Summary: An early version of the Justice League makes their debut for adventurous DVD viewers.
JL
Roll Call: Superman,
Batman, Wonder
Woman, Green Lantern,
The Flash, J’onn
J’onzz, Hawkgirl
Villains: Lex Luthor, Mongul, Sinestro, Chemo
Paul Dini on Justice League (circa 2000): “Everybody wants to see it and we would like to do it, but the suits at the network keep pounding it in that is the Kids' WB! If we were to do Justice League, all they see is a bunch of adults in suits (courtesy of [website name removed]).”
Bruce Timm on Justice League pre-development #1: “Development was done on a Batman Anime show that kind of reflects on what Teen Titans is now, and we developed a more youth-oriented version of Justice League. Thank God [the project] never happened, although there’s a tape out there of a very kiddified Justice League that included Robin and a teenage female version of Cyborg. It was our attempt to try and do something that wasn’t as edgy or as dark as we would normally want to go. At the time, Kids’ WB totally passed on the Batman Anime idea and we actually did test animation for the Justice League idea (courtesy of Retro-Vision CD Rom Magazine).”
Bruce Timm on Justice League pre-development #2: “God, I’d forgotten all about this; when we first started talking about Justice League, the powers-that-be felt that it should be pitched to Kids’ WB first. Knowing their preference for younger heroes, I was hesitant to go there, but we prepared test animation of the ‘female Cyborg’ character (Glen [Murakami’s] idea, if I remember right), and Impulse too, I believe, just in case. The Robin footage was just clips from TNBA, I think.
“The ‘Justice League / Teen Titans hybrid’ thing was a gimmick that we thought might make a Justice League concept more palatable to Kids’ WB. The idea being that it would be a pretty straight Justice League show, but with a group of younger heroes also on the team, learning the ropes. Sounds very Superfriends, don’t it? And yes, Batman would have been on the show.
“Anyhow, Kids’ WB—thankfully, in retrospect!—passed on the Batman Anime pitch; it was a very kiddified Batman concept, but still not ‘Pokémonized’ enough for them. After the pitch meeting, the powers-that-be realized Kids’ WB wasn’t likely to go for Justice League, even with a couple of young ringers in the line-up, and we were given the go-ahead to pitch it to Cartoon Network. We cut the ‘Jr. JL’ clips from the presentation reel, and subsequently forgot all about ‘em. I have no idea where that footage is now, and it’s probably no great loss.
“As it turned out, Cartoon Network never even saw the Justice League presentation reel, but bought the series just based on a single phone call (courtesy of Toon Zone).”
DarkLantern on the Justice League “pilot”: “Test animations are used to help pitch a series to a studio or a network. It’s an easier way to get the idea across of how a show would looks and feel than with character designs and storyboards.
“Depending on the pitch, test animations can vary from a ‘quick and dirty’ animated rough to a polished animated short. Since the Justice League series follows the ‘Bruce Timm’ style, it’s no surprise that it borrowed some backgrounds, sequences, footage, adversaries, and props from past DC animated shows to save time (courtesy of Toon Zone).”
Images
Relevant Guides
Parallels Between the Justice League and the Justice League Unlimited
This
test animation footage—which can be found on the Justice League:
Paradise Lost DVD by going to the Special Features section,
then the Justice League Watchtower page, and then by highlighting the
Javelin-7 image embedded in the menu screen (as seen here)—was
the only pre-Justice League material created (excluding the Batman
Beyond episode "The Call"); making it, by default, the television
series’ pilot. Created on a
shoestring budget—using background designs from Batman Beyond and, in
some cases, complete sequences from certain Superman and Beyond
episodes—this animation was produced for the purposes of selling Justice
League to Cartoon Network; whetting the appetites of the television execs
and giving them a general idea as to what the series might be like.
While not intended for general release (these materials seldom get out
beyond bootlegs or screenings at comic book conventions), its insertion as an
Easter Egg into the DVD was a welcome treat for diehard animation fans.
As
recounted above by Bruce Timm, this test animation is technically the second
draft of the Justice League demo, as it originally featured a Justice
League / Teen Titans "hybrid" team that was an attempt to make the
series more acceptable for Kids' WB. Featuring what apparently would have
been roster of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, J'onn J'onzz,
Hawkgirl, Robin, Impulse, and a female version of Cyborg; this series would have
probably been a mix of Justice League adventure along with elements of Batman
Beyond, as in older, experienced heroes training the next generation in the
trade. As stated above, they didn't even bother trying to pitch it to
Kids' WB, and cut the younger characters to offer up the more familiar Justice
League to Cartoon Network, which they agreed to.
Although
crudely animated and possessing poor definition—which is okay, as this was
only meant to sell the series to a network—this sixty-second trailer provides
a unique look into the visual development of the characters.
