The
New Adventures of Batman is an animated series produced by Filmation
in 1977 featuring the DC Comics superheroes Batman and Robin, and
Batgirl. The current distributor is Warner Bros. Television due to
parent company Warner Bros's ownership of DC Comics, which publishes
the Batman titles. It is a continuation of the 1960s Batman TV series
which had been canceled eight years earlier.
The New Adventures of
Batman originally premiered February 10th, 1977 on CBS. The episodes
from this series were later aired along with other Filmation shows,
such as Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976, CBS) and as part of The
Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour (1977–1978 CBS), Tarzan and the
Super 7 (1978–1980 CBS), and Batman and the Super 7
(1980–1981 NBC).
In The New Adventures of
Batman, the "Dynamic Duo" fights crime in Gotham City,
encountering the classic Batman rogues gallery as well as some
original villains. Complicating matters is Bat-Mite, a well-meaning
imp from another dimension called Ergo, who considers himself
Batman's biggest fan. As a result, he wears a variant of Batman’s
costume and attempts to help him, only to often create more problems
(although he is occasionally an asset). Missing is Alfred, the
faithful butler of Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne; also notable in
this series are the inverted colors of the "R" on Robin's costume.
In September 1968, before
The New Adventures of Batman Filmation Associates had created and
aired an animated Batman series (pre-Bat-Mite), named The Batman/Superman
Hour, for CBS. This series, the first Saturday Morning vehicle for
the Caped Crusader, paired up new Batman and Robin adventures with
old Superman/Superboy episodes. In 1969, it was repackaged
into 30-minute episodes without the Man of Steel and renamed Batman
with Robin the Boy Wonder.
The New Adventures of
Batman was produced concurrently with Super Friends, which was
produced by the competing Hanna-Barbera Productions and included
Batman and Robin as members, marking a rare occurrence in animation
history which saw two studios simultaneously producing series
featuring the same characters. The main distinction was that in
Filmation’s series, Batman and Robin were voiced by Adam West
and Burt Ward, the lead actors of the 1960s Batman series. Hanna-Barbera's
Batman and Robin were voiced by Olan Soule and Casey Kasem, who also
voiced the Dynamic Duo for Filmation's 1968 version, The
Batman/Superman Hour.
Riddler and the Scarecrow
were off limits to the show, as Hanna-Barbera already had the rights
to the characters for Challenge of the Superfriends (though Riddler
does appear in the opening credits of the show in a pink colored
costume, and was mentioned being arrested at the beginning of the
episode Deep Freeze). This is also the reason why Joker could not
appear in Challenge of the Superfriends, though he was planned as a
Legion of Doom member.
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES
Batman:
The Animated Series is an American animated television series based
on the DC Comics superhero Batman. The series was produced by Warner
Bros. Animation and originally aired on the Fox Network from
September 5th, 1992 to September 15th, 1995. The series was widely
praised for its thematic complexity, dark tone, artistic quality, and
faithfulness to its title character's crime-fighting origins. The
series also won four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program.
When the first season of
the series aired on weekday afternoons, it lacked an on-screen title
in the opening theme sequence (for episode recaps shown at the
beginning of the second half of two-part episodes, the narrator would
simply say "Previously on Batman..."). When the series'
timeslot was moved to weekends during its second season, it was given
the on-screen title The Adventures of Batman & Robin. 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).
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. In designing the series, Bruce
Timm and Eric Radomski emulated Burton's films' "otherworldly
timelessness", incorporating period features such as
black-and-white title cards, police blimps (though no such thing
existed, Timm has stated that he found it to fit the show's style)
and a "vintage" color scheme with film noir flourishes. 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). The distinctive visual combination of "noir"
imagery and Art Deco design was dubbed "Dark Deco" by the producers.
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 (Walker was
occasionally Elfman's conductor for films on which they
collaborated). The score of the series was influenced by Elfman and
Walker's work on the Burton films, as well as music of 1940s film noir.
The series was more
adult-oriented than previous superhero cartoons. It was the first
such cartoon in years to depict outright physical violence against
antagonists (though only one character was depicted as having been
shot. Commissioner Gordon, in the episode "I Am the Night",
is shown lying unconscious due to a gunshot wound he received
offscreen) and one of the first animated shows in years to depict
realistic firearms. 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".
