B writes...

Have you read Buffy the Vampire Slayer Seasons Eight, Nine and Ten?

Anonymous writes...

What are your thoughts on The Incredibles, and the fact that a sequel is in the works?

Adam Arlington writes...

I've been wondering for some time: how do yo feel about the new direction that DC Animated Movies have taken (that is, releasing two movies a year that are a part of a shared continuity and releasing one that isn't)? I know that your style of storytelling seems to be telling incredibly intricately done and well-researched, linear stories. And I also know that, given your status as a hungry writer and sometimes employee of DC Animation, even if you didn't care for the new movies, you'd probably be obligated to find at least something positive to say about them. But I'm speaking from more of a storytelling perspective (i.e. execution of ideas) versus whether or not you like the movies, in and of themselves.

In general, I tend to think that they've released some good offerings, with some (Justice League: War, Batman vs. Robin, Batman: Bad Blood), of course, being better than others (Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Son of Batman). I also, however, think that the crew behind those movies often fall prey to two problems.

The first problem is the short runtime. I feel like many of those movies start out with or build up to excellent premises or ideas, but because they're only 72 minutes long, an amazing plot will be shoehorned to conclusion in ten to fifteen minutes and the resolution will feel rushed or forced. Characters, both on the side of good and evil, will make major, nonsensical, life altering or, indeed, life ending decisions with next to zero provocation, next to zero buildup, next to zero forethought, and, thus, next to zero payoff in terms of emotional reactions from the audience.

The second problem is that, in my estimation, the producers and writers don't seem to be crafting a linear narrative or working from a single, coherent production bible. The goal seems to be more about putting out two movies while only having a broad idea of what they should include, with no real fine-tuning. I think that that's a problem when addressing what's supposed to be a single continuity of films and it leads to unnecessary and (eventually) gaping plot holes, etc. I digress. I understand that Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, etc. supposedly doesn't like linear stories, right now. (Even Paul Dini once said something to that effect, arguing that executives feel that linear stories draw in too many girl viewers, versus boys who will purchase toys.) So, perhaps, that's why even with in-continuity movies, there isn't a heavy amount of connective tissue.

Jackie writes...

So it was recently announced that Samurai Jack is getting new episodes after more than ten years. Does this signal a general interest on the part of CN in reviving shows that were popular with older viewers? Is there hope for Young Justice?

Jk writes...

Are you watching DC's live action shows? What do you think about them? Do you like the new characters like Felicity?

Vincent writes...

1. I know you've seen the Justice League animated series, and hopefully it hasn't been too long since then when you get to this, but what did you think of its first season?

2. Have you seen Spongebob Squarepants, particularly episodes of its earlier seasons? If so, what did you think of them?

infernap writes...

Hey, Greg.

I'm sure that you've heard of the new JLA show that was confirmed recently by Cartoon Network Canada for next year. My questions are:

1. How crash would you be if they asked you to work on the show (like as an adviser)?

2. How crash would you be if they decided to set it on Earth-16?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Mr. Chesley writes...

Hello Greg,

1) Chelsey here. Just wanted to congratulate you on Star Wars Rebels, huge fan of it. Were you a fan of the Clone Wars prior to Rebels?

2) I am disappointed to here your thoughts on ROTJ. Haha, I think you're a bit crazy for it(I kid). I get your critique on the Ewoks but the scenes in the Emperor's Throne Room....I am not sure how you could have done that any better. The Emperor is using the second death star as a trap to lure the Rebels to zap them one by one, not sure what's so bad about that. Also, the reason why Darth Vader is character he is who he is today is because of Return of the Jedi.

3) Were you a fan of the Kevin Conroy Batman animated series in the 90's?

Domenic writes...

In Gargoyles, did you have any other Disney characters make any cameos?

Harlan of Ash and Foam writes...

I wondered this a while ago but only remembered to ask just now.

Being what seems like one of the few fans who enjoys both Gargoyles and Power Rangers (it's never seemed too contradictory to me to enjoy both a fun, Shakespearean adventure romp and a serialized MST3K movie), it's always felt rather bittersweet that one of my childhood loves contributed to the downfall of another. I can't blame your, heavily implied if not often directly stated, reservations about the show.

But I don't really want to confront you about that as much as I wanted to ask: given the history, it really stuck out to me that Aicaya was directly described in Spirits of Ash and Foam as a "Mighty Morphin' manatee." It's not jarring in the book's isolated context, but does seem odd coming from you. Not bad, exactly, quite the opposite: I thought it was amusing that Opie would adopt something like Power Rangers into his shorthand and was a really fun instance of characterization.

But because I feel like asking questions only I could reasonably care about,

1. Does Opie like Power Rangers, or was his word choice based more on the influence that might come from reading the thoughts of Rain, Charlie, et al.?

2. If he does, what about it do you think appealed to Opie?

3. Was Maq's Batman joke an intentional correlation to Opie's reference, them sharing some shared affection for superheroes as some characterization point, or were they both just coincidental larks?