Official Press Release – 9/20/2011: Warner Home Video, Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation proudly present an action-packed hour of first looks at DC Universe Animated Original Movies properties on Friday, October 14 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. at New York Comic Con.

Central to the panel will be the world premiere of the animated short Catwoman, starring Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse) as the voice of title character. The 15-minute short will be included on the release of Batman: Year One, which streets October 18 on Blu-ray, DVD, for Download and On Demand.

The panel will also include the very first footage to be seen from Justice League: Doom, the highly-anticipated next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

The panelists, which include the ultimate voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, DCU executive producer Bruce Timm and casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano, will offer a glimpse into the 2012 DC Universe Animated Original Movies slate, give away some exclusive prizes to inquisitive audience members, and quite possibly welcome a few surprise guests to the stage.

An autograph session with the panelists will immediately follow the panel.

– Big Shiny Robot will be at NY Comic-con! Will you? Be sure to check out Big Shiny Robot for all your New York Comic-con 2011 news! –

Cartoon Network and Adult Swim will host nine panels, two screenings and three autograph signings for fan-favorite series at New York Comic Con at the Jacob K. Javits Center, Friday, October 14 through Sunday October 16, 2011. (The lineup includes some seriously awesome panels for my personal favorites – The Venture Bros, Robot Chicken, and Adventure Time!)

Big Shiny Robot will be at New York Comic Con this October! Will you? Be sure to log on to Big Shiny Robot for all your upcoming New York Comic Con 2011 news!

See the full lineup for both networks below; please note all times, dates and locations are subject to change.

CARTOON NETWORK & ADULT SWIM PANELS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14

ADULT SWIM: The Venture Bros

4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: IGN Theater

Talent: Jackson Publick (co-creator) and Doc Hammer (co-creator)

The Venture Bros show creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, perennial Comic-Con favorites, will discuss their original series and answer questions that have been submitted by fans on AdultSwimPresents.com/NYCC.  Launched on Adult Swim in August 2004, The Venture Bros. is an inspired spoof of 1960s action cartoon shows such as “Johnny Quest.” The animated series follows the bizarre misadventures of the Venture family, which includes world-renowned Dr. Venture, his dimwitted sons Hank and Dean as well as Brock Samson, their bodyguard assigned by the government to keep an eye on the family who is then promptly forgotten by the Feds.

ADULT SWIM: Robot Chicken

5:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Location: IGN Theater

Talent: Seth Green (co-creator), Matt Senreich (co-creator), Zeb Wells (writer) and Doug Goldstein (head writer and co-producer)

Seth Green (co-creator), Matthew Senreich (co-creator), Zeb Wells (writer), and Doug Goldstein (head writer and co-producer) discuss their incredibly-popular and award-winning series Robot Chicken and provide a sneak peek of season 5.5, premiering Oct. 23^rd at 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Adult Swim. Created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, the Emmy Award-winning Robot Chicken uses stop-motion animation to bring pop-culture parodies to life in a modern take on the variety/sketch show format.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15

ADULT SWIM: Superjail!

4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Location:  Room 1A06

Talent: Christy Karacas (creator and executive producer) , Stephen Warbrick (creator and executive producer), Jackson Publick, Janine DiTullio

Join creators and executive producers Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick with Jackson Publick and Janine DiTullio as they discuss their Adult Swim series Superjail! and preview never-before-seen footage! Fast-paced animation, flying guts, creepy underlings, and plenty of prison fights dominate the Warden’s chaotic prison in Superjail!. The blood flows like wine and the line between criminal and keeper gets blurrier by the minute.  Picture a kaleidoscope of entrails meets Jon Waters meets Shawshank damnation plus a sweaty muscle woman minus primetime sensibility. You are hereby guilty of being given what you asked for.

ADULT SWIM: Eagleheart

4:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Location:  Room 1A06

Talent: Chris Elliot, Jason Woliner, Andrew Weinberg, Michael Koman, Maria Thayer

Join series star Chris Elliott with Jason Woliner, Andrew Weinberg, Michael Koman, Maria Thayer as they discuss the live-action comedyEagleheart and show exclusive footage from the upcoming new season.  Produced by Conan O’Brien’s Conaco Productions and Dakota Pictures, the series premiered in February and recently wrapped production of its second season, which is slated to premiere in the spring of 2012. Every episode ofEagleheart promises violence, suspense, intrigue and copious amounts of needless bloodshed as Marshal Chris Monsanto (Elliott) blindly kicks, punches and shoots his way to what may or may not be a legitimate solution to his case.

ADULT SWIM: The Heart, She Holler

5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.

Location:  Room 1A06

Talent: Patton Oswalt, Kristen Schaal, Heather Lawless, Leo Fitzpatrick, Joe Sikora, John Lee (executive producer), Alyson Levy (executive producer)

Adult Swim presents The Heart, She Holler, an original live-action series that explores the dramatic lives of a small community living in a hillbilly town.  Series stars Patton Oswalt (United States of Tara), Kristen Schaal (The Flight of the Conchords), Heather Lawless (Be Kind Rewind), Leo Fitzpatrick (El Camino), and Joe Sikora (Shutter Island) join co-executive producers John Lee and Alyson Levy to show never-before-seen footage of this new original live-action series that will premiere on Adult Swim this fall.

ADULT SWIM: Delocated!

6:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Location:  Room 1A06

Talent: Jon Glaser (creator and executive producer), Steve Cirbus, Janeane Garofalo, Jacob Kogan, Yung-I Chang, Ali Farahnakian

Delocated! creator/executive producer and star Jon Glaser is on hand along with Steve Cirbus, Janeane Garofalo, Jacob Kogan, Yung-I Chang and Ali Farahnakian to reveal exclusive footage from the upcoming third season of the show premiering on Adult Swim this fall as well as answer questions about the series.  Delocated! is a live-action series about “Jon,” who after testifying against the Russian Mafia has to live undercover through the witness protection program.  After existing quietly in an anonymous suburb, “Jon” accepts an offer to participate in a reality show based on his life.  In order to protect his identity with television audiences—and more importantly, the Russian mob family the Mirminsky’s—he wears a ski mask and has his voice surgically disguised.

ADULT SWIM: China, IL Exclusive Screening and Q&A

7:15 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Location:  Room 1A06

Talent: Brad Neely (creator) and Daniel Weidenfeld (executive producer)

Adult Swim presents an exclusive screening of a never-before-aired episode of their newest animated comedy China, IL.  Frank and Steve Smith are brothers who teach in the history department of a state university in China, IL.  They also happen to be legends in their own minds who will often sacrifice facts, lessons and syllabi for the sake of being awesome.  Created by Brad Neely and produced by Titmouse, Inc., China, IL is a reverseAnimal House where the teachers are crazy and the students just want to learn.  Creator Brad Neely and executive producer Daniel Weidenfeld will be on hand for a lively Q&A.

ADULT SWIM: Black Dynamite

8:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Location:  Room 1A06

Talent: Michael Jai White, Byron Minns, Kym Whitley, Carl Jones (executive producer), and Scott Sanders (producer)

Black Dynamite is an exciting new animated series coming to Adult Swim in 2012 and is based on 2009’s critically-acclaimed feature film. The series further chronicles the exploits of Black Dynamite and his crew.  Cast members Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite), Byron Minns (Bullhorn), Kym Whitley (Honeybee), executive producer Carl Jones, and producer Scott Sanders will host a Q&A and show never-before-seen footage! Room

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16

CARTOON NETWORK: Adventure Time / Regular Show Panel and Q&A

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location: 1A06

Talent: Adventure Time – Pendleton Ward (Creator/ Lumpy Space Princess), Jeremy Shada (Finn) and Tom Kenny (Ice King); Regular Show talent includes creator J.G. Quintel (Creator/ Mordecai), Bill Salyers (Rigby) and Sam Marin (Pops, Benson, Muscle Man).

Cartoon Network is dominating Monday nights with the FUNNIEST night on television, and we’re bringing the inside scoop to Comic Con!  Join creators and talent from Adventure Time and Regular Show as they talk about how these two comedy hits came to life, screen upcoming episodes, share what’s in store for your favorite characters this season, answer questions and more!

The panel features Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward (Lumpy Space Princess), Jeremy Shada (Finn) and Tom Kenny (Ice King); Regular Showtalent includes creator J.G. Quintel (Mordecai), Bill Salyers (Rigby) and Sam Marin (Pops, Benson, Muscle Man).

Adventure Time introduces viewers to unlikely heroes Finn and Jake, buddies who traverse the mystical Land of Ooo and encounter its colorful inhabitants. The best of friends, our heroes always find themselves in the middle of heart-pounding escapades.   Regular Showfeatures Mordecai, a six-foot-tall blue jay, and Rigby, a hyperactive raccoon, great friends and groundskeepers at a park whose attempts to escape their everyday boredom take them to fantastical extremes.

CARTOON NETWORK: Ben 10 / Generator Rex: Heroes United Screening and Q&A

12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Location: 1A22

Cartoon Network’s top animated action heroes – Ben 10 and Generator Rex – team up for an exciting panel at New York Comic Con…and for an out-of-this-world adventure! In the middle of a battle, Ben Tennyson is drawn into a vortex and lands in an alternate world infected by nanites! Ben must team up with Rex to defeat a common enemy who covets the Omnitrix and Omega Nanite! ) and I said if it was for press than it was fine but if it was consumer driven we would prefer to keep it simple because most people don’t care or even know anything about omega nanites.  So including that descriptive language is fine, but let’s keep it simple: In the midst of battle, Ben Tennyson is drawn into a vortex and lands in an alternate world infected by nanites…the world of Generator Rex!  Ben and Rex will face off before realizing they must unite to battle a common enemy who threatens both of their worlds!

CARTOON NETWORK: Level Up World Premiere Screening

2:00 p.m.  – 3:30 p.m

Location: 1A22

It’s time to “Level Up” your Comic Con experience with the WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING of Cartoon Network’s funniest original movie for the video game age!  Level Up introduces three high school gamers who unwittingly open a portal from an online game, allowing the in-game creatures and mayhem to escape into the real world!  The trio must put aside their differences and join forces to play the game for real in order to save their neighborhood (and the world!) from ultimate evil! Be among the first to see Level Up before it premieres on Cartoon Network in November, with an explosive TV series to follow in 2012.

