July 13, 1998
WB Animation Producer Tom Ruegger was kind enough to give me a little bit of information that many of you may find interesting:

• The Animaniacs Attack marathon was a ratings winner; it beat out #1 rated ABC for the July 4th weekend.
• The direct-to-video Animaniacs move "Wakko's Wacko Wish" is looking good, although it now seems that it won't be released until 1999, possibly in theaters.
• Most of the Animaniacs cast will appear in a Pinky & The Brain half-hour this fall titled "Star Warners".
• There will be one new episode of Animaniacs this fall (#99), featuring one long segment called "The Scoring Session", plus "The Animaniacs Suite"; a seven minute musical piece composed by Richard Stone that will be illustrated by clips from the first 99 episodes.
• Histeria! will be running 65 episodes, and should premiere on September 14th.

July 13, 1998
Men in Black fans! There are some changes in store for the new season this fall, including a new voice for Agent K! Read all about in this article from the Comic Book Continuum.

July 9, 1998
I received the updated Kids' WB! schedules today (they still only go up to August 1st), which were marked "Revised 7-8-98". The Kids' WB weekend lineup will be changing as of July 18th. This is the new lineup (the exact times may be different in your area):

8:00am: Pinky & The Brain
8:30am-10:00am: The New Batman/Superman Adventures
10:00am: Men in Black
10:30am: Pinky & The Brain
11:00am: The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
11:30am: The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries

You'll notice that Animaniacs is no longer on the weekend lineup. Animaniacs and Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries schedules have been updated. The current schedules for Batman/Superman and Men in Black remain the same; only the broadcast times have changed.

The reason for the removal of Animaniacs from the schedule is that WB wants to experiment with Sylvester & Tweety to see if it does better at 11:00 or 11:30, so they can decide when to show it this fall. Since they weren't going to be showing Animaniacs on weekends this fall anyway, they got rid of it now.

On a related note, if you watched the recent Animaniacs Attack marathon, you may have noticed this message at the end: "This has been the Animaniacs Attack. If you'd like even more episodes of Animaniacs don't forget to write to Jamie Kellner c/o Kids' WB and say, 'We Want More Animaniacs!'".

July 9, 1998
It's happened again; another new episode of Batman has aired in Ireland before airing here in the U.S. The episode was titled "The Ultimate Thrill".

June 29, 1998
Lots of Cartoon Network-related stuff: The first animated Batman movie, Mask of the Phantasm, will be broadcast by Cartoon Network on August 1st (as part of their new Saturday night movie programming). Sub-Zero will be broadcast in November. This means that Batman and Freakazoid will no longer air on Saturday nights. Also, some clarification on addition of Animaniacs to the CN lineup. CN will only have the rights to 45 episodes, with the rest appearing in 2000. Those 45 episodes are not in a row (not #1-#45), they are randomly chosen episodes from between #1 and #86. For example, the first 5 episodes CN has are #1, #6, #7, #11, and #12 (and this is probably the schedule for the first week). CN will have episode #45, although it is not yet known if they will be airing that episode, since it contains references to the late Princess Diana (similar references have taken 4 episodes of Freakazoid off the CN rotation).

June 20, 1998
Beginning on August 31st, Animaniacs will be airing on Cartoon Network Monday-Thursday at 8:30pm eastern, repeating at 11:30pm eastern. On Fridays Animaniacs will air at 9:00pm only. And yes, schedules for Animaniacs on CN should appear on the schedules page shortly before it premieres. In other Cartoon Network news, the rights to air all Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes shorts will be given to Cartoon Network in the year 2000.

June 20, 1998
If you'd like to subscribe to the first newsletter dedicated to Batman: The Animated Series (with a bit of Superman:The Animated Series included), send an email to juno@dccnet.com.  The newsletter will cover show news, reviews, and schedules. It looks to be the best source for B:TAS information available on a regular basis. The first issue will be not be out until September, but subscribe now to show your support for this promising idea.

June 20, 1998
According to a post on alt.comics.batman, the episode of Batman titled "Love is a Croc" (which was pulled from the schedule a few months ago to be saved for next season), will be airing sometime in July.

June 20, 1998
According to The Daily Buzz: "The 90-minute finale of the Invasion America animated mini-series has been pushed back by the WB network from Sunday, July 5 to Tuesday, July 7 at 7 p.m."

