ANIMATED SHORTS SDCC EDITION: ADAM BALDWIN & THE RETURN OF REBOOT

[MattBrady]

A Big Man for Big Blue – EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ADAM BALDWIN
ReBoot RETURNS, ROEPER DOING HISTORY OF ANIME, MORE

by Steve Fritz

There’s something about Adam Baldwin’s presence that makes one realize that if you put the trademark spit-curl on his forehead, this guy’s a dead ringer for Curt Swan’s interpretation of the Last Son of Krypton. The height, the muscles, the posture and composure; it makes you think who the hell is that Brandon guy?

Then there’s the voice. It’s not the purple fields of grain soft Kansas tenor of George Newbern or Tim Daly. It’s more the gravelly baritone of Bud Collyer from the old Filmation days and the radio plays of the 1940s. Personally, and not to knock anyone else who’s donned the tights, it’s the way I always heard Big Blue in my head.

Well, as anyone going to San Diego this weekend knows, Bruce Timm’s much anticipated direct-to-DVD release of Superman/Doomsday will make its debut at the Comic Con. What many don’t know is Baldwin won’t be there because he’s hard at work on a new movie, entitled Gospel Hill, which is being directed by the truly underappreciated Giancarlo Esposito. It also stars the likes of Danny Glover, Angela Basset, Nia Long, Julia Styles, Samuel Jackson and RZA.

Baldwin spared us a few minutes between takes to talk about Superman/Doomsday though. This is what he had to say.



Newsarama: You seem to have more than a little bit of experience doing voiceovers, ranging from Invader Zim to Static Shock and, of course, Justice League. What do you like about doing voice work?

Adam Baldwin: The enticement of animated voiceovers is that you can come to work in your sweatpants and you get to do that work with great actors. There’s no pressure on what you look like, so you can just come and give it your all. There’s no make-up, no waiting for the cameras, no lighting issues or set changes. For me, it makes the work go much quicker. And the voice acting community is so strong, you’re always paired with a great team. So it’s fast-paced and it’s fun. The other thing that’s great is that you can sit there later and watch it with your kids, which isn’t often the case with live-action roles.

NRAMA: Is there any particular character (s) you enjoyed doing v.o. work on? Again, why?

AB: I really enjoyed voicing Superman, particularly in this role. There’s a lot of depth here, a lot to explore. And it’s fun to portray the more physical moments, too. All those action sequences, these epic battles, require a great deal of physicality in your acting. You really do have to act the physical scenes out – the grunts and groans and impact sounds – but you have to be constrained so you don’t bump into the microphone. You have to give it your all. The same goes for love scenes … you have to take it seriously. But it’s serious fun.

NRAMA: Professionally, how do you find the v.o. experience different from doing live acting and/or stage? Which sort of experience do you draw on most for your v.o. work?

AB: Ultimately, it’s all acting. It’s about focus, and seeing the character’s point of view. Either way, the key to playing bad guys, and good guys, is to always consider yourself the hero. It’s like James Mason said [doing his best James Mason impression, which was actually decent], “I’ve never played a villain.” I think we all look at ourselves as the hero, so whatever it is that your task is in the script, you need to play the positive of that – so you don’t become a caricature of the character. Just because he’s the bad guy and does evil things doesn’t mean that the character believes he’s evil, it’s just that this is what he’s doing. That makes him that much more scary.

NRAMA: Did/Do you read Superman comics?

AB: Not really. But this story is great. This is really a story with a lot of “more” – more intensity, more emotion, more action, more investigation into relationships. Ultimately we’re dealing with the death of Superman and the effect that event has on our primary characters and the world itself. So it’s arguably the darkest of all superman films. The character really afforded greater range of emotional investigation than your average animated film. Usually I’m playing lighter characters, you know the kind of quirky characters. Jane in Serenity/Firefly is a good example. But these three guys go through a really dark journey, and to keep that strength and consistency in the performance was a tremendous challenge.



NRAMA: Was there any version of Superman on film or TV (animated or live action) that you enjoyed? Are you applying any of that to your work on Doomsday?

AB: I remember watching George Reeves as Superman when I was a kid, and I thought that was cool. I’m not really a purist in the comic book sense of Superman, so the George Reeves version was pretty much my introduction to the character. And, of course, later seeing Christopher Reeve brilliantly portray Superman on film was a revelation. But that was the depth of my knowledge going into Superman Doomsday. Still, those didn’t influence my performance – mainly because this is a much different Superman than most people have seen. It’s darker, and it explores far more adult aspects of the character. This story doesn’t have that fly-in-and-save-the-day tone, so it didn’t really allow me to go to some of the acting styles of those two actors, particularly their comedic sides.

NRAMA: In your mind, what is so special about playing Superman?