ADULT SWIM AUTOGRAPH SIGNINGS

Friday, October 14

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.                             Venture Bros Signing
Location: Room 1E07
Talent: Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer

2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.                             Robot Chicken Signing

Location: Room 1E07

Talent: Seth Green (co-creator), Matt Senreich (co-creator),

Zeb Wells (writer) and Doug Goldstein (head writer and co-producer)

Saturday, October 15

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.                             Black Dynamite Signing
Location: Room 1E07
Talent: Michael Jai White, Byron Minns, Kym Whitley,

Carl Jones (executive producer), and Scott Sanders (producer)

CARTOON NETWORK – LOUNGE INFORMATION

Cartoon Network and Adventure Time will take over the registration lobby of the Jacob Javits Center at New York Comic Con from October 13 – 16, with the CARTOON NETWORK LOUNGE.  A fully-immersive experience, the CARTOON NETWORK LOUNGE will be a must-see destination for fans of the network, as they can catch up on their favorite Adventure Time episodes, grab some exclusive giveaways, play their favorite video games and so much more.  In addition to other giveaways, Adventure Time fans should stop by to get their free New York Comic Con exclusive 2″ Finn figure, while supplies last.  The toy is a limited-edition update to one of the figures from Jazwares toy line, which is currently available for sale at Toys”R”Us retailers nationwide.  Additionally, at the CARTOON NETWORK LOUNGE, fans can try their hand at three all-new video games that will be released this fall:  Ben 10 Galactic Racing, Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL and Generator Rex: Agent of Providence.

Dave Filoni is the man in charge of making The Clone Wars the best show on television. Instrumental since day one, he writes and directs episodes, works with the actors, and keeps the look and feel of the show moving in the right direction.

We’ve talked quite a few times over the years, and this time I caught up with him in San Diego during Comic-Con.

In the interview, Dave talks about the season premiere, aludes to Ahsoka’s fate, and professes his love for Doctor Who.

The new season starts tomorrow, Friday, September 16 on Cartoon Network. You can read my review of the premiere here.

(And special thanks to JawaJames from Club Jade (GONK) for helping me with the transcription of this interview.)

Big Shiny Robot!: How are you?

Dave Filoni: I’m good. You know, it’s a big one this year, more people than ever before. It’s exciting to see so many people into these types of stories and movies. I always think Comic-Con is the big reason why you get Thor, you get the Iron Mans, Green Lantern, without seeing the support, so you know, it’s exciting.

BSR!: Is this a big source of support for you guys?

DF: I think so. It’s always important to come out, to talk to fans directly, to show them directly what we’re working on, to let them be involved that way. This year, I made sure we brought a lot of clips – didn’t want to be coy, didn’t want to show just one thing. For the people who wait in line and pay a lot of money to come down here, I said let’s make it worth their while and Cary Silver, the producer, agreed. I think things were really well received.

BSR!: The footage you showed – I don’t want to talk too much about it, because I know you’ll just give me vague, dodgy answers…

DF: You never know, I gave away a lot yesterday.

BSR!: Really?

DF: I thought so, for me, yeah.

BSR!: It seemed that in the run up to season three, you guys were giving everything away. It felt that way. I’m counting off the press release: there’s the mysteries of the Force story arc, and this story arc, etc. You could almost count all the story arcs before the season even starts. Except for the Wookiee one, that was a big secret.

DF: And that has to do with, there was no footage at that time. [laughs] More than anything else.

BSR!: One question I asked you at Celebration that I am going to ask you again now because it was a great questions and it kept me guessing completely: What sort of movies have you been going back to reference or homage this next season? I know last season, you said Predator, which seemed so bizarre to me. But now you see the Wookiee Hunt episodes, and I get it: Predator. But it was nice guessing about that. What about this season?

DF: This season, I feel like we’ve hit a really strong stride with The Clone Wars where we have a great understanding now of what it takes to make a really great episode. I think it just depends on which kind of story we are doing. I went back and actually watched the films like Chinatown because I felt like we could have done better when we did the political corruption episodes that we did. We’re not doing very many of those story anymore, if any, but I thought, “That’s a really great example of how you do it.” A lot of ways, too, with Yojimbo, there’s a lot of root corruption going on, which is a motivator for the story. A lot of Sanjiro, too. Kurosawa is always an influence. It was an influence on George [Lucas], so it’s always good to go back and stay up on those films. Joel [Aron] and I are constantly referencing The Third Man in regards to lighting. You got to push the lighting.

BSR!: You did a Harry Lime-less The Third Man episode…

DF: Yeah, kinda. So those are the kind of things I’ve been looking at. And more popular culture, I’m paying attention to what a lot of other people are doing, a lot of other people attempting CG TV series, and I’ve been going to the summer films. It’s fun and you never know what’s going to influence you or not. I watch Game of Thrones, and thought that was great. It was really interesting to see how they told that story. Always watching… Doctor Who, I’ve been watching quite a bit. I found a lot of relativity between what we’ve done and what they’re doing. They’re trying to do this science fiction story epic on a TV scale, but they want to make it feel bigger and I think it does. It’s interesting to see because we both deal with logic that can be difficult at times. How is the audience going to understand what the hero is going through and how they come out of it?

BSR!: Like ‘Blink’?

DF: That episode was fantastic.

BSR!: ..where you could struggle with what the hero was dealing with without seeing the hero.

DF: Right there. The Doctor wasn’t even the main character. It was very interesting.

BSR!: With Season Three, since last we talked, I don’t want to talk too much about it, but my blood is up about it: it’s the continuity stuff. How can you make a definitive statement to say this is this, and that was that. Can you?

DF: [laughs] I don’t know that I can. I make my TV series and it works with George Lucas’ films. That’s the intention of it, and that’s George’s intention. There are all kinds of great stories being made in Star Wars. I think people underestimate what a massive operation it really is, and all the creative talents coming to it. In all the time in little ways, we’re doing things to stay in line with each other. I think it’s a growing process but at the end of the day, my task is, “Does George like this show?” and he really likes the show. That’s the beginning, middle, end of it for me. And I like the show. We’ve really grown in making this series. It’s just a process. I understand when people think that things have gone out of continuity, but we’re trying to serve as a story and tell stories that we need to tell. When we can fit things together, we do. When we can’t, we can’t shy away from doing what must be done. That’s about how it is.

