Happy 15th Anniversary, "Batman: The Animated Series"

[Catman]

To this day "Robin's Reckoning" from BTAS both Part 1 & 2 has a very special in my heart .

Robin's Reckoning is one of the best episodes. I'm not a big Robin fan but I loved that episode.

 

[The Caped Knight]

Yea, The Joker theme was great.

I loved it, I also loved the hip-hop music used in "The Last Laugh" . t:

 

[The Caped Knight]

Robin's Reckoning is one of the best episodes. I'm not a big Robin fan but I loved that episode.

BATMAN: All right, scumbucket. It's you, me and thirty storeys. You're gonna tell me exactly what I want to know.

BATMAN: Now, about Zucco. . .
THUG #2: No way. I ain't no squealer. You'll get nothing outta me, you hear? Nothing!
BATMAN CRACKS HIS KNUCKLES.
THUG #2: Stromwell! He's with Stromwell! His uncle! Okay? All right?

BATMAN: If you protect him, Stromwell, I'll be very. . . grumpy. You don't want to see me when I'm grumpy.

BATMAN : The Only place your going is up the river you scum (Talking to Zucco)

ZUCCO: Don't tell me what I gotta worry about. I'm not back in town five minutes-- five minutes-- and he's on my tail. You don't know the bat. He don't let up! He's the dark angel of death, man, and he wants me!

ROBIN: Stuff your advice, Batman! You and your stone cold heart! You don't know how I feel! How could you!?

 

[The Caped Knight]

[YT]ibGJEzmf-M[/YT]

Batman The Animated Series - The Dark Knight's First Night

 

[Arkady Rossovich]

This was the best cartoon to ever depict Batman.

 

[Catman]

Badass

 

[Mister J]

God, I loved this show. Can't believe it's been 15 years.

 

[The Caped Knight]

The voice casting for the supporting cast was Superb !

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth

Bob Hastings as Commissioner James Gordon

Robert Costanzo as Detective Harvey Bullock

 

[The Caped Knight]

I love this shot inside the Batmobile from "Laughing Fish"

 

[The Caped Knight]

I love that shot of badass Bats at the end.

Their is a badass sequence in the episode "The Forgotten" While Amnesia Bruce is in the box with his friend Riley . When Riley mention "I Lost My Family" and Bruce gets his memory back. The whole little scene is Epic, especially with The BATMAN theme music in the backgrounded.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I hope their are plans to re-release a Special Edition of Mask of the Phantasm on dvd . With some good Special Features .

 

[The Caped Knight]

I Remember I had both this video game & the Sega version as well . A long time ago .

 

[Shoemeister]

God damn, I feel old. Such an AMAZING and GROUNDBREAKING show. Also, that Conroy interview is great!

 

[LadyVader]

It's such a bittersweet feeling to know all this stuff about Batman TAS, what a great creative team it had and to know that we'll probably never have such a show again.

 

[Super_Ludacris]

So what was everyone's favourite season?

 

[Super_Ludacris]

It's such a bittersweet feeling to know all this stuff about Batman TAS, what a great creative team it had and to know that we'll probably never have such a show again.

For all the critisicm the new Batman show gets, last season and the preview of this season have reminded a lot of th Dini-Timm era.

 

[The Caped Knight]

So what was everyone's favourite season?

That's a hard one for me, because I enjoyed all 6 seasons in total (Including "The New Batman Adventures"). That was one thing about both BTAS & TNBA even thought some of the episodes were overall bad (I could still find one, two , three or four moments in the episode that would make it still very watchable for me .)

 

[Super_Ludacris]

Wasnt there like only 4 seasons ( or like 4 volumes or something)?
The new adventures wasnt that bad, even the "Gotham Knights" season gets unfairly hated on, there were quite a few gems

 

[Two-Face]

Happy 15th Anniversary BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

 

[The Caped Knight]

Wasnt there like only 4 seasons ( or like 4 volumes or something)?
The new adventures wasnt that bad, even the "Gotham Knights" season gets unfairly hated on, there were quite a few gems

If you count "GK" or "TNBA" you get 6 seasons in total instead of only 4 .

http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/episodes/

http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/tnba/episodes/

 

[Sawyer]

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth

I was shocked when I watched a featurette on the BTAS DVDs and Zimbalist wasnt speaking with an English accent. He's quite the voice actor.

