Paul Dini Quotes

I’m not saying I talk to cartoon characters all the time, but the characters are very real to me. In a very non-insane way.

The Joker is a tremendous vehicle for talented actors. Cesar Romero’s was a bubbly, lunatic criminal. Nicholson did him as a vain, preening manipulator. Heath’s performance of the Joker was remarkable, too. His was a low-simmering crazy street clown. Joker can be played all these ways, and they’re all true.

I’ve always felt in my own small, little way that if I could just write a story where it works out well, where the scales of justice are balanced, then that’s something that I do really love to see in the world.

Boys, boys, boys. Boys buy the little spinny tops, they but the action figures, girls buy princesses, we’re not selling princesses.

With ‘Wonder Woman,’ I did one story with Alex Ross, and I had a lot of fun doing it, but I don’t think I could do a ‘Wonder Woman’ book on a regular basis, because there’s so much history there and so much mythology and everything.

I look at the Marvel movies and the DC movies and various creators’ creations, and I think, you know, that’s really pretty cool.

Most female characters have either been the temptress – like a Betty Boop type – or the victim – like an Olive Oil type.

I think that when you’ve got a world in which it’s plausible to have a guy dressed as a giant bat and fight evil clowns and other nightmarish freaks, I think the world has to be visually a little more arresting than a regular world.

Everybody looks back on what they studied and what they grew up with.

‘Boo & Hiss’ has been a passion project of mine for a couple of years. I was intrigued with the idea of what would happen in a classic cartoon predator/prey relationship if the predator – in this case, a cat – got to finally do in his adversary only to have the mouse return as a ghost and bedevil the cat.

As much as I love elements of Spider-Man’s past, I don’t really want to go back in and retell the Gwen Stacy and Green Goblin story in animation just so I can do my take on it. I don’t want to redo the first ‘Spider Slayer’ story.

We’re all painfully aware of how suddenly violence can occur, how crippling it is, and how survivors have to find a way back from that.

With ‘Tower Prep,’ Cartoon Network wanted to go into a new area where no other kids’ programming was going. There were a lot of kids’ sitcoms on the air, but they wanted to really go with more of like an adventure/drama feel.

Mickey Mouse did not stay the little squeaky guy in ‘Steamboat Willie.’ He went on to have many different versions.

‘Jingle Belle’ spins out of my love for just sitting down and reading a good, fun Sunday morning comic strip panel.

If your child has something creative they really want to do, it’s up to you, their parent, to help make that happen.

The agents of S.M.A.S.H. are the most powerful team in the Marvel universe in terms of muscle power.

‘Batman Beyond’ started because we were tossed a curve, because the higher ups at Warner Bros. wanted a different take on him.

Encourage your kids to be creative. When you see them tracing a character from TV or a comic, say something like, ‘That’s nice. Now how about you create a character yourself?’ Keep kids curious and excited about creating.

Without Wonder Woman, there would be no Black Canary; without a Superman, there would be no Flash. They all come from that.

When you’re writing for a game – even if you’re using very well known characters like Batman and his villains who lend themselves to many different interpretations – you have to keep in mind that you’re writing for a different medium. Things are a bit more straightforward than it is for a feature film or a TV show.

You have to be kind to yourself to survive in the world.

To overcome any form of adversity, to not give up, to not give up on yourself, your dreams, to not sequester yourself away from people – that’s the most important thing to do with your life.

I have played games like Angry Birds and, you know, Plants vs. Zombies and things like that just for fun on the phone and everything.

Quite often in comic book movies, very good actresses are relegated to being the girlfriend or the helper or the sidekick or something.

Characters do change over time; there are surprises, role reversals, and things like that.

What makes Batman and what makes other superheroes work is the myth that when life is at its lowest, and when you need a hero, a hero swings down and helps you.

I remember when I saw ‘The Dark Knight’ movie, and I was sitting there watching it, and there actually came one or two places where I had trouble divorcing myself from the reality of the locations because it was filmed in Chicago, and I know that city quite well.

Mr. Freeze is motivated by different things. He doesn’t really have that much of an axe to grind with Batman. Batman is an irritation and an impediment to him, not an enemy that he hates. He doesn’t have the hatred that the Joker has for Batman.

For years, humorous characters in cartoons have been almost exclusively male.

There was a time I was willing to be a clown for people who I felt were the perfect person for me.

You can have villains like the Penguin, who strut around in a tuxedo with an umbrella, and Poison Ivy and all of the fantastic stuff she does, but unless there’s a bit of a human in there, and unless there’s a credible threat, then Batman himself doesn’t work.

Kids love the Hulk, but they’re not really sure: ‘Is he a monster or is he a hero?’

I’ve always liked the Krampus character, and I’ve always been fascinated with him, especially the tradition that he was such a part of the holiday season in Europe, in Germany, Austria, northern Italy, various other places.

Initially, kids are attracted to Superman as a hero because he can take care of problems and still appear as friendly as your dad.

If we made the ‘Batman’ games more realistic, you’d have to be Bruce Wayne for half the game, counting his money and dating supermodels.

Jeph Loeb has been great to work with, and he’s been really supportive of some really bizarre ideas I’ve had.

In every story I’ve written with Batman, there’s an element of justice – you never want to have the story end on a defeatist or a cynical note.

I felt that, with ‘Zatanna,’ I had a chance to do a story about a strong, driven woman.

If the opportunity came my way, if somebody wanted me to look over a script or sit in a room in sort of like a brainstorming session… I would certainly be open for that.

I think nobody knows more about comic book characters than Seth Green. I thought I knew a lot, and he leaves me in the dust.

I grew up loving cartoons, comics, magic, and writing.

There’s a different energy to Spider-Man than there is to Batman.

Jim Henson once allowed me to visit the Muppets on set and spent an entire day showing me how he and the other puppeteers performed Kermit and all the characters! After that, I was lucky enough to work with both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on many fun animation projects and learned so much from them.

As cool as it is to be Spider-Man at times, there’s also a price to pay for that – and he has to learn to balance things out.

My story is just my story, and it’s not nearly as traumatic as some.

As far as doing a TV special, I would have to be in control of it. I’d want my own team of animators to work on it.

I really didn’t have any plan for her other than the henchgirl role, who was better at getting laughs out of the other gang members than the Joker was. I gave her the name Harley Quinn because I thought Harley was a fun name for a girl, and a lot of ‘Batman’ character names have a bit of a pun to them, like E Nygma.