LogFAQs > #942296959

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Not really. It's just using the general designs and voice actors of the original but deliberately skewing every aspect of the narrative and to a younger target demo.

But it has so many fucking callbacks and references to the original cartoon.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's the exact same thing they did with Thundercats. The remake aimed at teens/adults failed, so they made one aimed at younger children instead.

Oh right, I forgot the new one was a thing.... and also never got around to watching the remake.

Bearing in mind that cartoons live or die based on merch sales, the idea that it was targeted at teens/adults is a little flawed. Most of the merch for the new series wasn't anything close to collector-level, with the few new collector-level offerings released at the time instead being for the *original* series (which they completely bungled, first releasing a "wave" of two 8-inch figures then having a second "wave" (again, being generous here since two figures does not a wave make) once again of two figures, but this time in a 6-inch scale (which they really *should* have done in the first place)... and one of the two figures was once again Lion-o).

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Studios have openly admitted the reasoning in the past - basically, intelligent shows aimed at older audiences don't really sell merch, so they're more expensive to produce (because you can't underwrite the costs via toy sales or t-shirt/Underoos money). So there's a motivation to aim downward (especially since it's generally easier/cheaper to shit out lolrandom kid cartoons than trying to develop something both kids and adults will enjoy). That's the same thing that mostly killed Young Justice on Cartoon Network as well (the ratings were actually fine and the show was critically praised, but it was too expensive to produce for a show that wasn't selling toys, so it was doomed).

Because the merch for the cartoon sucked. You had 2 figure "waves" where for the 6-inch figures where one character packed with a playset for $20 at a time when the DC Universe Classics line -- which are in the same 6-in scale, similar style (in fact, they did some kitbashing) -- were only $13 and included a BAF piece. If parents had been buying those DCUC figures for their kids all along (which were collector level), the 6-in offerings would be more appealing to them... so the fact that it was a clusterfuck when there was no reason for it to be a clusterfuck killed it.

There was also a smaller line in a style almost comparable to the JLU figures, which was fucking stupid because the JLU line's poor sales had doomed that cartoon and ensured it wouldn't get another season (if it did get another season, Queen of Fables was going to appear -- she finally did appear in a DC cartoon, after being used in Harley Quinn). Mattel over-invested in trying to continue this smaller format for no real reason, since I think the initial run was like 20 different figures (where, again, the first wave of the 6-in line had 2)

Mattel bungled the toyline. The toys didn't sell. Mattel pulled its funding. It wasn't the cartoon's fault. By the way, it looks like Mattel lost the DC license altogether. McFarlane is now producing mass-market DC figures (which don't look great, but still better than the stuff Mattel had towards the end) and Spin Master is producing the low-end stuff.


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