June 17, 1998
The upcoming futuristic Batman animated series, now titled Batman Beyond, will be getting its own comic book mini-series this year from DC Comics. It will be six issues, written by Hilary Bader (of Batman Adventures: The Lost Years) and penciled by Rick Burchett, with inks by Terry Beatty (both from Batman: Gotham Adventures). This series will come out when the new show premieres on Kids' WB!. Thanks to Terry Beatty for this info.

June 17, 1998
The Comic Book Continuum has a short yet interesting article on the next World's Finest Batman/Superman team-up. Click here to read it.

June 17, 1998
The upcoming futuristic Batman animated series, now titled Batman Beyond, will be getting its own comic book mini-series this year from DC Comics. It will be six issues, written by Hilary Bader (of Batman Adventures: The Lost Years) and penciled by Rick Burchett, with inks by Terry Beatty (both from Batman: Gotham Adventures). This series will come out when the new show premieres on Kids' WB!. Thanks to Terry Beatty for this info.

June 12, 1998
From the Raving Toy Maniac News Page: WB Animation has announced that they are changing the title of the upcoming futuristic Batman series "Batman Tomorrow". The new name will be "Batman Beyond". The change was made due to promotional considerations (for example, it would be confusing to say "today on Batman Tomorrow..."). The premise of the show remains the same. Paul Dini has previously stated (in the chat transcript you can read right on my site), that the series will start in November.

June 12, 1998
On June 16th, WB is releasing a new direct-to-video movie called "The Mighty Kong". Click here to read a little about it.

June 12, 1998
Did you see WB's new full-length animated feature "Quest for Camelot"? No? Well, it seems as if nobody else did either. To read about some of the turmoil at WB Feature Animation, click here [no longer available].

June 12, 1998
If you'd like to read an interesting article from the Comic Book Continuum about Invasion America, WB's new prime-time animated mini-series, click here. It was written well before the series first aired, but you may find it interesting nevertheless. Another more lengthy and more recent article on Invasion America that is part of mania.com's "Animated Shorts" column can be read by clicking here [no longer available].

June 1, 1998
Brian's Batman Page has a sneak peek at the cover of the World's Finest video, now titled "The Batman-Superman Movie". Click here [no longer available] to take a look. The video is currently scheduled for release in August.

May 29, 1998
I finally got around to writing down the info for Kids' WB's "Animaniac Attack" marathon. If you haven't seen the commercials yet, Kids' WB will run an Animaniacs marathon on the weekend of July 4th, using the episodes that you send in as being your favorites. You may even have your name read on the air! So get a postcard and write in this information: Your favorite episode, your name, address, age, and phone number, and then send it to:

Animaniac Attack
P.O. Box 2002
Ojai, CA 93024-2002

by June 15th! If you're not sure which episode to pick, take a look at the Animaniacs Episode List. Let's make sure Kids' WB knows how many of us love Animaniacs; mail your postcard today! (I'm voting for #20: Hitchcock Opening / Hearts of Twilight / The Boids. Can you tell that I'm a film student?)

May 28, 1998
Back on Monday the Comic Book Continuum ran a short article about Melissa Joan Hart's (better known as Clarissa or Sabrina the Teenage Witch) upcoming appearance on the Superman series as Saturn Girl (of the Legion of Super-Heroes). Click here to read the article.

May 25, 1998
There's a new cartoon coming to the WB Network, only this one will be in prime-time. It's called Invasion America, and it's an animated mini-series produced by Steven Spielberg's company Dreamworks. It's being billed as "The first animated drama series in the history of primetime television". It premieres on Monday, June 8th from 9:00-10:00pm. It will then air for the next three weeks Tuesdays from 9:00-10:00pm. The 90-minute finale will air on Sunday, July 5th at 7:00.  Click here [no longer available] for the press release with more info on this show. Thanks to Jawad Mir for the info; visit his Steven Spielberg Page [no longer available], with a new Invasion America section.

May 18, 1998
The Backstreet Boys, a musical group which I'm told by my 14-year-old sister is very very popular, will be hosting Kids' WB's weekend lineup on Saturday, May 23rd. Click here [no longer available] for the official press release from the Backstreet Boys' own website, plus pictures and video clips from this event.

May 14, 1998
According to the Official Batman/Superman site, a new episode of Batman will air on June 13, called "Torch Song". It's very odd that a new episode would air after the official end of the television season, but I ain't complaining. (Thanks to Michael Friedman for the info).

