Template:Short description Template:Infobox television
Justice League is an American animated television series which ran from November 17, 2001, to May 29, 2004, on Cartoon Network.[1] The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics. It serves as a sequel to Batman: The Animated Series (including The New Batman Adventures) and Superman: The Animated Series, as well as a prequel to Batman Beyond, and is the seventh series of the DC Animated Universe. The series ended after two seasons, but was followed by Justice League Unlimited, a successor series which aired for three seasons.
Overview
Bruce Timm, who co-produced Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series in the 1990s, became producer on an animated series focusing on the Justice League. The roster consisted of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), The Flash (Wally West), Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz), and Hawkgirl.[1]
According to audio commentary on the DVD release of Season 2, the second-season finale "Starcrossed" was expected to be the final episode of the series. However, in February 2004, Cartoon Network announced a follow-up series, Justice League Unlimited, which premiered on July 31, 2004, and featured a larger roster of characters.
It is the first series in the DC Animated Universe to fully use digital ink and paint, also the first to be produced in widescreen starting in Season 2.
Production
Kevin Conroy reprised his voice role as Batman from Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995), The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999), and Batman Beyond (1999–2001). Batman's costume was redesigned, but this time, his costume was a combination of his last three costumes. The same costume from The New Batman Adventures is retained, but with the blue highlights from the Batman: The Animated Series costume and the long-ears from the Batman Beyond costume are added to the costume. Tim Daly, who voiced Superman in Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000), was initially involved, but he was unable to continue his role due to involvement with The Fugitive.[2] He was replaced by George Newbern. Both Newbern and Daly have voiced the character in different DC projects outside the DCAU, with Newbern becoming the longest-running actor to portray Superman.
Alongside Kevin Conroy and George Newbern as Superman, joining the rest of the main cast is Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Maria Canals-Barrera as Hawkgirl, Phil Lamarr as John Stewart, Michael Rosenbaum replacing Charlie Schlatter as Wally West / The Flash and Carl Lumbly as J'onn J'onnz / Martian Manhunter.
Several actors in previous DCAU media also reprise their roles, including Dana Delany as Lois Lane, David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth, Shelley Fabares and Mike Farrell as Jonathan and Martha Kent, Mark Hamill as The Joker, Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, Corey Burton as Brainiac, Ron Perlman as Clayface, Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, Peri Gilpin as Volcana, Diane Pershing as Poison Ivy, Mark Rolston as Firefly, Ted Levine as Sinestro, Brian George as Parasite, Michael Ironside as Darkseid, Michael Dorn as Kalibak, Lisa Edelstein as Mercy Graves, and Brad Garrett as Lobo. Due to budgetary reasons in the episode "Hereafter", Corey Burton served as a substitute for Bud Cort as Toyman and Malcolm McDowell as Metallo, although both Cort and McDowell would reprise their roles in Justice League Unlimited. Likewise, Maria Canals (who provides the voice for Hawkgirl) voiced Livewire in the same episode, instead of Lori Petty.
Art by Bruce Timm and Alex Ross.
Most of the characters retained their general comic book origins and continuity, with some notable changes. In the Justice League series continuity, the premiere story arc "Secret Origins" revises the plot of Diana's competition against her fellow Amazons to be the ambassador of peace to man's world, and she is referred to as a "rookie" superhero during her first encounter with the League. (Subsequent episodes touched on her attempts to adjust to her new world). In an interview segment on the Season One DVD, Bruce Timm stated that he initially ran into some legal issues in using the Wonder Woman character, but he was adamant that she be used in the series. Additionally, the character of The Flash was portrayed as somewhat younger and significantly more brash than his comic book counterpart, taking on a number of personality traits of Wally West, who provides a similar comic relief function in the JLA comics. Major changes were also made to the Hawkgirl character. She became romantically involved with the John Stewart Green Lantern as the series progressed.