The series was also notable
for its supporting cast, a number of well-known actors provided
voices for various classic villains, most notably Mark Hamill
(previously famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original
Star Wars trilogy), who later found success in voice acting thanks to
his "cheerfully deranged" portrayal of the Joker. The
recording sessions (under the supervision of voice director Andrea
Romano) were recorded with the actors together in one studio (as
opposed to industry standard of voice actors recording dialogue
separately). This method would later be employed for all subsequent
series in the DC animated universe.
One
of the series' best-known innovations was the Joker's assistant,
Harley Quinn, who became so popular that DC Comics later added her to
mainstream Batman comic book continuity. The Penguin underwent change
for the series; his appearance was remodeled after the version seen
in Batman Returns (though still incorporating classic elements of the
character), 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 villains such as Clayface and Mr. Freeze. The latter
character, for example, was changed from a gimmicky mad scientist to
a tragic figure whose frigid exterior hid a doomed love and
vindictive fury.
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. The
series was also the first to suggest that Harvey Dent had a
pre-existing dual personality before becoming Two-Face. This idea
came from Alan Burnett, one of the series' producers and head writers.
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. 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.
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.
One of the most noteworthy
changes made in 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. In The Animated Series, his character is instead treated
more seriously; he is assertive, extremely intelligent, and actively
involved in the management of Wayne Enterprises, without jeopardizing
his secret identity. 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.
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 tights), exactly like Tim Drake's original Robin outfit, but
with a non-italicized "R" symbol. In addition, Dick was
given a more serious 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.
Untitled
THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES
The
New Batman Adventures (often shortened as TNBA) is an American
animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman,
and is a continuation of the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series.
It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB
Television Network from September 13th, 1997 to January 16, 1999.
According to the reference book Batman Animated, series writer Paul
Dini originally wanted the new show to be titled Batman: Gotham
Knights, but this idea was rejected by the other producers. To better
adhere with the prior DVD sets of the original series, the DVD
release of this series was titled Batman: The Animated Series -
Volume 4 (from The New Batman Adventures) and was given the opening
theme from the prior series.
Stories in this series tend
to give more focus to Batman's supporting cast, which include fellow
crimefighters Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl, among others. The show
also features guest stars such as Supergirl, Etrigan, and The
Creeper; characters who would later appear with Batman in Justice
League and Justice League Unlimited. In addition, the series takes
place around the same time as Superman: The Animated Series. The 2001
video game Batman: Vengeance and its follow-up Batman: Rise of Sin
Tzu are based on this series.
The New Batman Adventures
premiered on The WB just two years after Batman: The Animated Series
ended its original run on Fox. The animation style was changed
significantly from BTAS due to budgetary issues and to have the show
more compatible with the smoother Superman: The Animated Series which
TNBA would air in tandem with as part of The New Batman/Superman
Adventures on The WB. TNBA was later given the same opening theme of
BTAS when aired in syndication.
The
show had a significant change in focus from the original series,
with episodes focusing less on Batman and more on the many characters
that inhabited Gotham City. The art became more streamlined and
darker with simpler color schemes, while the Art Deco and film noir
imagery from the original series were replaced with a much more
modern look. Batman was given a sleeker, brawnier appearance with an all-black
bat-emblem and a pouch belt instead of a utility belt. His gadgets
and vehicles were given a sleeker, redesigned look with a more black
color scheme. Bruce Wayne's appearance was also changed from the
previous series; his hair was brushed back to highlight his face,
with blue eyes instead of black. Kevin Conroy's voice for Batman also
became more stern, as well as less distinguishable from his voice for
Bruce than in the original series. The writers made an effort to keep
the character's dialogue as terse and grim as possible, in order to
heighten the contrast between him and the lighthearted supporting cast.
Batgirl's costume was
changed to a look similar to her original outfit from her comic debut
in Detective Comics #359. Producer Paul Dini said that Batgirl would
appear in every episode of the series because "Kenner wants to
do a line of toys, we're taking advantage of the publicity from her
being in Batman & Robin, and we just love Batgirl." Melissa
Gilbert was replaced by Tara Strong as the voice of Batgirl. Strong
would reprise her role nearly a decade later in another Batman
animated television series Beware the Batman and Strong also reprised
her role as Batgirl on the DC Nation short, Super Best Friends Forever.
