Hellboy (animated series)
Encyclopedia
Hellboy Animated are original straight-to-DVD
animated films based upon the comic book character. Both films, Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron, received the signature of Mike Mignola
and Guillermo del Toro
. A third film is being planned but hasn't been greenlit
yet.
, who played Hellboy
in the live-action movie
, also provides the voice of the character in the animated version. Selma Blair
and John Hurt
also reprise their roles from the film of Liz Sherman
and Professor Trevor Bruttenholm
, respectively. The voice of Abe Sapien
is Doug Jones
, who played Abe in prosthetic work in the live-action movies but did not provide the voice for the first film - Abe's vocals for that film were done by David Hyde Pierce
- he did, however, voice the character in the second film. Kate Corrigan is voiced by Peri Gilpin
.
Music is by Christopher Drake
.
are dispatched to Japan
to solve the mystery of a professor possessed by the Japanese demons Thunder and Lightning. The demons wish to get their hands on a powerful haunted sword, which will free them, and allow them to unleash their brothers
and destroy the world. While Hellboy is sent into an alternate dimension, facing Yokai
on the way, his B.P.R.D. teammates, Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman, try to stop one of the Dragons on the first wave of the coming chaos.
. The DVD for this also includes a bonus short called Hellboy: Iron Shoes.
. It will primarily feature Hellboy and Kate. Rumour has it that Liz and Abe will not be appearing (at least as main characters), because the cast will include more "big-name" villains such as Rasputin, Herman Von Klempt and his Kriegaffe and Roderick Zinco.
All work on The Phantom Claw has since been put on hold and further production will only continue if the previous animated features DVD sales rise.
On March 19, 2008, a message was posted on the Hellboy Animated site by producer Tad Stones stating that no work is being done on this film. However, Stones also wrote that some smaller animated projects may be done for internet release, and hinted that the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army may affect the future of the animated film series.
are releasing a number of volumes under the Hellboy Animated range. These will continue the adventures of the animated characters.
exclusive.
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
animated films based upon the comic book character. Both films, Sword of Storms and Blood and Iron, received the signature of Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola
Michael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
and Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
. A third film is being planned but hasn't been greenlit
Greenlight
To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to...
yet.
Cast
Ron PerlmanRon Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
, who played Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
in the live-action movie
Hellboy (film)
Hellboy is a 2004 supernatural superhero film, starring Ron Perlman, John Hurt and Selma Blair, directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film is based on the Dark Horse Comics work Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola. It was produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures...
, also provides the voice of the character in the animated version. Selma Blair
Selma Blair
Selma Blair is an American actress who has worked in film, theatre and television. She has performed in feature films including Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy, The Fog, Purple Violets and Hellboy II: The Golden Army...
and John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
also reprise their roles from the film of Liz Sherman
Liz Sherman
Elizabeth 'Liz' Sherman is a fictional character appearing in the Hellboy comic book series created by Mike Mignola.-Fictional character history:...
and Professor Trevor Bruttenholm
Trevor Bruttenholm
Professor Trevor Bruttenholm is a fictional character in the Hellboy comic book universe, created by Mike Mignola and John Byrne. His first appearance was in the comic book Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, issue #1 .-Fictional character biography:...
, respectively. The voice of Abe Sapien
Abe Sapien
Abraham "Abe" Sapien is a fictional character in the comic book series Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "Icthyo sapiens," the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his colleagues in the 19th-century Oannes Club, and from Abraham Lincoln, on whose assassination date...
is Doug Jones
Doug Jones (actor)
Doug Jones is an American film and television actor best known to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans for his various roles playing non-human characters, often in heavy makeup, in films and television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise...
, who played Abe in prosthetic work in the live-action movies but did not provide the voice for the first film - Abe's vocals for that film were done by David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he received many accolades including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-Early life:Pierce, the youngest of four siblings,...
- he did, however, voice the character in the second film. Kate Corrigan is voiced by Peri Gilpin
Peri Gilpin
Peri Gilpin is an American actress known for her role as Roz Doyle in the U.S. television series Frasier from 1993 until 2004. Along with the principal cast, Gilpin won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2000...
