Vixen and Its Diversity Problem

Vixen, Vixen, Vixen. I want to like you. I do. I just binged all six of your episodes. You’re a good show. The animation is nice. The actors are good. The story is good. BUT there is one big fricking problem – You don’t seem understand that there is more than one shade of brown. 

Okay, that’s unfair, maybe you know there are two or three, but come on! Mari kept changing tones, sometimes due to lighting, sometimes not. All of the African characters were pretty much the same light shade as both Mari and Professor Macalester. You showed two characters with darker tones, a cop and an assailant. This makes no sense to me. Look at your cast! They all have different skin tones. Why is that diversity not represented in your animation?

Also, have you been to Detroit? It’s consistently ranked in the top ten, usually the top five, of cities with the highest percentage of African Americans. So why did I see mostly white people?

And don’t get me started on Cisco? I liked how you handled Barry and Oliver. You captured their essences. And I liked the vibe of Cisco, but Carlos Valdes has a different skin tone than Grant Gustin and Stephen Amell. All you had to do was change his coloring a little bit, and he would have been perfect. If my Microsoft Word can give me customized shades, I think whatever animation programs you are using can do the same. It’s lazy. And this show is too good for to be screwed up by laziness.

Get it together, CW Seed. Vixen has a lot of potential. I want it to succeed, but I also want respectable representation of who these characters are and the environments they live in. You can do better. Do not fail this show.

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First Glimpse of Justice League: Gods & Monsters

Bruce Timm is the pinnacle of DC Animation and has been producing some of the best animated shows over the years.  So you should be as excited as I that he is helming a brand new story in the newest animated release, Justice League: Gods & Monsters!  As per Warner Bros. press release:

Wolverine Gets the Anime Treatment

Marvel Anime - Publicity Still

I just found out Marvel Anime premiered a few weeks ago. I guess I’m a little late to the party. Oops.

Billed as a way for Marvel to "push the boundaries with the Marvel Universe and seek new mediums for [their] characters," Marvel has teamed up with Madhouse, one of the top Japanese animation studios in the world, to help "expand the Marvel brand with a truly global vision tailored to themes and artistic styles popular in Japan, creating a uniquely localized and cross-cultural adaptation of the Marvel Universe." (Marvel Official Press Release)


I decided to check out Wolverine and for the most part, I like it. I watched the Omega Red episode. I have no idea what else is going on other than Wolverine’s in Japan, he kicked Omega Red’s butt, and people are trying to kill him. Basically your average day for Wolverine. Oh, and Mariko is around. (Die-hard Wolverine fans know why that's a fun fact.)

While I enjoyed it, I was left a little confused. Maybe it’s because I am jumping in in the middle, but I don’t know how old Logan is supposed to be. That might seem odd, we all know he’s over a hundred, but the animation makes him appear much younger than most portrayals, and Milo Ventimiglia of Heroes and Gilmore Girls fame sounds extremely young.  I know it has been said that the backstories were going to be played around with but unless they completely reworked his history, something does not add up. 


He is established as an X-Man and he has the adamantium but he does not sound like a man who has been through more than a lifetime's worth of crazy or had his mind mucked up.  I don't know if that was a conscious choice of the creative team or if it is just because Ventimiglia is a young man who has not abused his voice enough to sound rough and gritty.


Overall, I really like the animation. The backdrops are gorgeous and Omega Red looked badass. It’s Wolverine who kinda ruins it for me. He’s tall with a mullet and really oddly placed sideburns. I feel like they were trying to make him an anime Hugh Jackman and not the short, scrappy, hairy Wolverine we all know and love. 

My only other mild complaint is he was working with a female, who I believe to be Yukio, but her name is never mentioned in this episode. Come on! The episode had several different characters and other than the law enforcement agents who are after him, everyone else was named. Why would it have been so difficult to just call her by name just once? I don’t get it.

That said, I am definitely going to give the show another shot. The story, pace, and action were good and I really enjoyed watching it. I am also going to give Iron Man a go. You should too.