Unlike with BTAS, where volumes of material have been released detailing
the characters’ evolution in terms of design, animation enthusiasts only have
a handful of images (which can be found on this
page) that give a remote idea of what the early Justice League
storyboards and model sheets might have looked like.
Based on the test animation provided, however, we can begin to piece
together their visual evolutions from the abandoned Superman drafts and
from their finalized Justice League designs:
·
The Superman
design used here is identical to the models
used on Superman; which either means that it was used to save money
(rather than design new animation for the Season One Justice League
design), or it was animated before James Tucker’s infamous, “We
need a new Superman design,” statement. Largely
relegated to the League’s opening scene, his presence was minimized to allow
the newer members time to “introduce” themselves.
·
Due to the use of existing footage (from
"World’s Finest," where he fought one of Luthor’s robots), the Batman
design is identical to his look from The New Batman Adventures, wearing
the jetpack.
As Batman was previously established from his two previous series’, the
footage was used only to remind the television execs that DC’s cash cow would
be present on the show.
·
As was the case with Batman, a lone sequence with the
Flash was inserted, using footage from his appearance on the Superman
episode "Speed Demons." It
is worth noting that, in addition to saving money by recycling the older footage
(only minimal changes were made to his model
design from Superman), they had to reuse this material because the
original Kids' WB pitch called for Impulse, not the Flash, to be used as the
series' resident speedster.
·
With Hawkgirl’s design, it appears that the
creative team had already decided to move away from their old Superman draft
and more towards the character’s Silver Age design.
In fact, this Hawkgirl model is closer to the Silver Age design than the final
version was—note the straps on her top and the yellow stripes on her
shorts. As for her wings, they
reverted to the classic gray for the animated series, as opposed to the brown of
the test footage.
·
As for Green Lantern, it’s interesting to
note that, at this stage of the character’s visual evolution, he has the current
version’s hairstyle and costume, but still possesses the black mask from
the Superman draft model.
In addition, it is interesting to note that he uses a fist to capture
Sinestro during one of his scenes, which may mean that his ring-wielding modus
operandi was not
defined yet.
·
In Wonder
Woman’s case, her design is virtually identical to her current
look, save for the elimination of the gray highlights in her hair (a
fortunate move, as they made the immortal and eternally-youthful character
appear middle-aged).
·
Of the Justice
League members, the one with the most significant changes to his design was J’onn
J’onzz. Here he appears
blockier, with a squarer jaw, a Kirbyesque
line detailing his right cheek, and black eyes with red pupils (similar to
the Joker’s redesign for The New Batman Adventures).
In addition, J’onn’s color palate utilizes paler greens, blues and
reds; and possesses none of the shiny highlights
that have become a trademark of the series.
Featured prominently in the test animation, it’s also apparent that the
creative team had not yet figured out J’onn’s place on the show, as—save
for a morphing sequence at the end—he was handled in battle situations as
another Superman.
·
Featured briefly
commanding a robot that resembles the Golem
(from the Batman Beyond episode of the same name), Lex Luthor’s
design is an early take on the updated purple-and-green Superfriends uniform,
indicating that the creative team was already planning on utilizing the
“Silver Age, mad scientist” Luthor, rather than the “corrupt
industrialist" Luthor, from Superman.
As was the case with J’onn, note the craggily, Kirby-like detailing
on Luthor’s face.
·
It would appear
that, in this stage of production, Bruce Timm and the others were still having
trouble with Mongul’s design, as
his costume’s design still possesses the generic supervillain aspects that
Timm hated, and none of his later, stylized elements.
Thankfully, the short pants were long gone at this point.
·
Compared to the
others, very little was done to Sinestro’s
design but, then again, very little was done to his design from "Secret
Society," so they must have been satisfied with his design from the Superman
episode "In Brightest Day."
·
Coming completely
from out of left field, however, was Chemo, the classic DC villain that is, essentially, a walking vat of
toxic chemicals (in an anthropomorphic shell, of course) with primitive
intelligence and a taste for destruction. Probably
deemed too corny to use on the actual series (c’mon, he looks like a giant
lava lamp!), the creative team, nonetheless, decided to sneak him into this
pilot and, later, figured out a way to utilize the noxious creature by making
the results of Simon Stagg’s laboratory accident (from
"Metamorphosis") resemble Chemo in terms it being a giant, goopy,
green monster.
After two seasons (and a third on the way), it’s incredible to consider that this all stemmed from one minute of rough, test animation footage (ignoring, of course, their proven track record from Batman: The Animated Series, Superman, The New Batman Adventures, and Batman Beyond). In addition, its composition also creates an interesting parallel: this pilot, which draws upon materials from its predecessors, was used to create interest in an animated series that, in its own way, is a culmination of each DCAU series that has come before.
Images courtesy of Bird Boy, The World’s Finest, the New Batman / Superman Adventures Homepage, and Toon Zone.
