Two-Part Batman: The Long Halloween Animated film possibly in the works?!

[Gothamsknight]

Just a few more days to go!

 

[Pennywise]

Batman: The Long Halloween's David Dastmalchian Brings Menace to Calendar Man

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Watching now. Good enough so far. Ackles has a good voice for the character. I just hate how cheap the animation has become in these films. WB used to set the standard, a shame what’s become of their animation division.

 

[Pennywise]

That definitely explains pictures of the film on Twitter.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Yup, the animated movies are always available digitally a few days before physical release

 

[Pennywise]

Haven’t read the comic in years. Going to have to do so after watching the film.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Spoiler

well, whoever they got to voice joker is yet another lackluster Hamill impersonator, that’s disappointing.

edit: oh, it’s Troy Baker

 

[Matt.S99]

Just watched. Pretty much agree with everything Chip said above.

I really love the style used here, but the animation definitely feels cheap. Crazy that a tv series from 29 years ago is still so much better than something brand new. I’m really hoping their new Caped Crusader show has good animation. (With all the people on board, I don’t have any doubt on that front) I grew very board of the New 52 style, but it definitely had more fluid animation.

Bakers Joker voice is definitely a lame impression of Hamill’s. It’s a bit distracting.
That being said, Jensen Ackles has a perfect voice for Batman.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

I can’t wait to watch this later. From what I’ve heard it’s shocking how good Jensen is at the voice. Never expected that.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Honestly, if he's game for it, Jensen should be the unofficial successor to Conroy. Dude just has it.

 

[CadeSkywalker28]

I'll be honest.
About 40 minutes, I turned it off... I couldn't watch it.
I'm not a fan of bold outlines, but I might have ignored that still if the animation itself hadn't been so stiff.

 

[Yowza]

I think it is time WB quit doing versions of the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini style of animation from the cartoon. I have little interest on seeing their style applied to everything. 20 some years now I think things can change especially for these 1 shot animated movies. It just ruins things and I am sick of it.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

While the Batman model here does look a little like Timm's TNBA Batman, Butch Lukic and Co. have made a strong effort to create something new with this art style.

Lukic had a limited budget, a very tight schedule and the same in house character designers that James Tucker had in the New 52 movies. I think, all things concerned, they have come up with something fresh and new that can work within the parameters they have been given.

The budget in these things just can't facilitate what fans are after these days, but the crews work so hard on them and I for one appreciate their efforts.

 

[atomicbattery]

The primary character designer for the new DCAU is the brilliant comic book artist Otto Schmidt. I find his style classical and yet utterly new and distinct. I bought ‘Justice Society: World War II’ just to wallow in the gorgeousness of it.
These new films- to me- with their Silver Age-style body proportions and variation in the weight of line, are what Doug Wildey and Alex Toth could only wish, in their wildest dreams, for Jonny Quest and Superfriends over a half century ago.
Stunning

 

[BobJM]

I dug this, animation & all. There are some changes to the source material, but nothing felt egregious or unnecessary. I would have liked to see a bit more with Selina, but maybe Part II will deliver on that end.

Certainly I can see the drop in animation budget & fluidity/motion in the action sequences, but it didn’t take me out of the story—I never felt like I was watching a motion comic, so the quality was suitable for me.

Really happy with the voice cast, especially Ackles. Troy Baker as Joker wasn’t jaw-dropping, and he isn’t Hamil, but it was fine. Would have been nice to hear a different direction for this Joker portrayal—to be honest, David Dastmalchian could have been an interesting pick instead.

 

[Captain Tired]

Just finished this. Some random thoughts:

Spoiler

It slightly annoyed me how they made Catwoman appear so much more graceful and agile than Barman, considering this is set in the Year One continuity where Batman started out first. In general, the beefing up of Catwoman's role was slightly annoying until I realised that Carla Vitti was basically being airbrushed out of the story altogether. Then Catwoman's slightly adjusted role started to make much more sense.

Ackles as Batman was very good, but the standout performance was Duhamel as Harvey Dent imo. Though the scenes they wrote gave Duhamel a lot more room to emote and chew the scenery, so it makes sense. Billy Burke feels slightly unsuited to playing Gordon tbh. Too young and sarcastic sounding for my tastes. Predictably, Troy Bakers Hamill impression felt forced and overdone. Catwoman and Falcone were both decently played.

The martial arts fight scene with the gang was initially fun, but kinda wore out its welcome real fast. I was surprised at how they made a show of Alberto Falcone getting so brutally sliced up by the ship's propellers. Considering they had designs on still doing Dark Victory at some point in the near future, it seems to me that they might have just made Albert's fake death all the more needlessly complicated. Overall though, I really enjoyed it. Had good atmosphere, most of the changes make sense from an adaptational standpoint, etc. Looking forward to Part II.

 

[pixen]

I think it is time WB quit doing versions of the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini style of animation from the cartoon. I have little interest on seeing their style applied to everything. 20 some years now I think things can change especially for these 1 shot animated movies. It just ruins things and I am sick of it.

Are you saying this looks like BTAS because it doesn’t look anything like it.

 

[Yowza]

Are you saying this looks like BTAS because it doesn’t look anything like it.

Not exactly like it but borrowing from the design and animation to where it looks similar like every other animated project in the last 20 some years for the most part. Only thing different is some shows might put a slight twist on said style but overall it's the same flat looking minimal detail character design approach used over and over.

This particular project was almost like watching a motion comic (not quite) as well. If WB is going to to do stuff like this I think they can do better technology being what it is they don't need to keep recycling the same approach especially when it's not even a series but a standalone adaptation on a popular comic.

 

[Pennywise]

Batman: The Long Halloween Screenwriter Explains the Adaptation's Changes

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Hadn't known this was out already. Nice.

 

[Erik Lensherr]

I watching it right now (5 minutes). The opening scene is AMAZING.

Looking forward to the rest

 

[Eddie Dean]

Pretty dire adaptation I thought. I actually didn't mind the animation too much, they clearly spent most of their time and money into the fight scenes, but I like the designs and general vibe. The script is just awful and the pacing is all over the place. Really don't understand the point of this being such a loose adaptation when it's still telling pretty much the same story.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I think it is time WB quit doing versions of the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini style of animation from the cartoon. I have little interest on seeing their style applied to everything. 20 some years now I think things can change especially for these 1 shot animated movies. It just ruins things and I am sick of it.

This

Looks like this?

 

[Eddie Dean]

The Catwoman design in this is pretty much entirely the original BTAS design. Let's be fair.

 

[Yowza]

The Catwoman design in this is pretty much entirely the original BTAS design. Let's be fair.

Exactly.

People don't like me saying but it's true.

This

Looks like this?

The difference is not as great as that meme would suggest. The underpinning behind the animation style is there and it can most easily be seen in the character designs even if the coloring schematic is switched up a bit and Batman's jaw line is more narrow the general aesthetic is still transparent.