Bruce Timm Steps Down as Supervising Producer of DC Universe Animated Original Movies

Bruce Timm2Bruce Timm is a hallowed name for many comic book fans. Since Batman: The Animated Series debuted in 1992, he has overseen, in one way or another, just about every cartoon and animated film to feature DC Comics characters. It’s been 21 years of unparalleled quality superhero animation, and some might argue it’s been 21 years of unparalleled superhero storytelling. Since 2007, Timm’s main focus has been overseeing DC Universe Animated Original Movie division which produced straight to DVD/Blu-ray animated features, mostly based on DC Comics stories.

Today, Visions From Krypton broke the news, and we have confirmed independently, that Bruce Timm has stepped down from his position of Supervising Producer of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies to “develop his own projects.” A Warner Bros. Animated PR person added via Twitter, “Bruce Timm is stepping away from the DCU Animated Original Movies for a bit … but he’ll be back – in a very big way.”

James Tucker will serve as the new Supervising Producer of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies division. Tucker has a long history of producing DC animation including Justice League, Legion of Super-Heroes, Batman: The Brave and The Bold, and the upcoming DCUAO film, Superman: Unbound. In their article, Visions From Krypton talks to Tucker about the future of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

Sources tell us that Timm is not done with Warner Bros. Animation, or possibly even DC Comics characters, and that he is actively developing several projects.

None of this comes as a complete surprise. Regular listeners of our podcasts on the DC Universe Animated Original Movies know that “How long is Bruce Timm going to keep going?” is a regular question asked on the show, usually with a hint of terror in the voice. Whatever the future holds for Bruce Timm, we look forward to seeing what else he has in him. Timm truly is one of the best superhero storytellers of the last 30 years.

 


Comments

  1. Good Luck Bruce! He should do comic art on a regular book, that would be sweet.

  2. The Universe just got alittle darker, and not long after GL got “officially” canceled too. I hope he isn’t gone for too long, Timm is like a pillar of DC, so many great projects have his name on them and I doubt many would have succeeded without him (a teenage batman in the future that’s not Bruce Wayne anyone?). To be honest, I’ve not been welmed by the last batch of DCAU movies (except for GL:First Flight, and Crisis on 2 Earths. Haven’t seen “TDR” adaptation yet) and was hoping Timm would maybe get to work on some new shows, or movies featuring characters that aren’t Bat or Supes related. I will keep an eye out for his new projects; wanna support the guy afterall, but I’m counting the days until he’s back at DC.

  3. Looking forward to see some original stories/characters from him. Always enjoyed B:TAS better then the actual bat books.

  4. Timm has been doing a great job of overseeing these films but if this means he is going to go off and make something more personal where he is the main driving force behind the project, then I am very excited.

  5. Does anyone else think Bruce Timm would make a great Editor In Chief of DC Comics? He has the relationship with both DC and Warner Brothers. It might be a risk but it couldn’t be worse than the Bob Harras nightmare that is currently happening.

    • I have to disagree, lately I’ve been worrying DC might just go belly up and close forever. I think someone who has experience (successfully) in the publishing world and knows comics would be the idea candidate, but Timm (as far as I know) has just worked in the animation area and worked a few comics. It’d be like working in the mail room and then being asked to run the entire company. Also, it seems like EIC is too stressful for any person to handle for long, especially now, I just recently noticed Dan Didio is “co-publisher” of DC (I knew Harris had a high ranking job, guess I skimmed “he’s the new EIC” part).

  6. … but he’ll be back – in a very big way.”

    How awesome if wb bucked expectations and instead of hiring a big name movie director they gave Justice League to Timm!!!!!

    • Dude I’ve been telling people over and over that the JL movie should be animated and people keep looking at me like I’m crazy. I do think it’d be the best way to go about it, seriously, and as far as I know Timm doesn’t have any experience directing live action but has SO much experience with (excellent) animation. How many times has he “created” or “built up” a DC property? And he actually worked on this great show called “Justice League/Unlimited”. This is my long winded way of agreeing with you FYIz

    • Why do you feel animation is the best way to go? Less limitation? I guess my only argument would be the differences in audience from animated to live-action.

