Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated for six others.^[3] Batman: The Animated Series, which is noted for its thematic complexity, darkness, and high artistic quality, has been praised by critics and fans alike as one of the most faithful adaptations of the character.^[4][5] IGN has called the series the best adaptation of Batman anywhere outside of comics,^[1] the best comic book cartoon of all time,^[5] and the second best animated series of all time.^[6]

It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation.^[7] The visual style of the series, dubbed "Dark Deco," is based on the artwork of producer and artist Bruce Timm.^[8] The series originally aired on the Fox Network from September 5, 1992 to September 15, 1995.^[2] When the first season of the series aired on weekday afternoons, it lacked an on-screen title,^[9] but when its timeslot was moved to weekends during its second season, it was given the on-screen title The Adventures of Batman & Robin.^[10] The series was the first in the continuity of the shared DC Animated Universe, and spawned the theatrical film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993). Reruns of Batman: The Animated Series currently air on The Hub.

Development

The series was partially inspired by Frank Miller's comic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Tim Burton's films Batman and Batman Returns, and the acclaimed Superman cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios in the 1940s.^[11] Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski designed the series by closely emulating the Tim Burton films' "otherworldly timelessness," incorporating period features such as black-and-white title cards, police blimps (even though no such thing has existed, Timm has stated he found it to fit the period they were going for), 1940s influenced look and a "vintage" color scheme in a largely film noir-influenced style.^[12] The series initially took a variation of music written by Danny Elfman for the Burton films Batman and Batman Returns as its theme; later episodes of the series used a new theme with a similar style by Shirley Walker (who was occasionally Elfman's conductor on the films they worked on). The score of the series was influenced by Elfman and Walker's work on Batman and Batman Returns and the music of 1940s film noir.

The program was much more adult-oriented than some previous typical superhero cartoon series. It was the first such cartoon in years to depict firearms being fired instead of laser guns (though only one person has ever been actually depicted as shot; Commissioner Gordon in the episode "I Am the Night" was seen to have a gunshot wound after the firefight was finished), Batman actually punching and kicking the antagonists, as well as the existence of blood; in addition, many of the series' backgrounds were painted on black paper.^[12] The distinctive visual combination of film noir imagery and Art Deco designs with a very dark color scheme was called "Dark Deco" by the producers.^[13] First-time producers Timm and Radomski reportedly encountered resistance from studio executives, but the success of Burton's first film allowed the embryonic series to survive long enough to produce a pilot episode, "On Leather Wings", which according to Timm "got a lot of people off our backs."^[12]

The series received critical acclaim for its distinctive animation and mature writing. Fans of a wide age range praised the show's sophisticated, cinematic tone and psychological stories. Voice-actor Kevin Conroy used two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, as Michael Keaton and Christian Bale have done in the live-action films. The series was also notable for its supporting cast that included major actors performing the voices of the various classic villains, most notably Mark Hamill, who defined a whole new career for himself in animation^[14] with his cheerfully deranged portrayal of The Joker. The voice recording sessions were recorded with the actors together in a studio, like a radio play, unlike most animated films, in which the principal voice actors record separately and never meet; various interviews have noted that such an arrangement (having the cast record together) was a benefit to the show as a whole, as the actors were able to 'react' to one another, rather than simply 'reading the words'. This method would later be employed for all subsequent series in the DC Animated Universe.

One of the series' most famous innovations was the Joker's assistant, Harley Quinn, who became so popular that DC Comics later added her to the mainstream Batman comic book continuity. The Penguin also underwent change for the series; his appearance was remodeled after the version seen in Batman Returns, which was being released at the same time as the series. New life was additionally given to nearly forgotten characters for the series such as the Clock King. In addition, dramatic changes were made to villains such as Clayface and Mr. Freeze. The latter character, for example, was turned around from a clichéd mad scientist with a gimmick for cold to a tragic figure whose frigid exterior hides a doomed love and vindictive fury.

Episodes

"Robin's Reckoning" won an Emmy in 1993 for Most Outstanding Half Hour or Less Program. "Heart of Ice" also won the show an Emmy in 1993 for Most Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program. "A Bullet for Bullock" won an Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition and also it won an Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing - Special Class.^[15]

Sixteen minutes of animated segments in the video game The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD are sometimes referred to as a "lost episode" of the series.^[16] These segments are intended to be interspersed between gameplay elements of an early-1990s video game and as such, the sound, color and story are not of the same quality as the actual television program.

