Batman: The Animated Series vs. The Batman

[Rabastan41]

Which Batman cartoon do you people prefer, The Batman or BTAS and why?

[Jake Diamond]

BTAS, easily.

The Batman is good, but it pales in comparison. Some of the things I noticed:

- In BTAS, Batman beats Bane with his bare hands. In The Batman, he needs to use a super-powered robot suit.

- In BTAS, The Riddler doesn't look like a gothic emo green freak, whereas, in The Batman... he does.

- Also, the animation in BTAS was generally of a superior quality.

I could go on, but I think you get my point.

[The Joker]

LOL! Oh come on, this is like pitting The Dark Knight against Batman and Robin.

BTAS is leaps and bounds above The Batman in virtually every way.

[mothy]

btas in every category. there is no contest.

[boywondernerdDC]

....btas

[Mistah K88]

Did you expect it to be a close match at all? BTAS bdefined my childhood...The Batman is a wannabe. Sure it had some diamonds in the rough (The Laughing Bat, The Breakout, etc) and BTAS had its fair share of stinkers (I've Got Batman in My Basement, Prophecy of Doom, Critters), but BTAS was of much better quality than The Batman, which didn't really start getting all that good until season 4 (but went back down in season 5).

[mothy]

the batman is trash.

i think they should just stick to the tried and true villians. harley quinn was an one off character that was introduced in btas. she served a purpose. she is now in the batman lore.

you can argue that they can create new characters to serve this purpose, but it is extremely slim that they will gain the reputation that the classic villains joker and two-face have. the new characters usually just fade away into obscurity and are blemishes.

[Oddzball]

Originally Posted by mothy

btas in every category. there is no contest.

Mostly I'll go with Timm's Bats. I do give The Baman Props for turning the Penguin into a martial artist. In general oswald's dangerousness is 'I'm one of Batman's top foes!" rather than based on anything he did. Killed a couple of thugs to prove he was tough in his first story. Shot them with a disguised gun.

Towards the end of The Batman's run, it was clearly a BTAS knock off. The 'bat fugitive' angle was put to rest and the 'bat family' showed up, something the latter parts of BTAS had done almost identically.

[MrQuinn]

i hate The Batman cartoon. Garbage.

[Fresh Prince]

The Batman was garbage....only season 1 was good.

[Brother Jack]

No comparison. The Animated Series is one of the best American cartoons ever made.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Originally Posted by Jake Diamond

In BTAS, Batman beats Bane with his bare hands. In The Batman, he needs to use a super-powered robot suit.

- In BTAS, The Riddler doesn't look like a gothic emo green freak, whereas, in The Batman... he does.

- Also, the animation in BTAS was generally of a superior quality.

- Actually, the robot suit was easily ripped apart by Bane. Batman had to use his smarts to defeat Bane. Basically, the robot suit was useless, and the writers pointed it out.

-Despite the design, the Riddler had a coherent backstory and motivation that actually made sense, while in B:TAS, he doesn't.

- I think you had a problem with the "art design" (I don't like it either). The newer show actually has superior animation, due to newer technology and animation techniques.

Despite this, I still prefer B:TAS.

[Fresh Prince]

Originally Posted by Happy Jack

No comparison. The Animated Series is one of the best American cartoons ever made.

Agreed.

[Asteroid-Man]

BTAS. Sooo good. 'Nuff said.

[Ipodman]

I kinda like The Batman... haha... i guess its a tie for me

[Grifter21]

I like The Batman but it was too happy, he'd mention his parents but then he wouldn't really be too shaken up about it, except for the scene when it just happened and Alfred picked him up.

[Bat Attack]

Originally Posted by Joker

LOL! Oh come on, this is like pitting The Dark Knight against Batman and Robin.

BTAS is leaps and bounds above The Batman in virtually every way.

Exactly. The Batman has absolutely no atmosphere either, whereas BTAS has that great 1930's/40's feel to it. Everything about BTAS is leagues better than "The Batman".