Superman was initially redesigned to have a bit of a squint to his eyes as well as cheekbones that were meant to make him look older than he did in Superman The Animated Series. Fans did not like the older appearance and in the second season the squint, grey streak and cheekbones were removed, in essence reverting Superman to his earlier animated look. As an in-joke, Superman's season one facial designs are used for an older Jor-El in the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything". Furthermore, a common complaint in the first season of Justice League was Superman's powers being toned down even more than in Superman: The Animated Series. He was portrayed as unnaturally weak and vulnerable to harm with most episodes showing him being defeated by foes he should not have a problem with. This was changed from the second season onwards, where his strength and durability were increased.
Although the series itself is animated in traditional 2-dimensional style, the opening credits are rendered in 3D with toon shading. The intro is a "stock" intro used throughout the series until Justice League Unlimited premieres.
Episodes
Template:Main Template:Series overview File:Justice League - Wonder Woman Saves The Day - DC Kids.webm
Voice cast
Main cast
Home media
From 2006 to 2011, Warner Home Video (via DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) released the entire series of Justice League on DVD and Blu-ray, and presented in original broadcast version and story arc continuity order.
Season releases
| Name | Disc | Release Date | Ep # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season One | DVD | March 21, 2006 | 26 | Contains a set of 4 DVDs with all of the episodes from the first season as well as audio commentaries, interviews, and other special features. |
| Season One | Blu-ray | August 19, 2008 | 26 | Season One has been re-mastered and re-issued as a set of 3 Blu-ray Discs (in full 1080p and with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound) with everything included on the prior release. |
| Season Two | DVD | June 20, 2006 | 26 | Contains a set of 4 DVDs with all of the episodes from the second season as well as audio commentaries and a panel discussion involving the production team of the series (although the set packaging indicates a featurette hosted by voice actor Phil LaMarr, it is misprinted, the featurette is on Disc One instead of Disc Four). Despite the show having been produced in a widescreen format this release lacks anamorphic encoding. |
| Season Two | Blu-ray | July 26, 2011 | 26 | Warner Home Video released Season Two on a two-disc (50GB each) Blu-ray set. |
Warner Home Video also released another DVD set titled Justice League: The Complete Series. It contained all 91 episodes of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited on a 15-disc set with the 15th disc containing a bonus documentary. This was later re-packaged and sold as a 10-disc set without the bonus documentary.
- Individual releases
| DVD name | Release date | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| Justice League | April 23, 2002 | Contains all three parts of "Secret Origins". A mini-DVD version of this disc has also been released. |
| Justice on Trial | April 22, 2003 | Contains "In Blackest Night" and "The Enemy Below". |
| Paradise Lost | July 22, 2003 | Contains "Paradise Lost" and "War World". |
| Starcrossed The Movie[3] | July 13, 2004 | Contains "Starcrossed" in both widescreen and fullscreen. |
| The Brave and the Bold | October 19, 2004 | Contains episodes "The Brave and the Bold" and "Injustice For All". |
- Boxsets
| DVD name | Release date | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| The Justice League Collection | April 13, 2004 | Contains previous "Secret Origins", "Paradise Lost", and "Justice on Trial" DVDs |
| Challenge of the Super Friends to Justice League: | April 13, 2004 | Contains the previously released "Justice League" (Secret Origins) DVD along with two Super Friends discs in a slip-case. |
| Justice League - The Complete Series | June 20, 2006 | Contains Justice League seasons 1 & 2 along with Justice League Unlimited seasons 1 & 2. (Blu-ray/DVD release) |
| Justice League: 3-Pack Fun | July 19, 2011 | Contains "The Brave and the Bold" and "Injustice For All" As well as the Justice League Unlimited episodes: * "For The Man Who Has Everything" * "The Return," * "The Greatest Story Never Told," the Young Justice episodes: * "Independence Day" * "Fireworks," * "Welcome To Happy Harbor" * "Drop Zone". |
Soundtrack
A 4-disc soundtrack of musical highlights from both seasons of Justice League was released by La-La Land Records in July 2016. It is a limited edition of 3000 units and can be ordered at the La-La Land Records website.[4] The set includes tracks from fan-favorite episodes like A Better World, Hereafter, Wild Cards and Starcrossed.