Tim
Drake was introduced as the new Robin in the episode "Sins of
the Father". However, Dini remarked that "The Tim Drake
origin in the comics as written now didn't work for us with him
having a father and living so close to Wayne Manor. It seemed to work
fine in the comics, but we needed our own little family unit of
Batman, Robin, Batgirl and occasionally Nightwing - and Alfred of
course." For these reasons, the production team came up with
their own origin for Tim Drake, though they later realized this new
origin was extremely similar to Jason Todd's. The new color scheme
was simplified to red, black and yellow, eliminating green entirely.
The costume retained the familiar red short-sleeved shirt, as well as
the black cape with yellow inner lining. New elements included black
sleeves, gloves, trunks and boots with red leggings. The familiar
domino mask had also changed, giving the new Robin a more wide-eyed,
innocent look.
Dick
Grayson, having abandoned his Robin persona as a result of a falling
out with Batman seen in "Old Wounds", had now adopted the
identity of Nightwing. Grayson's build became sleeker, with broader
shoulders, showcasing his emergence as a mature hero in his own
right. The short spiky hair that Grayson wore as Robin had grown
longer, styled to flow down the back of the neck. In his civilian
guise, he wore it in a ponytail. As Nightwing, he wore a V-shaped
mask and an all-black unitard with light blue hawk emblem that
borrowed some elements of the comics version from the 90s. The
costume also featured collapsible wings under the arms that allowed
Nightwing to glide for short distances.
Commissioner Gordon had
slimmed down considerably with shorter hair, giving him an older,
more gaunt appearance, and Detective Bullock also gained a drastic
change having the toothpick in his mouth removed with short hair,
darker clothes and a slightly thinner build.
The designs of villains
from his rogues gallery had also changed. The Joker's white skin now
had a bluish-gray tinge, while the eyes had their scleras removed,
and were replaced by cavernous black spaces with white pupils. The
ruby-red lips were gone, focusing more attention on the teeth, and
the green-tinged hair now was completely black.
The Riddler retained his
green bowler hat, but left behind his purple mask, green sportcoat,
gray slacks, black shirt and white tie with purple question mark to
don a light green unitard with purple question mark chest emblem,
purple slippers and black question mark cane. His red hair was also
gone, with the character's head shaved bald. The Penguin was
redesigned to match his classic counterpart from the comics,
reflecting the character's attempt to appear as a now-legitimate
nightclub owner (though he continued to operate covertly as a fence
after hours).
Catwoman's costume was
revamped to an all black unitard and cowl with spiky cat ears. The
haircut was now short and black. Poison Ivy's familiar green
strapless swimsuit, gloves, boots and red lipstick were all now black
with green highlights, while her red hair became darker, green eyes
became paler, and normal skin tone took on a pale gray pallor.
Bane was also given a new
look with the blue sections changed to black, the red lenses on his
mask becoming more transparent, the mask covering his nose, a spiked
collar around his neck, gloves on both hands, the Venom tube's color
was changed from white to red and was made a lot more bulkier from
the comics.
The color scheme of Mr.
Freeze's sub-zero suit abandoned the color scheme of blue, black,
gray and purple for just black and silver, while his facial features
became noticeably colder and more inhuman, with red eyes replacing
the red-lensed goggles. The Scarecrow's new design also took on a
more chilling look, as he became a dark, corpse-like figure with a
hangman's noose around his neck. Killer Croc was given a new look and
a new color scheme with his gray skin and blue pants changed to his
green skin and bluish-purple pants, and looks more reptilian-like
from the comics.
Harley
Quinn, Two-Face and Clayface did not receive any drastic change in
appearance or color alterations. Harley Quinn is the only villain
aside from the Joker who appeared in six or more episodes. Ra's al
Ghul and his daughter Talia also did not receive any drastic
re-designs, although their only appearance during this time was in
the episode "The Demon Reborn" from Superman: The Animated Series.
The Kids' WB censors were
much more flexible with the content featured in the episodes than the
Fox Kids censors were with Batman: The Animated Series. Producer
Bruce Timm recounted that "When we were at Fox, after every
single storyboard, we would get five single-spaced pages of notes on
things we couldn't do. On the WB, we usually get maybe two paragraphs
of stuff we can't do. At Fox, they were really picky, not just about
things you couldn't do, but just in terms of content and story. They
had a million opinions about what we should be doing. Nobody bothers
us like that at the WB."
Shortly after The New
Batman Adventures aired on Kids' WB, a mini-series set in the
continuity of the series was published. In a total of five books,
Hilary Bader, Bo Hampton, Terry Beatty, Lee Loughridge, and Tim
Harkins, explained the two-year gap between Batman: The Animated
Series and The New Batman Adventures. It explored Dick Grayson's
journey after leaving Batman's side, and his path to becoming Nightwing.
