From: jordan@castor.cs.uga.edu (Chuck Jordan)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.animation
Subject: Re: BATMAN:  "Feat of Clay" (spoilers)
Date: 10 Sep 92 07:18:41 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

In article <1992Sep9.042544.28484@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> conty@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (OtakuRoach) writes:
>And I have a real problem with the
>Batplane.  The entire series has a techno-art deco look to it, and here
>we get something straight out of a STAR WARS film!  It's completely
>incongruous with the rest of the show.  Even the inside of the thing
>still had the retro-40's look to it.

What I like best about the best designs of Gotham City I've seen are the
way old elements and new are combined.  I've always been under the impression
that Batman wasn't supposed to be set in any particular time; Gotham is a
completely different place and under a completely different time.  The result
is pseudo-40's style clothing and architecture, combined with high technology.
(Although I didn't see the first half of this story, only the second, I think
I would've thought the Batplane was way cool.)  When Batman is done best, the
idea comes across that Batman "straddles" both realities, having technology
from the year 2000 with art and style from the 20's to the 40's.  I think the
Batman comic books would be a LOT better if they would pick up on this;
simply changing the art direction would give the books a real "feel."

And God forbid I should go without giving my opinion on the series:
The two episodes I've seen (the Freeze episode and the second half of the
Clayface story) have been outstanding.  The stories are a little simplistic,
but are perfect for the target audiences -- I could see anybody from 9 years
old to just about any age liking the story.  I'm glad the writers of the
series have realized something that most Batman comic book writers haven't --
the "dark knight" angst can only go so far, and just as in Dick Tracy, the
villains in Batman are often more interesting than seeing the hero trying to
come to terms with himself.  In Feat of Clay part II, I was extremely
impressed with the whole scene in which Batman interrogates Germs, in fact
the whole idea of the character of Germs was pretty novel, I thought.

The animation, especially in the end sequence with Clayface's transformations,
was pretty good.  Most everybody has talked about the art direction of the
series.  The art direction and character design is great, but it's incon-
sistent.  The show frequently slips into the type of character animation
that you can see on just about any animated adventure series -- GI Joe, TMNT,
etc.  It is good to see that animated series are actually starting to pay
attention to design instead of all looking identical.  No matter how bad the
animation may be in series like the Simpsons and Ren 'n' Stimpy, the design
is original; I would like Batman far better if the character design were
consistent.

Chuck






-- 
                  Chuck Jordan | jordan@castor.cs.uga.edu
SPY Magazine's 1,000 Reasons Not to Vote for George Bush:
NO 477: The cost of Noriega's conviction: $180 million.  NO 478: "I must say,
I'm finishing [my first year] with a bit of a glow" -- after the invasion.