I’ve
been a Spider-Man fan since childhood, reading comic books and watching
various animated incarnations of the character- some good, some awful.
With the enormous success of the live action movie, SPIDER-MAN has
been retooled once again for television-- MTV specifically, with CGI
replacing traditional 2D cell animation. Of course, this particular
retooling of the character has been influenced by both the live action
movie, as well as the MTV venue. Stylistically, the TV series falls
somewhere between the look of comic book padded out to three dimensions
and a video game. Personally, I think the look of the show is cool, even
if the implementation of the animation isn’t always perfect.
As
for the storytelling, it is constrained by keeping the episodes to a half
hour time slot- so there isn’t room for too much character development.
However, the shows do zip along nicely and provide a good balance between
action and story. The basic premise of the series finds Peter Parker
(voiced by Neil Patrick Harris) attending Empire State University with
best friend/roommate Harry Osborn (voiced by Ian Ziering) and would-be
girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (voiced by Lisa Loeb). Of course, there are
plenty of villains (both super and otherwise) on the prowl near campus,
all of whom need to be dealt with by your friendly neighborhood
Spider-Man. For those of you that may have missed the MTV airings, SPIDER-MAN:
THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES- SEASON ONE ($30) comes to DVD in a two-disc
set that offers up all thirteen freshman-year episodes.
Disc
one contains the episodes Heroes And Villains, Royal
Scam, Law Of The Jungle, Sword Of Shikata,
Keeping Secrets, Tight Squeeze, Head
Over Heels and The Party. Heroes And Villains
has Spider-Man Square off with a Robin Hood like villain, who is more
popular with everyone than him. Royal Scam features the
Kingpin in a story of Spider-Man being duped into pilfering a high tech
computer chip. Law Of The Jungle involves genetic
manipulation, which leads Spider-Man into conflict with a college
professor who is transformed into The Lizard. Sword Of Shikata
has Spider-Man going toe-to-toe with an ancient warrior in search of a
worthy adversary. Keeping Secrets is what Harry’s new
girlfriend is doing, especially when Spider-Man discovers her illegal
activities. Tight Squeeze finds Peter Parker being held
hostage by former KGB agents, whose only demand is an appearance by
Spider-Man. Head Over Heels involves Peter Parker’s flaky
science lab partner and a malfunctioning invention that leaves her
hallucinating dangerously about a love affair with Spider-Man. The
Party takes place at a frat house, where a nerdy student is
humiliated and transformed- with electrifying results.
Disc
two contains the episodes Flash Memory, Spider-Man
Dis-Sabled, When Sparks Fly, Mind Games Part 1
and Mind Games Part 2. Flash Memory finds
Peter Parker’s old nemesis with a potentially fatal IQ boost. In Spider-Man
Dis-Sabled, Peter Parker videotapes some incriminating evidence,
which leaves an assassin willing to do any thing to get their hands on the
tape- including killing Mary Jane and Harry. When Sparks Fly
marks the return of high voltage villain Electro, whose desire for
companionship leads to a shocking overture to love- that is unless
Spider-Man can stop him. Mind Games Part 1 & 2 finds
Spider-Man coming up against a couple of new foes, as well as a few from
his past who have somehow joined forces- however, the web slinger soon
realizes things aren’t always what they seem.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made all the episodes that comprise SPIDER-MAN:
THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES- SEASON ONE available on DVD in 1.78:1 wide
screen presentations that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays. While the image comes from wholly digital sources, it isn’t
quiet perfect on DVD. There are little inconsistencies in the finer points
of picture, which I would imagine are a result of down-converting hi-def
resolution to that of standard NTSC. In general, the image is a crisp and
well defined as computer-generated animation can be. Colors appear vibrant
and are rendered without any significant problems. Digital compression
artifacts are never a cause for concern. 5.1 channel soundtracks are
provided in both Dolby Digital and DTS varieties. For animated television
fare, the tracks are quite good. Directionality isn’t at the theatrical
level, but everything comes across with a great deal of clarity and zing.
Music is a strong component of the show and is rendered with very good
fidelity. Dialogue is nicely recorded and always completely intelligible.
The differences between Dolby Digital and DTS aren’t significant, but
DTS does produce warmer sound with a tighter bottom end. No other
languages or subtitles are provided.
.
The basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard episode
selection and set up features, as well as some very good supplemental
content, which has been spread across both discs of this two-disc set.
There is an excellent array of commentaries with numerous participants
throughout the course of the episodes. The audio commentaries cover a
range of production topics, although aren’t always screen specific to
the episode at hand. Pop-Up Factoids offer interesting
trivia on a subtitle channel. A DVD-ROM Character Modeler
demonstrates how the series basic CGI character designs can be adapted to
additional characters.
Featurettes
are offered on disc two, including the twenty plus minute The Making
of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, a program that covers some
of the same ground as the audio commentaries. Spider-Man Music: The
Composers runs seven minutes; Spider-Man Tech: Animating
Performance clocks in at thirteen minutes, and Spider-Man
Tech: Creating The Models is twelve minutes in length- all of
which are pretty much self-explanatory. Other brief items include Abandoned
"Spidey-Sense" Test, Initial Mainframe Pitch
and some Rough Animation. Also, there is a multi-angle
feature that looks at how the animation is built up through layers, plus
there is also a gag reel included. An artwork still gallery, plus cast
& crew filmographies close out the supplements.
SPIDER-MAN:
THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES proves to be a pretty cool incarnation of the
popular Marvel comic book character. Columbia TriStar has done a good job
with the season one set, offing a fine presentation and solid supplements.