On December 6th, 2005, The
New Batman Adventures was released onto DVD under the title of
Batman: The Animated Series - Volume Four (from The New Batman
Adventures) to coincide with the previous three volume DVD sets of
Batman: The Animated Series. The series was released a second time on
November 4th, 2008 as part of a DVD release entitled Batman: The
Complete Animated Series, which contained the episodes of all four
volumes that were released in 2004/2005.
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. In total,
Batman: The Animated Series reached 85 episodes before finishing its
original run of episodes on September 15th, 1995.
BATMAN BEYOND
Batman
Beyond (known as Batman of the Future in Europe, Latin America,
Australia and India) is an American animated television series
created by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration with DC Comics as
a continuation of the Batman legacy. Depicting teenager Terry
McGinnis as a new Batman in a futuristic Gotham City under the
tutelage of an elderly Bruce Wayne, the series began airing on
January 10th, 1999, and ended its run on December 18th, 2001. After
52 episodes spanning three seasons and one direct-to-video film, the
series was put on hold for the Justice League animated series,
despite the network having announced plans for a fourth season.
Batman Beyond is set in the
chronological future of the DC animated universe (despite being
released before Static Shock, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited).
Batman Beyond is said to
explore the darker side of many Batman projects, playing on key
elements such as emotions, personal relations, fear of the unknown,
technological malfunctions, and the disturbing psychological elements
of the character of Bruce Wayne. As such, it was considerably darker
than most other children's programs at the time, although producer
Bruce Timm recalls it was conceived as a kid-friendly Batman cartoon.
It is also the first Batman series to portray the hero as a teenager.
IGN named the show 40th on their list of "Top 100 Animated TV
Series." The premise of Batman Beyond has been used in various
comic book stories published by DC Comics, including an ongoing
series beginning in 2011.
The pilot episode, titled
"Rebirth," initially begins in the year 2019, 20 years
after The New Batman Adventures. An aging Bruce Wayne continues his
role as Batman in a high-tech Batsuit, having severed his ties with
those of his former allies (such as his former sidekicks, the
officers and detectives of the Gotham City Police Department, and the
Justice League) and enemies who are still alive. In the rescue of a
kidnapped heiress, Batman suffers a mild heart attack and, at risk of
being beaten to death by one of the kidnappers, is forced to betray a
lifelong principle by threatening to use a gun. Ultimately, Bruce
reluctantly decides that his time as Batman is over and vows
"never again" as he shuts down the Batcave.
The
story fast-forwards to 2039 in Neo-Gotham, a futuristic megalopolis
featuring staggering high rises and flying vehicles. Bruce is now a
recluse living in bitter isolation in Wayne Manor, with no companion
but his guard dog Ace. Terry McGinnis is an athletic 17-year-old high
school student and reformed troublemaker with a deeply ingrained
sense of personal justice. Living on poor terms with his father
Warren, Terry disobeys his curfew one night to meet up with his
girlfriend Dana Tan, only to incur the wrath of a group of the Jokerz
gang harassing them. A high-speed motorcycle chase between Terry and
the Jokerz leads them to the grounds of Wayne Manor, where they run
into the elderly Bruce Wayne. Bruce and Terry fend off the Jokerz
side-by-side, but the exertion aggravates Bruce's heart condition.
Terry helps Bruce back to the manor and, while exploring the mansion,
stumbles upon the entrance to the Batcave, only to be chased out by a
recovered and angered Bruce.
Terry returns home to
discover that his father has been murdered, apparently by the
vengeful Jokerz. Soon after, though, he discovers that his father had
stumbled onto information about the production of illegal chemical
weapons by the merged Wayne-Powers (Wayne's former company, bought
out and run by CEO Derek Powers) and that the man actually
responsible for his father's murder is Mr. Fixx, Power's bodyguard.
Terry goes to Bruce for help, but Bruce refuses, feeling he is too
old and too weak to be of any use. Terry then "borrows" the
Batsuit, intending to bring Powers to justice. Bruce initially
opposes all of Terry's efforts and vehemently demands he return the
suit (at one point even paralyzing the suit while Terry is wearing it
in the midst of a fight), but Terry convinces Bruce to let him take
on the Batman mantle, partially by drawing on the fact they both lost
a parent to criminals, and subsequently defeats Mr. Fixx. Realizing
that crime and corruption are running rampant in Gotham without
Batman's presence, Bruce offers Terry the chance to assume the role
of Batman.
