Justice League Unlimited – Episodes – Season 1, Episode 5 – Kid Stuff

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are transformed into eight-year-olds in a desperate attempt to save the world from the magic of Mordred.

Review by Bleu Unicorn
Media by Bird Boy

Voices:
Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern
George Newbern as Superman
Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman
Kevin Conroy as Batman
Dakota Fanning as Kid Wonder Woman
Kyle Alcazar as Kid Batman
Marc John Jefferies as Kid Green Lantern
Shane Haboucha as Kid Superman
Olivia D’abo as Morgaine Le Fey
Soren Fulton as Mordred
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Cheetah
Ashley Edner as May
Jose Yenque as Copperhead
Dee Bradley Baker as Blockbuster

When members of the Justice League are transformed into children, entertainment isn’t far behind. Frankly, it was very much like watching an episode of Teen Titans rather than JLU, but I still found it quite enjoyable.

We get the return of Morgaine Le Fey, who is still working on taking over the world through magic and giving her son the kingdom she promised him centuries ago. Mordred, for his part, has passed the stage of calm patience and very much like the child he is, wants what he wants and he wants it now.
When he takes the Amulet of First Magic and banishes all adults to another dimension, his mother teams up with the Justice League to stop him.
Possessing half their normal strength and inhabiting the bodies of their childhood selves, our heroes are sent back to right Mordred’s wrongs.

The childhood versions of the four Leaguers were really fun to see. I especially was endeared to Kid GL and his inability to decide how to use his ring. Kid WW was pretty amusing as well, with her bossy nature and a very uncharacteristic boy-crazy attitude. I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that she was taller than her male counterparts. Batman’s very boyish dislike of girls was incredibly funny. And while I’m at a loss as to how or why
Etrigan became a baby – I have to admit for a fire-breathing, ugly monster, he was pretty cute.

Though the more I think about the episode in general, the more confused I get. Etrigan as a baby seems to make no sense, especially since he’s completely absent in the episode prior to that. So, who in fact turned him into a baby? And why would Mordred use his enemy to defend his castle? How come only GL seemed to be the only one restricted by his childhood persona?
To the extent he needed glasses even. Strictly speaking, at that age
Superman shouldn’t have had heat vision. And that’s just the beginning, but really I don’t need to spread my confusion.

Confusion aside, there are a few slightly disturbing and downright creepy moments in this episode. The unrestrained violent natures of the unattended children – most of them are fighting amongst themselves and a few of them behead a suit of armor using a guillotine. Personally, though I found the ending to be the most disturbing thing. And here I thought bathing him for centuries was weird….

The mixture of CGI animation along with the traditional was done incredibly well here. Very fluid and really made the more supernatural elements pop.
Very fluid and solid animation during the various fighting sequences, especially Kid GL’s ring constructs – which also proved to be quite amusing.
The score was also very fitting, especially the accompanying music for the children. Not surprising, the voice acting was just top-notch, even if it was a tad strange to hear the Justice Kids’ voices, I was very pleased with them overall. And it’s always a treat to hear Olivia d’Abo; she really is perfect for the voice of Morgaine.

A very entertaining and comical episode – all in all, my complaints don’t dampen it enough for me to say that it was anything less than great.