    • I feel there’s all kinds of pros; limitation is one, I should lack of. Can you imagine how cool an animated movie could be with a $180 million budget?! Then there’s the actors; I feel like it would be much easier to get Cavall, Bale, and Reynolds all lined up easier if they just had to lend their voices to the characters (Cavall hasn’t said whether or not he’s up for “JL” and Reynolds isnt keen to play GL again. Forget “who’s bad” or “it doesn’t make sense for him to be in there”, JL will need some consistency and these guys are all recognized as the actors for DC comics characters). The biggest thing tho, is expectations, which will be this movie’s biggest hurdle besides actually getting made. Right from the start it’s gonna be compared to “Avengers”, and since WB is hell bent on just rushing JL after “Man of Steel” they’ve gotta be 1) original (can’t just rip off exactly what “Avengers” did) and 2) it’s actually got to be good. Make it animated, its already different from “Avengers”, people will expect less of it and that will give it a chance not to be crushed under by viewers (overly) high standards. Plus how many times have we seen the Justice League form in under 90 minutes in the cartoons?

      It doesn’t even have to be traditional animation, motion capture or CGI could work too. And about the different audiences, I dont really see a problem there. If more kids see it than adults; it’ll get some of them into comics and/or spread the DC brand, and if it’s a nice mix of viewing ages than that’s even better. Tons of animated movies have been made that just click with all kinds of age groups; “Wreck-It Ralph”, “ParaNorman”, almost any Pixar movie. I just want a good JL movie, but if they follow the “Avengers movie formula” then people will complain they’re ripping off Marvel’s methods and if they make a JL movie with 3-5 solo films of build-up people will complain that they should have used the same formula Marvel used. The animation angle would just flip over the game board and help the film succeed IMO.

  7. Well, that sucks.

    I’ll definitely be checking out whatever future projects he’s behind. The guy and his work are a huge part of my childhood, and he’s largely responsible for my initial interest in DC Comics as a kid.

    I’ll follow him wherever he goes. He’s got a lifelong fan in me.

  8. It would kind of cool to see if Mr.Timm has some creator owned comic or a non DC related animation he wants to do. His style of anatomy and aesthetic sense is so appealing that I think it would work in any animation treatment or comic. Although the DC fan in me wants him to step up to direct the Justice League movie. MAYBE instead of actors, and instead of 2D animation, they use 3D animation for the movie. I am NOT talking about GL cartoon animation. I am talking DETAILED-AS-HELL, ARKHAM CITY 3D animation. Maybe that will eliminate the actor conundrum, and we can still hear our favourite voice actors in the role. Wouldn’t that be something?

  9. He’s done great things for them. I wish him much success in whatever endeavors he chooses to pursue.

  10. They should just put him in charge of producing the next batch of DC live action movies.

  11. Bruce Timm is DC animation, (much respect to all the other talent involved as well). I remember loving Batman the animated series coming home from High School well into reruns (we didn’t have a middle school which is what I would’ve been in when they started airing I believe. This announcement almost came off as a eulogy but it clearly states he’ll be back in a big way, so that’s something to look forward to. Always good to get away from the material at a point, explore other creative outlets then come back with a new vision and fresh ideas.

  12. After all this time, this news is not totally unexpected but sad nonetheless. I understand that time marches on and that after one way must come another, so I’m a little excited and uneasy. That’s a good thing.

    With someone else at the helm, I forward to a few of these movies being animated in the US. Just saying. Not that I don’t like the current art styles of DC Animated, I just want to see what we have to offer on these shores. I just know there are young American animation houses that can produce great product on time and on budget. Let’s give them a try.

    I also hope the next Supervising Producer of DC Animated will bring as much love and attention to the finer details as Bruce Timm. Yeah, I’m excited too.

    Good luck, Bruce!

  13. Sad news but he also built a great team which I would argue is a testament to his greatness. I think James Tucker will do a great job, but I am still sad to see Bruce go.

  14. I love all his work on everything DC animated !!! Starting with batman right thru to the animated films which i really love. James Tucker will do a great job. He’s been with Timm from the start. The more DC animation the better !!

  15. Noooooooo DOOM! I dont’ want Bruce to go πŸ™ I LOVE his work =(