From: "eric walker" <eric.walker@channel1.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.animation
Subject: batman
Date: 6 Sep 92 09:11:17 EST
Reply-To: "eric walker" <eric.walker@channel1.com>
Distribution: rec
Organization: Channel 1 Communications

     This fall, the animation forums on BBSes all across the country are
     going to be flooded with messages talking about the new "Batman"
     series.

     The "sneak preview" premiere episode just aired yesterday as I type
     this, and it's quite interesting.  It's definitely a step in the right
     direction for "action/adventure" TV animation, and it's far, far
     superior to the Hanna-Barbera "Super Friends" TV series.

     The "Batman" animated series was made to cash in on the popularity of
     the phenomenally popular "Batman" movies, and the cartoon tries for
     the "dark" look-and-feel of the movies.  It's smart enough to base the
     characters of Batman and Commisioner Gordon on the comic books and not
     the movie characters, though the design of Gotham City tries to
     imitate the wild, eye-catching scenery and art direction Tim Burton
     brought to the movies.

     The quality of the animation is quite good, for a TV cartoon.  Fans of
     "realistic" animation who enjoy the lush, crisp animation of the
     Disney Afternoon may be disappointed with the style of "Batman's"
     animation, but I think it's an interesting move.  As has been
     mentioned already, it tries for an "Art Deco" look, in which
     Batman/Bruce Wayne is a square-jawed muscleman whose head is flatter
     than Boris Karloff's Frankenstein, but it works.  Wild, angular
     drawing is prevalent throughout the whole cartoon, and that adds to
     the "Burton-esque" feel of the show.

      More interesting than the actual animation is the way the camera
     tries to make Batman "dark."  They show him in shadow a lot, and
     black, inky shadows and stylistic "lighting" is used to make him seem
     more like a figure of the night. Again, the style works.  The
     animation of this show is very imaginative, and just by watching the
     cartoon one can see that care was taken in its development - at least
     for this pilot episode.

     Less successful is Batman's characterization.  There's not much you
     can do with a cartoon/comic book character, but the voice actor's
     attempt to imitate Michael Keaton's attempt to do a "deep throat"
     vocalization of Batman tends to lessen his character.  He can only
     talk in two tones of voice: monotone and monotone.  Perhaps this will
     improve as the series progresses.

     The story itself is an interesting comic-book type of story: Batman
     meets Catwoman for the first time ("Batman Returns" wouldn't have
     anything to do with this being the choice for the pilot episode, would
     it?), and the two of them become mixed up in a plot by terrorists to
     steal a plague virus.  This is the type of storyline that we SHOULD be
     seeing on an "adventure" cartoon: although simplistic, it's far better
     than G.I. Joe or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The entire
     storyline can't be guessed during the first five minutes of the show.

     The dialogue has been written so that actions speak louder than words
     for once: the entire plot is not summarized every five seconds to
     "explain" the story to the little kiddies.  We see Catwoman cutting a
     window with her claws to steal a diamond necklace.  She uses her
     trained cat to get the necklace, and all she says is "Now, Isis!"
     It's a lot better than the usual cartoony dialogue we would hear on
     other TV shows: "Now, Isis, walk through the security beams and bring
     me the lovely necklace!"  Talk is cheap, especially on TV cartoons,
     and the emphasis on action over talk shows us that Warner Bros. put a
     lot of care into the creation of this show.

     It's not a bad show.  Judging from the pilot episode, "Batman" looks
     as though it's going to be an enormous hit because it doesn't talk
     down to its audience. It will probably be one of the best "dramatic
     adventure" cartoons ever made - and while that's not saying much, it's
     certainly a show I would take over "James Bond Jr." any day of the
     week.
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