The Bat in the Belfry

**"The Bat in the Belfry"** is the pilot episode of the animated series *The Batman* and the first episode overall.

## Synopsis

Chief of Police, Angel Rojas, assigns Detective Ethan Bennett with a new partner, Ellen Yin, and tasks the pair to capture The Batman, after he publicly acknowledges his existence. Soon afterwards, a break-out of inmates at Arkham Asylum leads Batman to discovering that the culprit is a crazed clown criminal calling himself The Joker, who has a gas that cause victims to be left paralyzed and with a fixed, yellow-toothed smile on their faces. Batman quickly discovers that The Joker plans to use the gas on Gotham City and attempts to stop him, with Yin and Bennett eager to do the same.

## Plot

Batman raids the penthouse of criminal gangster, Rupert Thorne. After watching his men quickly subdued by the caped crusader, Thorne attempts to escape by leaping out the window onto the ledge of a water tower across the street. Batman follows him however and easily knocks him out with his martial arts. Later that evening, Batman returns to the Batcave where he changes into his civilian identity of millionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne. His butler, Alfred, has prepared an Anniversary cake for him. It has been three years since he has taken up the mantle of the bat. Bruce dedicates his cause to the memory of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. The next day Bruce watches the news and sees Chief Rojas vowing to bring down Batman.

Meanwhile at Arkham Asylum, an orderly discovers that a new patient has voluntarily checked himself in. The patient is a ghoulish clown calling himself the Joker. He escapes from his cell however and begins attacking the staff. He uses his patented Joker gas to render them unconscious, the effect of which leaves a garish grin upon each of their faces. Afterwards, he sets upon releasing all of the other patients. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is attending a Gotham Gators basketball game with two women when he receives an emergency summons over the Batwave. He learns about the Arkham breakout and quickly leaves the stadium leaving the girls on their own. At Gotham City police headquarters, Chief Angel Rojas introduces detective Ethan Bennett to his new partner, Ellen Yin. Yin is a former Metropolis detective and has relocated to Gotham to help Ethan track down the mysterious vigilante known as the Batman. They learn about the Arkham breakout and race down there to lend a hand. Meanwhile at the basketball tournament,Bruce is seen with two ladies until the Batwave goes off. He suits up and goes to the asylum. As Batman arrives at the asylum, he finds a giant Jack in the Box in the entranceway. Gotham City police attempt to get closer, but the box explodes sending them scurrying. Batman manages to sneak inside where he finds the Joker, who poisoned an orderly with his gas. The Joker is completely insane, but still manages to question the sanity of a man who decides to dress up as a giant bat. Ethan and Yin arrive at the scene, and proceed to swim their way through. The two fight one another, but the Joker manages to escape. He leaves a jack-in-the-box behind, which Batman tries to disarm. It turns out to be a dud. The 2 detectives reach the asylum, and Ethan spots Batman, who immediately leaves. Batman takes one of the Joker's victims and brings him back to the Batcave to examine him and cure him.

The next day, Bruce is thinking of how to make an antidote, by obtaining a sample of the gas. Ethan Bennett pays a visit and tells Bruce how he thinks the Batman is helpful. Later, Batman discovers that the Joker intends on releasing his Joker gas upon the entire city, killing everyone. He tracks the Joker down to his old hideout at the Monarch Theater and the two fight each other once again with the police following them. The Joker evades capture and escapes via a giant hot air balloon. As the balloon sails off across Gotham Bay, Batman follows him in his Batboat. He manages to sabotage the balloon, sending it crashing into the water. The Joker's gas is released harmlessly (with Batman taking a sample) into the bay and Batman apprehends the villain. Batman goes to cure the orderly. The Joker is sent back to Arkham Asylum where he describes how he has bats in his belfry.

## Cast/Characters

* Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/The Batman,Chad
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Joker
* Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth
* Steve Harris as Detective Ethan Bennett
* Ming-Na as Detective Ellen Yin
* Victor Brandt as Rupert Thorne
* Miguel Sandoval as Thug #1
* Thomas Wayne (photo)
* Martha Wayne (photo)
* Gators and Tigers

## Events

- Character debuts:

* Batman
* Rupert Thorne
* Rupert's thugs
* Alfred
* Thomas Wayne
* Martha Wayne
* Chief Rojas
* Ethan Bennett
* Ellen Yin
* Joker
* Chad
* Gators and Tigers

- Ethan believes that Batman might be good for Gotham.

## Trivia

* Batman mentions his birthday is in October.
* As of this episode, Batman has been a crime fighter for 3 years.
* This is the only episode in which Edward James Olmos plays chief of police Angel Rojas. Jesse Corti proceeded him and played Rojas in every other episode in which he appeared.
* Rupert Thorne is the first villain Batman faces in the series, but his first major threat is the Joker.
* There is a laughing fish in the harbor.
* Ellen is from Metropolis, Superman's city.
* **Batman: The Animated Series** producers Alan Burnett, Bruce Timm, and Glen Murakami voiced/appeared as the escaped inmates at Arkham Asylum in this episode.
* The title was spoken by the Joker at the end of the episode.
* An episode from **TMNT 2012** has the same name.
* It is unknown who voiced Chad, though Rino Romano probably voiced him.
* Chad checking cells in Arkham reads two names "Steiner" and "McSwain", which is a nod to the producer and casting specialist, Linda M. Steiner and Ginny McSwain respectively.

## Errors

* At a few frames, Alfred's moustache is micolored.
* Ellen and Ethan jumped into a moat with lots of security features, but triggered none.
* When Ethan visited, Bruce shouldn't have been scared. It is likely that he was joking.
* When Alfred was eating popcorn, his glove and bowtie vanished.Moustache error.Alfred error.