![]() presents: In DCU: The Animated Series, we propose all-new animated series based on DC Characters. As with "Batman/Superman," these adaptations do not have to be in-line with current continuity or their in-continuity origins.
A proposal by writer Michael Hutchison and conceptual artist Bob Riley
PROPOSAL:
The Dibny Mystery series follows the adventures of Ralph and Sue Dibny, two wealthy bon vivants who spend their lives traveling the world and stumbling upon strange mysteries. The weirder the mystery, the more intrigued Ralph is. His wife, Sue, is bothered by Ralph's penchant for interrupting their vacation in order to investigate mysteries, but she often ends up assisting his investigations. Ralph has the ability to stretch his body and bills himself as "Elongated Man." Although everyone in the world knows that Elongated Man is also Ralph Dibny, he wears a costume both for attention and because his regular clothing won't stretch. He is an easy-going and genial man who doesn't rush to beat up others, but his investigations often bring him into contact with bizarre costumed villains.
SELLING POINTS:
CHARACTERS: MAIN CHARACTERS Ralph William Dibny, The Elongated Man: Our main character. An amateur sleuth with a keen intellect and a penchant for sticking his nose into any hint of a mystery. Ralph is doing a college dissertation on "Indian rubber men" when he realizes that they all love this soft drink called Gingold. Analyzing the properties of the gingo fruit used in the soda, he isolates the gingold enzyme and creates a juice drink that gives him the same abilities as an Indian rubber man but greatly enhanced! As "The Elongated Man", he makes numerous public appearances and is soon known all around the world. Ralph makes his money from celebrity appearances and by being a major shareholder in the company which makes Gingold soda, while his wife is the heiress to a fortune. He and his wife aren't Bruce Wayne-level wealthy, but they always have more than enough money to get by. Ralph is a numismatist (a lover of rare coins) and gets along well with policemen. He is welcomed most everywhere he goes. Suggestions for voice: Kevin Pollack (from A Few Good Men), Matthew Perry (Chandler on Friends)
Sue Dearbon Dibny:
ENEMIES Elongated Man doesn't really have any villains (Eurocrime aside) of his own from the comic books; most of his opponents are ordinary criminals. So it will be with the more day-to-day mystery episodes of this show. However, for marketable villains we can use a combination of lesser-known DC villains (who aren't paired with characters likely to get their own show) and original villains created for the show by Michael Hutchison based on the villains he'd introduce for an Elongated Man comic book.
DC Villains: Voice suggestion: Vincent Schiavelli (The Subway Ghost in "Ghost"; the assassin in "Tomorrow Never Dies"; voiced Zatara in "Batman: The Animated Series") Voice suggestion: Wallace Shawn (The 'inconceiveable' Sicilian guy from "Princess Bride"; currently the villain in "My Favorite Martian") Voice suggestion: Stan Freberg (My hero! Stan's done cartoon voices for Warner Bros such as the Abominable Snowman who said he'd "pet him and pet him and call him 'George'!") Voice suggestion: Tim Meadows (Played Sammy Davis Jr. in "Wayne's World 2" and has been Saturday Night Live's resident The Black Guy for a decade) Voice suggestion: Albert Brooks (The nerdy guy on "Broadcast News") Voice suggestion: Steve Oedekerk (Jim Carrey-ish director of "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" and star in his own right of "steveoedekerk.com")
Voice suggestion: Paul Shaffer (Bandleader on David Letterman's Late Show) Voice suggestion: Patrick Stewart (Capt. Picard of "Star Trek:TNG") Voice suggestion: Elijah Wood (The kid from "Deep Impact" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn") Original Villains: Voice suggestion: Norm Macdonald (recently fired anchor on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update"; star of "Dirty Work") Voice suggestion: Jason Alexander (George from "Seinfeld") Voice suggestion: Julia Sweeney (played Pat on Saturday Night Live, now starring in "God Said, 'Ha!'") Supporting Cast: Guest Stars:
EPISODES "Mystery of the Barn-Door Bandit" and "Case of the Purple Pony" Two ten-minute mysteries, direct adaptations of the comic book cases. "Small Fry" After a series of burglaries in which the only clues are scorched pinholes, Elongated Man enlists the help of his friend the Atom to capture Small Fry. "Cat and Mouse" Ralph and Sue are evaluating Cat Man's new zoo before making a sizable charitable donation. Ralph slips in after hours and discovers that Cat Man is using the grounds to run "Most Dangerous Games" in which humans stalk their own kind in exchange for a sizeable fee. Trapped, Ralph becomes the prey and must contend with over a dozen of the world's deadliest hunters. "Gentleman Jim" Ralph investigates a series of thefts by Gentleman Ghost at the Midway City History Museum, unaware that the curators, Carter and Shiera Hall, are already on the case as the Hawks. "Crime Ahead Of Time" Mr. Dearbon enlists his daughter's financial acumen and computer expertise in tracking down a large amount of missing finances. It reveals that one of the company's lab workers, Thomas Oscar Morrow, has been embezzling the money to finance his own time-viewing supercomputer. T.O. Morrow barricades himself in the lab; when he emerges, he wields a "fourth dimensional grappler" and several weapons he has retrieved from the future. "Happy Homewrecker" Ralph encounters the Happy Homewrecker and tries to stop her spree of trade show robberies. Basic in plot, fun in execution. "Tic Toc 'Tecs" Ralph, Sherlock Holmes and Star Hawkins are pulled from their timelines to the distant future. They are asked to solve the mystery of a stolen device, the time manipulator. Ralph finally tracks it to T.O. Morrow, and the three detectives, along with Rip Hunter, team up to recover the device. "Dollhouse" Ralph is visiting "Amal, the Indian Rubber Man" (a stage name; he's actually Robert, a short Scottish guy), the circus performer who tipped off Ralph about Gingold. However, upon entering Milwaukee, WI, where the circus is performing, Ralph is held for questioning. There have been a dozen robberies in the past month, each one circumventing security in such a way that Ralph is the chief suspect. As he is not under arrest, Ralph attempts to find the true thief. He learns that Robert has adopted the identity of RagDoll. He uses his rubbery physique and quadruple-jointed limbs to commit the crimes. Ralph has a dickens of a time capturing him.
"Viva La Difference" Hoping to escape the oddball mysteries and weird villains who "plague" their globe-trotting, the Dibnys attend a European Unity Conference. When it's disrupted by Eurocrime, a gang of villains who adopt nationalistic food themes, Ralph fights them off. Everyone thinks they're trying to make a point about the loss of nationalism and accusations fly. However, Ralph tracks their technology to the representative from Modora, who feels that a federalist Europe will profit from his nation's wealth. [Editor's note: If there are no plans for a Green Lantern series, this diplomat can be Sonar.] After the ridiculous Eurocriminals, Ralph is happy to hear that Happy Homewrecker has resurfaced and he has to return to America.
All characters are © DC Comics
EXCEPT Melt, Small Fry and Happy Homewrecker, all of which are © 1999 Michael Hutchison This column, story proposals and revamped villains are © 1999 Michael Hutchison Artwork is © 1999 by Bob Riley
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