FInal Crisis: Bruce Timm Leaving Supervising Producer Job at WB Animation

Well, this is a bummer, even though it was probably possible to see it coming based on the recent cancellations of Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice: Invasion by Cartoon Network and Warner Bros., but Bruce Timm, the guy who has been driving DC’s animated movie and TV efforts pretty much since Batman: The Animated Series started in 1992, is leaving the Supervising Producer job at Warner Bros. Animation. He’s going to be replaced by James Tucker, the guy who produced Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and he directed the upcoming Superman: Unbound movie coming from DC Animated Originals.

There’s no particular word as to why Timm is leaving beyond the wish “to develop some of his own projects,” but this news was kind of a bummer for Amanda and me, personally. The art centerpiece of the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office Theater Room is a framed collection of two of Timm’s sketches, of Batman and Batman Beyond, respectively, with pictures of Timm drawing them for us… and with a bonus, a picture of Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series co-producer Paul Dini and his autograph, to boot. So to say that we are fans of Timm’s work with DC’s animated work would be a gross understatement. Just look up and to your left as proof.

But the important thing is whether or not Tucker is the right choice to continue Timm’s work on the generally excellent DC animated properties… and the answer seems to be: probably, yeah. Tucker seems to have a solid vision of what he wants to produce in the future beyond Superman: Unbound, and fans of DC characters who aren’t Superman or Batman are probably going to be especially excited.