Toon Tuesday : “Wonder Woman” shows how tough yet entertaining a home premiere can actually be

Jim Hill

16 years ago

I belong to a very small club. That tiny group of people who
were saddened when they learned that the Mouse was getting out of the home
premiere business.

Okay. So Mickey hasn’t actually stopped making
direct-to-video productions. Just last month, Walt Disney Studios Home
Entertainment released “Space Buddies
” (Which – for those of you who are
keeping count – is the 8^th “Air Bud” film). And then – of course –
there are those “Disney Fairies” movies (No. 2 in this series – “Tinker Bell
and the Lost Treasure” – is due to hit store shelves in October).

But beyond these two series (as well as an occasional
long-in-production title like “The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Beginning”), the
Mouse has really basically gotten out of the home premiere business. Preferring
to concentrate all of its efforts these days on trying to revive Walt Disney
Animation Studios.

Which makes me sad. Not so much because I’ll now never get
to see “The Aristocats 2” and/or “Chicken Little II: The Ugly Duckling Story.”
But – rather — because Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment now won’t ever make
those movies that it should have made.

To explain: Back in the mid-1990s, Mickey had a very different plan
in place for this division of the Company. Which involved producing home
premieres that were somewhat ambitious in scope and weren’t necessarily tied to
pre-existing Disney properties.

Which is why – in early 1994 – the Mouse made its licensees
aware that what-was-then-known-as Buena Vista Home Entertainment was developing
two intriguing direct-to-video projects. Which were home premiere versions of
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days.”

But then “The Return of Jafar” hit store shelves in May of
1994. And when 10.5 million copies of this “Aladdin” sequel were sold … That
was pretty much all she wrote. Disney basically abandoned the idea of producing
any original direct-to-video animated films. And instead embraced the notion of
churning out home premiere sequels to the Studio’s more popular animated features.

But not everyone who worked at the Mouse House forgot about
this idea. Tad Stones – who worked at Disney for over 30 years on such animated
series as “Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers” and “Darkwing Duck”—eventually left
the Company in 2004 to go work with Mike
Mignola and help create two “Hellboy” home premieres, 2006’s “Sword of Storms” and 2007’s “Blood and Iron.”

The success of the first “Hellboy” direct-to-video title led
others in the comic book industry to explore the idea of getting in the home
premiere business. Chief among these was Warner Bros. Who – in July of 2006 –
launched the “DC Universe” project, a series of original PG-13 animated films
built around the DC Comics characters that could then be released through
Warner Home Video (WHV).

The first three movies that were produced as part of this
WHV project – “Superman: Doomsday,” “Justice League – The New Frontier” and
“Batman Gotham Knight” – really raised the bar when it came to home premieres.
They featured strong vocal casts, sharply written scripts, and surprisingly
intense & well-staged action sequences.

So does the fourth film in this “DC Universe” project –
“Wonder Woman” (which hits store shelves today) continue that trend?
Surprisingly, yes. “Wonder Woman” isn’t
just a good animated home premiere. It’s a good movie, period.

WARNING : There be minor spoilers ahead. So if you don’t want to know anything about the storyline of “Wonder Woman,” you’d best bail out of this article NOW.

Still here ? Okay. Then let’s proceed …

Produced by Bruce Timm, “Wonder Woman” is an PG-13 version of this character’s origin story. And things start off right in the thick of battle with the Amazons going
head-to-head with Ares, the God of War (voiced by Alfred Molina) and his
unearthly minions. Where the swords
swing and the heads fly.

Eventually Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons (voiced by Virginia Madsen), is able
to defeat Ares. To reward Hippolyta for her heroic efforts, Hera then creates
Themyscira, an island paradise where the Amazons can live in utopian bliss hidden
away from the corrupt world of man.

Now Ares is on Themyscria too. Kept under lock & key with a continual Amazon guard. Though the God of War vows that he’ll eventually escape.

And
Hippolyta … Well, by mixing sand, a little blood and some lightning bolts together, she is eventually able to conceive a child. A daughter, Diana (voiced by Keri Russell). Who will grow up to become the
Amazon’s greatest warrior. While – at the same time – she wonders about what lies beyond that invisibility shield that cloaks Themyscria.

Unfortunately for Diana, it’s not all that long before the
world of man intrudes on peaceful Themyscria. Steve Trevor (voiced by Nathan
Fillion)’s fighter jet is shot down just over the island. This sets into motion a chain of
events which eventually lead to Ares’ escape. And as the God of War exits the
island and leaves a wave of chaos & destruction in his wake, it’s up to
Diana to journey out into our modern world and (with Steve’s help) recapture
Ares.

Which – I know – may sound campy and over-the-top.
But “Wonder Woman” really isn’t. Thanks to Michael Jelenic’s witty script and
Lauren Montgomery’s solid direction, this home premiere serves up characters
that you care about & can believe in. Then fold a surprising number of laughs as well an action-driven
storyline and you’ve got a 74 minute-long direct-to-video that’s far more entertaining than most summer blockbusters.

I mean, just wait ‘til you see “Wonder Woman” ‘s climatic battle,
which takes places on the Mall in Washington D.C. There isn’t a live-action director working
today who doesn’t wish that he or she could do what Bruce Timm just did. Which
is stage an action sequence where Diana and Ares battle in, around, over and through some of the more recognizable buildings
& memorials found in our nation’s capital.

Watching “Wonder Woman” … Well, it made me wish that Disney
would embrace a home premiere project like Warner Bros. ‘s “DC Universe.” Maybe
revive “Gargoyles” as a series of direct-to-video films where (thanks to that new PG-13 sensibility) the show’s writers could then get just as tough, dark &
twisted as they wanted. (Though Disney’s creatives would have to work really hard in order to find a way to top Ares’ trips to Hell to meet with his uncle
Hades [voiced by Oliver Platt]).

These “DC Universe” home premieres really show what can
happen when you don’t play it safe. When you don’t just churn out sequels to
already successful animated features. But – rather – take a few chances and
then try & create some direct-to-video films that are far more adult in tone & content.

Which is what The Walt Disney Company could have done back
in the mid-1990s if they’d just gone ahead with production of those video
premiere versions of “Frankenstein” and “Around the World in 80 Days.”

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