Fantastic Four Cartoon

I'm sitting here watching the second episode of the new Fantastic Four cartoon. I tried to withhold judgement after just the first episode, but the second episode did nothing but confirm my initial impressions.

I want to ask why no one can get the FF right outside of the comics, but I know the answer to that already. It's because there are too many people putting their own spin on the characters into each story. Any character is perceived and interpretted differently by each individual viewer. We might see/hear/read the exact same story, but I might notice a character's inner resolve most prominently while you might notice their strength of character... subtle differences, to be sure, but enough to color how you and I define the character. And what about the next guy who just notices the physical characteristics?

So with a cartoon, you have a group of writers contributing to a script, which is overseen by a lead writer and later interpretted by a series of actors. The director chooses which interpretations s/he likes the most and uses in the show. And a slew of animators try to follow the lead of a character designer when trying to depict facial expressions and physical manifestations of mood.

So by the time the show gets aired, a few dozen people have easily had their input into the show and any vision that the original creators (in this case, Stan and Jack) may have had has been interpreted and re-interpreted so much that they may as well be new characters.

I know all this at a conscious level, but it never ceases to surprise me just how much distortion happens.

At the end of the show, I grabbed the remote from The Wife and removed the automatic timer I had set up to turn the show on when it airs.

Related Items marvel other media review