AB: He’s an American icon – what’s not to like about playing him? Plus I get to play several versions of Superman – normal, dark and, of course, mild-mannered Clark Kent. Often I have been known to play the heavy, the bad guy. It might be because I’m tall and strong. But to play the ultimate superhero is quite a little turn of events for me, and I embrace that. It’s an honor.

NRAMA: If WB offered you a chance to do the big guy in a live action version, would you?

AB: Absolutely. Although I’m a little leery of wearing tights.

NRAMA: How were you approached about this project and why did you accept?

AB: I guess Andrea (Romano) and Bruce (Timm) wanted me, so they called – and I jumped at the chance. Like I said, it’s a great role, and it’s an honor to get to carry on the tradition of playing such an iconic character.

NRAMA: What's it like working with James Marsters again?

AB: James and I have a great relationship – although our politics are completely different. But he’s a great actor, and he’s done a tremendous job voicing Lex Luthor. Every great hero needs an equally great villain, and James has lifted Lex to another level with his performance.



NRAMA: What do you think about Bruce's version of Doomsday? What do you think the fans should understand about this in comparison to the comic?

AB: Again, this isn’t your typical Superman. It’s an animated film with tremendous depth and heart and emotion. It’s got there huge action sequences, but it’s not just superman coming in to save the day, hold up a building, and save Lois. This delves into the deeper relationship with Lois, and the death of Superman, and the pathos involved in that. So this was a very compelling story for me.
NRAMA: You have a very strong relationship with the Science Fiction community through your work on films and TV projects like Independence Day, Angel, Serenity, Firefly, X-Files, etc. why do you keep going back to these kinds of roles?

AB: I am a fan of sci-fi because it gives you a chance to play these larger than life characters in these heightened reality situations, without the risk of injury. And I like the cartoony aspect of it – I like being goofy and dangerous at the same time. I’ve always enjoyed those roles. Well, that and being able to fly from planet to planet at lightspeed. That’s nice.

I feel very privileged and blessed in the way the science fiction genre and the animated world has embraced me as Jayne Cobb in Firefly/Serenity to Angel and on X-Files and some of the cartoons I’ve done. The fans are very energetic and very knowledgeable – way more knowledgeable than I am. So it kind of humbles me quite often when people ask me obscure questions that I have no clue to the answers … but I learn a lot.

Newsarama's Comic-Con International '07 coverage is brought to you by Witchblade – The Anime Series. Available on DVD September 25th. Click here to view trailer.

RAINMAKER/NEW SITE ReBootS CLASSIC SERIES

ReBoot is being redeveloped as a trilogy of feature-length films by Vancouver-based Rainmaker Animation with the help of new media applications announced Rainmaker Entertainment CEO Warren Franklin. Originally produced in 1994, it was the first animated CGI show on television. It aired for several seasons on ABC, YTV and Cartoon Network.

"ReBoot was groundbreaking in its first incarnation, but what's really exciting is producing these films for the new generation of cross-platform content distribution," explains Franklin. "Everyone remembers the television series, but I can imagine how ReBoot could live as a film, as a game or as mobile content. It's important for us to engage all of those audiences at this early stage."

Although it was initially created for children, ReBoot attracted many older fans when it became thematically darker and made countless references to computer terms and pop culture. The success of this series helped establish Mainframe Entertainment (now Rainmaker Animation) as one of the world's pre-eminent computer animation studios.

"ReBoot 's legions of fans have been incredibly loyal and continue to keep the property alive on dozens of fan sites," added Rainmaker Animation executive vice-president Paul Gertz. "We're very enthusiastic about how we're reconceiving this classic series by creating an innovative way for those fans, who were kids when the series started, to use new technology to help guide us."

Rainmaker and Zeros 2 Heroes, a newly launched social network for fans of comics, have entered into a strategic alliance to further the redevelopment effort of ReBoot. Five undiscovered writers have been selected to work with the professionals at Rainmaker to develop their individual and separate pitches for the series' new storyline. Each writer will collaborate with a Rainmaker production team to prepare a presentation pitch which will be posted to the Zeros 2 Heroes (www.zeros2heroes.com) beginning on Thursday, the opening of Comic-Con International.

For the next month, those visiting the Web site will be able to work with each production team to help refine the ideas for the return of ReBoot. At the end of the month, the fans will vote and select the winning pitch. Later this year, a Web version of the comic based on the winning idea will be published. At that time, production of a planned trilogy of feature-length ReBoot films will begin.

"We want to get rid of the gatekeepers and help forge a genuine dialogue between producers and fans. When it comes to longstanding genre entertainment properties, the fans are the real experts and their goodwill shouldn't be taken for granted," says Zeroes 2 Heroes founder Matt Toner. "If you want them to show up on opening weekend, why not build an authentic relationship from day one? Rainmaker is a forward-looking company and they really get this. We're thrilled to be using our tools to help drive the next generation of ReBoot."

