Bruce Timm steps down as WB Animation Supervising Producer

[Kai "the spy"]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=44577

This means Timm won't be working on any future DC Animation, right?! That's just ... Wow. I feel like an era of my life just ended.

 

[Hound of UIster]

DC is going from one major loss to another. With their luck the Superman movie will bomb harder than Green Lantern.

 

[Christopher]

This means Timm won't be working on any future DC Animation, right?!

No, it doesn't necessarily mean that. He could come back to direct the occasional project for them, or executive-produce another TV series like Green Lantern. He just won't be the guy in charge of the direct-to-video movie line. The CBR headline is misleading. He wasn't the "WB Animation Supervising Producer," he was a supervising producer working for WB Animation, specifically as the supervising producer of the DVD movies, and alongside that as the executive producer of Green Lantern: TAS -- but not Young Justice or other DC television projects. So this doesn't mean he's severed all ties with WB or DC. It just means that he's turning the reins of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies DVD series over to James Tucker.

It also means that, as the press release says, he'll be working on his own projects. And I find that intriguing. Timm has become famous reinterpreting characters created and owned by other people. That seems like it might be holding him back. I'd be intrigued to see him do something that was entirely his own creation.

Not to mention that this could open the door for Marvel hiring him to produce something for them. I've seen Timm sketches of various Marvel characters, and we know he loves Jack Kirby's work, so it's possible he'd be interested in trying his hand at a screen adaptation of the other guys' stuff for a change.

DC is going from one major loss to another. With their luck the Superman movie will bomb harder than Green Lantern.

Non sequitur. The animation division and the feature-film division are two separate groups. The fate of one has no correlation with the fate of the other, as is evidenced by the fact that DC animation has been thriving for 20 years while most of the movies have struggled. Anyway, I'm hearing very encouraging buzz about Man of Steel.

Anyway, it would be nice if people would remember the unsung hero behind DC's animation successes of the past two decades, Alan Burnett. He's been behind the DCAU and the DVD movies right alongside Timm, and has worked on several additional things that Timm wasn't involved with, like Static Shock and The Batman. I haven't heard about him stepping down from the DVD movies.

 

[Dream]

All good things must come to an end...

 

[Christopher]

Let's not forget, there was a 2-year gap between JLU and the first DVD movie where Timm wasn't working on anything for DC. So his time with them "came to an end" before and then he came back to do other things for them. He could always come back again.

 

[Admiral_Young]

This article indicates that Timm wants to work on his own projects, and it looks like the cancellation of "Green Lantern: The Animated Series" sped up his decision to step down.

http://www.newsarama.com/tv/report-bruce-timm-quits-warner-bros-animation.html

 

[Kai "the spy"]

This means Timm won't be working on any future DC Animation, right?!

No, it doesn't necessarily mean that. He could come back to direct the occasional project for them, or executive-produce another TV series like Green Lantern. He just won't be the guy in charge of the direct-to-video movie line. The CBR headline is misleading. He wasn't the "WB Animation Supervising Producer," he was a supervising producer working for WB Animation, specifically as the supervising producer of the DVD movies, and alongside that as the executive producer of Green Lantern: TAS -- but not Young Justice or other DC television projects. So this doesn't mean he's severed all ties with WB or DC. It just means that he's turning the reins of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies DVD series over to James Tucker.

Thanks for the correction there. The line about him stepping down in order to work on his own projects suggests, though, that any DC-related project by Timm would not be in the immediate future.

It also means that, as the press release says, he'll be working on his own projects. And I find that intriguing. Timm has become famous reinterpreting characters created and owned by other people. That seems like it might be holding him back. I'd be intrigued to see him do something that was entirely his own creation.

Well, that's true. I think it's just that I grew up with the DCAU, and those shows are, I'm pretty sure, as much the reason I prefer DC to Marvel as the comics are, if not more, and therefore the idea of Timm leaving triggered a knee-jerk reaction of loss.

But Timm giving up the reigns of DC Animation (even if he only was the supervisor of the movies) feels a bit like I imagine it felt back when Stan Lee gave up the creative control over Marvel Comics. Sure, there were other people like Alan Burnett, Paul Dini or Rich Fogel, but Timm kind of was the face of it all, the connection, like Stan Lee was with Kirby, Ditko, Roy Thomas, etc..

Not to mention that this could open the door for Marvel hiring him to produce something for them. I've seen Timm sketches of various Marvel characters, and we know he loves Jack Kirby's work, so it's possible he'd be interested in trying his hand at a screen adaptation of the other guys' stuff for a change.

Yes, an intriguing thought.

 

[Christopher]

This article indicates that Timm wants to work on his own projects, and it looks like the cancellation of "Green Lantern: The Animated Series" sped up his decision to step down.

That's not how I interpret the article. It says:

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.

As I read that passage, it's saying he'd already been planning to step down from the DVD movies in order to focus more fully on GL:TAS. He's still stepping down from the movies as planned, but with GL cancelled, he'll be moving on to original projects instead.

Thanks for the correction there. The line about him stepping down in order to work on his own projects suggests, though, that any DC-related project by Timm would not be in the immediate future.

