I’ve been absently working my way through BTAS over the past couple months and I have what I think may be a pretty hot take, so bear with me. While all of the praise that gets heaped on BTAS for its mature and sober storytelling in its best episodes (such as Heart of Ice or Feat of Clay), while absolutely a cut far and above typical “Saturday Morning Cartoon” fare of its day, is still ultimately hampered by the expectations of its format.
Put another way, BTAS is absolutely a groundbreaking work of Western animation and deserves most of the laurels it gets, but we mustn’t miss the forest for the tree here. As good as it is when it’s at its best, BTAS remains a childen’s cartoon. Taking the basic treatment of BTAS’ Clayface origin, but recontextualizing it in a different, somewhat less constrained, medium could absolutely result in a novel perspective.
That being said, super powered origin story is ALSO potentially a very formulaic medium, so it’s incumbent upon the filmmakers to still do something interesting, but I think the potential is there.
I’ve been absently working my way through BTAS over the past couple months and I have what I think may be a pretty hot take, so bear with me. While all of the praise that gets heaped on BTAS for its mature and sober storytelling in its best episodes (such as Heart of Ice or Feat of Clay), while absolutely a cut far and above typical “Saturday Morning Cartoon” fare of its day, is still ultimately hampered by the expectations of its format.
Put another way, BTAS is absolutely a groundbreaking work of Western animation and deserves most of the laurels it gets, but we mustn’t miss the forest for the tree here. As good as it is when it’s at its best, BTAS remains a childen’s cartoon. Taking the basic treatment of BTAS’ Clayface origin, but recontextualizing it in a different, somewhat less constrained, medium could absolutely result in a novel perspective.
That being said, super powered origin story is ALSO potentially a very formulaic medium, so it’s incumbent upon the filmmakers to still do something interesting, but I think the potential is there.