Batman On Film: The Animated Series (1992-1995) - Written By Zach Frances

Batman The Animated Series: Volume One

Forget about the movies. The best film representation of the Caped Crusader is, and will always be, The Animated Series that ran from 1992 up until 1995. This show is stellar, and it not only revolutionized Saturday morning cartoons, but it redefined Batman for a new generation.

Volume One contains some of the best Bat-Stories ever spun. The best telling of Two Face's origin can be found here in a mind blowing two part episode. Neither origins for the character told by Loeb nor Nolan, respectively, can compare to the one that is found here.

The legendary Heart Of Ice can be found here as well. This is a very important episode and marks a very significant moment in Batman's history. One of his less beloved villains became an overnight fan favorite. He went from unsympathetic to incredibly heartbreaking. This character was Mr. Freeze. The episode actually went on to not only land the show its very first Emmy award, but it also affected the comic book universe. Many writers adopted the new Freeze origin that Heart Of Ice proposed.

But Heart Of Ice wasn't the last time that the Animated Series would alter and inspire the comic book universe. In one of the best episodes from Volume One, an episode called Joker's Favor, another important event would take place. Although she had but a handful of lines, Harley Quinn made her first appearance. She would go on to not only change the comic book universe but become a long-lasting part of pop culture. An inspired creation on behalf of Paul Dini, a sensation was born.

My favorite episode contained within the first volume may seem slightly controversial to some, but Mad As A Hatter is an exceptional show. Mad As A Hatter tells the story of Jervis Tetch, the man who will become the Mad Hatter. I thought this episode was so well-done, I have watched it several times. It is a true joy to see the Mad Hatter handled with such care. The best Mad Hatter story ever told, and it will make you a believer of him. A loving portrait of a madman. The show was very good at redeeming lesser liked and lesser known villains. They had already done so with Mr. Freeze by the time they would make the Mad Hatter a legitimate psychopathic threat. They would do it again with Scarface and the Ventriloquist, but I'm getting ahead of myself now.

If you're thinking about buying the first volume, do so immediately. It just might change your life.

Batman The Animated Series: Volume Two

God! Where do I even start?! The second volume is a triumph! Its superhero storytelling at its best, and absolutely essential for all Batfans young and old!

Heck, the episode called 'The Laughing Fish' is worth the money alone! Hands down the best episode of the Batman Animated Series, and honestly, one of my favorite Batman stories ever told in any medium. Whenever I get the chance to turn someone new on to this wonderful series, 'The Laughing Fish' is always the episode I pick out, and I have never had anyone tell me they were disappointed in the program I had selected. 'The Laughing Fish' is a phenomenal, stylish, disturbing, and cartoonish tour de force of superhero entertainment.

But that's not all, folks! Almost every single episode is fantastic! Sure, its got its clunkers, 'Moon Of The Wolf' and 'Cat Scratch Fever' for example are God awful, but it also includes some of the best work to ever come out of the animated series.

Along with the incredible Laughing Episode episode, volume two also boasts the Emmy Award winning two-parter 'Robin's Reckoning'. A very earnest and touching episode where the Boy Wonder's origin is completely explored, and I remember it being one of my favorites as a child. It hasn't lost its touch, the episode struck a chord with me. The darn thing works!

There is another fantastic two-parter included here and it is called 'Heart Of Steel', and it is a fan favorite. A wonderful Sci-Fi Batman story that remains one of the most exciting episodes of the Animated Series.

A few other stand-outs in volume two are the Riddler Episodes, and a Penguin episode titled 'Birds Of A Weather'. Paul Williams of Phantom Of The Paradise fame returns to give voice to the most sympathetic rendition of the beloved super villain. Penguin's best episode in the series and, most likely, the best Penguin tale there is in any medium.

