SubZero (1998) (V)

Director:

Boyd Kirkland

Writers:

Randy Rogel (written by) and
Boyd Kirkland (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Animation | Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

When Mr. Freeze, desperate to save his dying wife, kidnaps Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) as an involuntary organ donor, Batman and Robin must find her before the operation can begin.

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Submarine | Desperation | Chase | Ice

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Conroy	...	Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Michael Ansara	...	Dr. Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze (voice)
Loren Lester	...	Dick Grayson / Robin (voice)
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	...	Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
George Dzundza	...	Dr. Gregory Belson (voice)
Robert Costanzo	...	Detective Harvey Bullock (voice)
Bob Hastings	...	Commissioner James 'Jim' Gordon (voice)
Mary Kay Bergman	...	Barbara Gordon / Batgirl (voice)
Marilu Henner	...	Veronica Vreeland (voice)
Dean Jones	...	Dean Arbagast (voice)
Mari Devon	...	WGBS Reporter Summer Gleeson (voice)
Liane Schirmer	...	Lieutenant Renee Montoya (voice)
Rahi Azizi	...	Koonak (voice)
Townsend Coleman	...	(voice)
Brian George	...	(voice)
Ed Gilbert	...	(voice)
Carl Lumbly	...	(voice)
Tress MacNeille	...	(voice)
Neil Ross	...	Police Officers / TV Announcer / Sub Crewmember / Radio Weatherman (voice)
Randy Thompson	...	(voice)
Lauren Tom	...	Mariko (voice)

Directed by
Boyd Kirkland

Writing credits
Randy Rogel		(written by) and
Boyd Kirkland		(written by)
Bob Kane		creator: Batman

Produced by
Haven Alexander	....	associate producer
Boyd Kirkland	....	producer
Benjamin Melniker	....	executive producer
Randy Rogel	....	producer
Michael E. Uslan	....	executive producer (as Michael Uslan)

Original Music by
Michael McCuistion

Film Editing by
Al Breitenbach

Casting by
Andrea Romano

Production Management
Ken Duer	....	production supervisor
Joey Franks	....	production supervisor
Christopher Keenan	....	production supervisor
Jong Tae Kim	....	production manager: Koko Enterprise
Jean MacCurdy	....	production manager
Shaun McLaughlin	....	production manager
Clive Nakayashiki	....	production supervisor
Joe Sandusky	....	production manager
Howard Schwartz	....	production supervisor
Liza-Ann Warren	....	production supervisor
Jeong Beom Yun	....	production manager: Koko Enterprise

Art Department
Ted Blackman	....	background key designer
Kim Bowen	....	painter (as Kim Pettijohn)
Steve Butz	....	background painter
John Calmette	....	background painter
Kyun Ju Cha	....	painter
Hin Kyoung Choi	....	painter
Jee Young Choi	....	painter
Kyun Joo Choi	....	painter
Sun Hee Choi	....	painter
Michael Chutuk	....	painter
Jung Hae Ho	....	painter
Young Sun Hong	....	painter (as Yung Sun Hong)
Gun Mi Jung	....	painter
Kyoung Sook Kang	....	painter
Kyoung Ran Kim	....	painter
Mi Sook Kim	....	painter
Myoung Sun Kim	....	painter
Su Jin Kim	....	painter
Yoon Sun Kim	....	painter
Mi Sook Kwon	....	painter
Eun Jin Lee	....	painter
Steward Lee	....	storyboard artist
Sung Ah Lee	....	painter
You Hwa Lee	....	painter
Natasha Liberman	....	background painter
Butch Lukic	....	storyboard artist
Kyoung Ok Na	....	painter
Phillip Norwood	....	storyboard artist (as Phill Norwood)
Bill Ohanesian	....	painter
Charles Pickens	....	background painter
Shayne Poindexter	....	property designer
Daniel Veesenmeyer	....	storyboard artist
Ji Young Yun	....	painter

