A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Batman: The Animated Series | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | The Adventures of Batman & Robin |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Eric Radomski Bruce W. Timm |
| Based on | Batman by Bob Kane (credited) and Bill Finger (uncredited) |
| Developed by | |
| Written by |
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| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Danny Elfman |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 85 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Jean MacCurdy Tom Ruegger |
| Producers |
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| Animators | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Fox Kids (1992–95) |
| Release | September 5, 1992 – September 15, 1995 |
| Related | |
Batman: The Animated Series ( often shortened as Batman TAS or BTAS ) is an American animated superhero television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. Developed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, it originally aired on Fox Kids from September 5, 1992, to September 15, 1995, with a total of 85 episodes.[1][2][3]
Batman: The Animated Series was hailed as a groundbreaking superhero show receiving praise for its writing, art design, voice acting, orchestrated soundtrack, and modernization of its title character's source material.[4][5] The acclaim led to multiple Daytime Emmy Awards,[6] as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Programming.[7]
After the series ended its original run, a follow-up titled The New Batman Adventures began airing on Kids' WB in 1997 as a continuation of the series, featuring a revamped animation style. Lasting 24 episodes, it has often been included in the same syndicated re-run packages and home media releases as the final season. Batman: The Animated Series also became the first in the continuity of the shared DC Animated Universe, which spawned further animated TV series, feature films, comic books and video games with much of the same creative talent, including the 1993 theatrical release Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.[8]
Overview
The series took influence from Tim Burton's live-action films, Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), and the acclaimed Superman theatrical cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios in the early 1940s.[9] In designing the series, Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski emulated the Burton films' "otherworldly timelessness", incorporating period features such as black-and-white title cards, police airships and a "vintage" color scheme with film noir flourishes.[10]
The visual style of the series was based on the artwork of Radomski, and the gothic look of Gotham City was derived from his initial designs.[11] In addition, Radomski issued a standing order to the animation department that all backgrounds be painted using light colors on black paper (as opposed to the industry standard of dark colors on white paper).[10] The distinctive visual combination of "noir" imagery and Art Deco design was dubbed "Dark Deco" by the producers.[12]
The series initially took a variation of music written by Danny Elfman for the Burton films as its theme; later episodes of the series used a new theme with a similar style by Shirley Walker, an occasional collaborator of Elfman. The score of the series was influenced by Elfman's work on the Burton films, as well as music of 1940s film noir.[13]
The show depicts outright physical violence against antagonists, including realistic firearms (though only one character, Commissioner Gordon, was ever depicted as having been shot, in the episode "I Am the Night"). 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".[10] During the series' production, producer Alan Burnett wrote an episode without dialogue entitled "Silent Night" to explore more of Batman's sexual life, but this was never produced. Burnett also intended to make an episode featuring a female vampire that would bite Batman to suck his blood, but plans never materialized.[14]
The series is also notable for its supporting cast. Numerous known actors provided voices for a variety of recognizable villains. Most notable was Mark Hamill, previously famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, whose prominence as a voice actor was heightened through his "cheerfully deranged" portrayal of the Joker.[15] The role was originally given to Tim Curry, but he developed bronchitis during the initial recording sessions.[16] John Glover, who later voiced the Riddler, also auditioned for the Joker role. Hamill, who found himself to be the biggest fan of the Batman comics among the cast, credited the laughs he had honed on stage in Amadeus with landing him the role.[17] The recording sessions, under the supervision of voice director Andrea Romano, were recorded with the actors together in one studio instead of taking separate recordings, as is typical. This method would later be employed for all subsequent series in the DC Animated Universe. Al Pacino was considered to voice Two-Face in the series, but he declined the offer;[18] Richard Moll was instead cast in the role. Other actors included Ron Perlman as Clayface, Roddy McDowall as the Mad Hatter, David Warner as Ra's al Ghul, Michael York as Count Vertigo, Kate Mulgrew as Red Claw, George Murdock as Boss Biggis, Ed Asner as Roland Daggett and George Dzundza as the Ventriloquist.
