Toys in the Hood
Episode #39 (385-863) - Toys in the Hood
Original Airdate - May 3rd, 2003
Static teams up with Superman when the Man of Steel’s old nemesis,
Toy Man, appears in Dakota.
Media by Bird Boy; Pans by Borg4of3
Reviews by Matt Zimmer, Jim Harvey |
Credits:
Supervising Producer Alan Burnett
Producer Denys Cowan, Swinton O. Scott III
Associate Producer Bobbie Page
Story by John Semper Jr., Ernie Altbacker
Teleplay by John Ridley
Directed by [Uncredited]
Music by Richard "Wolfie" Wolf
Animation by Dong Woo Animation Co., LTD.
Voices:
Phil LaMarr as Virgil Hawkins/Static
Jason Marsden as Richie Foley/Gear
George Newbern as Superman / Clark Kent
Bud Cort as Toyman
Crystal Scales as Daisy
Danica McKellar as Freida
Nicholette Sheridan as Miss Moore / Darcy
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Review (Matt Zimmer):
Static teams up with Superman to stop Toyman in this awful episode.
While on a field trip with Daisy and their new teacher Miss Moore the
bus is attacked by a giant toy monkey. As Static and Gear come to the
rescue they are surprised and elated by an appearance of Superman who
stops the monkey. At school Virgil and Richie meet Clark Kent who is
investigating Miss Moore who turns out to be the robot Darci Mason whom
the Toyman was obsessed with on Superman: The Animated Series. Later
Darci kidnaps Daisy so the Toyman can construct Darci a new body based
on Daisy's and she can take over her life. Static and Superman arrive to
stop Toyman but the duplication process has already taken place. The
Toyman almost kills Superman and Static with plastic/Kryptonite toy
soldiers when Darci double-crosses him and defeats him. Static uses his
electromagnetism to determine which of the two girls is Daisy and the
Toy activates a remote that destroys Darci for betraying him. At the end
Toyman goes to jail and Static takes Daisy home.
Out of all of the DCAU Static crossovers this was easily the worst. I
think it was a questionable idea at best to make a sequel to a
lesser-known Superman episode than to start off with an all-new story.
True we got Bud Cort as the Toyman (who was sorely missed in Justice
League's Hereafter) out of the deal but other than that the episode is
pretty run-of-the-mill and boring as well. I think the thing that hurts
the episode most is surprisingly the new Superman theme the show created
just for this episode which sounds worse even than the Batman theme
introduced in The Big Leagues. It is so generic and is played so
frequently that you can't help but role your eyes.
George Newburn does a thankless job as Superman here. While his voice
performance isn't really that bad he gets stuck with a lot of clunky
dialogue. The animation is passable at best. Nothing clicked in this
episode. I really had no fun watching it which is the biggest sin a
cartoon can commit. This was a really bad episode.
Story: *
Animation: **
Average: *1/2
Review (Jim Harvey): I was really excited for this episode. I was
pleased with the four previous crossover episodes, and had some
expectations for this episode. I am a huge fan of the much-missed
Superman: The Animated Series, and I enjoy the adventures of Static
Shock. On both levels, Static and Superman, this episode failed. A true
disappointment.
The understood the whole episode. Figured it all out. I soaked in every
aspect of the plot. I even rewatched it and....I was still disappointed.
I enjoyed "Hard as Nails," "The Big Leagues," and the two-part "A League
of Their Own," but this episode was just so cold. This episode had some
major problems. Characterization was off on a lot of characters, and the
plot was ludicrous, bordering on juvenile.
There were some aspects I liked about this episode. I liked that we got
to see Superman back in his classic Superman: The Animated Series look,
which is also, apparently, his new Justice League look as well. And
Newbern was great as the Man of Steel. He sounded perfect, almost
exactly like Tim Daly. I was a bit put off by the blue pupils, but they
worked fine with his tweaked look.
For the most part, Static was alright in this episode, too, although he
acting like he's never met a superhero before! He and Gear just acted
silly for the whole episode. I realize Superman is a huge iconic
character, but Static and Gear's gushing just got old after awhile. Some
of the interaction between Static and Superman was actually done well,
for the most part. They seemed to mesh better, and this makes perfect,
than Static and Batman. This episode played out like a blatant attempt
to make Static seem like one of the big boys in the animated DCU, which
he's simply not. I like the character, don't get me wrong, but he can
never compete with the big boys.
Gear was pretty much wasted in the episode. They twisted his ankle
pretty early to get him out of the picture, a stunt used a couple times
during the original Batman: The Animated Series run with Robin. I
thought it was pretty pointless. He could've just sat the episode out,
but still provided information without being crippled. I thought that
was a bit sloppy.
The use of Toyman was probably the biggest offense of this episode. Gone
was the creepy, obsessive, revenge seeking son. Here, we had some
toy-crazed man with puppy love. The voice acting, by the amazing Bud
Cort, was excellent, but lacked the creepy tone that was a staple to the
character. Go watch "Fun and Games" or "Obsession" and compare the voice
work to "Toys in The Hood" and you'll hear exactly what I mean. I am
glad they kept completely faithful to the designs of the character,
though.
Bringing in Darci, I thought, was a neat touch, but she was misused
here. Also, viewers who only watch Static Shock might be lost to the
events that led up to this episode. They never really dwell on what
happened in "Obsession," simply gloss over it a bit and breifly mention
the connection. I did like, however, Darci fixing her face, even though
it was done in the wrong way. In "Obsession," her skin was stretched
over her face. Here, it was a mask. The only explanation is that she got
an upgrade in-between.
The script...whoa...I don't think I've ever seen a Static Shock episode
written so poorly. This is a bit upsetting because Semper and
Altbacker's last script, for "A League of their Own" was great. But
here, everything just seems poorly construed. Characters are off,
dialogue was choppy and juvenile, and there were huge leaps in logic
throughout the entire episode. Toyman has the ability to clone people?
Gimme a break! I laughed when I saw his 'Easy Bake Clone Oven,' it was
just too ridiculous, even for Toyman. Toyman is not a scientist,
especially not a geneticist. He's an insane inventor.
I was surprised at how poor this episode was. Static Shock is
responsible for some of Saturday morning's best episode, recently,
including "Sins of the Father," and "Frozen Out." But here, I felt
insulted, because it was such a poor script. Granted, there were some
good parts scattered about, but those couldn't hide the poor plot.
As a Superman: The Animated Series fan, I was very, very
disappointed. This episode may be worse than "Unity." As a Static Shock
fan, I'm also incredibly disappointed. For a show that's given us so
many smart scripts and plots, this episode was just idiotic and
juvenile.
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