As a kid I really enjoyed the two episodes featuring a villain called Kyodai Ken, a master Ninja Assassin from Bruce Wayne's past. The better of the two, an episode called 'Day Of The Samurai' is still one of my favorite episodes in the show's run. I loved the character of Kyodai Ken, and although I wish Bruce Timm and Co. did more with the character, I respect the fact that he never became old, tiresome, or non-threatening. Great character.

'Almost Got 'Im' is a Paul Dini classic, and another fan favorite. I was also quite partial to 'Perchance To Dream', it was a very bizarre and well done episode, almost like Batman does the Twilight Zone. I loved it. I think I might watch it again tonight actually, as it is a very absorbing story, and I enjoy the way they tell it.

The second volume is, in my opinion, the very best of the Animated Series. Volume One was pretty good too, and Volume Three (with the exception of a few episodes) was a rather week set. Volume Two is Batman The Animated Series at the top of its game, at full stride, and it just never lets up. The special features are short but sweet, and the commentary tracks are both informative and funny as usual. Buy the discs for the shows. I'm so happy I did, they helped to renew a love for Batman I hadn't felt so intensely since I was a kid. And as you grow up, anything that makes you feel twenty years younger is a good thing. And this, this is a good thing.

Batman The Animated Series Volume Three

Truth be told, this is where things start to go sour. There are quite a few undesirables here. But let's focus on the good stuff. And Ra's Al Ghul is always good stuff. There are are a handful of episodes that feature this legendary villain, and the rendering the Animated Series gave the Demon's Head remains the most faithful to the source material. The two-part episode called The Demon's Quest is lifted straight from Denny O'Niel's original writing. A glorious representation of one of Batman's deadliest foes.

Volume Three showcases another new villain to the Animated Series. The villain's name is Bane and the episode is named after him. I have to be somewhat harsh on this particular episode, only because Bane is my absolute favorite Batman Villain. I have always loved him, and while the Animated Series does some good things with his character, they also make an abundance of bad decisions that would later be continued by the notorious disaster that calls itself 1997's Batman & Robin. Yes, the Animated Series is partly to blame for how Bane was presented in Joel Shitmaker's franchise killing toy commercial. As a matter of fact, Joel Shitmaker lifted several ideas from the Animated Series, and used them to systematically bring the Batman down to the level of the Smurfs.

Where was I?

Oh, yeah. Volume Three has a phenomenal Poison Ivy episode. It is called House And Garden and its freakier than the freakiest twist on The Twilight Zone. Seriously, this shit is disturbed! God, I love it! I don't want to spoil anything for any of you who haven't seen this particular episode, but be warned: this one will make your skin crawl and you brain bleed. It really is that peculiar! Its another great episode written by Paul Dini. Poison Ivy at her very best!

Read My Lips is a FANTASTIC one! Scarface and The Ventriloquist seek retribution, and they receive bloody satisfaction. Honestly, a better Scarface story doesn't exist! What this show managed to do with second and third tier villains is extraordinary. They breathed new life into these damaged goods and brought them to the foreground with a vengeance. Seriously, who the hell even knew who the Clock King was before the Animated Series came around? Anyone? Didn't think so. Temple Fugate is now a name I will never forget.

All in all the Animated Series was the best thing to ever happen to a superhero. Glad it was Batman. Superman was given his own animated series as well soon after, and it was handled by the same creative forces behind Batman TAS. Superman The Animated Series is another wonderful television show I plan to explore with you in the near future. Actually, thus far, Superman TAS is the one good film representation of the character.

In closing, THANK GOD FOR BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES! My childhood would have been a nightmare without it!

Streeter Walker's Five Favorite Superhero Movies!

