New 'Green Lantern' DVD Sticks Close to Book's Story
Rick Bentley - Fresno Bee
Jun 06, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO -- The new animated film "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights" -- out on DVD Tuesday -- looks at the origins of six members of the group of galactic heroes known as the Green Lantern Corps.
"Green Lantern: Emerald Knights" has Hal Jordan (voiced by Nathan Fillion), the secret identity of Earth's Green Lantern, telling new recruit Arisia the history of corps members Avra (the first Green Lantern), Abin Sur, Kilowog, Laira and Mogo.
The DVD's tales stick to the comic book's mythology. The producers turned to comic book writers -- Dave Gibbons, Peter J. Tomasi, Eddie Berganza, Alan Burnett, Todd Casey, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim -- for the scripts.
Geoff Johns, another of the film's writers, knows the corps very well having written multiple "Green Lantern" comic book series.
"When I got the call, they told me they wanted to use writers who had worked on the comic books," Johns says. "It was very easy for the writers to chose the chapter they wanted to write. They just pitched the story they wanted to do."
Many of the writers went back to stories they had written for "Green Lantern" comics for their portion of the film. That's important because according to research from the DC Comics DVD line, more than half of those who purchased past releases, such as "All Star Superman" and "Wonder Woman," were already readers of the comics.
Once the scripts were done, voice talent was hired. Along with Fillion, the voice cast includes Elisabeth Moss, Kelly Hu, Roddy Piper, Henry Rollins and Jason Isaacs.
Wade Williams, best known for his work on "Prison Break," provides the voice of Deegan, a central character in the Kilowog.
Along with his work in television, Williams has performed on stage and says animation voice work is much closer to a theater performance than TV acting.
"I was trained to be an opera singer and sang on Broadway for five years. I have a big voice," Williams says. "With a character like Deegan, I had to scream for a couple of hours.
"So you have to have a strong, well-trained voice to do that. Or at least a voice that's genetically capable of doing that."
----
Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion
Copyright 2011 by Fresno Bee