[Two-Face]

BTAS is the definite Batman show.

[Sawyer]

BTAS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The Batman

Everything was better. The writing, the designs, the voice acting. All superior.

[Two-Face=Badass]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Everything was better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY

Seriously, I know nostalgia taints but can anyone here even begin to even try to even start to think objectively?

Yes, I'll agree that BTAS was the better show, by a fair margin too, but people claiming that "everything" was superior clearly haven't watched the show, or perhaps only watched one or two seasons at best.

The animation was far superior, this is fact, far more fluid. The fights were also much better staged, compare the awkward BTAS tumble at the climax of Perchance to Dream (a classic episode) to Ragdolls to Riches, which became a favourite of mine simply by virtue of having some of the most beautifully staged fight sequences I've ever seen in animation.

The use of arcs was also of great support to The Batman. While BTAS followed a loose continuity it sometimes shot itself in the foot, such as the creation of Two-Face when Harvey had had only minor roles in two previous episodes. After the great two-parter the next appearances of the character are suddenly hanging out with supervillains and robbing banks with glee. Compare to the masterfully crafted arc of Clayface (TB's replacement for Two-Face) which had Ethan Bennet as a fully established character for an entire season, showcasing his downfall, later attempt at rehabilitation and reversion to crime, and THEN his typical robbing banks. It even followed up with a redemption story too.

Another arc was the evolution of Batman's identity in Gotham, from being a myth at the beginning, to fugitive throughout season 1, friend to Yin in season 2 and finally a fullblown ally for the remainder.

Additionally, while one might disagree with the representations of major villains, there is no denying that The Batman didn't get some minor villains right. Their version of Firefly is vastly superior to the DCAU counterpart, here depicted as a cocky arsonist-for-hire, with delusions of grandeur and hidden depths that are explored when he becomes Phosphorous. Hugo Strange in TB is also clearly superior to the rather poor BTAS version, and also has a great arc within the show. The teenage Poison Ivy was also one of the freshest incarnations of the character in years, much more than the cheesecake 2d one seen in the comics so often. Black Mask was also much more interesting than his comic counterpart.

The powers of the JLA were also used much more effectively than most times in the Justice League, which was often grating to see Superman forget he could shoot heat beams, or Martian Manhunter (and this was a huge problem in JL) could shapeshift and phase.

Additionally, the direct-to-video film The Batman vs Dracula was fantastic, and for atleast is right behind Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker in terms of quality.

I could think of more points but I think that will do. The Batman is an underappreciated cartoon with some fantastic episodes. Not as good as BTAS I agree, but certainly doesn't deserve the rap it gets.

[Sawyer]

Think objectively? No thanks.

BTAS
The Batman

[Two-Face=Badass]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Think objectively? No thanks.

BTAS
The Batman

And that's when I can pinpoint the moment any credibility your opinion had just flew out the window.

Heck, likelyhood is you didn't even read my full post.

[Drz]

I have to agree with Two-Face=Badass that the animation was superiour in terms of combat. Infact does anyone remember much good from BTAS' action? We all have our favorite episodes and favorite moments in terms of dialogue and story, but i can never think of a moment where people go "oh man remember that freaking awesome action moment?" no i really can't recall much if any of those. @_@

[Two-Face=Badass]

Originally Posted by Drz

I have to agree with Two-Face=Badass that the animation was superiour in terms of combat. Infact does anyone remember much good from BTAS' action? We all have our favorite episodes and favorite moments in terms of dialogue and story, but i can never think of a moment where people go "oh man remember that freaking awesome action moment?" no i really can't recall much if any of those. @_@

The only ep I can think of is Second Chance (one of my favourites) which had some great "camera movements" and was really quite smooth.

On the other hand there was Cat Scratch Fever, eugh.

[Two-Face]

BTAS beats TB in everything way. from animation to storyline etc...