If you are a fan of the show, or just someone looking to become acquainted
with the series for the first time, you can’t go wrong by picking up a
copy of the DVD set.
I’ve
been a Spider-Man fan since childhood, reading comic books and watching
various animated incarnations of the character- some good, some awful.
With the enormous success of the live action movie, SPIDER-MAN has
been retooled once again for television-- MTV specifically, with CGI
replacing traditional 2D cell animation. Of course, this particular
retooling of the character has been influenced by both the live action
movie, as well as the MTV venue. Stylistically, the TV series falls
somewhere between the look of comic book padded out to three dimensions
and a video game. Personally, I think the look of the show is cool, even
if the implementation of the animation isn’t always perfect.
As
for the storytelling, it is constrained by keeping the episodes to a half
hour time slot- so there isn’t room for too much character development.
However, the shows do zip along nicely and provide a good balance between
action and story. The basic premise of the series finds Peter Parker
(voiced by Neil Patrick Harris) attending Empire State University with
best friend/roommate Harry Osborn (voiced by Ian Ziering) and would-be
girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (voiced by Lisa Loeb). Of course, there are
plenty of villains (both super and otherwise) on the prowl near campus,
all of whom need to be dealt with by your friendly neighborhood
Spider-Man. For those of you that may have missed the MTV airings, SPIDER-MAN:
THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES- SEASON ONE ($30) comes to DVD in a two-disc
set that offers up all thirteen freshman-year episodes.
Disc
one contains the episodes Heroes And Villains, Royal
Scam, Law Of The Jungle, Sword Of Shikata,
Keeping Secrets, Tight Squeeze, Head
Over Heels and The Party. Heroes And Villains
has Spider-Man Square off with a Robin Hood like villain, who is more
popular with everyone than him. Royal Scam features the
Kingpin in a story of Spider-Man being duped into pilfering a high tech
computer chip. Law Of The Jungle involves genetic
manipulation, which leads Spider-Man into conflict with a college
professor who is transformed into The Lizard. Sword Of Shikata
has Spider-Man going toe-to-toe with an ancient warrior in search of a
worthy adversary. Keeping Secrets is what Harry’s new
girlfriend is doing, especially when Spider-Man discovers her illegal
activities. Tight Squeeze finds Peter Parker being held
hostage by former KGB agents, whose only demand is an appearance by
Spider-Man. Head Over Heels involves Peter Parker’s flaky
science lab partner and a malfunctioning invention that leaves her
hallucinating dangerously about a love affair with Spider-Man. The
Party takes place at a frat house, where a nerdy student is
humiliated and transformed- with electrifying results.
Disc
two contains the episodes Flash Memory, Spider-Man
Dis-Sabled, When Sparks Fly, Mind Games Part 1
and Mind Games Part 2. Flash Memory finds
Peter Parker’s old nemesis with a potentially fatal IQ boost. In Spider-Man
Dis-Sabled, Peter Parker videotapes some incriminating evidence,
which leaves an assassin willing to do any thing to get their hands on the
tape- including killing Mary Jane and Harry. When Sparks Fly
marks the return of high voltage villain Electro, whose desire for
companionship leads to a shocking overture to love- that is unless
Spider-Man can stop him. Mind Games Part 1 & 2 finds
Spider-Man coming up against a couple of new foes, as well as a few from
his past who have somehow joined forces- however, the web slinger soon
realizes things aren’t always what they seem.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made all the episodes that comprise SPIDER-MAN:
THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES- SEASON ONE available on DVD in 1.78:1 wide
screen presentations that features the anamorphic enhancement for 16:9
displays. While the image comes from wholly digital sources, it isn’t
quiet perfect on DVD. There are little inconsistencies in the finer points
of picture, which I would imagine are a result of down-converting hi-def
resolution to that of standard NTSC. In general, the image is a crisp and
well defined as computer-generated animation can be. Colors appear vibrant
and are rendered without any significant problems. Digital compression
artifacts are never a cause for concern. 5.1 channel soundtracks are
provided in both Dolby Digital and DTS varieties. For animated television
fare, the tracks are quite good. Directionality isn’t at the theatrical
level, but everything comes across with a great deal of clarity and zing.
Music is a strong component of the show and is rendered with very good
fidelity. Dialogue is nicely recorded and always completely intelligible.
The differences between Dolby Digital and DTS aren’t significant, but
DTS does produce warmer sound with a tighter bottom end. No other
languages or subtitles are provided.
.
Featurettes
are offered on disc two, including the twenty plus minute The Making
of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, a program that covers some
of the same ground as the audio commentaries. Spider-Man Music: The
Composers runs seven minutes; Spider-Man Tech: Animating
Performance clocks in at thirteen minutes, and Spider-Man
Tech: Creating The Models is twelve minutes in length- all of
which are pretty much self-explanatory. Other brief items include Abandoned
"Spidey-Sense" Test, Initial Mainframe Pitch
and some Rough Animation. Also, there is a multi-angle
feature that looks at how the animation is built up through layers, plus
there is also a gag reel included. An artwork still gallery, plus cast
& crew filmographies close out the supplements.
SPIDER-MAN:
THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES proves to be a pretty cool incarnation of the
popular Marvel comic book character. Columbia TriStar has done a good job
with the season one set, offing a fine presentation and solid supplements.
If you are a fan of the show, or just someone looking to become acquainted
with the series for the first time, you can’t go wrong by picking up a
copy of the DVD set.