Adaptations

The show also featured numerous adaptations of various Batman comics stories over the years to when the show was produced. The following episodes were adaptations:

• "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy" was an adaptation of "The Cape and Cowl Death Trap!" from Detective Comics #450 of August 1975, written by Elliot S. Maggin.
• "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne" was based on the comic stories "The Dead Yet Live" and "I Am the Batman!" from Detective Comics #471 and #472, of August/September 1977 by Steve Englehart.
• "Dreams in Darkness" takes its cues from a graphic novel titled The Last Arkham.
• "Moon of the Wolf" is based on the comic story of the same name by writer Len Wein with art by Neal Adams, from Batman #255, April 1974.
• "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" is a loose adaptation of "The Riddler!" from Detective Comics #140, October 1948.
• "Off Balance" is a direct adaptation of "Batman: Into the Den of the Death-Dealers" of Detective Comics #411, May 1971 by Dennis O'Neil famous for the first appearance of character Talia al Ghul.
• Also a direct adaptation is the two-part episode "The Demon's Quest", based on "Daughter of the Demon" from Batman #232, June 1971, and "The Demon Lives Again" Batman #244, September 1972, also by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams. Famous for introducing one of Batman's deadlier foes; Ra's al Ghul, father of Talia.
• The episode "The Laughing Fish" was based on three Batman comics, blended together; "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" from Batman #251 September 1973 by Dennis O'Neil with art by Neal Adams, followed by "The Laughing Fish" and "Sign of the Joker!" from Detective Comics #475 and #476, of February/March 1978, both by writer Steve Englehart with art by Marshall Rogers. During a spotlight podcast from Comic-Con 2007, Paul Dini explained that the reason why the episode combined those stories was because the show's creators could not adapt them separately, because their content and thematic elements would not have been cleared by the censors.
• Part 1 of " Robin's Reckoning" takes its cues from Detective Comics #38 of June 1940.
• "A Bullet for Bullock" is based on the comic of the same name from Detective Comics #651, October 1992, by Chuck Dixon.
• The feature film, Mask of the Phantasm is also an adaptation. The film's flashbacks were inspired by Batman: Year One, whereas the character of Andrea Beaumont (aka The Phantasm) and the storyline itself were modified from the Mike Barr-penned story Batman: Year Two, which ran in Detective Comics #575-578 in the late 1980s; the villain in the comics was named The Reaper.^[17]
• The episode "Almost Got 'Im" where Two-Face's strategy (strapping down Batman to a giant coin and flipping the coin in the air) was taken from the comics, where both Batman and Robin were tied to a giant penny that was catapulted onto spikes.
• The episode "Appointment in Crime Alley" is based on "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley" from Detective Comics #457 (March 1976) by Dennis O'Neil and Dick Giordano.
• The episode "Sideshow" is loosely based on "A Vow From the Grave" by Dennis O'Neil. This episode adapted the comic book story with the inclusion of a separate Killer Croc story.
• The episode "Dreams in Darkness" is loosely based on "Batman: The Last Arkham" of Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1-4 by Alan Grant. This episode adapted the comic book story with the inclusion of The Scarecrow instead of Victor Zsasz and Dr. Bartolomew instead of Jeremiah Arkham.
• The episode "Joker's Millions" from The New Batman Adventures (a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series) is based on Detective Comics #180, February 1952.

Characters

New villains such as Red Claw, Baby Doll, Kyodai Ken, Tygrus, and the Sewer King were invented for the series, but to little acclaim. On the other hand, the Joker's accomplice Harley Quinn, Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya, and the vigilante Lock-Up achieved such popularity that they became characters in the comics. Older villains that were lesser known from the comics, such as Count Vertigo, the Mirror Man, and the Clock King, were modified for the series in both appearance and personality.

Aside from creating characters that crossed over into the main line of DC Comics, several of the series' reinterpretations were carried over as well. Mr. Freeze was revised in the comics to emulate the series' tragic story, the success of which actually compelled DC to bring the character back after "killing" him off some years earlier; Clayface was revised to be much more similar in appearance to his animated counterpart; Poison Ivy took on the slightly inhuman, green skin color she received in later episodes of the series; and Two-Face's double-sided, black and white suit has become a common appearance for the character.