Number 5: BATMAN (1989)

This movie might be amazing to me because it is the first superhero movie that i remember watching, or maybe it's amazing to me because it is fucking awesome. What makes it awesome? Many things, first off Michael Keaton (the Multiplicity guy? fuck yes the Multiplicity guy, and how about Dream Team, and mother fucking Beetlejuice!!!!!!!!!!!) Keaton is an amazing BATMAN....ok a balding, almost 40, Bruce Wayne may not compare to Christian Bale or Val Kilmer, BUT I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT BRUCE WAYNE!!!! I'M TALKING ABOUT THE BAT!!! Now aside from an amazing performance by Michael Keaton, or Mikeaton as i call him in social settings. Let's take a look at The Joker himself, Jack "the sack" Nicholson!!! Some say "Heath Ledger stole the show when he did Joker" well, he did a good job, but the BATMAN Joker and the Dark Knight Joker, are two completely different characters and no one could have done that cartoony, crazy, silly, maniacle, twisted, crazy fuck like Nicholson. This is my favorite Tim Burton movie, before he got addicted to clay-mation and Johnny Depp's penis. Also Kim Basinger was the tits as Vicki Vale. And who can't forget Billy D as Harvey Dent?


Number 4: The Phantom (1996) The Phantom is a great movie because it is full of that campy awesomeness that has all but disapeared from movies based on comics. Billy Zane is a great Phantom and an amazing Kit Walker. Now we got an awesome Protagonist and a great story line, what more do we need to have an awesome superhero movie? A sexy love interest and a great villain that you love to hate. Love interest......KRISTY FUCKING SWANSON, Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself BOOOOM!!! ENOUGH SAID!!! Now we need a bad guy, Holy shit let's have the sly as fuck Treat Williams be Xander Drax and have him steal up the skulls of Touganda and encompass him with a big group of badasses for Billy Zane to fight. And let's not forget Catherine Zeta Jones as Sala the sexy bad girl who works for Drax....Also Ajax from Warriors, James Remar is in it playing a bad guy named Quill, One scene he pushes one of his goons out of a moving vehicle just to get a better shot at the unkillable Phantom!!!

Number 3: Superman II (1980) Christopher Reeve is an amazing Superman,the best, BUT I DON'T LIKE SUPERMAN, HE'S A BITCH!!! AND CLARK KENT IS A BITCH TOO!!! AND I'M PRETTY SURE THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON. OH WAIT, NVM, CLARK KENT WEARS GLASSES. But the story line of this movie is great and the Villains are Superb, putting this at the middle of my list. Superman chooses his love of Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) over his ability to help the human race from the likes of Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). So he gives up his powers, BUT OH FUCK, HE ACCIDENTALLY RELEASES 3 SCARY KRYPTONIAN MOTHER FUCKERS FROM THE PHANTOM ZONE, WITH THAT NUCLEAR BOMB HE THREW INTO SPACE IN THE FIRST ONE, WHO COME TO EFF SOME ESS UP ON EARTH!!!!! Lex Luthor finds out about this and joins forces with them. Now shit will hit the damn fan. Gene Hackman is evil as shit in this movie. And the Kryptonians, Lead by General Zod (Terrance Stamp, who i always confuse with Malcolm McDowell) are the perfect team of Villains, The fearless leader who will stop at nothing to rule, the tough brut Non, and the sexy femme fatale Ursa. SO THIS MOVIE IS GREAT BECAUSE OF THE VILLAINS. i honestly could do without Superman, and that one scene where he rips the S off his chest and throws it at Non. i don't even know what the fuck that was about:

Number 2: The Toxic Avenger (1984) Troma broke the mold with this bubbley green skinned, mop carrying, eye popping, tutu wearing, death machine. Great story, a lame nerd gets teased by assholes until he runs away, only to fall out of a window into a vat of toxic waste. Then Melvin the Mop Boy tuns into a hideously disfigured superhero.....FUCK YES I'M WATCHING THIS. Now some people may look down on my mother for allowing me to watch this time and time again from the time i was like 5, BUT FUCK YOU!!!! MILDRED WALKER IS A FUCKING ANGEL AND AN AMAZING MOTHER!!!!!!. This movie is a great super hero movie for several reasons: 1, Toxie is relentless, none of that tying people up shit, if you are evil you will get your guts ripped out, or your head smashed by weights, it doesn't matter how you get killed but you will end up with a mop in your fucking face. 2, The villains are horrible, selling drugs, stealing, bullying kids until they jump out of windows into vats of toxic waste, beating old women to death, killing dogs, assraping blind chicks, and even driving around smashing kids heads with the back tire of your car. and 3, TITTAYS!!!!! THIS MOVIE IS FULL OF BOOBS, EIGHTIES BOOBS WITH TAN LINES!!!!!!.

