Though its departure in tone is somewhat severe, Resolute still manages to pay tribute to its predecessor by bringing back a classic plot device, the Cobra doomsday weapon. Like the first couple mini-series before it, Resolute sees Cobra trying to - once again - hold the world for ransom with a super weapon. But this isn't some weather dominator, or a teleportation device, Cobra's new doomsday weapon does just one thing ... destroy. This is proven by Cobra Commander when he does something his 1980's counterpart never could (or would), he blows up Moscow ... all of Moscow. Faced with Cobra domination or absolute destruction the world turns to its only hope, GI Joe. This is a great setup, taking elements from the original series and raising the stakes so that the threat posed by Cobra has actual weight is a fantastic update to the old GI Joe formula.

The use of doomsday weapons isn't the only homage to make its way into Resolute however. Warren Ellis actually takes elements from both the original cartoon and the comic book and fuses them together to create the ultimate piece of fanservice. You want some Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow training with the Master? No problem. You want to see Zartan assassinate said Master? You got it. How about a visit to the town of Springfield? Sure. Don't forget about the showdowns either; Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow, Duke and Scarlett vs. Zartan, Destro and Baroness vs. Roadblock and Gung-Ho, it's all here. Ellis even goes as far as to take Scarlett's comic book romance with Snake Eyes and cartoon romance with Duke - combines them - and makes a love triangle out of it. At the same time more ridiculous things that other writers would've been tempted to include - like the battle cry "Yo Joe" - have been mercifully omitted. I have no idea if Ellis is a fan of GI Joe or not, but his knowledge of what's most important in the GI Joe universe really is admirable.

Another excellent - though less surprising - aspect to Ellis's writing is his use of science. By that I mean all the technology used in GI Joe Resolute has really good scientific theory behind it. Instead of just having a giant laser cannon that blows up cities (something your average lazy writer would use), Cobra's ultimate weapon uses a particle cannon to superheat the ionosphere. Energy from the particle reflection is then dispersed across the ionosphere so that Cobra can reassemble it and form a collimated beam above any target of their choosing. Realistic? Probably not, but boy does it make for a good sounding super weapon.

Equally impressive are the visuals of GI Joe Resolute. Though the style would probably be considered "anime" there is nothing generic about the films look. Personally I found the character designs very attractive with just the right amount new and familiar elements. I did have a couple complaints, like "Army" being printed in large letters across Duke's uniform, but overall I think the designers did a superb job. The same goes for the films animators. With the exception of some bad CG on the Flagg, the films animation is extremely fluid. Fight scenes are well staged and highly energetic, backgrounds look beautiful and lighting effects are attractive. Really, the movie just looks fantastic.

Unfortunately Resolute does exhibit one significant weakness, uneven voice acting. This shortcoming is most likely the byproduct of only having about four actors do all the films voices. With each actor being responsible for anywhere between 4-8 characters, you're bound to run a little thin in the variety department. Supporting this theory is the fact that heavily accented villains like Destro, Cobra Commander, Zartan and Baroness all sound pretty good, whereas the more standard sounding heroes like Roadblock Gung-Ho and Duke do not. Duke also suffers from having the over familiar voice of Steven Blum. Though Blum is an excellent actor he has used his "Spike" voice far too many times. This makes it really difficult to get into a character because the voice is so ubiquitous that you continually find yourself thinking "oh, that's the guy who did Spike's voice", a problem that continues to grow in the action/adventure genre (I'm referring to Spike from Cowboy Beebop).

Clearly I'm recommending this film to any fan of the 1980's GI Joe franchise. If you liked either the cartoon, comic books or both, you should check out Resolute. For those action/adventure lovers who aren't GI Joe fans per se, I would at least suggest that you rent or watch the film online (keeping in mind this is TV-14, so it's definitely not intended for younger viewers). The DVD itself is pretty cheap (about $15) but it doesn't come with any real extras. Also the video does occasionally show some signs of over compression in the form of banding, just something to be aware of in case you want to buy.

Flight of Dragons - Science fiction meets (sorta) science fact

Sometimes it's really fun when you come across something that's both old and new, such is the case with Flight of Dragons. This charming story was produced by Rankin and Bass as a DTV movie in 1982, then later shown as a an animated TV special in 1986. I had never even heard of the film until its recent release by the Warner Bros. Archive Collection, but since I was already re-watching several other Rankin and Bass movies I decided to order a copy and give it a try. What I found was a very well written - if mediocre looking - film chalk full of unique ideas and concepts.

