Batman the Animated Series

[Worf]

Conroy IS Batman as far as I'm concerned. In other animated films... when he's not used... Batman just doesn't feel "right". And kudos to Mark Hamill for providing the perfect manic foil for him all these years.

Worf

 

[Formeruser012523]

Nice interview with Kevin Conroy about his long tenure voicing Batman, on the release of the direct-to-DVD animated adaptation of The Killing Joke (one of the most influential Joker stories ever, written by the brilliant - if nuts - Alan Moore [V For Vendetta, Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc.]), reuniting him with also-definitive Mark Hamill as the Joker:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/a...the-killing-joke-kevin-conroy-alan-moore.html

I read the original graphic novel a long time ago: it is an extremely disturbing take on the Joker, but it's brilliant. This is the first DC animated film to be rated R, so it looks like they're not pulling any punches.

Adored this series when it first aired & must admit my interest is piqued now.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

IMO, the first two seasons of Batman: TAS are the definitive on-screen depiction of the Batman mythos, in any format.

 

[Doctor Strange]

And so say we all!

 

[Edward]

Indeed. I've enjoyed pretty much all of the screen versions of Batman I've seen -with the notable exception of the execrable Adam West version - but this is about the best. I'm very much enjoying Gotham too, as of the second season - it'll be interesting to see if it does, in time, birth a Btman spinoff, and how that looks. It's mostly fairly modern in vibe (with a tv show budget, they'd have to be I guess), but there are a lot of little details that to me not back to both TAS and the Burton take.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Sorry, I can't agree with you, Edward. I think Gotham is junk. I do concur that it takes some things from the Burton films and the Animated Series in terms of its overall look and apparent level of technology.

I consider it junk in the story sense. The production values and cast are all excellent, but what it's doing to the established Batman backstory makes me nuts. You cannot have full-blown, or even mostly blown, versions of Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, or Catwoman (at least she's still a kid) in Gotham City a dozen years before Batman arrives. You can't have a Jim Gordon who works with criminals, who's jailed on a murder rap, busted from the GCPD to become a bounty hunter, yet will still rejoin the force and become Lieut./Capt./Commissioner later. (Don't even get me started on his constant character flip-flops, on and off again relationships, etc. The writing on this show is inconsistent and redundant.) You can't have Bruce and Selina as childhood friends, you can't have a lot of what we see Bruce and Alfred doing.

Understand: I watch religiously because I'm a lifelong Bat-fan and I can't help myself. But since the show presents itself as the legit backstory to Batman/Gordon/the Rogues Gallery rather than as some kind of funky alternate-reality take, it mostly just annoys me!

 

[PeterGunnLives]

Gotham is definitely in its own universe. There's no way it could fit well with the continuity of the Burton/Schumacher movies, the Nolan trilogy, or any of the comics, not to mention that it has nothing to do with the Arrowverse, which spans Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I find it a very frustrating show. It's quite well-made in a production sense, and while it's very sloppily written, it occasionally hits a story point pretty well... But it never resolves anything: for example, it keeps giving us the same will-Jim-Gordon-finally-go-to-the-dark-side?!? plot over and over and over. It tries to be too many things (The Endless Temptations and Messy Lovelife of Jim Gordon, The Bruce and Alfred and Selina Show, Secret Origins of Famous Batman Villains) that don't really fit together, and it's a tonal mess.

And as I complained above, it doesn't mesh well as a prequel to any version of Batman/Gotham City we've seen. And since DC - as opposed to Marvel - keeps their TV and movie continuities completely separate - e.g., Grant Grusin Flash vs. Ezra Miller Flash - it's clear that Bruce isn't going to grow up to be Batfleck. So yeah, it doesn't fit into any of the Batman continuities we know, and I have to unofficially consider it an "Elseworlds" story... but I can't imagine actually liking the Batman/Gotham City it would yield 15 years later.

But hey, I'm a tough room, and I take this superhero stuff way too seriously. I know other folks here like the show. I don't entirely dislike it myself - I just watched again last night. I just wish it was more coherently plotted and made a bit more sense as a Batman prequel story.

 

[Frunobulax]

Doc, I didn't think Gotham was supposed to be a prequel. I thought it was some sort of "alternate" version. At least, that's the way I watch it. I pretty much tune in every week to see how nuts it'll get.

Plus, hey, Fish Mooney.

 

[Edward]

I've always taken Gotham just to be its own thing, which will lead to its own version of Batman. Wasn't the design brief specifically to be 'Smallville for Batman'? That's how it feels. For me, it's no different than reconciling BurtonBat to NolanBat... Different worlds....