ROEPER DOING HISTORY OF ANIME FOR STARZ

The Starz Television Network announced it has made a deal with Richard Roeper to do a history of Anime.

Roeper came to national attention when Roger Ebert tapped him as the replacement of Ebert’s longtime partner-in-crime, Gene Siskel, as cohost of the movie review syndicated series At The Movies. Since then, Ebert (who calls the anime feature film Grave Of The Fireflies one of the greatest films ever made, period) has been stricken with cancer and Roeper has been holding down the fort with a series of guest critics.

According to Starz, Roeper will host a new series called Starz Inside, which will cover a different theme every month. The first month will be called “Fog City Mavericks,” and explore the effect of San Francisco directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood and George Lucas on cinema. Future chapters have titles like “Bloodsucking Cinema” and “Hollywood Goes Gaming.”

"We've produced original specials in the past," says Starz VP of Original Programming Michael Ruggiero. "But this is the first time in Starz' history that we will have a monthly series, offering a comprehensive look at a number of interesting film topics. This new direction to broaden the spectrum of our original programming is very exciting for us, and we are absolutely thrilled to have Richard Roeper on board as our host."

"I am delighted to be the tour guide for this fascinating journey through some of the landmark moments in film history,” says Roeper. “This is a prestige project featuring some of the world's top movie artists providing in-depth, inside looks at the world of cinema."

According to the press release, “Anime: Drawing a Revolution” will be a provocative, in-depth documentary and premieres December 17. The special not only looks at its pioneers and creators, but the influences on its own Japanese culture, the world in general and the leading Hollywood filmmakers. Films covered include Spirited Away, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke, Akira, The Matrix, Transformers and others.

ANIME NETWORK ADDS MORE CARRIERS

Anime Network has secured linear carriage in the state of Kansas with Sunflower Broadband and Eagle Communications, deals that continue to solidify the network’s position as the leading 24/7 linear anime service for cable operators. Anime Network will soon be available in Lawrence, Hays, and Minneapolis, Kansas, just in time for the new semester to begin at universities across the state.

“Anime Network is extremely popular among the 16-to-34-year-old demographic, and we are thrilled to launch our 24/7 linear service to both loyal fans and new audiences served by Sunflower Broadband and Eagle Communications,” said Kevin McFeeley, the Network’s Vice President of Affiliate Sales and New Media

The network has also added some new programming to its mix. The series, entitled Innocent Venus , the exciting sci-fi series that first aired on Japanese television last summer, is set to make its North American debut on August 9.

This series is set in the year 2010, where world-wide hyper hurricanes have wiped out 5 billion people. In the wake of the devastation, a group known as Logos rise to power, taking control of most of Earth’s now-precious resources. To ensure their dominant position, Logos creates Phantom, an elite force called on to suppress renegades and rebellions. Now, Joe and Jin, two of Phantom’s best agents, have escaped with a mysterious girl who may hold the key to the planet’s future.

San Diego & Simpsons fallout.

[Tom Daylight]

Adam Baldwin! My favourite Whedonesque actor.

[Da_Black_Goku]

I absolutely loved REBOOT and I'm glad to see that they're keeping the property alive. I especially loved the last episode. It was... appropriate.

[Snikkas]

why won't my netflix acknowledge the existence of this DVD?

I'm trying to put it in my queue but it can't find it in its databse

Stupid Netflix

[Marc_Spector]

It's not actually due out until September I think. May be why Netflix does not have it yet.

[Happyhatter]

REEEEEEE-BOOT!

[artiepants]

kinda bummed they re-cast everybody (Clancy Brown IS lex luthor to me) but Baldwins a solid choice and seems like a cool guy!

did they announce who's Supes in New Frontier? seems like they'd want to ahve at least a little consistency.

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by artiepants

kinda bummed they re-cast everybody (Clancy Brown IS lex luthor to me) but Baldwins a solid choice and seems like a cool guy!

did they announce who's Supes in New Frontier? seems like they'd want to ahve at least a little consistency.

It's Kyle McLaughlin for Big Blue. If I remember correctly, it's Neil Patrick Harris for Flash. In my interview with Bruce Timm a while back he gave out a pretty extensive list of who is cast. -s

[artiepants]

Originally Posted by sfritz

It's Kyle McLaughlin for Big Blue. If I remember correctly, it's Neil Patrick Harris for Flash. In my interview with Bruce Timm a while back he gave out a pretty extensive list of who is cast. -s

i thought i remembered reading that somewhere...

[Wellness]

Reboot coming back is cool.

But I will miss the original Megabyte.

