DVD Review: Batman The Complete Animated Series
Batman: TAS Produced By Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski
Nov 16, 2008
Originally airing from 1992 to 1995, Batman: The Animated Series represents an important link between the highly-stylized "Goth Deco" of Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns, and Christopher Nolan's recent, more realistic reboot. Batman: TAS' creators, Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, mixed 1940's Art Deco with Burton-esque imagery to build a world that had never before been seen on Saturday morning cartoon television: one that was dark and foreboding, but with relatable characters and human drama.
Now, just in time for the holidays, Warner Home Video has pulled the entire 4-season run into a lavish, 17-disc box set.
Is Batman: The Animated Series Any Good?
The show won 2 Emmy Awards: one for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program ("Heart of Ice") and another for Most Outstanding Half Hour or Less Program ("Robin's Reckoning Pt. 1"), upsetting the heavily-favoured The Simpsons. The series established Kevin Conroy as the voice of animated Batman while Mark Hamill's demented turn as The Joker gave the former Star Wars star a new career as a voice actor.
The show not only revamped many classic characters in the Batman universe (Mr. Freeze and Clayface to name but two), but established a new villain: Harley Quinn, the helium-voiced sidekick/paramour of The Joker, who eventually made her way into the DC Comics canon.
A further hint of how influential Batman: TAS was: director Joel Schumacher took the means by which Batman defeated Harvey Dent in the episode "Two-Face Part Two," and placed it wholesale in his 1995 film Batman Forever. Schumacher also lifted Timm and Radomski's reimagining of Mr. Freeze for one of the storylines in 1997's Batman and Robin, although the constant wisecracks by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger sucked all the drama out of the plot.
DVD Extras
As befitting one of the more influential cartoon series of recent memory, Warner Home Video has really cranked out the extras.
Timm and Radomski give excellent audio commentaries on selected episodes, pointing out each episode's hits and shortcomings with charming candour. They also give plenty of behind-the-scenes trivia that will delight fans, especially when it comes to their heartfelt appreciation of Spectrum Animation Studio, who animated episodes like "Heart of Ice," "Robin's Reckoning," and "On Leathery Wings."
Each disc also contains multiple featurettes, interviews of the voice cast and crew, run-downs on Batman's gear, allies and villains. The bonus disc features the new documentary, Shades of the Bat: Batman's Animated Evolution, which signposts Batman: TAS as the point where the campy Batman from the 1969 series morphed into the Dark Knight from the 1980's comic books.
Gotham Knight: An Anime Revolution hypes the six-part Batman: Gotham Knight, which was released earlier this year.
The Final Analysis
Want to give your favourite comic-book fan a total geekgasm? Snap up a copy of Batman: The Complete Animated Series. 9/10.
Fun Fact: Mark Hamill was initially cast as the evil magnate Ferris Boyle in "Heart of Ice" as a one-off. Hamill told the show's creators that he'd be interested in future roles, and Timm and Radomski got him to audition for The Joker when they were unable to find anyone else to do the role.
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