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Thanks to Michael for showing me this Japanese Batman cartoon intro. It’s the intro for the 1977 New Adventures of Batman animated series (with a few additional clips and edits) set to a crazy Batman theme. Can’t believe I’d never heard of this before.

After watching it, I saw the Japanese opening for the X-Men animated series from Fox in the 1990’s. It’s much more intense than the original opening. Very different from the Batman opening. Interesting how much styles and tastes have changed in 20 years.

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Superman Clone (Kel) from the 41st Century in the Legion of Super Heroes Season 2

A few preview images have popped up over at Comic Book Resources for the Season 2 premiere of Legion of Super Heroes. The Legion looks older, which is a move that surprises me. I would have thought the younger kids/teen Legion would market better. I do know, the older Legion presented here looks more interesting to me. The premise for Season2 has a few interesting tidbits, like a clone of Superman from the 41st Century–Legion is set in the 31st. He recruits the Legion to help him battle Imperiex, who actually follows the Superman clone to the 31st century and gathers all of the Legion’s villains into an army. Lots of heroes and lots of villains – cool.

Eddie Brock from the new Spectacular Spider-Man animated seriesNext up, be sure to check out the ENI interview with Spectacular Spider-Man animated series director Victor Cook. He offers up a few bits of interesting information, but the highlight of the article are the character drawings featuring the main cast. They’ve done a great job in updating the characters while retaining the uniqueness of that character.

For instance, look at Eddie Brock. Counting the original, the Ultimate Spider-Man version, and the Spider-Man 3 version, that’s 3 different version of the character the series could have adapted. Instead, the version on the left looks like a perfect melding of those versions. He’s big and bulky like the original, but young like the Ultimate version. I always liked the huge Venom as opposed to the mirror image of Spider-Man that the film portrayed. He’s more menacing and threatening. Can’t wait for this show to premiere later in the year. It’s previewed so well, the original season has been extended from 13 to 26 episodes. Be sure to check out the rest of the images at ENI.

Finally, I just now discovered this Season 5 interview with the Teen Titans animated series head writers. It’s full of information on the fifth and final season and answered a lot of questions. The fifth season was always planned as the last, but 20 episodes were originally ordered instead of the typical 13. If you’re a fan of the Cartoon Network Teen Titans show, it’s definitely worth a read.

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Burger King is running a promotion with the Simpsons Movie and has release the Simpsonize Me webiste. This site allows you to upload a photo and it will be rendered as a Simpsons character. Unlike the feature on the Simpsons Movie site, this is supposedly an automated process. Notice I say supposedly, as I couldn’t get it to work. Having said that, the results that Michael Calore of Wired Blog Network achieved were pretty accurate. I’ll keep trying and see what it produces.

There’s no denying the appeal of the Simpsons. Although some would argue the show has faded from its glory days, anyone that’s ever been a fan of the show could likely recite a few favorite quites. Everyone knows “D’oh” and it was honored by being included in the Oxford English Dictionary. An interesting side note about D’oh – it’s always written in the scripts as “annoyed grunt.”

Head on over and read Blogzarro’s 101 Greatest Simpsons Quotes and see if your favorite is on there. Mine is #7 – Homer: Oh, so they have Internet on computers now!

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Mike Nelson and Neil Patrcik Harris comment on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

While I would not consider myself a “Mistie,” I did love watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 back when it was on Comedy Central and Joel Hodgson was host. I never liked the Mike Nelson episodes as much, but Nelson’s new venture Rifftrax is definitely interesting.

Nelson and occasional guests record commentaries for current TV and DVD releases and provide them on the Rifftrax.com website for a small fee ($.99 to $3.99) per download. Users can then listen to Mike Nelson and Neil Patrick Harris commentaries while watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Tell me that isn’t tempting.

This site is laid out exceptionally well. Each commentary has a sample and clearly states the price. Each listing also links to purchase the DVD on Amazon and rent it from Netflix. It’s a great idea for a site/service with the right person behind it. The New York Times has a great, detailed article about the site. It’s well worth reading.