BSR!: How much regular input does George have? Is he still in all the writing meetings, pitching stories?

DF: He’s letting go to a certain degree, but I always go over all the stories with him. He comes in and watches all the color final with me. But I have a lot of oversight over the whole thing. Christian [Taylor] and I have been handling the writing in a major way. That’s the whole purpose of us. George entrusts us with this project and we make it the way that he taught me. We fly a bit more on our own now but any question that I have, I can always just drop him a line. It’s not difficult at all to get a hold of him. Like I said, it’s always his universe. It’s not that difficult – to stay in keeping with what he wants. The filmmaker’s logic that we’ve learned and we apply, it works on the show.

BSR!: As far as the stuff in season four coming up, the first arc is the Mon Calamari stuff. What challenges did you guys have? A lot of people are going to compare it to the two minutes they saw in the Genndy Tartakovsky series. How much of it was patterned after that? Did you look at that much?

DF: No, we really didn’t. We don’t refer to that series really ever. It’s not a point of reference for us. It’s not to say that we don’t enjoy it. I watched it when it came on and I enjoyed it, but we’re doing the cinematic version of it for our series. We had to create these cities and the culture. It’s funny – I’ll say it’s a completely different thing. It might look really similar by nature of the subject matter.

BSR!: You’ve got that one two-minute episode, and maybe four lines of dialogue, and it seems similar insofar as the setting and some of the people involved.

DF: Absolutely, Kit Fisto is a no brainer. So I think in regards to that, there were some similarities. They used Kit Fisto, let’s use Kit Fisto and honor that idea. I like the designs they had done for the Quarren soldiers, so I instructed the designer, Killian [Plunkett], “You should look at this stuff and what Hasbro had done,” and keep ours in line with that. The Mon Cal soldiers, we made them a lot more high tech looking than what had been seen before because they seem like a pretty high tech people. We see Mon Calamari star cruisers. It’s all kinds of decisions you make when you’re making your film. I think both exist nicely – they’re both exciting stories to watch.

BSR!: You mentioned last night, Boba Fett. He’s never been necessarily my favorite character. Fetts always tend to have very anticlimactic endings, but we’re seeing Boba Fett grow on the show. From where we’ve seen him last on The Clone Wars, the next time we see him is standing next to Jabba in A New Hope. You’ve got a lot of room to work there. How far do you see yourself taking the evolution of Boba Fett on this show?

DF: I think we really warmed up to Boba and the concept of playing with his character. We did the arc in season two. Just as Ahsoka got older, Boba will be a little bit older. I think that opened up different doors for us. He’s a really interesting character. What I like about him the most is that when I get into a story with him, we can really play up that Dollars trilogy, Sergio Leone vibe. I really enjoy that. There’s such a great feeling to those old Westerns.

BSR!: He’s got a The Outlaw Josey Wales thing. You guys killed my family, and I’m gonna screw all of you up.

DF: That idea – where does his morality really lie? At what point does he decide that he’ll just do the job, or if he realizes that the job is not morally correct, does he take the job? I think that those are some interesting concepts for him to struggle with, especially growing up in the shadow of Jango Fett, who was a really well known bounty hunter. There’s room there, and I think we approach it respectfully when we get into it on the show.

BSR!: Are you guys going to be exploring much of Boba’s sense of that every time he’s staring at a clone, he’s looking the mirror at both himself and his dad?

DF: I don’t think we get too much into that in the future. We looked at that when he was a lot younger because it is interesting. The clones themselves are really interesting, I have to say. The idea that we’ve been able to give them personalities, to be very individual. You really feel that Rex, Fives, and Hardcase are different clones. Dee Baker is a testament to how good he is with his voice but it is interesting that people accept them as different. People get very attached to those individual personalities. The clones are fantastic to work with. We’re always doing a big arc story with them.

BSR!: Dee mentioned that the big arc that he got to do bothered him – there was some moral quandaries.

DF: Very emotional, yeah.

BSR!: Can you talk at all about the sorts of stuff that we might see that might give Dee pause.

DF: [Laughs] I don’t know if I can. It’s a testament to Dee’s commitment to the characters that he got so involved in portraying them. He really allowed himself to embody these soldiers out there. It’s something that I always take seriously: a lot of servicemen and women come up to us at conventions and say they really like the portrayal of the soldiers, and the clones, and the dilemmas you show they go through. It’s an important aspect of the show.

Again, I think people really like, say, Captain Rex. He’s almost the everyman on the show. He doesn’t have the super abilities that Anakin and Obi-wan have. If Rex is going to get out of a situation, he’s going to do it through guts and muscle and his wits. That’s really compelling, and it’s really draining when we have him in these extreme situations – how does Rex get out of them? I think the audience is always a little more on edge because I’ve shown in the show that I’m not afraid to take one of them out. That was true with Echo, and a lot of people felt like Echo should have had a bigger, more heroic death. Unfortunately, that’s not always how that works, is it? He’s doing his duty, like Obi-wan says in Revenge of the Sith, “They’re doing their jobs so we can do ours.” It’s a hard lesson, but I think Echo would say that he died giving his all as a character, trying to save that group, get them off the Citadel. And I forget that Dee’s all those guys. I feel bad – I tell him that I keep killing off his characters, but at least he’s still there, so he’s never going to run out.

