Batman - The Animated Series

**Batman - The Animated Series** is American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. Developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Mitch Brian, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, it originally aired on Fox Kids from September 5, 1992, to September 15, 1995, with a total of 85 episodes. For the final 20 episodes, the series was given the on-screen title ***The Adventures of Batman & Robin***, which was also used for reruns of earlier episodes. The series became the first in the continuity of the shared DC Animated Universe, spawning further animated TV series, feature films, comic books and video games with most of the same creative talent. ***The series was praised for its thematic complexity, film noir aesthetics, darker tone, artistic presentation, and modernization of its title character's crime-fighting origins. IGN.com listed Batman: The Animated Series as the best adaptation of Batman anywhere outside of comics, the best comic book television show of all time and the second-best animated series of all time (after The Simpsons). Wizard magazine also ranked it No. 2 of the greatest animated television shows of all time (again after The Simpsons). TV Guide ranked it the seventh-greatest cartoon of all time. The widespread acclaim led the series to win four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program.***

## *Batman - The Animated Series*

### Written by

Paul Dini (seasons 1–2)Martin Pasko (season 1)Michael Reaves (seasons 1–2)Randy Rogel (seasons 1-2)

### Composer

Shirley WalkerHarvey CohenLolita RitmanisMichael McCuistionStuart BalcombRichard BronskillCarl JohnsonKristopher CarterCarlos RodriguezWayne Coster

### Based on

Batman by Bob Kane (credited) and Bill Finger (uncredited)

### Producer

Alan BurnettPaul DiniEric RadomskiBruce Timm

## Overview

The series took influence from Tim Burton's live-action films, *Batman* (1989) and *Batman Returns* (1992), and the acclaimed *Superman* theatrical cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios in the early 1940s. In designing the series, Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski emulated the Burton films' "otherworldly timelessness" (however the series is clearly set in the 20th century, but using various elements from different decades of that century), incorporating period features such as black-and-white title cards, police airships (although no such thing existed, Timm has stated that he found it to fit the show's style) and a "vintage" color scheme with film noir flourishes.

The visual style of the series was based on the artwork of Radomski, and the gothic look of Gotham City was derived from his initial designs. In addition, Radomski issued a standing order to the animation department that all backgrounds be painted using light colors on black paper (as opposed to the industry standard of dark colors on white paper). The distinctive visual combination of "noir" imagery and Art Deco design was dubbed "Dark Deco" by the producers.

The series initially took a variation of music written by Danny Elfman for the Burton films as its theme; later episodes of the series used a new theme with a similar style by Shirley Walker (Walker was occasionally Elfman's conductor for films). The score of the series was influenced by Elfman's work on the Burton films, as well as music of 1940s film noir.

The series is more adult-oriented than many of the previous superhero cartoons, while still being considered kid-friendly appropriate for younger audiences. It depicts outright physical violence against antagonists, including realistic firearms (though only one character, Commissioner Gordon, was ever depicted as having been shot, in the episode "I Am the Night"). First-time producers Timm and Radomski reportedly encountered resistance from studio executives, but the success of Burton's first film allowed the embryonic series to survive long enough to produce a pilot episode, "On Leather Wings", which, according to Timm, "got a lot of people off our backs". During the series' production, producer Alan Burnett wrote a silent episode (without dialogue) entitled "Silent Night" to explore more of Batman's sexual life, but this was never produced. Burnett also intended to make an episode featuring a female vampire that would bite Batman to suck his blood, but plans never materialized.

The series is also notable for its supporting cast—numerous known actors provided voices for a variety of recognizable villains, most notably Mark Hamill (previously famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original *Star Wars* trilogy) whose prominence as a voice actor was heightened through his "cheerfully deranged" portrayal of the Joker. The role was originally given to Tim Curry, but he developed bronchitis during the initial recording sessions. John Glover, who later voiced the Riddler, also auditioned for the Joker role. Hamill, who found himself to be the biggest fan of the Batman comics among the cast, credited the laughs he had honed on stage in *Amadeus* with landing him the role. The recording sessions, under the supervision of voice director Andrea Romano, were recorded with the actors together in one studio instead of taking separate recordings, as is typical. This method would later be employed for all subsequent series in the DC Animated Universe. Al Pacino was considered to voice Two-Face in the series, but he declined the offer. Richard Moll was instead cast in the role. Other actors included Ron Perlman as Clayface, Ed Asner as Roland Daggett

In addition, dramatic changes were made to other villains such as Clayface whose changed from a gimmicky mad scientist to a tragic figure whose "frigid exterior [hid] a doomed love and vindictive fury".

