Mad as a Hatter (Batman: The Animated Series)

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“Mad as a Hatter”
'Batman: The Animated Series' episode

Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 27
Written by	Paul Dini
Directed by	Frank Paur
Production no.	027
Original airdate	October 12, 1992
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List of Batman: The Animated Series episodes

Mad as a Hatter is a critically acclaimed episode of Batman: The Animated Series and its the first appearance of the Mad Hatter in the DC Animated Universe. It was written by Paul Dini and directed by Frank Paur and it first appeared on October 12, 1992.

1 Plot
2 Themes
3 Trivia
4 Cast
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Jervis Tetch is a scientist at Wayne Industries experimenting with mind control. Tetch is, unfortunately, infatuated with Alice, the beautiful secretary with an uncanny likeness to the girl from Alice in Wonderland. She has a boyfriend, however, and Jervis resorts to mind control to be with her, forcing Batman to interfere.

[edit] Themes

The story, much like many episodes of the series, focuses on the idea of self-delusion. Many Batman villains delude themselves into becoming villains (Harley Quinn deludes herself into believing the Joker loves her). Jervis Tetch is no exception, as he deludes himself into believing Alice could never love him the way he was, and so he made her into a soulless puppet. Like many tragedies, the episode shows a tragic flaw (in this case, deluded love) in an otherwise good person which ruins him.

However, the question is: did Jervis love her purely, or did he love Alice because she resembled the girl of Lewis Carroll so much?

[edit] Trivia

Jervis is voiced by veteran actor Roddy McDowall who would voice all incarnations of the Mad Hatter in the DC Animated Universe. [1]

Tetch and Alice's designs are both obviously influenced by the characters in Alice in Wonderland.

Roddy McDowall also played The March Hare in a 1985 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and played a villain in the 60's Batman series called 'The Bookworm'.

Paul Dini, the episode's writer, once claimed in an interview [2] that this episode was partially based on a true story, "about this guy who was a brilliant but shy computer designer and had a fixation on a woman, and he shot everybody in the office."

Oddly, the March Hare is one of the only Alice in Wonderland characters not to make an appearance in this episode, despite being the Mad Hatter's classical sidekick.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Kevin Conroy	Batman/Bruce Wayne
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	Alfred Pennyworth
Roddy McDowall	Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter
Kimmy Robertson	Alice
Loretta Swit	Dr. Marcia Cates
Steve Bulen	Police Dispatcher
David Haskell	Billy