Perchance to Dream (Batman: The Animated Series)

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“Perchance To Dream”
Batman: The Animated Series episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 30 (26th to air)
Written by Laren Bright, Michael Reaves
Directed by Boyd Kirkland
Original airdate October 19, 1992
Episode chronology
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"Eternal youth" "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy"

Perchance To Dream is the twenty-sixth episode of the Warner Bros. animated television series Batman: The Animated Series. First aired on October 19, 1992 . Story by Laren Bright, Michael Reaves. Teleplay by Joe R. Lansdale. Directed by Boyd Kirkland.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Bruce Wayne wakes up to find that his dearest wish has come true: his parents are not dead, and he is not and has never been Batman. Not only that, he's been recently engaged to Selina Kyle. At first he's ecstatic, but a number of clues force him to the conclusion that somehow this is all an elaborate charade. His quest to find the truth eventually pits Bruce against Batman in a surreal battle atop a church tower. Only then does he realize that he is trapped in a dream world created entirely by the Mad Hatter's mind control. In order to wake up for real, he commits suicide by jumping off the church tower. He then returns to the real world and takes the Mad Hatter down. As Gordon wonders what the device that made the dream world is, Batman walks away with the famous line from Shakespeare's The Tempest: "The stuff that dreams are made of."

[edit] Themes

One of the themes in the episode is duality. As the dream version of Leslie Thompkins points out, Bruce Wayne is jealous of the dream version of Batman, who, unlike Bruce, has gotten things through deeds. In other words, the Bruce Wayne persona has become jealous of the Batman persona, who is far better than Bruce Wayne. This evidently leads to the climax where the two personas duel each other for domination.

Many philosophers have discussed the idea that you may be stuck in a dream and never know it. In the end, how does Batman really know he is in reality again?

[edit] Notes

Although the entire series is heavily indebted to Film Noir, some of the most explicit references are found in this episode. The climax at the bell-tower is perhaps a nod to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo and Batman directly quotes Humphrey Bogart's final paraphrase from The Tempest in The Maltese Falcon in the end. The dreamlike nature of the storyline is very much in common with Films-Noir. Interestingly, the climax is also a homage to the finale of Metropolis and Tim Burton's Batman, in which Michael Keaton's Batman and Jack Nicholson's Joker face off in the spire of a cathedral.

The title comes from a line in the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy from the play Hamlet, in which Prince Hamlet debates with himself whether or not to commit suicide, or to face the cruel travails of the world, and specifically the task of avenging his dead father which has been put before him. This is a subtle, but intriguing parallel not only to the story of the episode itself, but to the story of Batman in general. Also, Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in the series, appeared in a number of Shakespeare plays during the 1980s, before being cast on the show.

The theme and conflict found in the episode are both similar to those faced by Superman in the Alan Moore story "For the Man Who Has Everything". In that story, Mongul uses an alien plant to place Superman in a fantasy world where Krypton never exploded.

Leslie Thompkins essentially sums up part of the episode: the persona of Bruce Wayne, who has never had to work for what he wants, is jealous of the personality of Batman, who is obviously a better person. Thus, the two personalities fight each other in the bell-tower for control of Bruce Wayne.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Trivia and facts

  • Kevin Conroy read the roles of Bruce, Batman, Thomas, and the evil Batman all in one take.
  • Exactly where Robin is in the alternate reality is unclear. The only mention of his name is by Bruce upon awakening in the dream world, with Alfred saying "Another young lady, sir?" Assuming that Bruce has never been Batman in this universe, Dick Grayson would not have met him or became Robin.
  • According to Bruce Timm, the original script had Bruce learning that Dick Grayson is living on the street as a teenage runaway after the death of his parents, supposedly not being adopted by Bruce as shown in Robin's Reckoning. This was cut due to time constraints.
  • The plot is similar to the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything" and the Codename: Kids Next Door Story "U.T.O.P.I.A".
  • The plot idea of a device that can create one's deepest wish was used for the film Batman Forever. In that movie, however, The Riddler was the villain in place of the Hatter, and he used Bruce Wayne to learn about his secrets, while the Hatter merely wanted to keep Batman out of the way.
  • Interestingly enough, a similar machine is used on Bruce to learn of his true identity for personal gain in "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne".
  • Bruce claims to have figured out he was dreaming when he couldn't read the print in the newspaper. He then states that reading is a function of the right hemisphere of the brain and dreaming is a function of the left hemisphere of the brain, so it's impossible to read in your sleep. In actuality, reading is a function of the left hemisphere and dreaming is a function of both left and right hemispheres. There is no reason why a person couldn't read something in their dreams. (The ability to read while dreaming is important in lucid dreaming, however.)
  • The words Wayne Enterprises are readable, despite Bruce saying he was unable to read in a dream, however, mostly everything else seen is undescipherable, even before it is revealed that words are unintelligible.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links