Bruce Wayne

One of the most noteworthy changes made in Batman: The Animated Series was the treatment of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In nearly all other media, including the comics, television shows, and films, Bruce deliberately plays up his image as a vacuous, self-absorbed, and not-too-bright billionaire playboy.^[18] In the animated series, his character is instead treated more seriously; he is assertive and intelligent, and actively involved in the management of Wayne Enterprises, without jeopardizing his secret identity. For an example, in the episode "Eternal Youth", Bruce is shown angrily ordering one of his directors to cancel a secret deal with a timber company in the Amazon rainforest. In addition, during the episode "Night of the Ninja", he revealed to reporter Summer Gleeson that he has some martial arts training, as the reporter previously researched that he once lived in Japan, though he later throws a fight with the ninja Kyodai Ken in front of Gleeson to disguise his prowess.

The psychological issues stemming from his parents' deaths are usually shown in the form of self-hatred when Bruce is alone.

Kevin Conroy is notable for being the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, which was his own idea.^[19]

Dick Grayson

Another noteworthy change in the series was the redefining of the original Robin, Dick Grayson.

While much of Dick's past remained the same, his Robin costume was updated to a more modern look of the 1990s (with short sleeves and long trousers), exactly like Tim Drake's original Robin outfit, but with a non-italicized "R" symbol. In addition, Dick was given a more mature personality to match the tone of the series. The episode "Batgirl Returns" establishes that Dick and Barbara Gordon attend the same college and that they have a mutual romantic attraction to each other, but neither one knows that the other is secretly Robin and/or Batgirl, respectively. Their relationship is one of the plot elements of the film Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero.

Cast

Main protagonists

Supporting protagonists

Main antagonists

Supporting antagonists

Broadcasting

Batman: The Animated Series premiered on the Fox Network's children's block Fox Kids on September 5, 1992 and aired in that block during weekday afternoons at 4:30pm. In December, just three months after its debut, Fox also began airing episodes of the series on prime-time Sunday evenings, marking one of the few times a show created for Saturday Morning Television was scheduled for prime-time broadcast. However, the TV ratings fell short (as the show aired opposite the perennial favorite 60 Minutes), and the series was removed from this time slot in March 1993.

After the series produced its 65th episode (the minimum number necessary for a TV series to be successfully syndicated), Fox Network executives ordered a second season of 20 more episodes that was later reduced to airing weekly on Saturday mornings. The second season featured Robin more prominently and, as a result, was retitled The Adventures of Batman & Robin in the title credits; this run of episodes had two new opening sequences and ending credits. However, the tone of the series was kept largely the same, only now featuring Robin more prominently. In total, Batman: The Animated Series series reached 85 episodes before finishing its original run of episodes on September 15, 1995.

Cartoon Network began airing re-runs of the series on March 2, 1998. From 1998 to 1999, the show was aired after Cartoon Network's action-oriented programming block Toonami, and then in 2000 it was aired within the Toonami block.

The show later began re-airing on September 30, 2007 on Toon Disney's Jetix lineup along with Superman: The Animated Series (despite Warner Bros. being one of Disney's biggest competitors). Both shows then continued to air on Toon Disney's successor, Disney XD, which began on February 13, 2009 but was removed in 2010.^[20]

The show airs on Teletoon Retro (a Canadian broadcasting channel), debuting on January 8, 2010. The first 65 episodes are confirmed, with the first being "The Cat and Claw". The show scheduled to air on a weekly basis, airing at 7:00 AM, 6:00 PM, and midnight. All times are Eastern.^[21]

The Hub started broadcasting the series on September 6, 2011.

Reception

Batman: The Animated Series has been met with much critical acclaim and has been highly praised for its sophistication, mature writing, artistic ambition, and faithfulness to its source material. In the 1992 year end issue, Entertainment Weekly ranked the series as one of the top television series of the year.^[22]

Writer Les Daniels described the show as coming "as close as any artistic statement has to defining the look of Batman for the 1990s."^[23] Deirdre Sheppard, a reviewer for Common Sense Media who posted her review on Go.com, described the series as a "fairly violent cartoon" with an "overall grim quality."^[24] Animation historian Charles Solomon gave the series a somewhat mixed assessment, commenting that "the dark, Art Deco-influenced backgrounds tended to eclipse the stiff animation and pedestrian storytelling" and concluding that the series "looked better in stills than it did on the screen."^[25]

In 2009, IGN.com named Batman: The Animated Series the second best animated television series of all time.^[6] Wizard magazine also ranked it #2 of the greatest animated television shows of all time.^[26] In both cases, the show lost to The Simpsons, another Fox cartoon series. CraveOnline also ranked the show #2 for Top 5 Best Superhero cartoons behind the 1940s Fleischer Superman cartoons.^[27] In September 2008 The Nostalgia Critic named the show number 1 in his "Top 11 Nostalgic Animated Shows".