Back when it was released, I went to see the Andrew Garfield version of Spiderman. It had a number of elements in it that didn't work for me, but it occured that the way superheroes change and develop for new audiences with new incarnations is very much the way folk legends have done the same. You want to learn about a particular period, look at how it retells the Arthurian mythology compared to other versions....

I like vigilante Jim Gordon, myself.... sure, there's an element of suspending disbelief, but equally, it rings true for me that a guy who would later work, even if unofficially, with a dangerous vigilante whose mental health is at best questionable, might not always have been a 'by the book' type himself.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I know you're a season behind, but the thing I'm having trouble suspending disbelief on is that he'd ever be able to rise in the GCPD after his already borderline-criminal involvement. Of course, Gotham is such a corrupt city, maybe it's a badge of honor! But I have to say, I prefer the old "only honest cop in Gotham" approach with Gordon to this conflicted, out of control version. (OTOH, with all the other crazy stuff that goes on in this show, why should I be stuck on this particular thing?)

And I know Gotham is its own thing, but it is a prequel to "Batman", and you'd expect it to align on the aspects of the Batman mythos that are common to virtually all tellings, which includes most of his Rogues Gallery emerging in his early crime-fighting career, not having already been known criminals in Gotham City for a dozen years.

Don't even get me started on how mythology changes over time, I LIVE in this idea. Ever since I was exposed to Jung (long before George Lucas made Joseph Campbell a well-known figure) and realized that wily Odysseus and Batman (and Captain Kirk) are all the same character, it blew my mind and instilled a lifelong fascination in how the stories we tell over and over again throughout time explain more about the essence of humanity than book-loads of historical facts!

 

[Formeruser012523]

Loved Gotham in the first two seasons . . . not so much now. The story is all over the place & I'm just plain bored when Bruce & Alfred aren't even in the episode. I read an article some time last year (I think) with one of the producers(?) that said the show was going to "go it's own direction."

Just frustrated how they're setting up stories & then leaving them completely for something else. It's confusing. Not only do I feel Jim's personality is flat as cardboard, but I don't care about his love life any more. Sort of half-watched last night only to keep up with the story in hopes that it will pick up in future weeks.

It's awful when a great cast is misused with terrible material.

 

[Frunobulax]

Loved Gotham in the first two seasons . . . not so much now. The story is all over the place & I'm just plain bored when Bruce & Alfred aren't even in the episode. I read an article some time last year (I think) with one of the producers(?) that said the show was going to "go it's own direction."

Just frustrated how they're setting up stories & then leaving them completely for something else. It's confusing. Not only do I feel Jim's personality is flat as cardboard, but I don't care about his love life any more. Sort of half-watched last night only to keep up with the story in hopes that it will pick up in future weeks.

It's awful when a great cast is misused with terrible material.

I was joking with my wife last night, "I wonder id he has a sore throat after filming every episode?"

Bruce is getting grown up quick, though. He's going to start looking like a man, soon.

But like I said, I don't watch for the story. I watch for the madness.

 

[Doctor Strange]

A worthwhile read for fans of B:TAS:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...s-hirings-firings-last-minute-changes-1035120

 

[Doctor Strange]

Fans may get a kick out of these newly created posters for B:TAS episodes:

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2018/03...son-the-artist-behind-mondos-batman-the-anima

I really like the one for "Trial".

 

[Fading Fast]

Fans may get a kick out of these newly created posters for B:TAS episodes:

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2018/03...son-the-artist-behind-mondos-batman-the-anima

I really like the one for "Trial".

Good stuff, thank you for posting.

Man, those jawlines - exaggerated as heck but work wonderfully (talented artist).

The "Trial" (as you noted) and the last one "...the deadliest enemy" are standouts, IMHO.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

I hope they make prints available to order. I want the ones for "Gray Ghost" and "Mask of the Phantasm."

 

[Doctor Strange]

Okay, B:TAS lovers, this new series should be on your radar. Starts next week!



This is a totally new animated series from Bruce Timm, who should need no introduction to fans of B:TAS and many worthy animated superhero projects since. Like the 90s series, the visual style is pseudo-retro and the storytelling promises to be psychologically astute, with a focus on the detective aspect. Not a follow-on to old series, it will be a "year one" approach, with Batman new on the scene, and the initial emergence of the rogues gallery.

Timm has said that the B:TAS versions of the villains and supporting characters are now so classic that this series will be creating new and different takes on the characters. Basically, he says they wanted to go back to 1990... but make it more adult, without the afternoon-kiddie show censorship they faced when making those shows for broadcast on FoxKids and KidsWB.

Anyway, it looks quite promising. Here's a link for the trailer:

It's too bad that the great Kevin Conroy departed a couple of years ago, but the new Bats/Bruce voice sounds good...

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Looking forward to this!

Rob