BSR!: One of the things I’ve noticed you’re very good at, particularly with Ahsoka – something happens to Ahsoka to take her out of the story, whether she dies or moves on, or escapes Order 66. I’ve got a thousand possibilities of what can happen. But the most likely scenario is that she is probably going to die. I think that’s an expectation that everybody has and I think you’re very good at playing with that expectation and putting Ahsoka in these situations where “Oh, is she… no, it’s not” – you get really concerned. I’ve got worked up watching Ahsoka get into situations that I thought she’d never get out of. Anakin throws her into the same situations, and I feel that the second I put that guard down with “Oh, she’s safe, that’s never gonna happen”, that’s when she’s going to get it.

DF: She’s a very interesting story. I’m really excited about some of the things we’re doing with her and her development as a character. When she first shows up now when you go back and watch The Clone Wars movie, she feels so young. Her behavior and her attitude: so young. And now, after the end of ‘Wookiee Hunt,’ she’s a much more mature different character. I think it’s a credit to Ashley [Eckstein] and her performances as Ahsoka that has changed and gotten wiser over the years and how she portrays her and the writing of Ahsoka which has changed. Our ability to take this girl, which some fans thought, “I’m not too sure about this character” or “She annoyes me”, and now people are like “Please don’t kill her! Please don’t do that” and “What’s going to happen to her?” It’s great that they’re concerned about her. They’re concerned for Rex, they’re concerned for her. But you never know. I work on that dilemma all the time because I want to make sure that whatever happens, it will be proper.

BSR!: I think everybody’s excited to see what that is, whatever it is.

Here’s another interview we did at Comic-Con about The Clone Wars. This time, we spoke with Dee Bradley Baker. For those unfamiliar, Dee is the voice of every single Clone on the show, as well as Bossk and all kinds of other monsters and anywhere else they can use him.

Dee is also a great fan of the show and offered us some tantalizing tidbits about future arcs. (Who knows how fast we’ll see them, though.)

Here’s our interview with him from The Clone Wars Season 4 premiere event:

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit he dropped in that video was that Walter Murch (THX-1138, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather) was directing an episode of the Umbara arc. It’s been long known he was directing an episode, but knowing that he’s directing an episode full of war and challenging Clone trooper action and emotion is incredibly thrilling to the film buff in me.

Then, we have the interview of Dee that we did at Comic-Con where he elaborates on the Umbara arc quite a bit. The more I hear about it, the more it seems like this story is going to be the benchmark Season 4 will be held up to. (And special thanks to JawaJames from Club Jade (GONK) for helping me with the transcription of this interview.)

Big Shiny Robot! So, what can’t you tell us?

Dee Bradley Baker: A lot of it is the same stuff we keep saying. It’s more cinematic than previous seasons. It’s more substantial, it’s more of everything that I personally really like about the series. There’s a four episode arc that has got mostly clones and it’s very intense. It’s stunningly good.

BSR!: That’s what Joel [Aron] said. There’s a lot more on this season.

DBB: Yeah. I like it – you got clones, you got action, you got stuff happening. That’s what I like.

BSR!: Do you know what they’re showing at the panel?

DBB: Today, they’re going to show you snippets – chunks of scenes that are coming up in the new season. A bit from the underwater sequence, that is from the opening arc. There are more two and three episode arcs that fit beautifully together into movies, like the Nightsisters trio from last year. I loved that particularly, and I got to see that shown as a movie, back to back. To me, you increasingly see the show becoming – like these three little pieces lock together perfectly into movies. Maybe that’s leading to something, I don’t know. It seems to be, to me, going that way. It’s becoming more like, “I’m watching a movie.” It’s not a cartoon, it’s not like anything else on television. It’s a Star Wars movie, is what I’m watching. So there’s an underwater sequence, an ice planet sequence that looks quite beautiful, and I can’t remember what the other sequences are.

BSR!: I was wondering if there was anything specific about it where you could talk about your involvement. One thing I’m curious about, and a lot of people know, is that you’re the voice of the clones, but you do so much more than that on the show. You did Bossk, what else have you done on the show?

DBB: Bossk, Queen Karina…

BSR!: Those were good episodes.

DBB: God, I loved those episodes. The Geonosian episodes were really cool.

BSR!: Is there anything from season four that you’ve voiced that’s not a clone that you can talk to us about?

DBB: It’s hard for me to remember. The thing is, that I’ve recorded the stuff like a year ago, and I haven’t seen it, except for the four part story arc that I just saw.

BSR!: And you guys have been recording in the past month or two, right?

DBB: We pretty much record something, maybe once, maybe twice a month. It’s spaced out but it’s constantly going. I wanted to get up to the Ranch to see some of these things before I came down here. I’m not on a The Clone Wars panel per se, but I knew there would be some interviews and things. I want to have some idea of what’s coming down the pipe. Because normally as voice actors, we don’t get to see anything until it airs, if then. I usually don’t even have time to watch it if it airs. Clone Wars, though, that’s one of my shows I absolutely watch, because my eleven-year-old absolutely demands it too, so we both watch it together.

BSR!: I do Clone Wars with my nine-year-old.

DBB: There’s some really awesome stuff. As the story continues to evolve, as we get closer to episode III, the question of what happens to Ahsoka and what happens to Rex – that’s what I want to see.

BSR!: Here’s a hypothetical story question for you: You’re the voice of the clones, so you have to think about all this stuff. Do you think they know the details of Order 66 before they’re given it. Do you think they know?