Sound Department
Gregory Beaumont	....	supervising sound editor (as Greg Beaumont)
George Brooks	....	supervising sound editor
Kelly Ann Foley	....	adr coordinator
Robert Hargreaves	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Hegedes	....	adr editor
John Hegedes	....	adr engineer
Mark Keatts	....	adr editor
Leslie Lamers	....	recording supervisor
Gary Marullo	....	foley artist
Tom Maydeck	....	sound re-recording engineer (as Thomas J. Maydeck)
Pat Rodman	....	foley mixer (as Patrick Rodman)

Visual Effects by
Rob Bonchune	....	digital artist
Sherry Hitch	....	digital artist
Adam 'Mojo' Lebowitz	....	digital artist
Cindy Mercado	....	assistant to the producers
Danielle Plantec	....	visual effects
Stacie Sharp	....	visual effects coordinator (as Stacie M.Sharp)
Emile Edwin Smith	....	digital artist
Michael Stetson	....	visual effects animator: Foundation Imaging

Animation Department
Troy Adomitis	....	character designer
Jong Myong Bae	....	character checker
Vincent Bassols	....	animation timing director
Kimberly Bowles	....	character clean-up artist
Jan Browning	....	animation checker
Brenda Brummet	....	animation checker (as Brenda Brummett)
Yoshio Chatani	....	key animator (as Yosio Chatani)
Brian Clift	....	character clean-up artist
Eleanor Dahlen	....	animation checker
Geno DuBois	....	ink and paint supervisor
Steven E. Gordon	....	character designer
Hae Jin Han	....	key animator
Karl Jacobs	....	animation checker
Se-won Kim	....	animation director (as Se Won Kim)
Kevin Kipper	....	supervising animator
Boyd Kirkland	....	character designer
Nobuyuki Koyanagi	....	key animator
Fred Kuramara	....	animator
Byoung Eui Kwak	....	key animator
Byoung Wung Lee	....	key animator
Do Hee Lee	....	key animator (as Doo Hee Lee)
Hyun Sik Lee	....	key animator
Edward McGillicutty	....	key background designer
Kôji Miura	....	key animator
Young Re Moon	....	assistant animation checker
Yutaka Oka	....	key animator
Bong-Il Park	....	key animator
Jun Il Park	....	key animator
Kyoung Sun Park	....	key animator
Oh Soon Park	....	key animator
Trevor Peirce	....	animator
Danielle Plantec	....	animator
Kevin Quattro	....	animator
Lenord Robinson	....	additional animator
Jeffery Scheetz	....	animator
Masahiro Shigemoto	....	key animator
Jeong Sook Shim	....	key animator
Kwang Hak Shin	....	key animator
Sand Chul Son	....	key animator
Suk-Hyoung Sun	....	key animator
Yukio Suzuki	....	animation director
Noboru Takahashi	....	character checker
Takeru Yamazaki	....	key animator
Jong Sung Yoo	....	assistant animation checker

Editorial Department
Bonnie Buckner	....	post-production coordinator
Bill Fiala	....	post-production assistant
Jeff Hoffman	....	colorist
Robin D. Kane	....	color key (as Robin Kane)
Mary Nelson-Duerrstein	....	negative cutter
Bruce Ochmanek	....	on-line editor
Linda Redondo	....	color key
Clayton Stang	....	color key
John Voralik	....	post-production assistant
Jay Weinman	....	video post-production director
Ed Weyer	....	color timer