Influence

Due to the success of the animated series early on, many crew members went on to design and produce Superman: The Animated Series for the WB Network's children's block Kids' WB before making an additional 24 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, better known as The New Batman Adventures, which aired alongside Superman: The Animated Series in 1997 following the end of Fox Kids' five year exclusive broadcast contract.

In 1999, a new spin-off series, Batman Beyond, was released to further critical acclaim.^[28] Then in 2001, the Justice League animated series was released, building on the success of both Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, and featured Batman as one of the founders of the League.

Batman: The Animated Series was one of the first series to portray Bruce Wayne using a different voice while being Batman. It was also one of the first to suggest that Harvey Dent had a pre-existing dual personality before becoming Two-Face. This idea came from the show's producer, Alan Burnett.^[29]

The dramatic writing and stylized art of Batman: The Animated Series sets it apart from traditional comic-book based cartoons. It can be considered the action-adventure equivalent of more adult-oriented cartoon shows like The Simpsons. For this reason the show's popularity (along with that of its various spin-offs) endures among older audiences and comic book fans.

In addition, several of the animators from Japanese animation studio Sunrise worked on the series — their work on Batman: The Animated Series would become a great influence on one of their later series, Big O, and the Cowboy Bebop episode "Pierrot le Fou".

The Lego minifigures of various Batman characters are more strongly based on the designs from Batman: The Animated Series than any other form of Batman media.^[30] More precisely, the Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze and Harley Quinn's minifigures seem to have identical costumes and faces to the characters from Batman: The Animated Series.

The dark atmosphere, mature themes, and even some of the voice cast from the series are heavily employed in the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum and its sequel, Batman: Arkham City.^[31] Furthermore, the Batsuit of this series is featured as an alternate costume for Batman in Arkham City. It is available as downloadable content or as an early unlock with a pre-order at GameStop and a valid membership to Power-Up Rewards.^[32]

Music

Batman: The Animated Series featured a strong musical score written by several different composers throughout the course of the series. The main theme of the show, which was heard during the opening and ending credits of each episode, was composed by Danny Elfman. At first, Elfman turned down Bruce Timm's offer to compose the theme for the show and so Timm hired Shirley Walker to do so. Though, as time went by, Elfman changed his mind and composed a variation of his 1989 Batman movie theme. Walker's unused theme went on to become the main theme for the second season of the show, when the name was changed to The Adventures of Batman & Robin.^[13]

In 1996, Walker won her first Daytime Emmy Award for her music direction of The Adventures of Batman & Robin. She would then go on to win another Daytime Emmy Award in the category of music-composition for Batman Beyond in 2001.^[33]

Although at least seven different composers worked on the series,^[34] Walker, Lolita Ritmanis, and Michael McCuistion are regarded as the main contributors. After the series finished up in 1995, the three then went on to score The New Batman Adventures in 1997 and Batman Beyond in 1999. Television composer Kristopher Carter scored along side Walker, Ritmanis, and McCuistion throughout the many DC Animated Universe shows and later filled in for Walker after her death in 2006.

On December 16, 2008, La-La Land Records announced the release of a soundtrack companion to Batman: The Animated Series onto a two-disc CD set. The release was limited to a pressing of 3,000 copies, which sold quickly.^[35] About one month after its release, the soundtrack set had sold over 2,500 copies. According to a spokesperson of La-La Land Records, the sold out status of the soundtrack "can only help as the label hopes to convince Warner Bros. to release more Batman: The Animated Series soundtracks."^[36]

Upon its release, the soundtrack received outstanding reviews,^[37][38] and is now completely sold out.^[39]

Track listing

DVD releases

Region 1

Warner Home Video has released Batman: The Animated Series on DVD in Region 1 in four volume box sets. The fourth volume contains all 24 episodes of The New Batman Adventures. Warner Home Video later released Batman: The Complete Animated Series, which features all episodes from both the original series and The New Batman Adventures, on DVD in Region 1. The set includes all features from the four individual volumes plus a bonus 17th disc with a new special feature and a 40 page Collector's book containing artwork.^[13] The DVD was originally on sale for a limited time only and went out of print in January 2009. Warner Home Video then released a second printing of the DVD in May 2009, but withdrew the DVD in August 2009.

