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View Full Version : Ken Burns to direct Superman documentary

Ed Cunard
12-20-2005, 12:16 PM
... and Bryan Singer is scheduled to produce it. Here's the link to the press release (http://www.comicbookmovie.com/news/articles/2477.asp).

I'm hoping it turns out well. I have no reason to believe it won't; Ken Burns has done great documentaries on New York City, jazz, the Civil War, and baseball.

(Manny, if this belongs more in the TV/Film board, I apologize).
SuperManny
12-20-2005, 05:11 PM
(Manny, if this belongs more in the TV/Film board, I apologize).

Nope, it fits in perfectly. As it does there too.

Thanks for the post!
Grant
12-20-2005, 05:25 PM
I think it's Kevin Burns not Ken Burns.

Kevin Burns did the Star Wars doc on the Box Set. And I think he created the show "Biography."
Ed Cunard
12-20-2005, 05:32 PM
Hmm. I see that. The PR lists Ken Burns accomplishments, but credits Kevin Burns with this thing.

Crap. I'm not looking forward to it as much anymore.
cactusmaac
12-21-2005, 12:06 AM
I think it's Kevin Burns not Ken Burns.

Kevin Burns did the Star Wars doc on the Box Set. And I think he created the show "Biography."

That Star Wars doc was great.
666MasterOfPuppets
12-28-2005, 07:03 AM
I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to this. I heard that Singer wants it on theaters before the Superman Returns' premiere.

It would be the second documentary ever on Superman.
Giant Guy
01-05-2006, 09:35 AM
It would be the second documentary ever on Superman.

What is the first? I am sorry if that was a dumb question but i can't think of it.
666MasterOfPuppets
01-05-2006, 04:10 PM
What is the first? I am sorry if that was a dumb question but i can't think of it.

You can watch it here (http://www.supermandoc.com).

P.S.: Don't be sorry. It's a perfectly valid question.
Chewbaccacabra
01-05-2006, 06:07 PM
Someone told me that Kevin is Ken Burns' brother, but I don't know. I do know Ken has a brother whose name is Rick Burns and does documentaries also. The excellent PBS New York series was one. I guess it's not unfeasible.
JulianPerez
01-12-2006, 04:41 AM
It sounds incredibly intriguing.

However, there is one place where a Superman documentary can go wrong, and that is to do what Michael Chabon tends to do: place an emphasis on the original creators and their perspective over anyone else, despite the fact that Superman as a character changes over time.

If it mentions Mort Weisenger and the Weisenger years, that would be interesting. Most of the people that worked in this period were science fiction writers as well; Edmond Hamilton wrote STAR KINGS, one of the most famous pulp science fiction novels ever, and E. Nelson Bridwell under various pseudonyms was published in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION along with Asimov, van Vogt, Clarke, and the other Golden Age greats.

Maybe they can do a re-enactment of Uncle Morty chucking a stapler at a writer he doesn't like!

It would also be interesting to see the Schwartz years in operation, too. Elliot S! Maggin and Cary Bates have a lot to say about this period, in addition to their being being geniuses.
666MasterOfPuppets
01-12-2006, 05:57 PM
I agree.

I hope all eras of Superman are portrayed in this documentary.

And Elliot S! Maggin is a must, as are Mark Waid and Grant Morrison.
JulianPerez
01-13-2006, 02:48 AM
I agree.

I hope all eras of Superman are portrayed in this documentary.

And Elliot S! Maggin is a must, as are Mark Waid and Grant Morrison.

Well, at least Mark Waid - that guy knows Superman backwards and front.

If they get Grant blitzed on blow and tequila, I think it would rank as the funniest documentary EVER.

Remember that story he told where, coming out of a hotel, he meets and talks to a guy that looks exactly like Superman and Grant says it was like a mystical experience? I just cannot believe Grant was sober when this happened.
666MasterOfPuppets
01-13-2006, 02:04 PM
Well, at least Mark Waid - that guy knows Superman backwards and front.

Indeed.

If they get Grant blitzed on blow and tequila, I think it would rank as the funniest documentary EVER.

That's correct. I've always seen Morrison as a quite weird fellow (in the good sense of the word).

Remember that story he told where, coming out of a hotel, he meets and talks to a guy that looks exactly like Superman and Grant says it was like a mystical experience? I just cannot believe Grant was sober when this happened.

Not to mention that the guy was dressed like Superman. And he even had a pic of him with the guy and other people.

But on top of that, Morrison loves and knows Supes. That's why I think it should be an important part in the documentary.
666MasterOfPuppets
01-13-2006, 02:07 PM
BTW, Alan Moore's comments in that documentary should prove interesting...
Sean Whitmore
01-14-2006, 05:12 PM
Nuts, from the thread title I was hoping for something in line with Ken Burns' Mark Twain doc.

Keith David (V.O.): "And then, in the Spring of 1959, Superman gained another addition to his ever-growing super family."

Screen changes to a black and white still pose of Superman.

George Newbern as Superman (V.O.): "Great guns! A girl, flying! It--uh--must be an illusion!"


SEAN