With GL gone, and all their other current projects in other people's hands, no, they don't have anything immediately on tap for him. But he could always come back in the future -- or he could do something so kickass as an independent creation, or for Marvel, that we'll end up not minding that he moved on from DC. Or both.

I think it's just that I grew up with the DCAU, and those shows are, I'm pretty sure, as much the reason I prefer DC to Marvel as the comics are, if not more, and therefore the idea of Timm leaving triggered a knee-jerk reaction of loss.

I can certainly understand that. I'm not saying that reaction isn't valid -- I'm just trying to look on the bright side and soften the blow.

 

[kirk55555]

Well, I just hope the DC Direct stuff doesn't suffer. Its been pretty good, and with the cancelling of DC's good cartoon (Young Justice) to replace it with stuff of indeterminate quality, the direct line is the best hope for good stuff. Its not always perfect (Gotham Knights was horrible, and I really disliked the ones based off Frank Miller stuff but I hated the original sotries of those anyway) but I like almost all of them. I'd hate to see the line take a nosedive in quality because of this, or even just disappear.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I was the wrong age when BTAS came out, younger or older I think I would've been really into it. I appreciate it and I think it's good but it was never definitive for me, it was a Batman, a great Batman but not *the* Batman for me, not *my* Batman.

So I'm kind of looking forward to seeing what kind of new directions this might lead. I'm curious for the next iteration even though I can sympathize with those who are really attached to the DCAU.

 

[Christopher]

Well, I just hope the DC Direct stuff doesn't suffer. Its been pretty good, and with the cancelling of DC's good cartoon (Young Justice) to replace it with stuff of indeterminate quality, the direct line is the best hope for good stuff.

Well, it's worth pointing out that two years ago, Young Justice and Green Lantern were of "indeterminate quality." Granted, with Greg Weisman and Bruce Timm respectively behind them, there was plenty of reason for optimism, but they were still unknown quantities just like every upcoming show is. A few years from now, we may all be huge Beware the Batman fans lamenting that its brilliant run had to come to an end. Or not. It remains to be seen.

I'd hate to see the line take a nosedive in quality because of this, or even just disappear.

No sign that it's going to disappear. James Tucker is taking over, and in the press release is saying they're developing a number of new projects and hoping to branch out beyond just Superman and Batman films again. Tucker was the mind behind Legion of Super Heroes and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and before that was a producer on Justice League/JL Unlimited and a director on Batman Beyond and Static Shock. We'll be seeing his first contribution to the DVD movie line with the next release, Superman: Unbound, which he produced and directed.

And it looks like the rest of the creative team is staying where it is, including Alan Burnett, executive producer Sam Register, voice director Andrea Romano, and writer Bob Goodman (who adapted The Dark Knight Returns and is the writer on Unbound).

 

[RandyS]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=44577

This means Timm won't be working on any future DC Animation, right?! That's just ... Wow. I feel like an era of my life just ended.

Let me guess here, first time that's ever happened? If so, don't sweat it. The older you get, the easier it becomes.

Not much, but it does.

I still remember the first time that happened to me. It was when they announced on the news that Lorne Greene had died back in 1987.

Just like that, Commander Adama was gone...

That said, I'll be interested to see what the new guy in charge comes up with.

 

[kirk55555]

Well, I just hope the DC Direct stuff doesn't suffer. Its been pretty good, and with the cancelling of DC's good cartoon (Young Justice) to replace it with stuff of indeterminate quality, the direct line is the best hope for good stuff.

Well, it's worth pointing out that two years ago, Young Justice and Green Lantern were of "indeterminate quality." Granted, with Greg Weisman and Bruce Timm respectively behind them, there was plenty of reason for optimism, but they were still unknown quantities just like every upcoming show is. A few years from now, we may all be huge Beware the Batman fans lamenting that its brilliant run had to come to an end. Or not. It remains to be seen.

I'd hate to see the line take a nosedive in quality because of this, or even just disappear.

No sign that it's going to disappear. James Tucker is taking over, and in the press release is saying they're developing a number of new projects and hoping to branch out beyond just Superman and Batman films again. Tucker was the mind behind Legion of Super Heroes and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and before that was a producer on Justice League/JL Unlimited and a director on Batman Beyond and Static Shock. We'll be seeing his first contribution to the DVD movie line with the next release, Superman: Unbound, which he produced and directed.

And it looks like the rest of the creative team is staying where it is, including Alan Burnett, executive producer Sam Register, voice director Andrea Romano, and writer Bob Goodman (who adapted The Dark Knight Returns and is the writer on Unbound).

Well, thats good news. Brave and the Bold was really good, and what I saw of LoSH was good (I really wish it had gotten a full season release instead of mini-releases, I don't like buying DVD's of 2-3 episodes, and apparently season 2 was never put on DVD at all They put the Zeta Project season 1 and The Batman on DVD, but we can't get LoSH or Static Shock?) and of course if he worked on JL/JLU thats even better news. While I like their Batman/Superman stuff, I'd love to see other films with different focuses. The biggest dissapointment from the Direct Line was learning that The Judas contract wasn't going to be made, even though it had been talked about. I'd love to see something from thew Titans, or maybe the JSA or atleast another Wonder Woman or GL movie.