Number 1: Xmen Origins: Wolverine (2009) Now people who read this and know me, will know that the main reason Wolverine is number 1 is because i fucking love Wolverine. They may say "oh that Street Walker, he thinks Wolverine is the best superhero of all time, he thinks Xmen are amazing, he loves Wolverine" WELL GUESS WHAT MOTHERFUCKERS, THEY WOULD BE CORRECT" Let me start by pointing out this movie's main flaw: Victor Creed (Sabretooth) is NOT NOT NOT Wolverine's Brother. With that being said Liev Schrieber is outstanding as Sabretooth. The perfect amount of crazy, hatred, jealousy, and badassary. Now Hugh Jackman is the perfect Wolverine, sure he is kind of skinny for Wolverine but good god he's awesome. Ryan Reynolds was good as Deadpool, before they were retards and took his mouth away. Lynn Collins was a horrible Silverfox, but maybe that's because they got the character completely wrong. But with the things they fucked up, they did one more thing that was awesome and that i've been waiting for since the first Xmen movie, they put Gambit on screen. And the guy who played him, Taylor Kitsch, Did a pretty good job. Sure he should have taken some voice lessons first but aside from that his attitude was perfect.

Thanks For Reading,
Streeter Walker

Batman On Film: The Burton Years (1989-1992) - Written By Zach Frances

BATMAN (1989)

This film is awesome. As a life-long fan of the Caped Crusader, I have to say that if you want the real Batman, look no further. You found him. While my favorite Bat-Flick is The Dark Knight Rises, I will explore that later. Right now, let's take a look at 1989.

There is a certain kind of magic to Batman that no other film adaptation has been able to successfully match. The main difference between Chris Nolan's more recent Dark Knight trilogy, and Burton's 1989 version, is the visual style. The main difference is a place they call Gotham City.

Tim Burton is known for many things, but above all else, it is his bizarre visual eye, a gift that works wonders in Batman. This film looks incredible! Burton creates a Gotham City that the viewer can get lost in. As opposed to Chris Nolan's outings, Tim Burton gives us a Gothic Fantasy of the highest order. Every visual element in this film is perfect; Gotham, the Batmobile, Joker, Batman himself, green ooze-- all of it. Nolan had a way of probing deep into the psyche of his characters, he seems to be a very psychological filmmaker, and he came to with fantastic results. Nolan was obviously interested in different aspects of the Dark Knight than what Tim Burton was drawn to. That makes for two very good and very different films. But the 1989 version reigns best of them all. Tim Burton gave us a work of Pop Art, a visual feast. A masterwork of the highest caliber. Tim Burton gave us a classic. Although his characters were not as moving as Nolan's would be, and the plot was not as complex as later adaptations would prove the Caped Crusader capable of, the film was pitch-perfect, ages incredibly well, and knows what it is. A comic book movie. And what does Tim Burton do with his comic book movie? He elevates the medium of film. Yes. I believe Batman changed the face of film, altered the practice of filmmaking, and raised the bar indefinitely. I have no doubt whatsoever that Batman is one of the finest Blockbusters ever assembled, and one of the best films of 80s American Cinema.

This movie means a lot to me, and a lot to my childhood. The older I get, the more important this film becomes. Something else happens too. It becomes enormous. Powerful. An event every time I sit down to watch it. Classic Good vs. Evil, rich design, completely unforgettable. I appreciate Nolan's films, I like all of them quite a lot, but when Tim Burton made Batman he had something to prove. This is the only film I can use as concrete evidence to provide support to my claim that Tim Burton is in fact a genius. Sadly, the amount of good films he has made are dwarfed in size by the fleet of stinkers he has produced. But Batman is undeniably the work of a very talented filmmaker.