## Characters

Other original antagonists were created, such as Roland Daggett, but to little acclaim, and did not make any appearances outside the series, though Daggett was re-imagined as businessman John Daggett for *The Dark Knight Rises*.

Aside from creating characters that crossed over into the main line of DC Comics, several of the series' reinterpretations were carried over as well. Mr. Freeze was revised in the comics to emulate the series' tragic story, the success of which actually compelled DC to bring the character back after "killing" him off some years earlier. Clayface was revised to be much more similar in appearance to his animated counterpart; and Two-Face's double-sided, black-and-white suit has become a common appearance for the character.

### Bruce Wayne / Batman

At the age of eight, Bruce Wayne, the son of billionaire philanthropists, witnessed the murder of his parents, Thomas and Martha, during a mugging on the street. The event left him traumatized and mentally scarred for the rest of his life. This left Bruce to be cared for by his family's butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Over the years, Bruce slowly turned the pain and trauma he sustained into a burning fuel for a lifelong obsession, as he underwent rigorous training in mental and physical conditioning, the martial arts, criminology, sciences, manhunting, forensics, detective work, interrogation methods and intimidation, for the next years of his life. Having observed the rampant crime and corruption across Gotham City, he chose to deal with the crime-wave in Gotham in his own way, by using his years of training and swore an oath to dedicate his entire life to fighting crime, in a bid to avenge the murder of his parents and to use his pain and suffering to drive him to do good, while being guided by his self-enforced moral code to never kill and to refrain from using firearms. Inspired by the presence of bats, his childhood fear, which used to be present around his home, Bruce chose to undertake the alias of The Batman, a feared, near-mythical and bat-masked vigilante.

One of the most notable changes made in *The Animated Series* is the treatment of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. In nearly all other media, including the comics, television shows and films, Bruce deliberately plays up his image as a vacuous, self-absorbed and not-too-bright billionaire playboy. In *The Animated Series*, his character is assertive, outwardly intelligent, and actively involved in the management of Wayne Enterprises, without jeopardizing his secret identity. For example: in the episode "Eternal Youth", Bruce is shown angrily ordering one of his directors to cancel a deal with a timber company in the Amazon rainforest that had been made behind his back, threatening him with termination upon failure to comply.

Kevin Conroy used different voices to distinguish between his portrayal of Bruce Wayne and Batman, a tactic used previously by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's live-action films. Conroy based his dual-voice performance on the 1934 film adaptation of *The Scarlet Pimpernel*.

### Other characters

Friends and allies of Batman featured in the show not previously mentioned include Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Bullock, the Gray Ghost (an original character created by the series to portray Bruce Wayne's childhood hero and crimefighting inspiration, voiced by Adam West, the actor who had played Batman in the 1960s *Batman* series), Lucius Fox, and Leslie Thompkins.

## Cast

Voice director Andrea Romano, at right, directing the voice cast of the series in a table reading at the 2019 East Coast Comicon

### Protagonists

 Clive Revill
 Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

## Episodes

Main article: List of Batman: The Animated Series episodes

 1
 2

### Animation

In order to complete the first season's 65 episodes, Warner Bros. Animation outsourced the series to several different overseas animation houses: Spectrum Animation, Sunrise, Studio Junio and Tokyo Movie Shinsha in Japan, Dong Yang Animation, Koko Enterprises Ltd. and AKOM in South Korea, Jade Animation in Hong Kong, Blue Pencil in Spain and Network of Animation (NOA) in Canada. TMS also animated the first season's opening theme sequence. AKOM was eventually fired due to its inconsistent animation in many episodes such as "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Moon of the Wolf".

The 20 episodes of the second season were animated largely by Dong Yang, with the exception of three done by Studio Junio ("A Bullet for Bullock", "Avatar" and "Baby-Doll") and one done by Jade Animation ("The Terrible Trio").