One of the series' best-known inventions is the Joker's assistant, Harley Quinn, who became so popular that DC Comics later added her to mainstream comic book continuity. The Penguin underwent change for the series; his appearance was remodeled after the version seen in Batman Returns, which was in production simultaneously with the series' first season. New life was also given to lesser-known characters for the series, such as the Clock King. In addition, dramatic changes were made to other villains such as Clayface and Mr. Freeze, the latter of whom was changed from a gimmicky mad scientist to a tragic figure whose "frigid exterior a doomed love and vindictive fury".
Production
In order to complete the first season's 65 episodes, Warner Bros. Animation outsourced the series to several different overseas animation houses: Spectrum Animation, Sunrise, Studio Junio and Tokyo Movie Shinsha in Japan, Dong Yang Animation, Koko Enterprises Ltd. and AKOM in South Korea, Jade Animation in Hong Kong, Blue Pencil in Spain and Network of Animation (NOA) in Canada.[19] TMS also animated the first season's opening theme sequence. AKOM was eventually fired due to its inconsistent animation in many episodes such as "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Moon of the Wolf".[20]
The 20 episodes of the second season were animated largely by Dong Yang, with the exception of three done by Studio Junio ("A Bullet for Bullock", "Avatar" and "Baby-Doll") and one done by Jade Animation ("The Terrible Trio").[19]
Characters
The Joker's accomplice Harley Quinn, Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya, the vigilante Lock-Up, former actor Simon Trent, brainwashed comedian-turned-supervillain Condiment King, and ninja Kyodai Ken are original creations who 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. Other original antagonists were created, such as Roland Daggett, Red Claw, the Sewer King, Boss Biggis, Grant Walker, H.A.R.D.A.C., and Emile Dorian, but to little acclaim, and did not make any appearances outside the series, though Daggett was re-imagined as businessman John Daggett for The Dark Knight Rises.
Though the Joker's origin is never shown in the series (one of only two villains in the series who never got an origin episode, the other one being The Penguin), some of his past is seen in the feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. In flashbacks, he is shown before his accident but does not speak or is referred to by name. His potential real name, Jack Napier (the same name of Jack Nicholson's version of the character from Tim Burton's 1989 film), is established in the episodes "Dreams in Darkness" when it is spoken by Dr. Bartholomew and in "Joker's Wild" where it is written in a dossier. The use of this origin was due to the show being heavily patterned after the success and influential tone of Tim Burton's film. However, when The New Batman Adventures began, during the era of Joel Schumacher's films, Joker's origin was retained but his identity was retconned as being merely one of many aliases as seen in the episode "Beware the Creeper", meaning his true identity is still unknown. This reflected the efforts of the writers to put the character back in line with his conflicting multiple origins from the comics.
While the use of this origin was based on the Jack Nicholson version, Mark Hamill was given the note "Don't do Nicholson" before his audition.[21] During production, Hamill asked the production team (consisting of Timm, Radomski, and Romano) if he could play one of the villains after a small appearance as Ferris Boyle in "Heart of Ice". Even though Tim Curry had already recorded a few episodes, Hamill was given the part after Curry developed bronchitis and departed the series. Hamill, who found himself to be the biggest fan of the Batman comics among the cast, credited the laughs he had honed on stage in Amadeus with landing him the role.[17] He worked to craft a multifaceted laugh for the Joker that could change to reflect the Joker's current mood, likening it to a musical instrument.[22] When recording his lines with the other actors, Hamill would stand while the other actors would remain seated to invest himself in the role. Hamill's interpretation of the Joker is considered to be groundbreaking for the voice-acting industry, and led to Hamill having an enormously successful voice-acting career.[22] Of the many influences for his performance, including Jay Leno and Howard Cosell, Hamill cited Claude Rains' performance in the 1933 film The Invisible Man.[23][24]
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; and Two-Face's double-sided, black-and-white suit has become a common appearance for the character.