Terry's
Batman soon develops his own rogues gallery, with both new villains
(Powers' irradiated alter-ego, Blight; seductive shape-shifter Inque;
hypnotist Spellbinder; sound weaponizer Shriek; deadly assassin
Curare; insane terrorist Mad Stan; cybernetically-enhanced African
big game hunter Stalker; nerdy psychokinetic Willie Watt; a new
version of the Royal Flush Gang) as well as some of his mentor's old
foes (a rejuvenated Mr. Freeze; Bane's strength-enhancing Venom
substance reborn as slap-on patches; the longevous Ra's al Ghul; and,
almost inevitably, the Joker himself).
Terry also makes allies in
Neo-Gotham, such as the 17-year-old computer genius Maxine
"Max" Gibson, who discovers Batman's secret identity and
helps Terry with everything from computer hacking to babysitting, and
police commissioner Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl who is unhappy
about another person following in Bruce's dark and dangerous steps
(though she admits the city needs Batman and that Terry could not be
deterred from being Batman any more than she could have been from
being Batgirl).
In the third season of
Batman Beyond, a two-part story entitled "The Call"
featured (for the first time) the futuristic Justice League, a
springboard for Bruce Timm's next series Justice League. The setting
and characters of Batman Beyond were also briefly revived in 2004 for
an episode of Static Shock in which Static is accidentally
transported 40 years into the future.
Justice League Unlimited
revisited the world of Batman Beyond twice in 2005, first in the
first season finale, which featured Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green
Lantern being transported 50 years into the future to stop a
time-travelling villain with the help of the future Justice League
(Terry as Batman, a future Static and Warhawk). The second time
occurred during the second season finale, where Terry McGinnis's true
origin is learned in a story meant to be the de facto series finale
for Batman Beyond.
The
Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", the
unofficial series finale, reveals that Bruce Wayne is actually
Terry's biological father. The story, set fifteen years after Terry
became the new Batman, grows out of Bruce's kidneys failing and
doctors needing a tissue donor to clone him new ones. When Terry
shows a perfect histocompatible match with Bruce, he becomes
suspicious and has a DNA test run on himself, which shows half of his
DNA is from Bruce. Terry confronts Bruce and accuses him of
orchestrating the whole thing, possibly using old Cadmus
nanotechnology to rewrite his genes to match Bruce's, similar to what
the Joker did to Tim Drake. Terry tracks down government agent Amanda
Waller, who reveals his origins to him.
She explains through
flashbacks that, even though she trusted and respected Batman, she
was aware of him growing older and slower. Finding the idea of a
world without Batman unacceptable, Walker used her Cadmus connections
to gather the technology for "Project Batman Beyond", whose
goal was to literally create a new Batman, starting with a collected
sample of Bruce's DNA. After finding a young Neo-Gotham couple, the
McGinnis', with psychological profiles nearly identical to those of
Bruce's parents, a nanotech solution was injected into Warren
McGinnis to rewrite his reproductive material into an exact copy of
Bruce's. The result was, a little over a year later, Mary McGinnis
giving birth to Terry, a child biologically the son of his mother and Bruce.
When
Terry was 8 years old, Waller employed an elderly Andrea Beaumont
(the enigmatic killer from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Bruce's
first love) as an assassin to kill Terry's family, hoping the trauma
would put him on the path to becoming Batman. However, Beaumont could
not commit the act, arguing that Batman would never resort to murder
to achieve his goals. Waller eventually conceded that Beaumont had
been right and made no further attempts to push Terry into becoming
Batman. Waller reminds Terry that he is Bruce's son, not his clone,
and that despite his genetics, he still has free will and makes his
own choice in becoming Batman.
Whether Bruce was the
genetic father of Terry's younger brother Matt as well was not
clearly established in-story, as nothing was stated as to the
longevity of the alterations made to Warren McGinnis; however, the
series' creators have said that this is the case.
Batman Beyond spun off an
animated series called The Zeta Project, featuring a revamped version
of the synthoid Zeta from the Batman Beyond episode "Zeta."