Region 2

Volumes 1 and 2 were released on DVD in the UK on October 10, 2005 (Volume 1) and August 21, 2006 (Volume 2). These DVD volumes are exclusive to the retail chain HMV in the United Kingdom.
On June 14, 2008, Volume 1 was re-released in the UK as a non-HMV exclusive, though both the artwork and the extras remain the same as the original HMV exclusive release.^[40] Volume 2 was released in the same way on March 3, 2009.^[41] It's unknown as of 2011, when or if Warner Bros. plans to release Volumes 3 and 4 in the UK.

In Bulgaria, Volumes 1 and 2 were released in early 2006. Each disc was sold separately in amaray case. They were Regions 2 and 5.

Region 3

In China, the show was packaged into four different DVD volume sets just as it was done in Region 1. Volumes 1 and 2 were both released on February 28, 2005, while Volume 3 was released July 7, 2005 and Volume 4 was released February 17, 2006.^[42]

Region 4

In Australia, Volume 1 was released on October 19, 2005, but nothing has ever been released since.^[43] Volumes and the boxset are available at websites like eBay.com, Amazon.com and Quicksales.com.

Feature films

• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) – based on the animated series, the film started production as a direct-to-video release, but was ultimately changed into a theatrical release.^[44]
• Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998) – a direct-to-video release, which was produced as a tie-in to 1997's Batman & Robin, but due to the poor reception of that movie, its release was delayed almost a whole year.^[45]
• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003) – another direct-to-video release, featuring the character redesigns from The New Batman Adventures.

Merchandise

The television series was accompanied by a tie-in comic book, The Batman Adventures, which followed the art style and continuity of the television series instead of other Batman comic books. The Batman Adventures, through several format changes to reflect the changing world of the series and its spin-offs, outlasted the series itself by nearly a decade, finally being cancelled in 2004 to make way for the tie-in comic of a new, unrelated Batman animated series, The Batman.

There was also a short-lived series of tie-in novels, adapted from episodes of the series by science fiction author Geary Gravel. To achieve novel-length, Gravel combined several related episodes into a single storyline in each novel. The novels included:

• Shadows of the Past ("Appointment in Crime Alley", "Robin's Reckoning" two-parter)
• Dual to the Death ("Two-Face" two-parter, "Shadow of the Bat" two-parter)
• The Dragon and the Bat ("Night of the Ninja", "Day of the Samurai")
• Mask of the Phantasm (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm movie)

Several video games based on the animated continuity were released during the 16-bit game-machine era (roughly, that era spans from 1989–1996) using the The Adventures of Batman & Robin second season branding. Konami developed a game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), while SEGA released versions of the game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega-CD and Game Gear. The SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis and Game Gear versions were side-scrolling action games, while Mega CD version featured a 3-D driving adventure. All of the games had art true to the series, while Sega's versions featured art elements directly from the show's creators.^[46] The CD version has over 20 minutes of original animated footage comparable to the most well crafted episodes,^[47] with the principal voice actors reprising their roles. The critical reception of these games were varied but above average.

There was also a game made for the Game Boy based on the series and created around the same time. Developed and published by Konami, this game was distinctive upon the fact that it still used the earlier Batman: The Animated Series moniker instead of the The Adventures of Batman & Robin second season title given to the other games.

Batman: Vengeance was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in 2001, it was based on The New Batman Adventures and reunited much of the cast. It was followed by Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, released in 2003. Two other games based on The New Batman Advenutres, titled Batman: Gotham City Racer and Batman: Chaos in Gotham, were released for the PlayStation and Game Boy Color, respectively. Though not directly related, the game Batman: Arkham Asylum features some of the old voice talent from Batman: The Animated Series reprising their roles, and makes some references to the cartoon. The sequel, Batman: Arkham City, features the series' costumes of Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Catwoman as downloadable content.

See also

• Gotham Girls
• Todd McFarlane's Spawn

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Official website
• The Adventures of Batman & Robin at Fox Kids (Archive)
• Batman: The Animated Series at The World's Finest
• Batman: The Animated Series at Legions of Gotham
• Batman: The Animated Series at the Internet Movie Database
• Batman: The Animated Series at Big Cartoon DataBase
• Batman: The Animated Series at TV.com
• The Animated Batman
• "Batmanimation" The home for all things animated Batman
• Batman: The Animated Series in Filmaffinity
• Homage to the Animated Series through the Riddler character, Flash games and animations