Bruce Wayne / Batman
At the age of eight, Bruce Wayne, the son of billionaire philanthropists, witnessed the murder of his parents, Thomas and Martha, during a mugging on the street. The event left him traumatized and mentally scarred for the rest of his life. Bruce was placed in the care of his family's butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Over the years, Bruce slowly turned the pain and trauma he sustained into a burning fuel for a lifelong obsession, as he underwent rigorous training in mental and physical conditioning. Having observed the rampant crime and corruption in Gotham City, Wayne swore an oath to dedicate his entire life to fighting crime, in a bid to avenge the murder of his parents, while being guided by his self-enforced moral code to never kill and to refrain from using firearms (which he detested, as the tool of his parents' murder). Inspired by his childhood fear of bats, Wayne reasoned that he could use that fear against the criminals he faced, and adopted the identity of 'The Batman', a feared, near-mythical bat-like vigilante.
Kevin Conroy used different voices to distinguish between his portrayal of Bruce Wayne and Batman, a tactic used previously by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's live-action films.[25] Conroy based his dual-voice performance on the 1934 film adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel.[17]
Other characters
Other antagonists that appeared in the series included classic villains such as Poison Ivy, Catwoman, the Riddler, Two-Face, the Mad Hatter, Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, Man-Bat, the Penguin, the Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Bane, the Ventriloquist and his dummy Scarface, Hugo Strange and Tony Zucco. Friends and allies of Batman featured in the show not previously mentioned include Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Bullock, the Gray Ghost (an original character created by the series to portray Bruce Wayne's childhood hero and crimefighting inspiration, voiced by Adam West, the actor who had played Batman in the 1960s Batman series), Lucius Fox, and Leslie Thompkins.
Cast
Protagonists
| Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy | Bruce Wayne / Batman |
| Loren Lester | Dick Grayson / Robin |
| Efrem Zimbalist Jr. | Alfred Pennyworth (Clive Revill in the first three episodes of production order). |
| Bob Hastings | Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon |
| Robert Costanzo | Detective Harvey Bullock |
Supporting protagonists
| Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Ingrid Oliu | Officer Renee Montoya (season one) |
| Liane Schirmer | Officer Renee Montoya (season two) |
| Brock Peters | Lucius Fox |
| Mari Devon | Summer Gleeson |
| Melissa Gilbert | Barbara Gordon / Batgirl |
| Diana Muldaur | Dr. Leslie Thompkins |
| Lloyd Bochner | Mayor Hamilton Hill |
| Marilu Henner | Veronica Vreeland |
| William Sanderson | Karl Rossum |
| Bill McKinney | Jonah Hex |
| Julie Brown | Zatanna Zatara |
| Adam West | Simon Trent / Gray Ghost |
Antagonists
Supporting antagonists
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
| 1 | 65 | September 5, 1992 | September 17, 1993 | Fox Kids | |
| 2 | 20 | May 2, 1994 | September 15, 1995 | ||
Adaptations
The show also featured numerous adaptations of various Batman comics stories. The following episodes were adaptations:
- The episode "Appointment in Crime Alley" is based on "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley" from Detective Comics #457 (March 1976) by writer Denny O'Neil and artist Dick Giordano.
- "Dreams in Darkness" is loosely based on "Batman: The Last Arkham" from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1–4 by writer Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle (June–September 1992). This episode adapted the comic book story with the inclusion of the Scarecrow instead of Victor Zsasz and Dr. Bartholomew instead of Jeremiah Arkham.
- "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy" was an adaptation of "The Cape and Cowl Death Trap!" from Detective Comics #450 (August 1975), written by Elliot S. Maggin and drawn by artist Walt Simonson.
- Part 1 of "Robin's Reckoning" takes its cues from "Batman and "Robin the Boy Wonder"" in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) by writer Bill Finger, artist Bob Kane and illustrator Jerry Robinson.
- The episode "The Laughing Fish" was based on three Batman comics, blended together; "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" from Batman No. 251 (September 1973) by Denny O'Neil with art by Neal Adams, followed by "The Laughing Fish" and "Sign of the Joker!" from Detective Comics #475–476 (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 that the show's creators could not adapt them separately, because their content and thematic elements would not have been cleared by the censors.
- "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne" was based on the comic stories "The Dead Yet Live" and "I Am the Batman!" from Detective Comics #471–472 (August–September 1977) by Steve Englehart.
