Batman: The Animated Series – Batman Month on CartoonClack

The Other Criminals
All of the big Bat villains are here and written wonderfully, even darker ones like Hugo Strange and Ra’s Al Ghul. The Penguin has a sense of dignity and class, the Riddler is quietly superior and Bane isn’t a brainless luchador. We got to see a few episodes with Harvey Dent before he became Two-Face, so when it did happen we felt even worse for Bruce losing his friend because we understand that Harvey was a great friend and a great man. Catwoman (played by the sultry Adrienne Barbeau) is the classic cat burglar with her own set of ethics that sometimes crosses Batman’s. Poison Ivy is another villaness with her own set of strict ethics, but those mostly involve lots of death. While Ivy is probably known best in the series for seducing a number of men (including a pre-accident Harvey Dent), I loved her most once she started teaming up with Harley. In those episodes the disastrous duo were still sexy, but were also shown outside of the male gaze. One of the best things you can say about this cartoon is that the sexy female villains were sexy but not necessarily objectified. I always thought the ladies of B:TAS were sexy because they were cool, not cool because they were sexy.

Alfred
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was also my favorite Alfred. The quippy dialogue the writers gave him certainly helped, but Zimbalist added that subtle snarky drawl that I love. When he first sees Barbara in the Batcave, his response is, “Well, you know our little secret … I’m Batman.” I rewatched that episode in anticipation of this post and had to pause the DVD for a minute while I laughed like crazy.

Commissioner Gordon
Bob Hastings‘ performance as Jim Gordon is simply stellar. He has that clear, confident voice that only comes with years on the job. He brought a warmth to the character that was vital to his role as Batman’s ally in the police department. And if you want to see range, I suggest your check out the fourth season episode “Over the Edge.” To describe the plot is to ruin it, but it’s really Bob Hastings at his very best and most intense in the role.

Robin(s)
This might be a controversial statement, but this was the best representation of Robin in TV up until that point (Teen Titans and Young Justice have taken Rob to another level in the years since B:TAS ended). Dick Greyson wasn’t in every episode, but he made for a strong companion to Bruce and a lot of that had to do with Loren Lester‘s voice work. The writers did make him angsty once the 4th season hit, which had him growing his hair out and becoming Nightwing while the Robin position opened up for Tim Drake. It took me a while to get used to Tim (I wasn’t following the comics, so I first had a “Who the heck is this kid?” moment), but looking back it was a good choice to bring in a less jaded Boy Wonder.

Batgirl
Thanks to budget cuts and a move to another animation studio, there was a distinct animation change in the 4th season (when the show was renamed The New Batman Adventures). Even though the actual writing and voices were as great as ever — there are some absolutely fantastic episodes toward the end of the series — I’d be lying if I said the art changes were improvements. However, that was forgivable thanks to one addition to the show during that same time — Batgirl. We had seen Barbara Gordon in a few episodes during the early seasons, but she was never a main member of the Batfam until the animation change. Here, she is absolutely awesome. She’s smart, as capable as Robin, a detective in her own right and more than willing to call Batman out on his crap when needed. There’s an episode where Barbara and Bruce are both at a concert (Bruce is only there for his newest girlfriend) and when an accident happens on stage and Bruce can’t get to his costume on time, Barbara dons hers and saves the performer. In some versions of these characters, Batman might chastise her for going in without him. Instead, he just look very proud of his protege for kicking major butt. Oh, and Barbara isn’t afraid to sass him. Their relationship in the last season of the show is just fantastic and Tara Strong as Babs is why she’s my favorite comic heroine. B:TAS is also the start of my shipping of Babs and Dick and this was before I even knew it was called shipping (yes, the magical time before Tumblr). Easily the most frustrating thing about this show is how little romance (and even interaction) we get to see from these two characters, but that didn’t stop them from having great chemistry.

Some of this has been covered just by going through the earlier topics, but I can’t stress enough how the writing for this show was ahead of its time for children’s programming, superhero stories outside of comic books and just animation in general. Remember the episode where Bruce loses his memory and is taken to an illegal forced labor camp? Remember when Doctor Hugo Strange learns his secret and auctions off the Bat’s identity to the highest bidder? Remember when Bruce wakes up and discovers his parents are alive and he’s not Batman? Remember when Batman teams up with his childhood hero, voiced to perfection by Adam West? Oh, and remember the poker game among the villains? Each of those episodes have very different tones, but they all fit together thanks to the carefully crafted characters. Batman: The Animated Series set a new bar for what children’s animation could and should be from both visual and storytelling aspects. I mentioned it before but it’s worth saying again — Batman: The Animated Series never talked down to its audience, which is why the show is still highly watchable over two decades after it premiered. If for some reason you haven’t seen the show, what else do I have to say to convince you? Go watch it.

Aside from being widely responsible for my life-long love of Batman and the Bat Family, the team of Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski, Paul Dini and the entire writing staff of B:TAS also started the first in the DC animation continuity. Tune in next week to discover another addition to that continuity.

Clacked by Katie Schenkel
on Jun 26, 2012 @ 13:31 EST5EDT