Batman would guest-star in the episode "Shadows." The
supervillain Stalker was to have appeared in The Zeta Project episode
"Taffy Time," but did not make it. The second season
episode "Ro's Gift" has an appearance made by the Brain
Trust from the Batman Beyond episode "Mind Games." Terry
McGinnis/Batman was originally slated to appear in this episode as
well, but was cut since Bruce Timm and company were working on
Justice League.
A direct-to-video feature
film, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, was released on December
12th, 2000. The original release was censored for elements of
violence and death, though a second, uncensored version was later released.
Among
the live-action films proposed between the critical failure of
Batman & Robin and the reboot of the Batman franchise was a
live-action Batman Beyond feature, to be written by Paul Dini. In
August 2000, Warner Bros. announced that it was developing a live
action film adaptation of the TV series Batman Beyond with Boaz Yakin
attached to co-write and direct. The TV series' creators, Paul Dini
and Alan Burnett, were hired to write a screenplay for the feature
film, with author Neal Stephenson consulting the duo. By July 2001, a
first draft was turned in to the studio, and the writers were waiting
to see if a rewrite would be needed. The studio, also exploring other
takes of Batman in development, eventually placed Batman Beyond on
hold in August 2001. On July 18th, 2013, according to Warner Bros.
the new Batman movie (reboot which is coming after 2015) might be the
Batman Beyond live action movie or a Justice League film.
While the idea of Batman
Beyond seemed as if it was "not a proper continuation of the
legacy of the Dark Knight", it gathered acclaim after its
release. The show was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards, two of
which it won in 2001 for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program
and Outstanding Music Direction and Composition. In addition, the
show was nominated for five Annie Awards and won two of those
nominations in 1999 and 2001.
THE BATMAN
The
Batman is an American animated television series produced by Warner
Bros. Animation based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It ran from
September 11th, 2004 to March 22nd, 2008, on the Saturday morning
television block Kids' WB.
Although the series borrows
many elements from previous Batman storylines, it does not follow the
continuity set by the comic books, the film series, nor that of
Batman: The Animated Series and its spin-offs. The character designs
were provided by Jackie Chan Adventures artist Jeff Matsuda; he also
directed the ending. The series won six Daytime Emmy Awards.
In the first season of The
Batman, Bruce Wayne, (voiced by Rino Romano), is 26 years old, and
has been the Batman, protector of Gotham City, for three years,
(before his existence was publicly confirmed in the first episode).
Along with a secret Batcave, high tech Batmobile, and supercomputer,
called the Bat-Wave, he has his trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth
(voiced by Alastair Duncan), who guides both Bruce Wayne and The
Batman when needed. Other characters include Ethan Bennett (voiced by
Steven Harris), a cop who believes The Batman is needed in Gotham,
and at odds with Chief Angel Rojas (voiced by Edward James Olmos in
his initial appearance, Jesse Corti in all his subsequent
appearances), who has no room for vigilantes, and Ellen Yin (voiced
by Ming-Na), Bennett's partner who is torn between her belief in law
and order and her personal feelings toward the Batman. Both Bennett
and Yin are charged with capturing the Batman throughout Season 1.
Adam West, who played The Batman in the 1960s The Batman TV series,
provides the voice for Gotham’s Mayor, Marion Grange, for the
first four seasons. West is also provides the voice of Mayor Adam
West (no relation) in the popular Family Guy series.
While
crime in Gotham is at an all time low, new foes emerge and The
Batman confronts his rogues gallery for the first time. The first
season featured new interpretations of The Batman's villains such as
Rupert Thorne (voiced by Victor Brandt), The Joker (voiced by Kevin
Michael Richardson), The Penguin (voiced by Tom Kenny), Catwoman
(voiced by Gina Gershon), Mr. Freeze (voiced by Clancy Brown),
Firefly (voiced by Jason Marsden), Ventriloquist and Scarface (voiced
by Dan Castellaneta, AKA Homer Simpson), Man-Bat (voiced by Peter
MacNicol), Cluemaster (voiced by Glenn Shadix), and Bane (voiced by
Joaquim de Almeida in the first appearance, Ron Perlman in the second).
At the end of Season 1,
Ethan Bennett turned into Clayface after being tortured and mutated
by the Joker. At that time, Yin changes her view on the Batman and,
from that point on, the two become allies.