- "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 No. 255 (April 1974).
- The episode "Terror in the Sky" is loosely based on "Man-Bat Over Vegas", originally presented in Detective Comics No. 429, by writer and artist Frank Robbins. The setting has been shifted from Las Vegas to Gotham Harbor, and in keeping with the family-friendly rating of the television show, the She-Bat is not a vampire in the adaptation. The final line of the episode, "the nightmare's finally over", is similar to one of the final lines from the original comic, "Now Fran's vampire nightmare is about over".
- The episode "Almost Got 'Im" appears to be influenced by a four-issue story arc in Batman #291–294 (1977), entitled "Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed?". All four stories were written by David Vern Reed and drawn by John Calnan under the direction of Batman editor Julius Schwartz. In each of the four issues, one of Catwoman, the Riddler, and the Joker all recount their claims to have killed Batman. However, the plot for "Almost Got 'Im" is quite different (six stories in the show, and four completely different ones in the comic book), with only the Joker as an overlapping antagonist.
- Two-Face's strategy in "Almost Got 'Im" (strapping down Batman to a giant coin and flipping the coin in the air) was taken from the comic World's Finest Comics No. 30 (September 1947) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane. In a backup tale, both Batman and Robin were tied to a giant penny that was catapulted onto spikes by a lesser-known villain, the Penny Plunderer. That is the same giant penny which is part of the decoration of the Batcave.
- "Off Balance" is a direct adaptation of "Batman: Into the Den of the Death-Dealers" from Detective Comics #411 (May 1971), written by writer Dennis O'Neil and drawn by artists Bob Brown and Dick Giordano. Famous for the first appearance of the mysterious character Talia.
- The two-part episode "The Demon's Quest" is a direct adaptation of "Daughter of the Demon" from Batman No. 232 (June 1971) and "The Demon Lives Again" Batman No. 244 (September 1972), written by Dennis O'Neil and drawn by artist Neal Adams. Famous for introducing one of Batman's deadlier foes; Ra's al Ghul, the father of Talia.
- The episode "Sideshow" is loosely based on "A Vow from the Grave" from Detective Comics No. 410 by writer Dennis O'Neil and artists Bob Brown and Dick Giordano. This episode adapted the comic book story with the inclusion of a separate Killer Croc story.
- "A Bullet for Bullock" is based on the comic of the same name from Detective Comics No. 651 (October 1992), by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Graham Nolan.
- 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 and the storyline itself were modified from Mike Barr's story "Batman: Year Two", which ran in Detective Comics #575–578 in the late 1980s; the villain in the comics was named the Reaper.[26]
In other media
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. 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 quite of the same quality of the actual television program. And because Sega did not have to follow the censorship rules of the show, the fights are also a little more violent. Many of the shows voice actors reprised their roles for the game, and are thus in the lost episode as well. Similar cutscenes appear throughout the video games Batman: Vengeance and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.[27]
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.[28] Although the film was not a financial success upon its initial release, it earned widespread acclaim and has since become a commercial success through its various home media releases.[29]
- Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998) – a direct-to-video release, which was produced as a tie-in to the 1997 film Batman & Robin. SubZero's release was delayed until the following year due to Batman & Robin failing to meet commercial and critical expectations.[30]
Comic adaptation and novelization
The Batman Adventures
The Animated Series was accompanied by a tie-in comic book, The Batman Adventures, which followed the art style and continuity of The Animated 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 the then-new, unrelated Batman animated series; The Batman. The character of Harley Quinn's first official comic appearance occurred in issue No. 12 of the series. It has become highly sought after by collectors and fans of the character.[31]
Superman & Batman Magazine
It is a tie-in for Batman: The Animated Series and The Batman Adventures, with 8 issues published between 1993 and 1995. The stories feature the appearances of Superman and other DC characters before their appearances in the base series and spinoff television series, but otherwise unrelated to the stories in the subsequent television series.[32]
Batman: The Adventures Continue
DC announced in February 2020 that Paul Dini, Alan Burnett and artist Ty Templeton would be leading a new miniseries, Batman: The Adventures Continue, to be first published in April 2020, based on the animated series and following shortly after its conclusion, with Tim Drake still adjusting as the new Robin to Batman.[33]