The inspiration for Flight of Dragons comes from the the Peter Dickinson novel of the same name and the Gordon Dickson novel "The Dragon and the George". It features a young man named Peter Dickinson who has given up his life as a scientist in the quest to write a novel about dragons. Short on funds Dickinson creates a board game (like Dungeons and Dragons) in the hopes that it will prove successful enough to finance his stagnate writing career. Unbeknownst to Peter the characters comprising his game actually exist in an age long past, a time period of waning magic. In this bygone era mankind has begun to embrace science over magic and as a result all the worlds magical creatures face extinction. This is not just a problem for beings of magic though, mankind will also suffer because magic is the source of human inspiration and imagination.

The wizard Carolinus is first to recognize how dire a threat this is when he's unable to perform a simple vanishing spell early in the film. Summoning his three brothers for the first time in four centuries, Carolinus proposes that they combine their remaining powers and use it to create the "Last Realm of Magic", a sanctuary where all magical creatures can live on long after mankind has forgotten magic. Two of the brothers agree to this plan but the third - Ommadon - refuses. Being a wizard of darkness Ommadon plans to use humanities greedy and violent nature against them, all the while growing stronger by inspiring evil deeds. Bound by a cosmic law preventing the four brothers from ever fighting, Carolinus must instead seek out a champion to stop Ommadon. Reaching across time Carolinus is guided to Peter who is brought back into the past and given the task of stealing Ommadon's Red Crown. There are a lot of other important story points that I could detail here but the synopsis above should be sufficient for this review.

What I enjoy most about the writing of Flight of Dragons is the use of science in the realm of magic. Over the centuries there have been some pretty silly mythical creatures. Mermaids for example. Why would a mammal living under the ocean's surface have hair on its head, opposable thumbs, or eyebrows? Same goes for Dragons. A giant fire breathing lizard weighing thousands of pounds that's capable of flight, really? Do you have any idea how enormous that wing span would have to be, or the sheer physical exertion necessary to achieve and sustain lift? I'm no biologist - or physicist for that matter - but I'm pretty sure these animals couldn't exist without the all important "magic" loophole. Yet Flight of the Dragons does something truly fantastic, it actually offers up a scientific explanation for dragons. In the film we learn that dragons fly by filling portions of their body with lighter-than-air gas. Once airborne they use their wings and tail to steer. To dive or lower themselves back to the ground the gas is released and simultaneously ignited via the dragons mouth, thus dragons breath fire. Yes the science here is still pretty spotty, but the fact that such a reasonable explanation is even offered made me exceedingly happy.

Additional lessons in science are offered throughout the film, occasionally giving the movie a "Mr. Wizard" vibe. Every now and again I felt like I was watching a deviously disguised after school special, one trying to trick me into thinking science was cool. Fortunately this feeling would soon pass as the movie would slip back into the standard setting of an action/adventure quest. Besides the excellent use of science, Flight of the Dragons really is a good story featuring an eclectic cast of characters and some genuinely somber moments. I'm not going to use words like "brilliant" or "perfect" to describe its writing, but I will say that I found the movie very clever and lots of fun.

Visually the movie is very average. Being a Rankin and Bass film one should not be surprised to find minimal animation and TV quality backgrounds. Though I like the look and feel Rankin and Bass brought to many of their movies, I also hate that they could never muster more respectable budgets for them. On the positive side I didn't see a lot of the squat, hobbit like designs that often plague these films, a merciful omission to be sure. Additionally the dragon designs were both plentiful and varied, definitely the strongest looking part of the movie. Still there just isn't much to get excited about here.

Another pedestrian aspect of the film would be its audio. Outside of the solid James Earl Jones performance for Ommadon, I wasn't impressed with any of the movies voice acting. Harry Morgan was okay as Carolinus and John Ritter didn't offend me as Peter Dickinson, but neither of these performances really added much to the film either. Musically the soundtrack gets the job done, just not in a very memorable fashion. Ultimately I felt that Flight of the Dragons neither suffered, nor succeeded due to its tepid music or run of the mill voice acting.