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Video Friday! 8/12/11

Happy Friday one and all! Here are some great videos that popped up this week.


This remake of the classic Pinball Number 12 brought back some nice memories. It's one of the few old timey bits they still play on Sesame Street.





Cuddle like a pro with Uncle Jesse himself with the help of a very special friend.





I have been pretty vocal about my feelings on Google+, but I think this sums it up better.





via Geeks Are Sexy


I admit my love of Game of Thrones is starting to become a little consuming, but dagnabit, this is funny! Also NSFW!





via CollegeHumor


And finally, it's the games of old dealing with the new games, Godfather style.





via The Awesomer


Til next time!

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Megamind in IMAX 3D

This past Thursday, @Wilderowens and I were able to attend an advanced press screening, courtesy of 43KIXNYC, of DreamWorks Animation's Megamind in IMAX 3D. We were both very excited because we had heard good things about it, it was an advanced screening (always a treat), and perhaps, most importantly, free.

We got to the movie theater with plenty of time to spare, picked up our tickets, and headed to the top to claim our seats. We bonded with a very nice woman, in the bathroom, over the stall doors having large holes in them (ick!), headed into the theater, snagged a couple of very good seats and watched as people came pouring in with their kids, who were lucky enough to get a Megamind prize pack.

Around showtime, a gentleman from IMAX comes out and announces the 3D projector broke (this is a rarity), so while we were waiting for them to get the movie set up in 2D, we were more than welcomed to go to the concessions and get FREE MOVIE SNACKS!!! Naturally, we took advantage of this. About ten minutes later, everything was ready to go, and the movie began.

@Wysefyre's Review

Megamind is a movie the kids will love. It's visually stunning. The animation is amazing. The cast is great. Will Ferrell does a bang up job of bringing Megamind to life. Brad Pitt was perfect as Metro Man. Tina Fey was good but I don't feel like she was able to really flex her acting chops. It's not her fault. It's just how her character was written. The one who surprised me was Jonah Hill. I'm not a big fan of his. Occasionally, he's funny but he reminds me of a one-trick pony, yet in his role of Titan, I liked him. Titan is an obnoxious character and Jonah was spot on, but he also managed to add a little depth to the character. I could hear the pain Titan felt when he was rejected multiple times in the movie.

It's not a very deep story. It has a good message that I think kids will understand, and there's just enough maturity in the writing so adults won't want to gouge their eyes balls out while watching it. There are even some fun pop culture references in it, but hands down, my favorite part of the movie was the soundtrack, particularly at the end. We're talking quality classic rock, the kind that makes you want to start rocking out. Overall, it's a solid movie. I enjoyed it and will probably see it again, once it comes out on DVD.... unless someone wants to give me another pass to see it in 3D, then I'll meet you at the theater.

@Wilderowens' Review

Megamind is made for the kids but not for the adults. I actually got bored during the middle of the movie. I did feel that the movie tried to add in something for the parents but they fell short in keeping it interested for all ages. The jokes were good for the kids but not great for the adults. I did enjoy the beginning sequence of how Megamind grew up, but I grew disconnected with the story. I feel that they got so close with the story but fell short of reaching Shrek-like greatness. (For some reason, I was totally comparing this to the first Shrek, the first animated movie I have really liked since my childhood.) Perhaps I demand too much of a children's movie though.

However, this was visually stunning. That alone made the experience enjoyable. The way that animation has grown over the years is astounding. When Tina Fey's character is on top of a building and her hair is blowing in the wind, it looked like real hair. I mean, actually filmed on camera from a living person hair. The details in the animation made it so amazing. Megamind had some depth in his eyes, they weren't just cartoon eyes. Metro Man's beard had so many colors and textures that I truly commend the animators for creating some of the best and realistic animation I have ever seen.

Overall, I might watch it on a rainy Sunday when I can't reach the remote. I would totally recommend this for any child between the ages of 5 - 13 because they will love it.