My husband is an awesome guy and went to Best Buy as soon as they opened this morning to pick me up the DVD of Under the Red Hood. I found out they had an exclusive Red Hood figure there, so I had to have my own little Jensen!

And here he is!




And here's the packaging:




So head off to Best Buy and you, too, can have your own Mini!Jensen!

So I was up waaay too late last night (like most of fandom) watching Jensen's movie Under the Red Hood (thanks to three lovely ladies. You know who you are and you rock!).

Before going into this movie I was aware of the history of Jason Todd, but the filmmakers have done such a good job that you don't even need to know who Batman is to watch this film. They do an excellent job of quickly explaining who all the characters are and what happened to Jason to set all of this in motion.

This is one violent cartoon, let me tell you. People are beat to a pulp and/or shot and killed about every 10 minutes. Yikes!

Jensen, of course, does an amazing job, just like all of the reviews said. But Neil Patrick Harris, as Nightwing, is the other standout performance. Hands down, he had the best, and funniest lines. Unfortunately, he's only in the beginning part of the movie, which is a shame.

Bruce Greenwood does a good job as Batman, but the voice of the Joker and Black Mask annoyed me.

I was surprised that Jensen wasn't in this more, though. Let me clarify - Red Hood is seen quite a bit, but the majority of the time he's running or jumping or fighting and not speaking. And listening to Jensen's sexy voice is why I wanted to see this so badly.

But when Jensen does speak he NAILS it. He truly was the best voice talent and I'm honestly not just saying that because I'm a big fan of his. He had the most intensity of any of the other actors, including Bruce Greenwood. His voice went from being cocky to sarcastic to pissed off and everything in between. And when we finally get to the long-awaited Red Hood/Batman confrontation at the end, the pain and hurt and anger in Jensen's voice broke my heart.

This boy has an excellent second career ahead of him as a voice actor, that's for sure.

The ending is left...open ended. I have my theory as to what happened with Red Hood, and after all of you see it I'd be interested in your opinion as well.

I'll still be buying the DVD when it comes out on July 27th, and I encourage all of you to do so as well, even if you've already seen it like me. It's just a good way to support Jensen in his newest endeavor. :-)

Many thanks to my lovely friend sen1995 for the heads up! Here's a brand new clip from Under the Red Hood with lots and lots of Jensen's awesome voice. :-)

trillian276709 ROCKS! She just came across this info that she shared with me that I wanted to pass along to any of you lucky enough to be attending ComicCon this year...


Friday, July 23rd - 8:00 pm -10:00 pm - World Premiere: Batman: Under the Red Hood— Warner Home Video, Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros.

Animation proudly present the World Premiere of Batman: Under the Red Hood, the eighth entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 movies.

In the film, Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part vigilante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotham with the efficiency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. Killing is an option. And when The Joker falls in the balance between the two, hard truths are revealed and old wounds are reopened. The stellar voice cast is led by Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), Jensen Ackles (Supernatural), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), John DiMaggio (Futurama), Jason Issacs (the Harry Potter films), and Vincent Martella (Phineas & Ferb).

Executive producer Bruce Timm (DCU films), director Brandon Vietti (Superman: Doomsday), award-winning comics writer Judd Winick, casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano (DCU films) and members of the voice cast will be around for a postscreening panel that will reveal details behind the making of the film, a glimpse of the 2011 DC Universe Animated Original Movies slate, and a first look at the next DCU film, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. Warner Home Video will distribute Batman: Under the Red Hood on Blu-Ray and DVD, OnDemand and For Download on July 27, 2010.

Note: a second encore screening will take place in the same room beginning at 10:15.

Ballroom 20

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Doesn't look like Jensen will be there, but you'll still get to see the movie before the rest of us!

ComicBookMovie.com has an interview up with Andrea Romano, about the Under the Red Hood animated movie that Jensen did. Here's what the voiceover director had to say about Jensen:

QUESTION: How did Jensen Ackles perform in his maiden voyage in animation?

ANDREA ROMANO: When you get a first-timer in the booth, there are often risks involved, particularly in understanding the techniques involved in working with the microphone. Jensen picked it up so quickly and was so effective in this very difficult role. Red Hood is written as such an embittered, angry, verging-on-insane character, and it can so easily be overplayed. But Jensen found just the right level of energy and flair. I loved his acting. His quality was dead-on, and he really offers a perfect balance with Bruce (Greenwood).

As a director, you live the emotions with the actor. There’s one scene where Jensen has to let his emotions completely bubble to the surface. I had to work really hard to see my script through the tears that I was crying with him as he let his emotions come through.

~~~~~

Go, Jensen!! I really can't wait for this movie!

From ComicBookMovie.com:

Warner Bros. recently released a few new images featuring the main characters of the upcoming direct-to-video film Batman: Under the Red Hood along with the film's official description:

Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part vigilante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotham City with the efficiency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. Killing is an option. And when The Joker falls in the balance between the two, hard truths emerge and old wounds reopen.

And here's what Jensen's character looks like:




DC Direct has also revealed their latest collectible sculpture of Red Hood, based off of the character from the animated film. The maquette is priced at $99.99 US and will be available for purchase July 7th, 2010.

        
 

Batman: Under the Red Hood is based off of the 2005 Batman storyline written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Doug Mahnke. Brandon Vietti directed the film; of which Winick himself wrote the screenplay. Providing the voices for the film are Bruce Greenwood as Batman, Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing, and Jensen Ackles as Red Hood.

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There's also a new website for the Red Hood movie that hasn't quite gone live yet, but you can sign up for updates: http://www.warnervideo.com/batmanredhood/

They show the release date as Summer 2010.

I know I can't WAIT for this, to hear Jensen voice the Red Hood. :-)  I was thinking it would be neat to buy the maquette and have Jensen autograph it at some point (if he'd sign up for the Chicago con already! Argh!) until I saw that it was $99.99. Ouch! That's a bit steep. But I think Jensen would probably get a kick out of signing some Red Hood memoribilia. :-)

This is Andrea Romano, the voice director for Under the Red Hood, talking about Jensen. He brought her to TEARS during this really emotional scene. She has nothing but praise for our boy. :-)

Man, I cannot WAIT to see this!

From ComicBookMovie.com

Exclusive First Look: Batman - Under the Red Hood

It may not be coming out until this summer, but CBM has your first look at the animated DVD adventure "Batman: Under the Red Hood," featuring interviews with Bruce Timm, Judd Winick, Bruce Greenwood and Jensen Ackles.



The other newcomer to animation acting is Jensen Ackles, who voices the villain of the piece, the Red Hood. Ackles, of course, is best known for his portrayal of Dean Winchester on the CW series, Supernatural.

“There really wasn’t any heavy acting choices to make,” says Ackles regarding Red Hood. “It pretty much just bounced off the page, and I just tried to do it justice. With working in this medium, once you get clear on all the specific pronunciations and how the tone of the voice needs to rise and fall, it was really about focusing on the more emotional elements of the script, especially in the intense moments and trying to envision the scene with the characters. And envisioning yourself in that scenario. A lot of times if you can do that, if you can put yourself there, I think the voice follows suit.”

Between his work on Supernatural and now the world of Batman, Ackles obviously has had some experience working in what has affectionately been called the “fan boy genre.”

“The positives of working in this genre are that the fans are extremely devoted,” he offers. “People really invest themselves in these stories and characters, and the mythology behind them. To be a part of something that so many people really get behind and want more of is extremely gratifying.”

Batman: Under The Red Hood will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in October.