Despite the movies lackluster production value, Flight of the Dragons proves to be a surprisingly good film. Much like the battle between science and magic, good storytelling and characterization prove too strong for average animation and mediocre sound to overcome. I definitely recommend this film to any fans of Rankin and Bass, or to anybody who loves fantasy animation. You can get the manufactured on demand DVD from the Warner Brothers website or Amazon.

NOTE: Manufactured on demand DVDs are not exactly the same as DVDs you buy from the store. Mass produced DVDs (like the ones at Wal-Mart or Best Buy) are stamped and should play in any DVD enabled device. Manufactured on demand DVDs are burnt (much like you would do yourself with a DVD burner) and will sometimes not work in secondary DVD devices like video game counsels or PC computers. The reason some movies are only available by manufacture on demand is that it helps keep costs down and storage space minimal for the company producing it. For more obscure movies and tv shows this is the only way the studio can turn enough profit to make a DVD release worthwhile. Though the quality of video is no different and the packaging still quite good, I wanted to make sure that I at least called this out.

Men in Black the Series - So forgettable its like being neuralized

In 1997 a fun little movie called Men in Black was released. It featured Will Smith (before he was a mega-star) and Tommy Lee Jones as secret agent type policemen who keep extraterrestrial life on earth in check. Like many other moviegoers I really enjoyed the film which featured a perfect mix of action and comedy. Not surprisingly the films success spawned an animated adaption, Men in Black the series. Running four seasons from 1997 until 2001, MIB the series saw a total of 53 episodes produced, a very respectable number for modern day action/adventure cartoons. This would put the show in the same class as Batman Beyond and Superman the Animated series in terms of length, good company for any action/adventure show to keep. But does the show have the same level of quality as Batman and Superman, or does it go the way of so many other movie to TV adaptations and stink up the joint? Ultimately I would say that it falls somewhere in between, definitely not bad, but certainly not good.

I remember occasionally watching MIB the series when it was first on TV. Since it shared the same channel as Batman Beyond I would sometimes watch both, or catch the tail end of MIB before Batman would start. I felt very ambivalent about the show, it didn't offend me at all but I wasn't really drawn in either. For the longest time I forgot it even existed, like the show had been wiped from my mind with the same neuralizer MIB agents use to erase peoples memory. Eventually I stumbled across some episodes online and decided it was time to give the series a full re-watching. What I found was complete justification for my initial feelings of ambivalence.

Seeing as it was a popular movie most people already know what the premise behind Men in Black is. For anyone who doesn't know however, it goes as follows. Men in Black is a top-secret agency (but not a government agency) that polices all alien activity on earth. It is comprised of "agents" who wear black suits and have had all traces of their existence erased from public record. They do not have any distinguishing marks or even fingerprints. Names are never used, opting instead to go by their first initial (so if your name was Bob you would be Agent B). They are no longer a part of the system, they are above the system, they are the Men in Black.

Before I get going with my review here I would like to offer the following disclaimer. I have never read the original Men in the Black comic book by Lowell Cunningham. I mention this because my review is based on the assumption that MIB the series is mostly influenced by MIB the movie, not the comic book. I really don't know how close the actual movie or cartoon is to the source material so if any of the discrepancies or issues I have are a result of said source material I apologize for my ignorance.

To start things off the writing on MIB the series is decidedly uneven. The show's first season is certainly the worst with the first eight or so episodes being - for the most part - awful. Things do get better though, and by the time season one ends the series is clearly starting to find its feet. This isn't too surprising with veteran cartoon writer Greg Weisman contributing regularly in season two. Weisman is by far the show's best writer having created Disney's excellent Gargoyles series, and later the Spectacular Spider-man. Still, when not watching Weisman's stronger episodes the show becomes very hit and miss.

On the positive side I really enjoyed MIB episodes that revolved around Agent K's past. With years of experience it was only natural that K would be carrying lots of baggage, both good and bad. Some of these stories were better in concept than in execution (Agent A for example), but taken as a whole I found them at least interesting.