Music Department
Larry Blank	....	additional orchestrator
Leland Bond	....	additional orchestrator
Kristopher Carter	....	additional orchestrator
Debbi Datz-Pyle	....	orchestra contractor
Donna Davidson	....	singer (as Donna Davidson Medine)
Danny Elfman	....	composer: main theme from "Batman"
Robert Fernandez	....	music mixer
Doug Frank	....	music coordinator
Debbie Hall	....	singer (as Debbie Hall Gleason)
Karen Harper	....	singer
Andrew Kinney	....	additional orchestrator
Elizabeth Lamers	....	singer
Michael McCuistion	....	conductor
Larry Rench	....	orchestrator
Lolita Ritmanis	....	orchestrator
Brad Rosenberger	....	music coordinator
Patrick Russ	....	additional orchestrator
Mark Ryan	....	music editor
Christina Saffran	....	singer
Pam Springs	....	music coordinator
Sally Stevens	....	singer
Susie Stevens-Logan	....	singer (as Susan Stevens Logan)
Keith Zajic	....	music coordinator (as Keith Zajac)
Patti Zimmitti	....	orchestra contractor

Other crew
Chuck Ansel	....	production administrator
Alan Burnett	....	script consultant
Jenny Lynn Burnett	....	staff assistant
Athena Christianakis	....	staff assistant
Kim Dahl	....	markup painter
Paul Dini	....	script consultant
Dario Fagnani	....	staff assistant
Paul Fairchild	....	production assistant
Heather Isaacs	....	staff assistant
Kathleen Keegan	....	production coordinator
Lisa Leonardi-Knight	....	markup painter
Kellie Long	....	staff assistant
Courtney Narz	....	production coordinator
Eric Nordberg	....	markup painter
Andrea Romano	....	voice director
Sarah Tomassi	....	production administrator
Maria Womack	....	production administrator

Production Companies

• Warner Bros
• Warner Bros. Animation

Distributors

• Audio Visual Enterprises (1998) (Greece) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2004) (Finland) (TV)
• SubTV (2003) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Bros
• Warner Home Video (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (Finland) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video

Special Effects

• Foundation Imaging

Other Companies

• DC Comics  characters
• Dong Yang Animation  animation services
• Monterey Post Production  post-production facilities
• Post Group, The  video post-production

Also Known As:

"Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero" - USA (DVD title)
"Subzero" - USA (alternative title)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | Brazil:Livre | Spain:T

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

The numerous addresses shown within the film place Gotham City withing the state of New York, and all phone-number area codes and ZIP codes correspond to New York City. New York City was one of the original inspirations for Gotham City.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When an explosion occurs bad enough to cause a huge part of the structure to fall, and Belson shoves Freeze away from him and runs, you can see it looks like Freeze gets completely buried. In the next shot, it shows only his lower half is buried.

Quotes:

Barbara Gordon:You don't need to put somebody under for a blood transfusion!
[pause, realizes]
Barbara Gordon:It's *more* than that, isn't it?

Movie Connections:

References Crimson Tide (1995)

Soundtrack:

I Only Have Eyes for You

Ehh....it's alright.

The animation, no doubt, is top-notch. That's a given, though, when you're dealing with this particular series. As for the plot, it's simple enough. Kinda spooky, though, for me given that I share that blood type. (Thankfully I don't fit the demographic.) Anyway, Mr. Freeze comes off as he should: a tragic display of a man who's fighting to hold onto his life as he knew it. Mr. Freeze is not a villain by nature, but by default. To achieve his goal of restoring his wife, he's forced by circumstance into lawbreaking. Outside of that, Mr. Freeze is no more menacing a person than you or I. Unfortunately, Mr. Freeze is the only one with development in "Sub Zero." Bruce/Batman appears more or less in a cameo this time, the lack of screen time not letting him really display any characterization. Dick/Robin has enough going on that he shows off some, sure, and there's some tension for him, but that's really as far as it went. Barbara/Batgirl got to showcase herself better than the Dynamic Duo, most likely to show us why she got to sign on permanently with Batman in the new series. But for all she does in this one, we don't really walk away feeling we know anything new about her, either. Oh, sure, we know her blood type. But aside from that, she basically just got more lines than the guys. Would I recommend "Sub Zero?" Definitely. After all, where this creative team is concerned, even their "Just OK" material is usually superior to most anyway.