Season 2 introduced more
villains: Riddler (voiced by Robert Englund), Hugo Strange (voiced by
Frank Gorshin, replaced by Richard Green after Gorshin's death), Rag
Doll (voiced by Jeff Bennett), Spellbinder (voiced by Michael
Massee), Killer Croc (voiced by Ron Perlman), and Solomon Grundy
(voiced by Kevin Grevioux). At the end of this season, Yin is found
out to have been working with The Batman. At the same time, another
main character to the Batman mythos, Commissioner James Gordon
(voiced by Mitch Pileggi) is introduced, along with the Bat-Signal.
Yin and Chief Angel Rojas make their final appearances in the season finale.
Season
3 introduced a young Barbara Gordon, who becomes Batgirl (voiced by
Danielle Judovits) and plays a major role along with her father.
Barbara tries to be The Batman's sidekick, but he refuses to accept
the need for a partner until the end of the season. This differed
from the comics, in which Robin was The Batman's first sidekick; this
was due to the Teen Titans animated series using the character,
limiting his ability to appear in other shows.
Several villains are
introduced this season: Poison Ivy (voiced by Piera Coppola), a
different version of Gearhead (voiced by Will Friedle), Maxie Zeus
(voiced by Phil LaMarr), Toymaker (voiced by Patton Oswalt), Prank
(voiced by Michael Reisz), Temblor (voiced by Jim Cummings) and
D.A.V.E. (voiced Jeff Bennett).
Season 3 is ended with
Strange becoming one of The Batman's enemies. In "A Fistful of
Felt", The Batman discovers that Strange had turned the
Ventriloquist, who had been cured of his multiple personality
disorder, back into a criminal. In "Gotham's Ultimate Criminal
Mastermind", the season finale to Season 3, Strange is brought
to justice and becomes a patient in Arkham Asylum. In Season 4's
"Strange New World", it is revealed that Strange went to
Arkham only so he could come up with new schemes.
This season changed the
series' theme music, swapping the original theme, performed by The
Edge, for a lighter, 1960s-esque theme.
Season 4 featured a
redesign to Bruce Wayne, with a stronger facial and chin structure,
making him reminiscent of the DC animated universe Batman design.
Dick
Grayson as Robin (voiced by Evan Sabara) was introduced into the
show, as the Teen Titans animated series had been cancelled early in
the year before this season started. Batgirl is now part of the team
and found out the secret identities of both The Batman and Robin, and
Lucius Fox (voiced by Louis Gossett Jr.) is introduced in the season finale.
More villains appeared,
such as Tony Zucco (voiced by Mark Hamill, who voiced the Joker in
the DC animated universe), Killer Moth (voiced by Jeff Bennett),
Black Mask (voiced by James Remar), Rumor (voiced by Ron Perlman),
Everywhere Man (voiced by Brandon Routh), Harley Quinn (voiced by
Hynden Walch), Francis Grey (voiced by Dave Foley), and the Basil
Karlo version of Clayface (voiced by Wallace Langham in the first
appearance, Lex Lang in the second appearance). In his final
appearance, Ethan Bennett, the first Clayface, is redeemed and cured
of his condition.
One of the highlights of
Season 4 was "Artifacts", an episode describing a possible
future, that had elements from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight
Returns. Set in 2027, with the main storyline in 3027, it features a
wheelchair-using Barbara Gordon as Oracle (voiced by Kellie Martin),
Dick Grayson as Nightwing (voiced by Jerry O'Connell), with both The
Batman and the Batmobile resembling the versions in Miller's series.
The season finale featured
an alien invasion by entities called "The Joining", and
another superhero from the DC Universe; Martian Manhunter/J'onn
J'onzz (voiced by Dorian Harewood). In this episode, J'onn brings The
Batman to a Hall of Justice Watchtower orbiting the Earth where he
introduces him to Hawkman, Green Arrow, Flash, and Green Lantern as
part of the Justice League of America.
This season also marks the
departure of Jeff Matsuda and Michael Jelenic from the show.
The
fifth and final season was said by producer Alan Burnett to be the
show's "The Brave and the Bold season." This season
primarily focused on the Dynamic Duo (The Batman and Robin) teaming
up with members of the Justice League. Batgirl and Commissioner
Gordon were dropped from the show as main characters, and only
appeared rarely as guests or cameos. In Batgirl's case, this is
because she has graduated from high school and is attending college
("Attack of the Terrible Trio").
In the season's first
episode, The Batman teams up with Superman (voiced by George
Newbern). Besides Martian Manhunter, other team-ups for the season
included Green Arrow (voiced by Chris Hardwick), Flash (voiced by
Charlie Schlatter), Green Lantern (voiced by Dermot Mulroney), and
Hawkman (voiced by Robert Patrick). The series finale features the
entire Justice League.