May 14, 1998
Starting on May 23rd, Freakazoid and Tiny Toons begin to air on YTV (a Canadian channel). You can visit their web site at http://www.ytv.ca. (Thanks to Michael Friedman for this info too!)

May 11, 1998
Did you enjoy the debut of Supergirl two weekends ago on Superman? Well, you haven't seen the whole story. Paul Dini says...

"The story of Supergirl's arrival on Earth and her reaction upon awakening was scripted for the show but cut due to time. However the full story as set down by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer can be seen in the special Supergirl issue of Superman Adventures on sale in two weeks. It's very cool."

Well, that issue of the Superman Adventures comic comes out this Wednesday, May 13th. It's issue #21, a special 64-page issue priced at $3.95. This is the cover of the issue, drawn by Bruce Timm (click on it for the full version):

May 5, 1998
Schedules for WB programs on Nickelodeon will no longer be available. I had been getting the schedules from the Nickelodeon area on America Online, but the area was recently revamped, and most of its content has been moved to the official Nickelodeon website. The schedules moved there as well, but they no longer list the titles of the cartoon(s) within the program. So unless anybody knows of another way to get the schedules for Tiny Toons and Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (if you do then please e-mail me), I'm afraid that they are gone for good. If you'd like to complain to Nick, then go to their website and click on "Write to Nick" at the bottom of the page.

April 29, 1998
It looks like the new Batman episode which was shown yesterday in Ireland ("Over the Edge") will be shown here in the U.S. on Saturday, May 23rd, according to the official Batman/Superman website. Thanks to Michael Friedman for the info.

April 28, 1998
Another new episode of Batman has aired in Ireland that will not air here until the fall. The episode was called "Over the Edge" and featured the Scarecrow. Brian's Batman Page has a summary and review of the episode. Click here [no longer available] for the page with the summary and review. A new episode of Batman had aired in Ireland last week (see the April 21, 1998 news item for details).

April 26, 1998
Web Page news:
--Kyle Kirkland, the son of Boyd Kirkland (the director of Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero) has set up a web page about his father's movie: http://www.batman-subzero.com/  [no longer available]
--The WB Cartoon Comic Cover Archive now features rare artwork from Batman: Gotham Adventures writer and cover artist Ty "The Guy" Templeton. Check it out!

April 21, 1998
The Comic Book Continuum recently talked to Paul Dini and Bruce Timm about next season's appearance of Green Lantern on the Superman series. Will it be Hal Jordan, or Kyle Rayner? Click here to read the story.

April 21, 1998
Because here in America the WB Network only cares about showing new episodes during the 3 sweeps months (November, February, and May), we've had to wait a long time for new episodes of Batman to appear. Well, the schedule for the May sweeps has been set, and there are only 2 new Batman episodes appearing. Many more new episodes are sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting to be shown. According to a message on The Animated Bat page's message board, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm brought one of these episodes to the Wondercon this past weekend. It was called "The Ultimate Thrill", and starred the character Roxy Rocket, a Dini/Timm creation who first appeared in The Batman Adventures Annual #1 comic from a few years back (good luck finding a copy!). Also, over in Ireland., new episodes of Batman are being shown that have not appeared in the U.S. yet. Batman episode #94, "Love is a Croc," was shown today. A summary and review of the episode is available on Brian's Batman Page (not me, another Brian). Click here [no longer available] to go to the page with the review.

April 15, 1998
Earlier tonight, Batman / Superman / Batman Tomorrow writer and producer Paul Dini was a special guest at a chat held on Yahoo. He had lots to say about the new seasons of Batman and Superman, lots of info on Batman Tomorrow, and even news about a special project he is working on with painter Alex Ross. Click here for a full transcript of the chat.

April 13, 1998
Animaniacs will be joining the Cartoon Network lineup this fall. 45 episodes will be airing initially, with the other 53 episodes joining the CN lineup in the year 2000. In other CN news, Freakazoid has begun airing Monday-Friday and will continue to do so through the month of June.

April 8, 1998
Today on alt.tv.animaniacs, Eric O. Costello posted the lyrics to the theme song for the new Pinky & The Brain & Elmyra series premiering this fall. Click here [no longer available] to read his post.

