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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

The new Batman animated series

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18:28 / 11.02.04

So has anyone else heard about this? New Batman cartoon that sort of takes the Year One bent, mixes it with some old 60s stylings and throws in a Captain Power-esque merchandising scheme that allows the new toys to interact with the cartoon via remote technology called 'The Batwave'.

And Adam West voices the Mayor!

19:26 / 11.02.04

The cartoon looks ok - Jeff Matsuda is doing a lot of the design work on it (look at the Batman figure - definitely has a Matsuda look to it). I saw a picture of the Joker figure and it looks good, but the hair is totally wacked out - his hair looks like one of those 3-prongeed jester hats, but it's supposed to actually be his hair. I guess with super-gel or something.

I'm not quite clear on the toys and how they interact with the show. You mean while the show is showing on your screen, the toys will, like, receive messages from the cartoon and play them?

This "BatWave" stuff sounds kind of silly - BatWave sounds like the name for the BatBoat.

Gina Gershon at Catwoman is cool, though, and I've got to believe that WB animation won't fuck this up too much since Dini & Timm's cartoon was so amazing they'll be even more humiliated if this sucks ass.

12:53 / 12.02.04

I guess the toys will make a character profile show up on the screen of the toy when a certain episode is playing with that character, as Bats finds clues in the episode, the toys will show the clue and more info. about the clue, stuff like that.... the essay linked above very kindly by Dharma raises some good points - is it too manipulative to make a toy that enchances viewing of a TV show, so kids will feel like they've got to have the toy to have the full viewing experience?

And why the return of the yellow oval? I liked the no yellow oval the Justice League & prior Batman cartoons took after the first season of the Dini/Timm stuff. Does this mean the Christian Bale movie will have the yellow oval too, since the cartoon is clearly intended to tie in to the movie at least a little bit? I hope not. Away with the yellow oval, begone!!

(although if the yellow oval does come back in cartoon and movie, it might be nice timing since Julius Schwartz, who among other things suggested the yellow oval in the 60s Batman comics to make it easier to trademark and make it more distinctive, just passed away the other day)

13:28 / 12.02.04

The stills look good, just surreal enough to give them a really creepy edge befitting Gotham. Like the short-eared Bat, and his proportions (as I could discern from the toy) are appropriate, too; kind of monsterish, with large arms and comparatively spindly legs. That said, I'm really cynical. I don't trust the toy-before-the-content vibe. Most of the cartoons I've loved have been corporate gambles, not prepackaged marketing juggernauts. I'd love to be surprised, though. Better be a damn good cartoon.

(IIRC, the Captain Power setup was basically a lightgun, which you'd aim at bad guys on screen, identified by a rectangle shaped strobe they'd wear. The gun probably tallied points)

16:52 / 12.02.04

What an awful looking Batmobile. It looks like my neighbor's car.

Still, I'll watch the show. I'm a sucker.

16:59 / 12.02.04

Where did you see the Joker? And is the Catwoman design going to be based on the Halle Berry movie coming out? I don't like that costume at all but consistancy would be nice.

--

17:29 / 12.02.04

Isn't Gina Gershon doing the voice of Catwoman?

Not sure if I'll watch this... I still have fond memories of the original Batman Animated Series years ago. Got me into comics, that...

18:08 / 12.02.04

The Joker pic is on the cover of this weeks ToyFare magazine - I'll see if I can find a link to it.

Yeah, that Batmobile looks like a freakin' Toyota that someone tried to convert into a monster truck.

There haven't been any pics of the cartoon's Catwoman design as of yet.

18:58 / 12.02.04

here it is:

link

Click on the pic for a bigger shot of the cover of ToyFare magazine.

18:28 / 16.03.04

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0403/13/index.htm

Batman preview screencaps from the new show that were shown on Kids WB this past Sat. morning (March 13th). Looks pretty decent - anyone actually see this and hear the music?

01:27 / 16.04.04

Batman is the bomb! NObody beats him!!!

01:29 / 16.04.04

And i'm serious about that too!

01:29 / 16.04.04

well see you later!

15:20 / 16.06.04

There have been a few more bits and pieces about this series lately - just a pic or two, but nothing much new. However, I think we'll be seeing more about it lately. And there's a new Batman animated comic from DC in their new solicits called "THE BATMAN STRIKES!"

16:39 / 03.08.04

from www.comicscontinuum.com:

The Batman animated series will be part of Kids' WB!'s new season launch on Saturday, Sept. 11, a network representative has confirmed for The Continuum.

The show's time period and debut episode have not been announced yet, according to the network.

The Batman was part of the Warner Bros. Animation presentation at Comic-Con International last weekend.