Villains for this
particular season were a combination of rogues from the superheroes
appearing on the show with some of the Batman villains. Villains
include Lex Luthor (voiced by Clancy Brown), Mercy Graves (voiced by
Gwendoline Yeo), Metallo (voiced by Lex Lang), Count Vertigo (voiced
by Greg Ellis), The Wrath (voiced by Christopher Gorham), Toyman
(voiced by Richard Green), Shadow Thief (voiced by Diedrich Bader),
Sinestro (voiced by Miguel Ferrer), Mirror Master (voiced by John
Larroquette), and the Terrible Trio (voiced by David Faustino, Grey
DeLisle, and Googy Gress). Also, Firefly becomes Phosphorus. The
Joining returns in the finale in alliance with Hugo Strange. The
final episode was a 40-minute movie, featuring all the members of the
Justice League who have made an appearance in the show.
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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 (Walker was
occasionally Elfman's conductor for films on which they
collaborated). The score of the series was influenced by Elfman and
Walker's work on the Burton films, as well as music of 1940s film noir.
One
of the series' best-known innovations was the Joker's assistant,
Harley Quinn, who became so popular that DC Comics later added her to
mainstream Batman comic book continuity. The Penguin underwent change
for the series; his appearance was remodeled after the version seen
in Batman Returns (though still incorporating classic elements of the
character), 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 villains such as Clayface and Mr. Freeze. The latter
character, for example, was changed from a gimmicky mad scientist to
a tragic figure whose frigid exterior hid a doomed love and
vindictive fury.
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.
The
show had a significant change in focus from the original series,
with episodes focusing less on Batman and more on the many characters
that inhabited Gotham City. The art became more streamlined and
darker with simpler color schemes, while the Art Deco and film noir
imagery from the original series were replaced with a much more
modern look. Batman was given a sleeker, brawnier appearance with an all-black
bat-emblem and a pouch belt instead of a utility belt. His gadgets
and vehicles were given a sleeker, redesigned look with a more black
color scheme. Bruce Wayne's appearance was also changed from the
previous series; his hair was brushed back to highlight his face,
with blue eyes instead of black. Kevin Conroy's voice for Batman also
became more stern, as well as less distinguishable from his voice for
Bruce than in the original series. The writers made an effort to keep
the character's dialogue as terse and grim as possible, in order to
heighten the contrast between him and the lighthearted supporting cast.
Tim
Drake was introduced as the new Robin in the episode "Sins of
the Father". However, Dini remarked that "The Tim Drake
origin in the comics as written now didn't work for us with him
having a father and living so close to Wayne Manor. It seemed to work
fine in the comics, but we needed our own little family unit of
Batman, Robin, Batgirl and occasionally Nightwing - and Alfred of
course." For these reasons, the production team came up with
their own origin for Tim Drake, though they later realized this new
origin was extremely similar to Jason Todd's. The new color scheme
was simplified to red, black and yellow, eliminating green entirely.
The costume retained the familiar red short-sleeved shirt, as well as
the black cape with yellow inner lining. New elements included black
sleeves, gloves, trunks and boots with red leggings. The familiar
domino mask had also changed, giving the new Robin a more wide-eyed,
innocent look.
Dick
Grayson, having abandoned his Robin persona as a result of a falling
out with Batman seen in "Old Wounds", had now adopted the
identity of Nightwing. Grayson's build became sleeker, with broader
shoulders, showcasing his emergence as a mature hero in his own
right. The short spiky hair that Grayson wore as Robin had grown
longer, styled to flow down the back of the neck. In his civilian
guise, he wore it in a ponytail. As Nightwing, he wore a V-shaped
mask and an all-black unitard with light blue hawk emblem that
borrowed some elements of the comics version from the 90s. The
costume also featured collapsible wings under the arms that allowed
Nightwing to glide for short distances.
Harley
Quinn, Two-Face and Clayface did not receive any drastic change in
appearance or color alterations. Harley Quinn is the only villain
aside from the Joker who appeared in six or more episodes. Ra's al
Ghul and his daughter Talia also did not receive any drastic
re-designs, although their only appearance during this time was in
the episode "The Demon Reborn" from Superman: The Animated Series.
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. In total,
Batman: The Animated Series reached 85 episodes before finishing its
original run of episodes on September 15th, 1995.