On the negative side MIB the series recycles heavily from MIB the movie, most notably in terms of humor. Here's a checklist of what to look for in an average episode:
1) Agent J makes an alien faux pas - Check.
2) Alien Worms declare their love/obsession for coffee - Check.
3) Agent J complains about not getting to drive - Check.
4) Frank the stooley reminds someone he's not a real dog - Check.
5) Agent J does some variation of the line "I make this look good" - Check.
6) Someone shoots pawnshop owner Jeebs in the head - Double Check.

Of course I'm exaggerating when I say that you will find all six of these bits in any given episode, it's probably closer to three out of six. My point is that the writers think they're being clever by using jokes we'll recognize from the movie, but in truth they simply appear lazy by continually beating a dead horse.

Speaking of lazy, I have to call out the writing for the series finale of MIB. In the two part story (the only two part story arc in the entire show) Earth is invaded by an alien fleet that wants our oil. This invasion is portrayed as an Independence Day style event complete with the destruction of Washington Monument and the United Nations headquarters. No longer able to hide the existence of extraterrestrial life, MIB goes public so that they can lead Earth's defenses. In the end our home is saved but the proverbial cat has been let out of the bag, after all you can't neuralize an entire planet. Or can you? During a worldwide press conference Agent L realizes that the whole world is watching them on TV, so all they have to do is wipe every ones memories right then and there and everything will go back to normal. Perfect solution, right? Except the whole idea is preposterous and the basic logic behind it is nothing short of insulting (I'm talking Battlefield Earth, jet flying caveman insulting). Besides the fact that not everyone on Earth has a TV, the idea that each and every person is looking directly at said TV during the exact moment the neuralizer goes off is ridiculous. You mean nobody was taking a leak? How about sleeping, after all it would have been the middle of the night in Australia? What if you're blind? Then there would be all the records of the invasion itself; TV footage, newspapers, home videos. My god do you really think that an alien invasion of such massive proportions could be covered up with a single flash from a neuralizer? I know this is just a cartoon, and I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but you have to show a little more respect for your audience’s intelligence, even if they're kids.

This brings us to the shows characters. Naturally the producers of MIB the series wanted to capitalize on the success and charm that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones brought to Agents J and K. This led to the decision to "ignore" the movies ending. As you probably know the ending of MIB the movie had Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) retiring from service, complete with a neuralizer memory wipe from protegee Agent J (Will Smith). In MIB the cartoon however, Agent K is still in service, mentoring Agent J. This would not be so bad except that the cartoon references events from the movie (like the death of giant cockroach alien Edgar) multiple times, thus implying that all the events of the movie (minus K's retiring) are a part of the animated universe. Now I know what some of you are saying "But K was de-neuralized in MIB 2, so it makes sense". We'll I'm afraid that MIB the series started and finished before MIB 2 was even released, so that's not the reason. The truth is that movie properties turned cartoons will often take liberties with theatrical events to better fit their own entertainment medium, such is the case with MIB the series. Despite the potential for confusion though (no explanation is ever offered) I don't hold this against the shows creators. Only a fool would try and do an MIB cartoon without both K and J. Besides the decision to use both was most likely a mandate from the studio.

But I digress, lets talk about the animated adaptations of our two heroes. I said before that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones brought a lot of charm to Agents K and J. This then begs the question, do the cartoon versions of these characters have that same charm? In a word ... No (or as Will Smith would say, Awwww hell Naw). Sadly, both Agents K and J come off as mere imitators, and poor ones at that. Where Will Smith brought a boastful, cocky yet lovable personality to Agent J, the animated version feels like a clown. A buffoonish blowhard that never seems to learn from any of his incessant mistakes, cartoon J just isn't very likable. His counterpart is similarly frustrating, but in the opposite extreme. While Tommy Lee Jones does a great job of bringing the folksy, know-it-all, seen-it-all Agent K to life, cartoon K just feels ... cold. For whatever reason the produces of MIB the series mistook K's matter of fact nature as being emotionless. This led to a very monotonous version of the character, one I became quickly bored with. This just isn't the same chemistry found in the movie, an obnoxious rookie and a droning veteran, not exactly the dynamic duo. I'll have more to say about this when I get to the shows voice acting.

Writing on MIB the series never does quite click into place. Characters don't really develop, bad science and plot holes abound, jokes become tired and don't even get me started on the overuse of coffee loving alien worms in season three. If that's not enough, checkout the additions of Agent X and Dr. Zeeltor in season four as well. Obviously the show wanted to expand out beyond its somewhat mundane cast, but bringing in these two was not the answer. Not only are neither of these characters any good, but the move just smacks of desperation, like when they brought in cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch. When it's all said and done what we are left with is a very averagely written show, occasionally spotted with both excellence and stupidity.