On the commentary track for "Heart of Ice" on the *Batman: The Animated Series, Volume One* DVD, producer Bruce Timm stated that Spectrum was responsible for airbrushing Mr. Freeze's helmet in every frame that featured him. Such attention to detail ultimately drove the studio to bankruptcy; most of their staff members are now working for Production I.G.

### Adaptations

The show also featured numerous adaptations of various Batman comics stories. The following episodes were adaptations:

## Comic adaptation and novelization

Main article: The Batman Adventures

Main article: Batman: The Adventures Continue

*The Animated Series* was accompanied by a tie-in comic book, *The Batman Adventures*, which followed the art style and continuity of *The Animated Series* instead of other Batman comic books. *The Batman Adventures*, through several format changes to reflect the changing world of the series and its spin-offs, outlasted the series itself by nearly a decade, finally being cancelled in 2004 to make way for the tie-in comic of the then-new, unrelated Batman animated series; *The Batman*. The character of Harley Quinn's first official comic appearance occurred in issue No. 12 of the series. It has become highly sought after by collectors and fans of the character.

There was also a short-lived series of tie-in novels, adapted from episodes of the series by science fiction author Geary Gravel. To achieve novel-length, Gravel combined several related episodes into a single storyline in each novel. The novels included:

* *Shadows of the Past* ("Appointment in Crime Alley", "Robin's Reckoning" two-parter)
* *Dual to the Death* ("Two-Face" two-parter, "Shadow of the Bat" two-parter)
* *The Dragon and the Bat* ("Night of the Ninja", "Day of the Samurai")
* *Mask of the Phantasm* (*Batman: Mask of the Phantasm*)

DC announced in February 2020 that Paul Dini, Alan Burnett and artist Ty Templeton would be leading a new miniseries, *Batman: The Adventures Continue*, to be first published in April 2020, based on the animated series and following shortly after its conclusion, with Tim Drake still adjusting as the new Robin to Batman.

## Broadcasting

"The Adventures of Batman & Robin" redirects here. For the video game, see The Adventures of Batman & Robin (video game).

*Batman: The Animated Series* premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company's children's block Fox Kids on September 5, 1992, and aired in that block during weekday afternoons at 4:30 pm. In December, just three months after its debut, Fox also began airing episodes of the series on prime-time Sunday evenings (followed by the live-action sitcom *Shaky Ground*); however, the TV ratings fell short (as the show aired opposite the perennial favorite *60 Minutes*), and the series was removed from this time slot in March 1993.

After the series produced its 65th episode (the minimum number necessary for a TV series to be successfully syndicated), Fox Network executives ordered a second season of 20 more episodes that was later reduced to airing weekly on Saturday mornings. The second season featured Robin more prominently and, as a result, was retitled *The Adventures of Batman & Robin* in the title credits; this run of episodes had two new opening sequences and ending credits. In total, the series reached 85 episodes before finishing its original run on September 15, 1995.

In 1997, following the end of Fox Kids' five-year exclusive broadcast contract, the series began airing in reruns on The WB Network's children's block Kids' WB. Later that year, *The New Batman Adventures* premiered on Kids' WB, airing alongside *Superman: The Animated Series* as part of an hour-long program titled *The New Batman/Superman Adventures*.

Cartoon Network aired reruns of *Batman: The Animated Series* from March 2, 1998, to August 18, 2004. On July 3, 2000, the series was added to Cartoon Network's Toonami line-up. In 2005, reruns of the series were aired on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang.

The series later began airing on Toon Disney's Jetix line-up on September 30, 2007, again alongside *Superman: The Animated Series* (despite Warner Bros. being one of Disney's biggest competitors).

The show aired on Teletoon Retro (a Canadian broadcasting channel), debuting on January 8, 2010. The first 65 episodes were confirmed, with the first being "The Cat and Claw, Part 1". The show was scheduled to air on a weekly basis, airing at 7:00 am, 6:00 pm, and midnight. All times are Eastern.

