Batman: The Animated Series debuted September 6th, 1992.
And, until Christopher Nolan came along, it was, and remains, probably one of the best adaptations of Batman in any medium.
This is the show that brought us Harley Quinn, turned Mr. Freeze from a rogues gallery also-ran mostly notable for being in the ’60s TV series into a major Batman villain, and was also one of the few TV shows to show characters using actual firearms instead of laser weapons.
And it was sheer continuity porn, as well. The episodes were largely based on Batman comics from the ’70s and the show was happy to dig out obscure characters like Clock King and turn them from jokes into serious characters.
What makes the show as an adult, though, are the clever artistic decisions that make the show just that much more vivid. The backgrounds were famously drawn on black paper with light colors; the voice cast recorded their parts together in one room, not separately, letting the actors put together a stronger performance.
What gets me the most, though, and still does, is the writing. It was, essentially, noir to its bones: A man loses his company because he takes a coffee break (“The Clock King”); A woman suffering from a disease can’t move on with her life and tries to go back to the way things were (“Baby-Doll”); A washed-up actor struggles to make ends meet trading on memories of a cheesy old TV show and winds up suspected of a series of bombings (“Beware the Gray Ghost”, featuring one of the few times Adam West has ever been asked to genuinely act instead of mug for the camera).
That was what made the show work so well. The villains were rarely pure evil. More often they were just people who made a mistake, or got screwed by somebody, and were too blinded by sadness or rage to see the dangers of their actions. The best bad guys think they’re doing the right thing, and that was the show’s guiding principle in many episodes.
Heavy stuff for a show aimed at kids, but it’s what makes the show a classic and still airing on cable. Now, if only we could get some new episodes…
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I’m only 23 but feel older somedays since I remember using dial up, film cameras, VHS tapes and floppy disks as recently as middle school.
This was just great TV. It was one of the best dramas on the air at the time. And it could appeal to kids with treating them like morons. It could delve into things like the grey areas of morality in an accessible way.
It kind of makes you wonder why we don’t see more of that.
The Clock King episode still remains in my top 5 episodes of the series, and it was great to see Clock King be one of the few characters to break the “Bat Embargo” and show up in an episode of Justice League.
But my all time favourite still remains “Appointment in Crime Alley”. A great story complemented by an amazing score by Shirley Walker.
Walker is unappreciated as a composer, I think. She’s never been allowed into the top tier, for no reason I can see.
I would have though She would have more recognition after She died, but yeah She definitely should be more appreciated for her amazing work.
Wow, I had no idea she died. That’s a damn shame.
Holy shit the score in that episode was amazing. I can hum it right now.
Everyday after school: plop down in my yellow beanbag chair and tune out everything to watch this show.
I picked up a season on DVD for cheap a year ago, and it still holds up.
What’s this “until Christopher Nolan came along” shit? Those movies were very entertaining Elseworlds stories. The Animated Series IS Batman.
Agreed. As great as Heath Ledger’s Joker performance was, it would have been infinitely better if they dubbed over his lines with some Mark Hamill voicework. Joker just doesn’t sound right any other way at this point.
I would argue that “The Dark Knight” represents a cultural breakthrough in the sense that even people who hate comics finally “got it”. It’s really the ONLY movie about our social anxieties and fears that’s worth watching over the last ten years or so.
Well, that and “Despicable Me.”
They will never make a better Batman show. 50 years from now you could ask what the greatest Batman series was and the answer will always be the same.
FYI: The show airs two times each week night on The Hub at 7:00 & 7:30 EDT. I DVR it and end up watching it most days after I am done for the day just like I did when I was kid when it first aired.
Don’t forget what it did for the actual animation. Since B:TAS, most cartoons use the cleaner lines and smoother animation over the mess of Transformers and GI Joe, which also airs on the aforementioned Hub.
That’s true. In a lot of ways it’s amazing what Timm and Dini managed to pull off.
Wow that series is 20 years old, it is still good!
Shame there was no “20th anniversary” release on BluRay or something.
I was a kid when I watched this and always remembered it as awesome. I’ve caught some re-runs (dvd boxsets seem to be elusive), and it’s refreshing to watch a pillar of your childhood and not question how you could be so imbecilic in your entertainment choices. Good stuff Dan.
All 4 volumes of the box set are sitting on my shelf, the cardboard slightly ragged from the amount of times I’ve pulled them out to watch them. A classic.
Another thing that is great about this series is how it’s universe expanded into Superman: The Animated Series, The Justice League, and Batman Beyond. All of those shows kept the same continuity.