The strongest aspect of MIB the series would have to be its visuals. From an animation standpoint the show does not impress during its first season, but the remaining seasons all look very solid. At times the animation even excels with surprisingly good fight choreography and fluid character movement. Backgrounds are a little unusual with a more illustrative, pen and ink, style being employed. Colors tended to be more muted and sometimes even monochromatic in appearance as well. Despite being less painterly than other cartoons however, these aesthetic choices do work well with the shows character designs and ultimately I liked that.

Speaking of character design, I have to say that I found the design work on MIB the series excellent. Though I'm not sure he did the entire show, Miguelznxo Prado is credited as the shows character designer, and I - for one - really enjoyed his work. Especially the original look of J and K found in the show's title sequence. Where most people had been content to simply follow the "Bruce Timm" look for action/adventure cartoons, Prado brought his own unique style to the series. Unfortunately this look must not have been good for mass production because the in show animation of the characters does trend on the simpler side. Still I like that MIB the series didn't just go for a generic look; aliens, space suites, star ships and various other technologies are all very well designed and - for the most part - look unique. Though the shows appearance would fluctuate more often than I would like, I think the series had a lot of visual ambition and was often successful in implementing it.

Like so many other aspects of MIB the series the shows audio has its ups and downs. Secondary characters Elle, Zed, Frank and Jeebs all feature solid voices and I had no issues with any of them. What I did have a problem with were the voices of Agents K and J. I mentioned before that these two main characters had none of the charm found in their feature film counterparts. A big reason for this stems from the very off the mark casting of both K and J. To start with Agent J is supposed to be very self assured person, but the voice of cartoon J lacks any real confidence. Oh the writers try and fill him with all the false bravado they can muster, but none of it comes across in actor Keith Diamond's performance. At best he makes J sound like a self-deluded, happy-go-lucky goofball. Worse is the monotonous voice used for Agent K. Gone is the cadence and inflection that Tommy Lee Jones brought to the role. In its place we get a robotic performance that fails in its ability to deliver even the simplest of punch-lines. Interestingly enough the voice of K was performed by two different actors. Ed O'Ross did the voice in season one while Gregg Berger did so for seasons two through four. Though the change is indeed noticeable both O'Ross and Berger fall into the same traps when handling the character. This actually makes me wonder if the problem is not so much with the actors but with the shows producers. Given the characterization and writing for Agents K and J it is very possible that O'Ross, Berger and Diamond were coaxed into these misguided incarnations of the characters, otherwise it was just bad casting. Just one additional thing I want to mention, Agent L (Elle) also had a voice acting change going into the shows final season. Jennifer Lien was the original actress and Jennifer Martin was her replacement. Both do a good job so the change isn't really that big a deal, but I still would have preferred more consistency from the show.

Musically MIB the series is pretty average. The in show music gets the job done but offers nothing memorable. I did like the title song though, it had a very harmonic "alien" sound that fit the series nicely. In fact I would have to rank MIB's opening as one of the better title sequences made during the 1990s.

Men in Black the series featured a lot of talented creators; Frank Paur, Victor Cook and Greg Weisman to name a few. Unfortunately none of these individuals were showrunners. Though Executive Producer Duane Capizzi's resume is respectable, he just doesn't have that little extra something necessary to be considered good, just like MIB the series. Given a stronger creative talent like Greg Weisman or Boyd Kirkland this show may have stood a chance of escaping its perpetual mediocrity. That said, when you compare MIB with other live action movie to TV cartoon adaptations the show takes on a whole new light. Take, for example, The Mummy, King Kong and Godzilla. All of these shows came about as a result of "blockbuster" movies, yet they all sucked unbelievable ass. It would have been real easy for MIB the series to go down that same cheap and easy road. Thankfully it at least tried to do something more. As for recommending the show I would probably not advise anyone to go out of their way to do so, especially since it's not even available on DVD in the US. The only release I know of was in the UK, and that was just for season one. If you are bound and determined to watch anyway then you'll probably need to do so online.