Should The Show Have Come Out Later? by SofiaBlythe2014 on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Full Title: Should Shea Fontana's DC Superhero Girls Have Come Out Later

Hello there. This is SofiaBlythe2014. You're probably wondering what I mean by this. Let me explain. While the original 2015 DC Superhero Girls developed by Shea Fontana is still generally well liked, one complaint that's often used against it is that the short runtime of episodes isn't exactly the best at giving good stories and fleshed out characters. It's usually why there's more preference towards the movies and graphic novels. Even with the episode runtime getting a bit longer in later seasons, the complaint was still somewhat there. I think the complaint with runtime would have to do with when the show came out.

The 2015 DC Superhero Girls was produced by both Warner Brothers Animation and Mattel Playground Productions. You can see Mattel executives at the end credits of the episodes. When it comes to Mattel's projects during the first half of the 2010s produced under this label, they were mainly known for movies and specials, with any shows they did have usually being episodes that are just a few minutes long. Look at Barbie: Life On The Dreamhouse, and the web shorts for Ever After High, Monster High generation 1, and Team Hot Wheels.

This would change in 2016 when Mattel Creations (later renamed to Mattel Television in 2018) was formed and Playground Productions was shut down before later being brought back and renamed to Mattel Films. Under Mattel Television, you would get more full length shows that were either 11 minute segments or 22 minute stories. Key examples include Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures, Polly Pocket 2018, Monster High 2022, and the 2 He Man shows that came out in 2021. Shea Fontana's work in Polly Pocket and Monster High seems like a more fully realized version of the potential of DC Superhero Girls 2015 given how they have some similar stories and character archetypes, but are able to go further with these ideas.

And that's all I have. What do you think?