DBB: I, myself, don’t think so. I don’t think Dave has indicated so, but Dave could say more for sure. I don’t think that they know. That’s my guess. But I would say that the tension between the clones and their Jedi masters starts to become apparent in this new season. It’s a shocking moment when the order is called, and all of a sudden it’s like “Clones are killing Jedi? What the? Where did that come from?” But you will begin to see, from what I’ve seen.. okay. They’re starting to say: “Look at this war. Look at this whole setup, look at where we are, look at where this is going.”

BSR!: So maybe they’ve got a sense of it?

DBB: From what I can see, that begins to become… they’re smart fellas. They’re smart, they think on their feet, they’re flexible. They’re not just robots, they’re humans. That’s also a big part of the four part Umbara arc that I just saw. They couldn’t not be thinking this. “Where’s this all headed?” [laughs] I wish I could give you more details.

BSR!: And that’s why I say it would be great if we could do this kind of stuff after screenings. I struggle with “What could I say that he can possibly answer?” Especially since you haven’t necessarily seen everything.

DBB: Oh, I haven’t. Whole episodes, whole arcs.

BSR!: Is that frustrating, working in the dark on something this cool?

DBB: It goes with the territory with most animation. With a few shows like the SpongeBob show, which we record as an ensemble, I feel like I’ve seen a version of it because we all performed it together. Sometimes we have episodes like that here too.

BSR!: There’s some episodes, some of the better episodes, where you’re performing everything by yourself.

DBB: Right, and I feel like I see it as I perform it. I really had to see this particular arc, the Umbara arc, because it really bothered me. I’ve never been bothered by anything that I’ve done in voice acting, by a script or by what’s going on. But what was going on in this particular story arc bothered me. It got to me. In a sense that what these clones were going through, and what they had to endure, and what was going on from their standpoint – it was pretty horrible, and pretty difficult, and I didn’t like going back into that.

BSR!: So, not bothered you as in, “Oh, I didn’t like the script”?

DBB: No, it was awesome, it was fantastic.

BSR!: It bothered you personally, as a performer getting into those characters and that it was taking you to a really dark place.

DBB: Having to bring that kind of stuff up, I don’t usually have to do that. In the stuff I usually do, if it’s intense or dark or difficult, it’s usually just for one character maybe. Here, it’s an entire squad of these guys that are going through this and they have discussions amongst themselves and difficulties about “How are we going to do this? Are we going to do it this way? No, we’re not going to. We can’t do that way, we HAVE to do it this way. No, we can’t do that, it’s against our code, we can’t do that. No, we gotta do it. This is our orders, and we got to do it.” It’s that kind of stuff where I’ve got to bring up the reality of all sides of this argument and then put everyone into the fire, so to speak.

BSR!: Sounds like a lot of fun?

DBB: It’s awesome fun. It’s an awesome challenge and it’s awesome fun. But I personally found it a little aggravating just because of what it brings up in me and that’s unusual. I guess I’m just saying that what these guys go through is uniquely difficult in this particular arc.

BSR!: I can’t wait to see it.

DBB: I wish you could see it. I hope that when you see it, you see it in pristine condition, on a big screen, digitally projected, all four back to back.

BSR!: I wish I could see that too. I saw the season three premiere at the Presidio.

DBB: I’m so proud of that.

BSR!: Those were very good episodes.

DBB: That was awesome.

BSR!: I’m hoping to get an invitation to see the season four premiere, too.

DBB: I do too, and I’ll try to be up there. Actually, I think the premiere is going to be at the Long Beach Aquarium, as I understand it, because it’s the underwater arc. I don’t necessarily know everything, but that’s what they were telling me. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

BSR!: I haven’t been disappointed in the show at all. There’s been a few episodes that lulled a little bit. Overall, the show is still some of the best stuff on TV, period.

DBB: It is. It’s unfortunate, or maybe it’s telling, that the show is really not recognized in a big way by the awards shows. They really pass it over, and I think there’s a lot of political reasons for that. But I think that’s unfortunate, because, like you said, this show is unlike anything else out there, in live action or animation. And not that there aren’t other good shows, but it’s a really unique, remarkable show. And it’s going to get even better.

BSR!: I can’t wait.

DBB: Me too. [laughs]

The new season starts Friday, September 16 on Cartoon Network. You can read my review of the premiere here.

Check back later for an interview with Dave Filoni about Season 4!

There will be another post, chock full of pictures and video, that will cover the actual premiere event. In the meantime, I have the very first review from The Clone Wars – Season 4.

The premiere comprised of two episodes cut together, Water War and Gungan Attack. You’ve all seen the trailers and, as the names imply, we’re treated with two solid episodes of underwater action.

The Quarren and the Mon Calamari are in the middle of their own civil war, with the Republic siding with the Mon Cals and the Separatists siding with the Quarren. The Separatist “Ambassador” is a shark-like Carcadon and is really just a military stooge of Count Dooku’s, hoping to enslave as much of the planet as possible once it’s in Separatist hands.

Fortunately for the Mon Calamari and the Republic, Anakin, Padme, Ahsoka, and Kit Fisto are nearby and able to help.

Gungan Attack takes the battle further when the Republic has been routed and no longer has any remaining clones outfitted for underwater combat. They go to the one place they know where an aquatic race has a standing army ready to deploy: Naboo.