Sam Register of Cartoon Network, which is also airing the series, acknowledged Bruce Timm's work on the 1990s Batman series, as well as its influence on the network's shows today.

"When we did this Batman, I said, 'If we can be half as good as the original...' and I think we're three quarters there. I think it's pretty good," Register said. "It's very new. It's not like the other stuff. It's different."

An episode with Man-Bat was screened, and then producers Duane Capizzi and Michael Goghen briefly answered questions.

In other The Batman news:

* The Cluemaster episode involves a former game show contestant who kidnaps the other contestants he lost to and stages his own game-show studio in his basement.

20:11 / 03.08.04

Montage new Batman pic.

13:58 / 26.08.04

from comicscontinuum:

The Batman, the new animated series from Warner Bros. Animation, will premiere on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT) with an episode featuring the Joker.
The episode, titled "The Bat in the Belfry," was written by supervising producer Duane Capizzi and directed by Seung Eun Kim.

The episode introduces Batman (voiced by Rino Romano) on the third anniversary of his donning the cape and cowl. Viewers will also meet Alfred (Alastair Duncan), and Chief Rojas (Edward James Olmos), Ellen Yin (Ming Na) and Ethan Bennett (Steve Harris) of the Gotham City Police Dept.

Also in the episode is Rupert Thorne, voiced by Victor Brandt.

There is also a humorous homage to Batman: The Animated Series producers Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett and Paul Dini. Burnett is an executive producer of The Batman.

19:34 / 26.08.04

In that montage thing, it looks like they used Cameron Stewart's Catwoman design.

21:58 / 26.08.04

The animated intro is online here (Quicktime). Looks very good (and I do like that theme music), though oddly it's not as different from the 90s version as I was expecting.

15:03 / 27.08.04

Actually, Darwyn Cooke designed that costume. Cameron took over like 12 issues after Cooke started the book. And I think they made the ears a little too big with the new cartoon version; maybe they wanted it to have big ears like Halle Berry's Catwoman headpiece.

16:41 / 27.08.04

She looks like Mickey Mouse.

XXII:X:II = XXX

04:37 / 29.08.04

Ellen Yin (Ming Na)

Hahahaha. Get it? It's a shortened Ellen Yindel, the commissioner who replaced Gordon in Dark Knight Returns. Clever.

/+,

03:05 / 30.08.04

>>>In that montage thing, it looks like they used Cameron Stewart's Catwoman design. <<<

As FinderWolf pointed out, that wasn't me but Darwyn Cooke who designed the current comic book costume - but I agree that the new cartoon design is clearly based on/inspired by it. The goggles are almost identical to the way Jim Lee drew them in Hush.

Frankly, I dislike all the designs of this new show - I thought Timm and co. did a much better job of creatic perfect iconic versions of all the characters. This new show looks too wacked out, contrived, and X-TREME!!! That Joker - oy....

But anyway, I'm not the audience for this, maybe kids will eat it up. Hope so.

15:41 / 30.08.04

I agree that the Joker is too extreme - most of these designs don't excite me, though I think the Batman design is OK. There's no question that the Timm & Co. version is supreme!

Why give the Penguin blonde hair? Cause he's younger now? Sheesh....

16:34 / 30.08.04

Isn't the Penguin's blonde hair supposed to mirror the golden tuft Emperor Penguins have? That's what I figured.

16:15 / 02.09.04

In this particular clip, Batman takes on Bane.

You can tell this series has a serious anime vibe. The old series has more of a human movement to it. This one is just oozing super Dragonball agility and Japanimation dialogue ("Then fight for your liiiiiife!!"), et al.

Not sure if I dislike it or am just clinging too much to the old series.

17:03 / 02.09.04

I dont get why they used Matsuda his designs are a bit 90's pseado-manga, unoriginal and a bit silly... actually maybe I do get why they used him.

XXII:X:II = XXX

06:36 / 16.09.04

I watched this this past Saturday. Meh. Doesn't hold a candle to the Timm-designed series. Wayne annoys me, and Alfred doesn't have the dry sense of humor he once did, instead now seeming an uptight, gruff type. And whoever it is doing the voice of Joker is just doing a warmed-over Mark Hamill impression. Snooooze.

What was wrong with the old style? Why is that suits always feel the need to fix what ain't broke? Justice League is doing boffo numbers on Cartoon Network, but no, the Timm aesthetic doesn't cut it anymore. Yeah, that makes sense.

/+,

13:55 / 16.09.04

I watched a bit as well. The voice of Batman/Bruce really annoyed me. He sounded like an eager yet petulant teenager. Very out of character in my opinion.

The green skies were nice though.