[Ignatius Prime]

It also stars the likes of Danny Glover, Angela Basset, Nia Long, Julia Styles, Samuel Jackson and RZA.

Who the hell are Julia Styles and Angela Basset?

Oh, wait, I forgot - Steve Fritz can't ever be bothered to spell check anything. My mistake.

[KACH]

Originally Posted by artiepants

i thought i remembered reading that somewhere...

David Boreanaz ... Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern (voice)

Brooke Shields ... Carol Ferris (voice)

Neil Patrick Harris ... Barry Allen/The Flash (voice)

Lucy Lawless ... Wonder Woman (voice)

Kyle MacLachlan ... Clark Kent/Superman (voice)

Phil Morris ... King Faraday (voice)

--J.

[artiepants]

Thanks, i remember reading the article, but ddn't remember most of this casting...

Originally Posted by KACH

David Boreanaz ... Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern (voice)

an incredibly boring actor for an incredibly lame character, how fitting i keed, i keed, but New Frontier is the only time i've ever enjoyed Hal. JL made John my Green Lantern for life. not a Boreanaz fan at all though, not sur ehow he'll do as a voice actor, especially ince Hal was kind of the cneter of the New Frontier's main character arc.

Originally Posted by KACH

Brooke Shields ... Carol Ferris (voice)

for serious? wierd. has she done any other voice acting?

Originally Posted by KACH

Neil Patrick Harris ... Barry Allen/The Flash (voice)

heh, so Lex Luthor was Spiderman in Justice League and now Spider-Man'll be the Flash in New Frontier...

Originally Posted by KACH

Lucy Lawless ... Wonder Woman (voice) .

that's some seriously great fanboy casting right there.

[Dalarsco]

Yes! ReBoot! Hopefully this begins the '90s nostalgia craze, as children of this time period are nearing the nostalgia boom of our 20s.

[jrvandore]

Does anyone know about what political issues Adam Baldwin and James Marsters might disagree (as he references in his interview)?

[RockLeefan]

Originally Posted by jrvandore

Does anyone know about what political issues Adam Baldwin and James Marsters might disagree (as he references in his interview)?

I recall that Adam is quite the Republican, so i assume that James Marsters must be more of a liberal.

It's a shame the voice actors are changing but i think these choices are quite good (someone is a whedon fan). It also helps distance this from the animated series quite well.
Adam always comes aside as a fun guy (politics aside ) and i like how he admits he has no clue about the comics but in a humble rather than patronising way.

Is it just me or does Superman look really old in that pic with Lois? Some serious lines on his face.

[qnetter]

Of course, this means Adam's politics are also completely different from pro-union communitarian Superman... guess that's why they call it acting.

[RockLeefan]

Originally Posted by qnetter

Of course, this means Adam's politics are also completely different from pro-union communitarian Superman... guess that's why they call it acting.

That's why I'd love to see Isiah washington play a gay character too. That'll show his acting chops!

Assuming Marsters is a strong liberal, it's also quite amusing that he is playing Lex luthor!

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by Ignatius Prime

Who the hell are Julia Styles and Angela Basset?

Oh, wait, I forgot - Steve Fritz can't ever be bothered to spell check anything. My mistake.

The same way IP will only post when he comes out from under his bridge. Get a life, dude. -s

[SanityOrMadness]

My eyes just about jumped out of their sockets at the "Return of ReBoot" bit...

[JLAJRC]

I don't know about Superman, but Adam Baldwin looks ALOT like Tony Stark.

So would the Reboot thing be a direct-to-dvd type thing? a series of tv movies? As much as I love Reboot, I just don't see it as a feature film theater franchise, especially a trilogy.

[X-punged]

Originally Posted by RockLeefan

I recall that Adam is quite the Republican, so i assume that James Marsters must be more of a liberal.

Must be fun around the Baldwin family get-togethers, considering brother Alec is an uber Democrat.

[CuriousDude]

If this ReBoot continuation is really going to happen, it needs to be a real continuation. Not a remake, not a spin-off, not some half-assed attempt to make money. We need a definitive conclusion to the ReBoot cliffhanger. We, the fans, need closure. And in addition to that, if they take the right path and go with a direct continuation... then we damn well better see a competent Megabyte impersonator, since Megabyte's VA (Tony Jay) passed away.

[kalorama]

Originally Posted by X-punged

Must be fun around the Baldwin family get-togethers, considering brother Alec is an uber Democrat.

He's not one of those Baldwins.

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by JLAJRC

I don't know about Superman, but Adam Baldwin looks ALOT like Tony Stark.

So would the Reboot thing be a direct-to-dvd type thing? a series of tv movies? As much as I love Reboot, I just don't see it as a feature film theater franchise, especially a trilogy.

Just did a full interview with some of the principles involved. Read about it next week. -s