That’s about all you need to know as far as the story goes, what you really need to brace yourselves for is another monumental improvement in images, animation, and quality in the show. These two episodes, projected on a theatre screen, have a breathtaking amount of detail and depth and the colors are so vibrant and well designed it’s preposterous. 95% of these episodes occur underwater and you can feel it in every frame, from debris floating between the subject and the camera to the way the light seems so much more dense. You never, for a second, forget your environment, and everything in the episodes enhances that feeling. I was reminded more than a few times of Jaws, particularly the moments where Matt Hooper is in the shark cage and then trying to hide from the shark on the bottom of the ocean.

As a villain, the Carcadon general was almost terrifying in some instances. His shrieking growl was particularly shiver-inducing, my compliments to the sound crew. There’s an entire sequence that takes place in a swirling vortex of sand and water and it was…well, you’ll have to see it to believe it.

There were so many other impressive touches though, it’s hard to not list them all. One of my favorites was the way the holograms looked underwater. They had more physicality to them, but were also more distorted. It was a great touch.

These episodes might also be the biggest you’ve seen. There were hundreds of characters on screen in the midst of massive battles, explosions everywhere, blaster bolts careening this way and that, vehicles swooping in from that side to this… It was easily the most dense I’ve ever seen this show. The level of detail and carnage in these episodes makes Landing at Point Rain look like child’s play.

As the animation and battle scenes take an evolutionary step forward, so too does the show itself and the stakes raised for all the characters involved. The days where the only casualties were clones or droids were over. Palpatine’s game has spun wildly out of control, manipulating ordinarily peaceful people into joining the conflict. Wrapped up in the web of lies are the Jedi. The Jedi aren’t just killing droids indiscriminately now, the price they pay for keeping the peace includes killing living, breathing beings who are guilty of nothing more than being manipulated by Dooku and Sidious. A lot of work went into making you realize that the Quarren weren’t the bad guys here, and every time a Jedi killed one, there was a cost to it.

People are dying. There are consequences to actions.

This is a huge step for this show, and I’m glad to have the show back.

The season premiere (which airs Friday, September 16 on Cartoon Network) ends on a cliffhanger that will be paid off the next week, but the last shot of Gungan Attack might be one of the strongest images in the entire series. I don’t want to tell you where it ends, but things are bleak. After a battle inside a swirling water vortex, two characters are left talking in their retreat. The only thing more inspiring than the moment is the lighting. As the characters swim away, the lights on them highlight the emotion and fade away, both into the darkness and the end of the episode. It was pretty incredible.

The storytelling on the show has taken another quantum leap forward and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us for the rest of the season.

Guest author Kondroid (and yours truly) are here with our third part of this year’s Comiket coverage – The Cosplay of Comiket!

No one is entirely certain who started cosplay, but there is little doubt about who perfected it. Japanese cosplayers are legendary in their design, creation, and modeling of one of the ultimate forms of fan devotion: dressing up and becoming your favorite character.

Cosplaying in Japan is a little different from cosplaying overseas. The cosplay community here is a tight knit group, with a very rigid set of self imposed guidelines in place to preserve the good name of the art. As was previously mentioned in our Guide To Surviving Comiket, one does not simply turn up to an event already in costume (as most of us would do at a western con). To walk around on the streets in costume is a major no-no in Japan. Cosplaying is to be done only in certain predetermined areas and only at certain times – so as not to “inconvenience” the general public by creating a spectacle. Similarly, certain costumes are only welcomed at the appropriate events, especially in the case of themed events (that means that while your Resident Evil zombie cosplay group would fit in perfectly at Tokyo Game Show, it wouldn’t be quite so well received at, say, a Hetalia meet up… unless the people at the event are EXTREMELY familiar with a certain game mode of Call Of Duty… which is highly unlikely).

The reason for such strict regulations is because cosplaying is often associated with Otaku in Japan. And in Japan, to be publicly identified as an Otaku is one of the worst fears many closet fans have. I won’t go into details as to why, as there are many a write up about the subject in existence on the internet already, but suffice it to say there have been some very bad things done in Japan by people who have been identified as Otaku. This is the main reason why the public at large do not hold them in very high regard (“fear and loathing” would be a better description of the popular opinion).

Regardless, the cosplay community in Japan seeks to restore some dignity to their hobby-lifestyle by exhibiting their skill at numerous cosplay events around the country every year. Comiket, as one of the largest cosplay events, is host to some of the greatest examples of high level cosplay you’ll ever see. At this three day cosplay extravaganza you’ll even be able to witness cosplay celebrities displaying their latest creations.

The cosplay sections of Comiket usually wrap up an hour before the actual con does, but there’s nothing saying the day is done for the people in costume. Across the street is a private cosplay event only open to those in character… or willing to fork out ¥2000 (USD $20) for entry. There, cosplayers are free from the prying eyes of the public to pose and shoot the night away. (This event usually goes until about 10 PM every night of the convention.) Afterwards, if you know people who know people, you might be able to find your way to the “dan-pa”, or “cosplay Dance Party”, which goes on to early morning. It’s here that you can see hundreds of cosplayers in a dark strobe lite room swaying to anime songs in an odd but amazing mass-synchronized routine that everyone somehow seems to be familiar with… no matter what the song is.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get to the private “after con” events, but Comiket itself had more than enough cosplay to feast our eyes on.

Check out our gallery from this year’s Comiket yourself! Enjoy!

It’s time for another contest!

We’ll be giving away a Blu-ray copy of Green Lantern Emerald Knights to one lucky reader!

This was a great addition to the DC Animated Universe and featured the voices of Nathan Fillion, Henry Rollins, and Rowdy Roddy Piper. It was easily the best Green Lantern film that came out this year.