.
Music is by Christopher Drake
Christopher Drake
Christopher Drake is an American film and television composer.Drake was personally selected by Academy Award nominated film director Guillermo del Toro to provide the music for the first two 75-minute animated movies, Hellboy: Sword of Storms and Hellboy: Blood and Iron...
.
Sword of Storms
In Sword of Storms, Hellboy and Kate CorriganKate Corrigan
Kate Corrigan is a fictional character from the Dark Horse Comics universe, featured in the comic book series Hellboy and BPRD written by Mike Mignola, et al. Her appearance is based on Mignola's wife, Christine.-History:...
are dispatched to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to solve the mystery of a professor possessed by the Japanese demons Thunder and Lightning. The demons wish to get their hands on a powerful haunted sword, which will free them, and allow them to unleash their brothers
Ogdru Jahad
The Ogdru Jahad are fictional characters in Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic. They are the Dragon of Revelation, and are destined to bring about the end of the world. Though the Ogdru Jahad are the ultimate antagonists in the series, they are not themselves active, their release from imprisonment...
and destroy the world. While Hellboy is sent into an alternate dimension, facing Yokai
Yokai
are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "otherworldly" and "weird". Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them...
on the way, his B.P.R.D. teammates, Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman, try to stop one of the Dragons on the first wave of the coming chaos.
Blood and Iron
Hellboy: Blood and Iron deals with Professor Trevor Bruttenholm's experience with a vampiress (the blood countess) in 1934 and the present day. Hellboy also faces off against HecateHecate
Hecate or Hekate is a chthonic Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, necromancy, and crossroads.She is attested in poetry as early as Hesiod's Theogony...
. The DVD for this also includes a bonus short called Hellboy: Iron Shoes.
The Phantom Claw
Info yet to be unveiled, other than the debut of Lobster JohnsonLobster Johnson
Lobster Johnson is a fictional character featured in the Hellboy and Bureau For Paranormal Research and Defense comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. He was created by Mike Mignola....
. It will primarily feature Hellboy and Kate. Rumour has it that Liz and Abe will not be appearing (at least as main characters), because the cast will include more "big-name" villains such as Rasputin, Herman Von Klempt and his Kriegaffe and Roderick Zinco.
All work on The Phantom Claw has since been put on hold and further production will only continue if the previous animated features DVD sales rise.
On March 19, 2008, a message was posted on the Hellboy Animated site by producer Tad Stones stating that no work is being done on this film. However, Stones also wrote that some smaller animated projects may be done for internet release, and hinted that the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army may affect the future of the animated film series.
Comics
As with the DC animated universe's spin-off comic books, Dark HorseDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
are releasing a number of volumes under the Hellboy Animated range. These will continue the adventures of the animated characters.
- Hellboy Animated:
- The Black Wedding (80 pages, January 2007, ISBN 1-59307-700-9) contains:
- "The Black Wedding" (written by Jim Pascoe with art by Rick Lacy)
- "Pyramid of Death" (written by Tad StonesTad StonesTad Stones is an American animator, screenwriter, producer and director best known for his work for The Walt Disney Company, where he worked from 1974 to 2003...
with art by Fabio Laguna)
- Judgment Bell (80 pages, June 2007, ISBN 1-59307-799-8) contains:
- "The Judgment Bell" (written by Jim Pascoe with art by Rick Lacy)
- Unspecified (written by Tad Stones)
- The Menagerie (80 pages, December 2007, ISBN 1-59307-861-7) contains:
- "The Menagerie" (written by Jason Hall with art by Rick Lacy)
- "Small Victories" (written by Nate Piekos with art by Fabio Laguna)
- The Black Wedding (80 pages, January 2007, ISBN 1-59307-700-9) contains:
Merchandise
Gentle Giant Ltd, famed for its statues, has been given the license for the Hellboy Animated action figures. A first-look Hellboy figure shrinkwrapped to a copy of the Blood and Iron DVD was released as a Best BuyBest Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
exclusive.