 

[TNC9852002]

Yeah, the show was great and it's hard to realize that it's been this long.

I agree, a lot of episodes were downright bad, but the art and the acting and most importantly the score for those episodes made up for it.

-TNC

 

[Dr. Fate]

Happy 15th Anniversary, "Batman: The Animated Series"​

by James Harvey


Fifteen years ago today, millions of children watched Batman go up against a devious terrorist named Red Claw and tangle with Catwoman. This has been a show that countless people were looking forward to. A new Batman cartoon. And one that looked pretty amazing. At least based on the commercials and the odd article that popped up in magazines here and there. Plus . . . the name. Batman: The Animated Series. What is it about that name that seems so . . . iconic? So definitive? I think that alone made the attraction to the series even stronger. And, like I said, millions of children, and adults, were sitting down to watch this show. It was Saturday morning, and I wasn’t watching.

In fact, I missed the Saturday premiere, “The Cat & The Claw, Part One,” and the special Sunday-premiered episode “On Leather Wings,” too. It wasn’t until Monday, September 7th, 1992, when “Heart of Ice” played. And I barely caught it, too. I can remember leaping over furniture as the time ticked down to the 4pm start time. But I managed to set up the VCR and flip it to Fox just in time and . . . wow. I was hooked. No one could move me. As “Heart of Ice” unfolded, I couldn’t be budged from the spot at all. And that was the beginning of a love affair that has lasted the better part of fifteen years.

Sure, other cartoons have come and gone, but Batman: The Animated Series has reigned supreme. X-Men: The Animated Series? Fun, but doesn’t have that rewatchability factor. Spider-Man: The Animated Series? Not bad, but the holes become very apparent very quickly. But Batman: The Animated Series . . . this show was different. I always returned to this show. I knew something was coming from this show . . . that even when the series initially ended after 85 episodes, that this would not be the end. And, thankfully, I was correct. 24 more episodes came down the hatch when the show moved over to Kids’WB!, and, from there, things . . . changed.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll get to all of that shortly. I just want to say a few words on Batman: The Animated Series itself, a series that had such a big impact on my life. It inspired my writing, my art, my taste in music and appreciation of movies. All of that I got from Batman: The Animated Series. The simple, yet complex, designs of each character. The dialogue that never spoke down to the viewer. The amazing score, a score that I would love to own some day. And the cinematic direction of each episode, each episode itself having a film noir serial feel. I could go one and one about this series, but many have before me, and better, I might add. I don’t claim to be the most skilled writer ever, but this series is one that will remain.

I can remember watching an episode as it premiered, usually at 4pm on Fox, and then watching it later that night, taped on my VCR. I can remember going through so many tapes. I never really taped shows before Batman: The Animated Series, and this was pretty much my crash-course. I had to learn about different tape speed and quality, trying to decide whether to sacrifice the space on a tape or the quality of the image. But this show started it all for me. Next thing I knew, I was reading the comics, the toys, and finding anything I could related to the show. But, of course, with time that sort of withered. I stopped buying toys, but stuck with the comics and the odd book (mostly depending on the art and story), but my interest in Batman: The Animated Series didn’t end there.

In fact, it’s basically the whole reason for this site. True, this site did start as a Superman: The Animated Series message board, but that was only because . . . well, at the time, there were a couple great Batman: The Animated Series sites up, namely Batman: The Animated Homepage and the original The Animated Bat website. The Animated Bat, home to the Bat-Toon Board, surged when The New Batman Adventures hit Kids’WB!, but slowly disappeared after that. Batman: The Animated Homepage, to make it really simple, merged with my Superman: The Animated Message Board (along with my Batman Beyond: The Animated Message Board and Batman: The Animated Message Board), and became this site. Now, it’s much more complicated than that, and I think I may be doing a massive injustice to the people whom I worked with over the years, but this post isn’t about that (sorry guys!). I’m sure a lot of them even remember posting here, and I’m sure some of them still view the board. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the notorious banned folks aren’t also peaking in. But, like I said, that’s a whole different topic!