April 8, 1998
Batman news:
--As many of you have already learned, the episode of Batman originally scheduled for April 25th, "Love is a Croc", is now going to be held for next season (along with 13 other episodes that were supposed to be shown this season). On April 25th Kids' WB will be airing the episode called "Mean Seasons".
--The Comic Book Continuum recently had an article about a Batman episode for next season titled "Legends of the Dark Knight", featuring stories animated in the styles of Dick Sprang and Frank Miller. Click here to read about it.

April 1, 1998
NBC weatherman Al Roker will be making an appearance as himself on the upcoming 2-part Superman episode "Little Girl Lost", featuring the debut of Supergirl. It will air on Saturday, May 2, from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. This was in an actual press release [no longer available]; it's not an April Fool's Day joke... although I think it may be a sign of the apocalypse.

April 1, 1998
A bunch of Batman-related news:
--The Comic Book Continuum had a couple of good Batman articles this past week. One is on Batman Tomorrow, and the other is on "Mad Love" being made into an episode.
--According to mania.com's The Daily Buzz, the Royal Flush gang will be appearing on the upcoming Batman Tomorrow series. Also, nest season's Batman/Superman team-up will feature Ra's Al Ghul.
--Did you buy Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero? If you didn't, you're not out of luck: Kids' WB is going to be showing.it on Saturday, May 16th. Click here [no longer available] to read the press release. As for those of us who did buy it... well, think of it this way, we have it uncut and in better quality than you can get from taping it off TV. So don't feel too bad.

March 17, 1998
Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero came out on VHS today. The comic book adaptation comes out March 18th, and the laserdisc comes out March 24th. No DVD version has been announced yet.

March 17, 1998
Maurice LaMarche, the voice of The Brain, had a few things to say about the next season of Pinky & The Brain (& Elmyra). Click here [no longer available] to read it.

March 12, 1998
The Bruce Timm Artwork Archive has done an interview with Batman/Superman producer Paul Dini. Click here [no longer available] to read it.

March 9, 1998
There is a new official Batman/Superman animated series website, www.batman-superman.com. A press release about the site was released on March 5th; you can click here [no longer available] to read it.

February 27, 1998
There's been a rumor going around that Batgirl will die in a future episode of Batman. Paul Dini had this to say about it:

"Right. Batgirl dies. It all happens in the first episode of THE NEW AQUAMAN/DETECTIVE CHIMP ADVENTURES premiering this April first. Sheee..."

February 25, 1998
By now you've all been able to watch the fantastic two-part Superman episode "Apokolips...Now!" (if you haven't -- shame on you!). In two separate messages, one posted to alt.comics.superman and one to AOL, Paul Dini cleared up a few things people have been wondering about:

"Turpin's dead, and so is Mannheim, for that matter, though his death in the nuclear explosion was kind of hard to see."

"The cryptic NOT THE END... refers more toward what Superman plans to do about Darkseid in future episodes. As for Dan Turpin, I'm afraid that's it for him."

February 22, 1998
Paul Dini had this to say on alt.comics.superman:

"APOKOLIPS NOW! part 1 will be aired this Monday (the 23rd) in the WB Batman/Superman afternoon slot with part 2 on Tuesday, the 24th. Part 2 has a special re-animated scene in the funeral at the end. It features a number of mourners, both real and from elsewhere, who turn out to say a fond farewell to Turpin and the man who created him. The overseas animators screwed up some very specific models the first time, prompting the crowd shots to be completely redone."

February 16, 1998
Superman-related news:

• Mania.com's The Daily Buzz reports that Superman producer Bruce Timm said Darkseid will be a key character in the planned third-season opener next fall.

• Legion of Super-Heroes comic book editor Mike McAvennie said in a chat on AOL that the Legion will guest-star on Superman next season.

• Draw any conclusions you want from this item posted by Paul Dini on AOL:
  
  "We'll bring Livewire back in the not too distant future. Latest word is she'll be vacating Metropolis for a visit to Gotham and linking up with a couple of sisters in crime, one who likes plants, and the other with a thing for clowns."

• Mania.com's The Daily Buzz reports that the final two episodes of Superman for this season (the two-part Supergirl story) will air in May. They also say that 13 Superman episodes are planned for its third season.

January 15, 1998
A short article on the upcoming "Batman Tomorrow" series appeared on Mania.com's "The Daily Buzz". Click here [no longer available] to take a look.