The Hub started broadcasting the series on September 6, 2011. The channel aired a 10-episode marathon of the series on July 20, 2012, to coincide with the theatrical release of *The Dark Knight Rises* and even created an animated version of one of the film's trailers, featuring Kevin Conroy and Adrienne Barbeau re-dubbing Batman and Catwoman's dialogue from the trailer.

## Critical reception

*Batman: The Animated Series* has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest animated television shows ever made. It has been critically acclaimed for its sophistication, mature tone, complex story, voice acting, orchestrated soundtrack, artistic ambition, and faithfulness to the source material. In 1992, *Entertainment Weekly* ranked the series as one of the top television series of the year.

In his reference book, *Batman: The Complete History*, Les Daniels described *The Animated Series* as coming "as close as any artistic statement has to defining the look of Batman for the 1990s." Animation historian Charles Solomon gave the series a somewhat mixed assessment, commenting that "the dark, Art Deco-influenced backgrounds tended to eclipse the stiff animation and pedestrian storytelling" and concluding that the series "looked better in stills than it did on the screen."

IGN listed *The Animated Series* as the best adaptation of Batman anywhere outside of comics, the best comic book cartoon of all time, and the second-best animated series of all time (after *The Simpsons*). *Wizard* magazine also ranked it No. 2 of the greatest animated television shows of all time (again after *The Simpsons*). TV Guide ranked *Batman: The Animated Series* the seventh-greatest cartoon of all time (out of 60).

### Influence

Due to the success of *Batman: The Animated Series*, many crew members went on to design and produce *Superman: The Animated Series* for The WB Network. During this time they created *The New Batman Adventures*, which featured the same streamlined animation style as *Superman: The Animated Series*, as well as numerous character re-designs from the original series despite taking place in the same continuity.

In 1999, a futuristic spin-off series titled *Batman Beyond* premiered on The WB, featuring a teenager named Terry McGinnis taking on the duties of Batman under the guidance of an elderly Bruce Wayne. Then in 2001, the *Justice League* animated series premiered on Cartoon Network, featuring Batman as one of the founding members of the League. This was continued in 2004 by *Justice League Unlimited*, featuring a greatly expanded League. Many DC cartoons unrelated to the larger DC animated universe, such as *Teen Titans* and *The Batman*, also featured character designs strongly influenced by those of Bruce Timm.

The dramatic writing and stylized art of *Batman: The Animated Series* separates it from many traditional comic book-based cartoons. It can be considered the dramatic equivalent of more adult-oriented cartoon shows like *The Simpsons*. For this reason the show's popularity (along with that of its various spin-offs) endures among older audiences and comic book fans.

The Lego minifigures of various Batman characters are more strongly based on the designs from *Batman: The Animated Series* than any other form of Batman media. More precisely, the Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze and Harley Quinn's minifigures seem to have identical costumes and faces to the characters from the series.

The dark atmosphere, mature themes, and even some of the voice cast from the series are employed in the *Batman: Arkham* video game series. Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, Robert Costanzo reprising their roles, while actors like Adrienne Barbeau and Loren Lester lent their voice to other characters. Furthermore, the first two games are co-written by series veteran Paul Dini. Also, Batman's design and costume in *The Animated Series* are featured as an alternate skin in *Batman: Arkham City*. These skins are available as downloadable content; they were also available in pre-orders at GameStop and a valid membership to Power-Up Rewards. There are also *Animated*-inspired alternate skins for Catwoman, Nightwing and Robin.

## Music

 Released
 Length
 Label

*Batman: The Animated Series* featured a strong musical score written by several different composers throughout the course of the series. The main theme of the show, which was heard during the opening and ending credits of each episode, was composed by Danny Elfman. At first, Elfman turned down Bruce Timm's offer to compose the theme for the show and so Timm hired Shirley Walker to do so. However, Elfman later changed his mind and composed a variation of his 1989 *Batman* film theme for the series. Walker's unused theme went on to become the main theme for the second season of the show, when the name was changed to *The Adventures of Batman & Robin*.

In 1996, Walker won her first Daytime Emmy Award for her music direction of the episode "A Bullet for Bullock" (scored by Harvey R. Cohen). She would then go on to win another Daytime Emmy Award in the category of music-composition for *Batman Beyond* in 2001.