To enter, all you need to do is shoot us an email at editor (at) bigshinyrobot.com. Make the subject line read “HEY POOZER!”

AND: For an extra chance to win, you can go to our facebook page and invite all of your friends to like us. Or you can ask your followers on twitter to follow us @BigShinyRobot. Just be sure to mention in your email that you’ve done it.

The contest closes on Monday, August 29th, so be sure to get your entries in!

If you don’t want to wait to see if you’ve won, you can snag it on Amazon now.

Good luck!

We’ve heard a lot less this year about The Clone Wars going into Season 4 than we have in previous years and, in a lot of ways, I’m glad for it. We’ll be much more surprised by what we see.

Speaking of surprises, in my email this morning I received this trailer and a premiere date for this season. You’d better believe that Big Shiny Robot!s coverage will be better than ever. As we lead up to the season, we have interviews coming with Dave Filoni, Joel Aron, and Dee Bradley Baker. And I’ll be on hand for the Season Premiere event with the cast and crew next month. This is where you’ll find the best coverage of the show anywhere.

Doesn’t this trailer really deliver? That stuff with Anakin might be what I’m looking most forward to. He’s always been my favorite character (even before the prequels) and his fall has always been by far the most fascinating story to me. When they’ve hinted at it on the show, those have always been my favorite moments and I’ve got the chills thinking about how many more we’ll get this season.

From the press release:

Following the excitement of a thrilling Season Three finale that brought back one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars universe, Cartoon Network today announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars will premiere 22 all-new episodes for Season Four of the critically acclaimed CG-animated series from creator George Lucas and Lucasfilm Animation. The special, one-hour Season Four premiere event of Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs Friday, September 16, at 8 p.m. (et/pt).

Are you a child of the 80’s?  If so, then you will be thrilled to know that M.A.S.K., the Complete Original Series debuted on DVD this earlier week.  The boxed set contains 12 DVDs with 65 episodes and retrospective featurettes.

But the real question is . . . how well does the series—which originally aired in 1985—hold up?

As I’ve said before, M.A.S.K. has one of the best opening sequences I’ve ever seen.  As often as I’ve heard the song, I’ve yet to tire of it.  And, once you load the DVD and the title menus appear, you’re greeted by screens resembling a computer.   Choosing from the episodes listed sort of evokes the feeling of choosing the M.A.S.K. agents “best suited for this mission.”

While the nostalgia factor is certainly there, after watching several episodes a few things may get tiresome very quickly. For example, I really cannot stand Dusty Hayes’ country boy accent.  Lines like “Well bust my britches!  They’re V.E.N.O.M. varmints!” make this very easy to understand.  Also, Bruce Sato’s fortune cookie wisdom seems a bit stereotyped and out of place.

The episodes follow a pretty simple formula:  evil V.E.N.O.M. agents seek some object to use for, you guessed it, evil, and the good M.A.S.K. guys try to stop them.  Led by multimillionaire Matt Trakker, the best agents are chosen by the super computer and summoned by handy wristwatches that blink when there is work to do.  Whether they’re bathing a dog or putting a pizza in the oven, they immediately stop what they’re doing and dash to headquarters (often to the dismay of customers, bosses, taxi drivers, etc.)

Oh, and as they’re seated around the massive table in the secret lair, some really cool masks come down from the ceiling.

Scott Trakker, Matt’s disobedient son, always manages to sneak out and join the missions.  He and his trusty sidekick (a nervous robot named T-bob), and the pair provides much of the comic relief in each episode.  They also manage to help the M.A.S.K. agents as often as hindering them.

The music accompanying each episode is all 80’s, with a very electronic sound that reminded me a bit of my soundtrack to The Neverending Story.  And, interestingly enough, each episode still contains the little clips that appeared before and after each commercial break with one of the characters saying “M.A.S.K. will be right back!”  There’s also a segment at the end of each episode that serves as a PSA and reminds us to buckle our seat belts or look both ways before crossing the street.

Each episode is chock full of non-stop action, with the first episode involving a Jeep diving off a cliff into a river.  Every kind of vehicle imaginable appears, from trucks to motorcycles to boats to jets, and the powers of the M.A.S.K. helmets contribute to some complex fight sequences.  No wonder this show grabbed my imagination as a kid.  (And yes, I still have my Manta vehicle with Vanessa Warfield figure).

The voice acting is a bit cringe-worthy, but overall I say M.A.S.K. is worth a visit to the past.  The opening sequence—with that catchy song—more than makes up for any deficiencies in the show.  I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the series, though it is certainly a different experience viewing it as an adult.

The boxed set can be purchased here at Amazon or wherever DVDs are sold.

For those of you watching Young Justice, you know it’s the latest DC cartoon that Warner Brothers animation has knocked out of the park. And it’s a favorite around here. And that’s why we’re so excited to be involved in this giveaway. We’ll be giving away THREE copies of Young Justice, Season 1 – Volume 1 to three lucky readers.

To enter, all you need to do is shoot us an email at editor (at) bigshinyrobot.com. Make the subject “YOUNG JUSTICE” For an extra chance to win, you can go to our facebook page and invite all of your friends to like us. Or you can ask your followers on twitter to follow us @BigShinyRobot. Just be sure to mention in your email that you’ve done it.

The contest closes on Monday, August 15th, so be sure to get your entries in!

If you don’t want to wait to see if you’ve won, you can snag it on Amazon now.

Good luck!