I wish that Criterion could somehow get their paws on this one. I know its impossible, but one can't help but dream. The film is such a powerful experience, a tour de force from beginning to end; Burton's Magnum Opus. Batman is so very important to a film fanatic like me. This should be taught in film schools around the country. A highly analytical dose of entertainment, the way Burton visually tells the tale is to be admired and studied for its precise tenacity and bold audacity. Tim Burton's Batman is a one of a kind experience that deserves to go down in film history as a pillar of 80s cinema.

BATMAN RETURNS (1992)

Tim Burton's first Batman picture was astonishing. I think of it as a glimmering masterwork of the 80s. He had a lot to live up to. Something's gotta give.

Batman Returns is not a worthy sequel to Batman, but it is still a decent flick.

Pros:

Danny DeVito as the Penguin - Perfect casting choice. Its not the Penguin I know from the books, but its the only Penguin I like. He is dark, menacing, sinister, and completely 'Burton'.

Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman - Once again, wonderful casting choice. Sexy, dangerous, crazy, and seductive. Alas, completely 'Burton'.

Christopher Walken as Max Shreck - One of my favorite ingredients in Batman Returns has to be this character. A great and welcome addition to Batman lore, and I wish other die hard Batman fans could warm up to him some more. Also... completely 'Burton'.

Nostalgia - I watched this film a lot as a child. I can't help feeling like a kid whenever I put this on. And its a good enough film to put on once every couple of months.

Cons:

This Is A Tim Burton Movie, Not A Batman Movie - This was supposed to be a Batman movie. The 1989 version understood this. Don't get me wrong, a lot of what you see in Batman is 'Burton' to the core. But in 1989 he seemed much more inspired and much more interested in the source material. Batman Returns is not really a Batman film. The characters you see here are similar to their comic book origins in name only, everything else about them had been changed, EVERYTHING. Its almost sickening to see them take an intelligent character like Catwoman and zap some supernatural 'Burton' nonsense into her. I like what they decided to do with the Penguin. The Penguin is rather lackluster in the books, but here he is truly villainous. The Production Design, although very creative, was lousy. Gotham City from the 1989 version is a classic movie world, whereas Gotham in Returns doesn't actually look like anyone really lives there. This time Gotham looks like a set. It looks like the 'Burton' standard we're still seeing today.

Batman May Return, But That Doesn't Mean Anyone Else Will - Tim Burton's first Batman film was populated by interesting and engaging background players. Robert Wuhl as Knox for example, I thought Knox was absolutely great! Nope. No Knox in Batman Returns, even though they re-wrote the script so he could survive the first film, which seems pretty damn stupid if you're not planning on having him return for the sequel. Billy Dee Williams is another example of a solid background character from the first film that was written out of the second. This doesn't just go for background characters, mind you, Vicki Vale sat this one out as well. Where the first film had a background full of personality and liveliness, its sequel has dead background characters, lifeless scenery, and a well-earned bad rep.

Really, Its Not A Batman Movie - I love Batman. I also love Michael Keaton as Batman. And in a film called Batman Returns, you'd think we'd probably see him a lot, right? Wrong. Batman was demoted to a supporting character in his own feature! He is completely underused here, and seems terribly unimportant.

Penguins - Exploding Penguin Assassins... need I say more?

But still, all the negative things I can say about the movie aside, its still pretty awesome, and I do like it. It is essential viewing to anyone who enjoys the now-burgeoning Superhero genre, and to the few but devoted 90s film fans. But I really have to recommend it to fans of Tim Burton the most. If you like Tim Burton, you'll like this movie. If you like Batman, you might be disappointed. But don't be too harsh on this film. It works on an entertaining level through and through, ages considerably well, and gives us a darker version of the Caped Crusader. Its also NOT Batman Forever.