Although at least twenty-four different composers worked on the series, Walker, Lolita Ritmanis, and Michael McCuistion are regarded as the main contributors. After the series finished up in 1995, the three then went on to score *Superman: The Animated Series* (which also featured a theme by Walker) in 1996, *The New Batman Adventures* in 1997 and *Batman Beyond* in 1999. Television composer Kristopher Carter scored alongside Walker, Ritmanis, and McCuistion throughout the many DCAU series and later filled in for Walker after her death in 2006.

### Soundtracks

On December 16, 2008, La La Land Records announced the release of a soundtrack companion to *Batman: The Animated Series* on a two-disc CD set, which featured 11 episode scores (including those of "On Leather Wings", the "Two-Face" two-parter, "Joker's Favor" and "Perchance to Dream"). The release was limited to a pressing of 3,000 copies, which sold quickly. About one month after its release, the soundtrack set had sold over 2,500 copies. According to a spokesperson of La La Land Records, the sold out status of the soundtrack "can only help as the label hopes to convince Warner Bros. to release more *Batman: The Animated Series* soundtracks." The soundtrack received largely positive reviews.

On March 24, 2009, La La Land Records released the complete score for the animated film *Batman: Mask of the Phantasm*. It was a limited edition of 3,000 units and has since sold out.

The 2008 soundtrack was re-released in July 2012, minus "Gotham City Overture" (a suite featuring Walker's themes from the series, some of which do not appear elsewhere on the album) and "Music of the Bat 101" (a bonus track with Walker herself demonstrating the show's main music). The re-release is a limited edition of 5,000 units by La La Land Records.

On July 19, 2012, La La Land Records also released a four-disc CD set with a further 21 episode scores (including those of "Heart of Ice", the "Feat of Clay" two-parter, "Almost Got 'Im" and "The Laughing Fish"), titled *Batman: The Animated Series – Original Soundtrack from the Warner Bros. Television Series, Volume Two*. Volume 2 is a limited-edition release of 3,500 units by La La Land Records.

On October 7, 2014, La La Land Records released a four-disc set with another 24 episode scores (including those of the "Robin's Reckoning" two-parter, "Mudslide", "I Am the Night" and "The Man Who Killed Batman"), titled *Batman: The Animated Series – Original Soundtrack from the Warner Bros. Television Series, Volume Three*. Volume 3 is a limited-edition release of 3,000 units by La La Land Records.

On March 29, 2016, La La Land Records released the complete soundtrack for the animated film *Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman*. It was a limited edition of 2,000 units.

On July 26, 2016, La La Land Records released *Batman: The Animated Series – Original Soundtrack from the Warner Bros. Television Series, Volume Four*, which contains the remaining material from the first 65 episodes. The final nine episode scores from the first season are featured (including those of "Fear of Victory", "His Silicon Soul" and "Joker's Wild"), as well as never-before-released cues from scores featured on earlier volumes. Volume 4 is a limited-edition release of 3,000 units by La La Land Records.

La La Land Records is also planning to cover the later incarnations of the series (*The Adventures of Batman & Robin* and *The New Batman Adventures*) in the future, provided that sales of existing volumes are strong enough and that there is strong fan encouragement. A *Superman: The Animated Series* soundtrack has also been released as of January 2014, and a *Justice League* volume was released on July 26, 2016. *Justice League Unlimited* and a second volume of *Superman: The Animated Series* will only be released if *Justice League* and the first *Superman: The Animated Series* volume sell well.

On July 22, 2014, WaterTower Music released six digital albums on download and streaming platforms (covering La La Land's first and second volumes, including "Gotham City Overture" and "Music of the Bat 101") for the series in honor of the 75th anniversary of Batman.

Asterisked tracks contain thematic material by Shirley Walker; double-asterisked tracks contain Danny Elfman's *Batman* theme.