16:13 / 16.09.04

Yeah, I didn't catch this but every review/comment I've read has been either blah or very negative.

16:14 / 16.09.04

Yeah, I didn't catch this but every review/comment I've read has been either blah or very negative.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

23:16 / 17.09.04

Don't fall into the trap, Finder. Watch it at least.

No it is not the Bruce Timm cartoon which I love and everyone loves. It is an action-oriented program.

Why you don't think that Alfred has a dry sense of humor escapes me. His character was very funny as he overcompensated for Bruce's dual-life.

The Joker was an inspired and original design that bore no resemblance to any previous ideas I've seen. So I hated it at all glances but sucked it up for the show. The concept that he wears a straight jacket and hides weapons in the drooping sleeves is really simple yet brilliant. Also his movement, behavior and ramshackle thrown-together gimmicky weapons show he is some kind of insane hobo-type rather than a gangster.

The double team detectives trying to uncover the mystery of the Batman is also quite a nice touch as is the obese chief. It all felt quite believeable and have a frame of reference to the story.

Now I'm not saying I had a ball all the way through BUT this cartoon did something the old series never did. It gave us a 23 minute intro to the characters, the setting, a villain and a resolution. AND it comes after an award winning universally loved animated series insanely cancelled by WB. It's nearly impossible to watch this show without missing the old one, but that's the hill it has to climb up. I doubt they're looking to get the old show's audience, they're going much younger (so was Batman Beyond).

But that doesn't mean it won't be an interesting series (we'll see).

It has a brand new style, a good solid animation approach and clean smart character design. But no... it's not Bruce Timm. So my advice is don't expect it to be.

I should add that Bruce's voice bugged me as well.

XXII:X:II = XXX

08:57 / 19.09.04

I didn't expect it to be the Timm cartoon, Six. But whereas that was dark, moody and stylistic, this is just.....

...well, that's about the emotional impact it had for me. The action was unengaging, as were the characters. I didn't see this morning's edition, which I might catch next Friday afternoon, but at least in episode 1 it was all rather somnabulistic. It had a pretense of dramatic pacing that instead sucks whatever energy right out of it. Sorry, but for a story and character as iconic as Batman, relying just on the signposts of the story for structure is akin to autopilot: it'll get you there, but you really don't want to rely upon it for takeoffs and landings if you value your neck.

/+,

Mister Six, whom all the girls

15:13 / 19.09.04

I'm still annoyed at the new design of this board. I can no longer see the previous post as I type this one. If I could, I'd ask what the previous poster meant by relying on signposts, but again this cartoon is not for everyone. It's hardly the work of genius that the Batman Animated Series is but it's better than Teen Titans. Not a high watermark, but there you are. All action, all visuals, little sparks of characterization but tight stories (with idiotic flashes to clues as Batman unravels mysteries for the lil tyke viewers... ah well).

This week's episode was better than last week's.

The Penguin was a character that never really worked for me in the Timm series. I got the feeling he was in there simply because he needed to be. The floppy kung fu of the Penguin's was unexpected, a bit silly, but a welcome addition to the character. I mean, christ, has no one ever thought of just throwing a batarang at the umbrellas? Bats in this series did so almost immediately, so where to after that? The kabuki masked scissor-handed twins were very bizarre but visually interesting (although they make no sense I was mesmerized by them). I think that is the key to this series, it's visual. But I dug this version of the Penguin right away. He was a spoiled brat (deformed as seen in the Returns film for some reason) who used birds to steal for him. Pretty clear. His aerie (sp?) of rare birds was haunting and a very clever visual. Tying Alfred down as food for his birds was a nice touch. Yeah, I'm liking it more and more as I type about it.

I'm definitely watching next week. I wonder how long it'll take for a real flop-burger of an episode akin to 'there's a Batman in my basement'?

Then again, will it ever have a killer episode like 'Heart of Ice'? I doubt it.

XXII:X:II = XXX

08:13 / 20.09.04

Oh, "Heart of Ice" is one of my favorites of the original. It's so utterly tragic.

As for signposts, I mean, yes, all the trappings you expect of Batman are in here, but they don't hang together as a whole mythos in the manner in which you expect them to in a Batman cartoon. There's one thing to try to make the concept accessible to the kiddies; it's quite another to make it more than a little alienating to those fans that have seen it through this far.

TEEN TITANS is acceptable to many of us because they are lesser known comic icons with only a handful of truly "classic" stories or villains. Therefore, it doesn't offend me nearly so much to have them used like so much paint to make for a fun half hour cartoon. I do wish the animators would decide whether they're making anime or a Western cartoon, since I find the anime idioms more distracting than anything else.

/+,

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