La-La Land are hoping to release a soundtrack for Justice League Unlimited as well, provided that sales of the Justice League soundtrack improve significantly and that there is sufficient demand from fans.[5][6] A second Justice League volume may also follow if fans support the existing release.
Broadcast history
Template:Expand section The series premiere on November 17, 2001, set a Cartoon Network record with over 4.114 million viewers. This made it the channel's highest rated premiere ever, a record it would keep until September 13, 2009, when the world premiere of Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins gathered over 6.108 million viewers.
The show was aired in the Republic of Ireland on TG4 in both Irish and English from 6 September 2002 to 2007.[7]
Reception
Justice League Season 1 received acclaim for its portrayal of the superhero team and its engaging storytelling. WhatCulture praised the season for its exceptional execution, and highlighted the series' mature handling of themes such as relationships, trauma, and loss, which contributed to its broad appeal across different age groups.[8] Den of Geek highlighted the show’s effective team dynamics, drawing a favorable comparison to Star Trek: The Next Generation for its exploration of character relationships.[9] The Young Folks admired the show’s versatility, noting its ability to seamlessly shift between emotional, humorous, and epic moments.[10] io9.com also appreciated the charm of the heroes’ initial team-up, benefiting from their backgrounds in previous animated series.[11]
Despite its strengths, the season faced some criticism. CBR noted that the storytelling in Season 1 often felt superficial, with deeper narratives and character development emerging in later seasons.[12] Filip Vukcevic of IGN agreed, pointing out uneven character development as a drawback but still finding the show entertaining overall.[13] Oliver Sava of the AV Club countered this view by praising the expansive nature of the series and its multi-part episodes, which he felt contributed to a strong iteration of the Justice League.[14] Indiewire ranked the show overall as the 20th best animated show of all time.[15]
The second season of Justice League however, is considered to be one of the best seasons of the entire DC Animated Universe, with Oliver Sava from The A.V. Club writing "good enough isn't good enough." "That's the philosophy for Justice League season two, according to producer Bruce Timm on the DVD commentary, and this two-part season opener is the perfect example of that new attitude in action. Just as Batman: The Animated Series set a new standard for solo superhero cartoon excellence, Justice League season two is only eclipsed by Justice League Unlimited as the strongest superhero-team series. Everything is of higher quality this season: the direction, animation, music, sound effects, and most importantly, the stories."[16]
Accolades
Cancelled film
Circa 2004, Bruce Timm announced that a direct-to-video Justice League feature film was being planned. The film was intended to make a bridge between the second season of Justice League to the first season of Justice League Unlimited. The film was planned to reveal how Wonder Woman acquired her Invisible-Jet, and also planned to feature the Crime Syndicate as the main antagonists, an idea that was originally conceived for the two-part episode "A Better World", until the Syndicate was replaced by the Justice Lords.[28] Dwayne McDuffie wrote the script and Andrea Romano assembled the cast, but Warner Bros. finally scrapped the project.[29] In 2010, however, the film's plot was used for the non-DCAU film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths with all references to the continuity of the DC Animated Universe removed. Most notably of these changes is the replacement of John Stewart with Hal Jordan as the Justice League's Green Lantern.
Adaptations
Justice League Adventures
DC Comics published a series of 34-issue numbered comics based on the television series, between 2002 and 2004.
- #34 (2004-08-04): Guardians Against Darkness![30]
Compilations
- Justice League Adventures: The Magnificent Seven (2004-01-01): Includes #3, 6, 10–12.[31]
See also
References
External links
- DC page: TV, comics
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- Justice League at The World's Finest
- League Night a podcast reviewing every episode of the series.
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