#### Volume 1 track listing

show

Disc One (Total Time 76:05)

show

Disc Two (Total Time 74:02)

#### Volume 2 track listing

show

Disc One (Total Time 73:54)

show

Disc Two (Total Time 78:24)

show

Disc Three (Total Time 72:12)

show

Disc Four (Total Time 66:14)

#### Volume 3 track listing

show

Disc One (Total Time 77:38)

show

Disc Two (Total Time 78:32)

show

Disc Three (Total Time 78:26)

show

Disc Four (Total Time 78:28)

## Home video

### VHS

#### DVD

**Region 1**

Warner Home Video (via DC Comics Entertainment and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) has released *Batman: The Animated Series* on DVD in Region 1 in three volume box sets. A fourth volume containing all 24 episodes of *The New Batman Adventures* was also released and these episodes now also begin with the original Season 1 opening sequence, and also end with the standard final credits. Warner Home Video later released *Batman: The Complete Animated Series*, which features all episodes from both the original series and *The New Batman Adventures*, on DVD in Region 1. The set includes all features from the four individual volumes, plus a bonus 17th disc with a new special feature and a 40-page collector's book containing artwork. The DVD was originally on sale for a limited time only and went out of print in January 2009. Warner Home Video released a second printing of the DVD in May 2009, but then withdrew it three months later.

* Commentary on "On Leather Wings" and "Heart of Ice"
* "The Dark Knight's First Night" Featurette
* "Batman: The Legacy Continues" Featurette
* Tour of the Batcave
 *Batman: The Animated Series – Volume 2* | 28
* Commentary Tracks
* Robin Rising Featurette
* Gotham's Guardians Featurette
 *Batman: The Animated Series – Volume 3* | 29
* Episodes 1–20 (*The Adventures of Batman & Robin*)
* Audio and Video Commentaries
* Extra Animated Cell 4"×6" In Some Sets
 *Batman: The Animated Series – Volume 4 from The New Batman Adventures* | 24
 *Batman: The Complete Animated Series* | 109
* All 24 episodes of *The New Batman Adventures*
* 40-page collector book

**Region 2**

Volumes 1 and 2 were released on DVD in the UK on October 10, 2005 (Volume 1), and August 21, 2006 (Volume 2). These DVD volumes were exclusive to the retail chain HMV in the United Kingdom, a complete series 25th-anniversary collection was released in the UK on October 30, 2017, containing all four volumes. Volumes 3 and 4 were previously unreleased in the UK before the 25th-anniversary box set release.

On June 14, 2008, Volume 1 was re-released in the UK as a non-HMV exclusive, though both the artwork and the extras remain the same as the original HMV exclusive release. Volume 2 was released in the same way on March 3, 2009.

* " Voices of Gotham City"
* 4 Episodes Include:
* " The Underwellers"
* " P.O.V."
* " The Forgotten"
 *Batman: Secrets of the Caped Crusader* | 4
* Voice of the Night
* Episodes Include
* "The Cat and The Claw Parts I and II"
* "Heart of Ice"
* " See No Evil"

**Region 3**

In Hong Kong, the show was packaged into four different DVD volume sets just as it was done in Region 1. Volumes 1 and 2 were both released on February 28, 2005, while Volume 3 was released July 7, 2005, and Volume 4 was released February 17, 2006.

**Region 4**

In Australia, Volume 1 was released on October 19, 2005. Volumes and the box set are available at websites like eBay.com, Amazon.com and Quicksales.com. All four volumes are available on the Australian iTunes Store, and were released individually on DVD on November 9, 2016, by Village Roadshow.

### Blu-ray

During the series's 25th anniversary panel at the New York Comic Con on October 8, 2017, it was announced that the complete series and all 24 episodes of *The New Batman Adventures* would be released on Blu-ray later in 2018 (due to the financial success of the *Batman: Mask of the Phantasm* Blu-ray release in 2017). The Blu-ray release came out in fall 2018. The numbered, limited-edition box sets also included a code for a free digital SD and HD copy of the complete series, three collectible Funko Pocket Pops of Batman, the Joker and Harley Quinn, seven exclusive lenticular cards of original animation artwork, as well as Blu-ray copies of both spin-off animated films *Mask of the Phantasm* and *SubZero*.

### Streaming

The series debuted on DC Universe in September 2018 in high definition. It moved to HBO Max on January 1, 2021.

## See also

* *List of Batman: The Animated Series episodes* aired from September 5, 1992
* *List of The New Batman Adventures episodes* aired from September 13, 1997