Novels
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)
Broadcasting
Batman: The Animated Series premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company's children's block Fox Kids on September 5, 1992, and aired in that block during weekday afternoons at 4:30 pm. In December, just three months after its debut, Fox also began airing episodes of the series on prime-time Sunday evenings (followed by the live-action sitcom Shaky Ground); 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.[citation needed]
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;[34] this run of episodes had two new opening sequences and ending credits. In total, the series reached 85 episodes before finishing its original run on September 15, 1995.[citation needed]
In 1997, following the end of Fox Kids' five-year exclusive broadcast contract, the series began airing in reruns on The WB Network's children's block Kids' WB. Later that year, The New Batman Adventures premiered on Kids' WB, airing alongside Superman: The Animated Series as part of an hour-long program titled The New Batman/Superman Adventures.[citation needed]
Cartoon Network aired reruns of Batman: The Animated Series from March 2, 1998, to August 18, 2004. On July 3, 2000, the series was added to Cartoon Network's Toonami line-up. In 2005, reruns of the series were aired on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang.[citation needed]
The series later began airing on Toon Disney's Jetix line-up on September 30, 2007, again alongside Superman: The Animated Series (despite Warner Bros. being one of Disney's biggest competitors).[35]
The show aired on Teletoon Retro (a Canadian broadcasting channel), debuting on January 8, 2010. The first 65 episodes were confirmed, with the first being "The Cat and Claw, Part 1". The show was scheduled to air on a weekly basis, airing at 7:00 am, 6:00 pm, and midnight. All times are Eastern.[36]
The Hub Network aired the series from September 6, 2011, to November 29, 2013. The channel aired a 10-episode marathon of the series on July 20, 2012, to coincide with the theatrical release of The Dark Knight Rises and even created an animated version of one of the film's trailers, featuring Kevin Conroy and Adrienne Barbeau re-dubbing Batman and Catwoman's dialogue from the trailer.[37]
Reception
Batman: The Animated Series has often been ranked as one of the greatest animated television shows ever made.[38][39][40] It has been critically acclaimed for its mature tone, writing, voice acting, orchestrated soundtrack, visual aesthetic, and faithfulness to the source material.[5][41] In 1992, Entertainment Weekly ranked the series as one of the top television series of the year.[42] IGN.com listed the series as the best adaptation of Batman anywhere outside of comics, the best comic book television show of all time[43] and the second-best animated series of all time (after The Simpsons).[44][45] Wizard magazine also ranked it No. 2 of the greatest animated television shows of all time (again after The Simpsons). TV Guide ranked it the seventh-greatest cartoon of all time.[46] The widespread acclaim led the series to win four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program.[47][48]
In his reference book, Batman: The Complete History, Les Daniels described The Animated Series as coming "as close as any artistic statement has to defining the look of Batman for the 1990s."[49] 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."[50]
Influence
Several new characters, and other revamped backstories introduced in the series later made their way into comics and other media. Most notable was Harley Quinn, who was initially introduced in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Favor", with the character being inspired and voiced by Arleen Sorkin. The character made her comics canon appearance in 1999 and is now one of the most popular characters in DC.[51]
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.[52] 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 the series.[citation needed]
The dark atmosphere, mature themes, and even some of the voice cast from the series are employed in the Batman: Arkham video game series.[53] Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, and Robert Costanzo reprise their roles. Furthermore, the first two games are co-written by series veteran Paul Dini. Also, Batman's design and costume in The Animated Series are featured as an alternate skin in Batman: Arkham City. These skins are available as downloadable content; they were also available in pre-orders at GameStop and a valid membership to Power-Up Rewards.[54] There are also Animated-inspired alternate skins for Catwoman, Nightwing, and Robin.
Actor Robert Pattinson, who portrays Batman in The Batman (2022), has cited Batman: Mask of the Phantasm as an example of Batman media that effectively captured the character's psyche in a fashion he hoped his interpretation would emulate.[55]