Now where was I? Ah yes! Batman: The Animated Series. It’s hard to believe that fifteen years ago, so many of us where sitting down to watch this show. Fifteen years! That’s incredible! Of course, it’s incredible for a show, any show, to still have such an impact on the fan base, and the industry, as a whole. Who knew that, when we all sat down to watch this show, a whole universe would spawn from this series? That after it, Superman: The Animated Series would begin. That the creators behind the series would look into the future with the definitive Batman Beyond. Of course, there’s also Justice League, as well, which would bring everything together in the end. Quite amazing, yes?

And it was the creators behind this show that made it so absolutely amazing. We had the likes of Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Stan Berkowtiz, Dwayne McDuffie, Boyd Kirkland, Dan Riba, Michael Reaves, Hilary Bader, among many others, who contributed. Even comic greats like Dennis O’Neil and Len Wein stepped in. And I know I’m missing awhile lot of people here, but there are just so many people that deserve thanking. What I like is that everyone had a role to play in the show, and there role was always crucial. And that, to me, made the episodes work. Yes, sometimes the results weren’t all that good, I’ll admit, but you could always count on something memorable, even from the worst episodes (like that ridiculous screwdriver/sword duel in “I’ve Got A Batman In My Basement”).

But everything came together in this series. Driven by powerful scores, thanks to the late (and missed) Shirley Walker, this show was something to behold. Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis also contributed, among many others, some memorable and unforgettable music. Music that deserves to be released commercially someday.

And who could forget Kevin Conroy as Batman? Or Mark Hammill as The Joker. And the list goes on, people. This series was casted perfectly. Every last role.

There’s so much that can be touched upon here that I don’t think I could do it justice. And there's so many people, countless people, who deserve thanking. I mean, besides, this posting is pretty much scribblings on a napkin to Batman: The Animated Series when it comes to the likes of Batman: Animated, which has covered this show in so much detail. But I wanted to mark today, this day, as an important day for us animation fans. I’m not sure if this makes me incredibly dorky or anything, but no matter what I go through or grasp an interest in, it will always be Batman: The Animated Series that will remain untouched. It had that quality about it that no other show had. A quality that even though the majority of the audience, at the time, were children, they weren’t being spoken down to as such.

Even though some of the situations were quite fantastic, there was always a down to earth quality about them. Whether it was the Joker, Two-Face, or even Ra’s Al Ghul, every character seemed seeped in believability. Sure, there were elements that sometimes strained our beliefs in what could be done, but everything worked in Batman’s world. Every impossible jump, every convoluted plan, everything. It all worked. And it was something to behold.

I guess, in the end, what kept me, and many others, going back to Batman: The Animated Series for years to come was how the show respected the characters. I think that has to do with the love the creators had for these amazing fictional creations, and it was a practice that continues on for many other related shows down the line. Timm not only created, arguably, the definitive version of Batman, but of Superman and the Justice League, as well. He stripped away the ridiculous and unnecessary aspects of the comic book lore and presented us with the best. They even created a few new things along the way, too, be it characters or status quo alterations, which, in effect, brought out the best in the character, be it Batman, Superman, or whoever. They knew what worked, what didn’t, and what needed to be changed. What had a more dramatic impact? What was more important to the core of their character? What mattered most to them? They brought all these questions to the table and, from that, they created an amazing world.

And to think. That all started with Batman: The Animated Series. Fifteen years ago to the day. Who knew that, as we watched Batman chase down Red Claw and tangle with Catwoman, we’d be watching some of the most iconic and important animation we’d ever bear witness to? Quite an amazing legacy.

Happy 15th Anniversary, Batman.

http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=2640844&postcount=1
Comments?​

Still the greatest show that ever came out of the DCAU, better than its "New Adventures" sequel/continuation, better than "Batman Beyond", better than [the underrated] Superman TAS, and yes, even better than the Justice League/Unlimited. That's how great the original Batman TAS is.
​

 

[The Caped Knight]

Interviews on The 15th Anniversary by

Alan Burnett

Stan Berkowitz

 

[arachnid-guy]

I feel sad, as although I know I watched it [and loved it] in my younger years...I have forgot certain episodes. I guess they've left me in time. I need to re-watch this brilliant, brilliant show.

The music really adds something. It's literally dripping in atmosphere. I tear up whenever I hear it.

I remember one episode in particular 'As blind as a bat' i think? Where Batman becomes blind and hes facing the Penguin. That will always stay with me.