In August of 1962, history was made with the release of the 15th issue of ‘Amazing Fantasy’, which featured a brand new Super Hero. His name… Spider-Man. Ever since he first reared his web-slinging head, Spider-Man has been one of the most recognizable comic book heroes of all time. Everything about this new character was exactly what comic fans were looking for. As Peter Parker, he was a teenager with problems. He was flawed, inexperienced and put down by all his classmates. In other words, he was a character we could identify with. To this day, he is still my favorite super hero. Since that time, 41 years ago, Spider-Man has become an unstoppable icon and hands-down favorite of the comic book world. In all these years in print he has been the focus of more comic titles than I can count, spawned an ill-fated live action TV series in the 1970’s, and has had several different animated series. In 2001, Spidey finally hit the big screen as a mega-successful motion picture directed by Sam Raimi (which will be followed up later this year by what promise to be an even better sequel).

And who can forget Spidey’s appearances on the old “Electric Company” TV Series? (Normally played by Danny Sergen, rumor has it that cast member Morgan Freeman donned the costume once or twice!). In addition to this, a fan-turned-moviemaker by the name of Dan Poole created a great independent film called “The Green Goblin’s Last Stand” that has caused quite the Internet buzz since its release in 1992. So much so, that a follow-up documentary on the ‘Making of…” was filmed. If you get a chance to see either, I highly recommend it.

The most recent of the various animated versions of Spider-Man was an all CGI effort that aired on MTV, “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.” The first season was made up of 13 episodes, all of which I missed somehow when they originally aired. A few days ago I sat down to watch the new Sony / Columbia Tristar DVD release of that entire first season and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The idea of an all CGI cartoon was not a new one for me. I’m a big fan of “Reboot”, so I was already prepared for the style. Or so I thought.

The series itself is quite good, but the animation somewhat unusual. This is not to say the animation isn’t good, it’s actually quite good, but in most CGI animated series or films the artwork has a lot of texture, which gives the animation a semi-realistic look. This type of visualization works very well with the smooth body motions you get with CGI. In this series the animators chose to go with a ‘comic book’ look. All of the character ‘drawings’ are outlined, and even though they are somewhat three-dimensional, there is little or no texture. The mix of this visual and the smooth CGI motion takes a little getting used to. At first it seems unnatural, but once you start getting into the show itself, it becomes less noticeable.

Speaking of the animators, I was blown away when I found out that Mainframe Entertainment was the studio producing the series. They are the geniuses behind the aforementioned “Reboot”, as well as several other really great animated series. These guys know their stuff, and the work they do here is awesome. One of the things they’ve got down is the matching of the mouth movements to the recorded dialogue. You’ll see that more and more in some of the newer animated shows, but it is still quite an accomplishment and really adds to the look of the series.

I thought it was cool that they used some of my favorite villains from the Spidey universe. BUT, I was disappointed to see them changed so radically from their look in the comics. Gone was Electro’s recognizable green and yellow tights, here he looks like Reddy Kilowatt on acid. And there was an even bigger change in the look of the Kingpin. In this series he is voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan, who played the character in Fox’s live-action “Daredevil.” Since he was portrayed as African-American in that film, he is also portrayed as such here. I would like to comment that in spite of Duncan’s fine performance of Kingpin in both the film and this series, I have to agree somewhat with those who had problems with this change from the comics. For those who are unaware, Kingpin in the comic books is an enormously obese white guy. For the record my objections have nothing to do with any kind of racial issue, but more a literary one. Fans of the Spider-Man and Daredevil comics have an image of what the Kingpin looks like. Making this kind of change is like representing Luke Cage as a Caucasian, Superman as an Asian, or Batman as a woman. It’s simply not true to the source material. Granted, some artistic license is to be expected, but not to such a drastic degree. (I’m sure I’ll get some flack for these comments from those who choose to misinterpret them, but the rest of you who ‘get it’… go ahead… nod in agreement.)

All of the voice talent is to be commended for their work as well. Neil Patrick Harris turns in a pretty good vocal performance as Peter Parker, also known as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Lisa Loeb, whose ‘chick’ music I will admit to really liking (I know… I know…), also does some surprisingly good voice over work as Mary Jane Watson. One bit of casting that caught me a bit off-guard though, was that of Rob Zombie as Curt Connors, a.k.a. The Lizard. He does a great job, I just surprised to see him involved with something like this.

For a series that aired with little fanfare, Sony / Columbia Tristar really went all out in this DVD release of “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.” The 2-disc set includes all 13 episodes of that first season, plus quite a few extremely well produced extras. First off, they included commentary on all of the episodes. They are headed up by co-executive producer Audu Paden, and as you go into each new episode different members of the cast and crew jump in and out of the room to throw in their two cents. All are very interesting, especially for anyone interested in doing computer animation.

The DVD set also include a pop-up trivia feature for each episode, production artwork and a DVD-Rom Character Modeler which allows viewers a look at some of the generic faces they created for the series and shows how they can be changed with different hair or slight changes to the features. Once you get into the second disc, which has the last five episodes of the series, you find the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the featurettes. There are several, so be prepared to spend some time in front of the TV. The main feature is a documentary on the making of the series, which runs just under 30 minutes. It is hosted by Paden, and we get to hear from the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, and of course Stan “The Man” Lee.” This documentary pretty much touches on every base as far as what it took to get this show on the air.

From there, you’ll find some of the original test footage that Mainframe did as part of their proposal to do the series which is awesome. Then they put together an outtake reel of ‘bloopers’, most of which are pretty funny. These are followed by some shorter (but still lengthy at almost 8 - 10 minutes each on average) featurettes that focus on the creation of the models for the characters, the animation process itself and the music of the series. Finally, there is a multi-angle featurettes that shows how the sequences are animated in layers then put together to make a scene.

I haven’t heard whether or not there is going to be a second season of “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series” , but after watching this DVD set, I certainly hope so.

Episodes:
Heroes and Villains
Royal Scam
Law of the Jungle
Sword of Shikata
Keeping Secrets
Tight Squeeze
Head Over Heels
The Party
Flash Memory
Spider-Man Dis-Sabled
When Sparks Fly
Mind Games – Part 1
Mind Games – part 2

Starring (the voices of): Neil Patrick Harris, Lisa Loeb, Ian Ziering, Rob Zombie, Angelle Brooks, Keith David, Michael Dorn, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ethan Embry, Eve, Virginia Madsen
Extras: Audio Commentary, Amazing Spider-Facts, DVD-Rom Character Modeler, Production Artwork, Cast and Crew Filmographies, Test Footage, Outtake Reel, Building with Layers Multi-Angle Featurette, The Making of Spider-Man, Spider-Man Tech – Creating the Models, Spider-Man Tech – Animating Performance, Spider-Man Music The Composers, Theatrical Trailers
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 1/13//2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
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We'll give Spider-Man: The New Animated Series a B.