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Will Wonder Woman ever be ready for a close-up?
Wonder Woman made a big return last month in her own movie. Did anyone notice? Fans of the comic book heroine are devout, yet, the character’s mass appeal never seems to be actualized. Superman, Batman, Ironman, and even the Watchmen, have all made a splash on the big screen, but Wonder Woman never seems to be pushed to the A-list. Will the Amazonian princess be forever relegated to play sidekick to her male counterparts?
For the past 40 years, the Wonder Woman has had almost as many make-overs as Barbie. A change in appearance, abilities, and back story have created a character that seems as malleable as a folk tale. Its not without effort that the character hasn’t been given a big break. Baby boomers may recall Wonder Woman as played by Lynda Carter, with spinning transformation sequences and bullet-blocking abilities. Gen X’ers remember her as one of the few female characters featured in the Superfriends. Millennials know Wonder Woman from her role as naive and honorable Diana from Justice League. With each new introduction, the character took on changes to reflect the era, serving as a symbol of female empowerment. read more
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Cartoon Network Minus Cartoons: Everything Has an End
2003 seemed like a lifetime ago now, but I remember it well. Cartoon Network, the bastion of animation goodness, relaunched their venerable Cartoon Cartoon Fridays block into Cartoon Network Fridays, a weekly show hosted by live-action hosts and musical guests. I remember talking to my friend about how Fridays was just the beginning of the end of an all-animation Cartoon Network. He laughed it off thinking I was being a little paranoid, and I felt a little at ease. We all went along our merry ways.
But then, as the years progressed, my seemingly paranoid allusions proved to be not only accurate, but also worrisome, almost to the point that I actually have fears that cartoons are going to become an afterthought at the toon house that Ted and Betty built, replaced in the hearts of the executives with lame sitcoms and ripoffs of Discovery and Sci-Fi reality shows. read more