BTAS 30th Anniversary Thread

[The Laughing Fish]

Thirty years later. Time flies.

The first episode I ever watched was Mad as a Hatter, back in 1993. Great introduction to the show, from the Gothic and 40s-esque scenary and atmosphere, from Batman's detective work to watching the Mad Hatter being one of many tragic, sympathetic characters who would become prominent identities among Batman's rogues' gallery. The first time I heard of the music and Elfman's theme inspiring it cemented it in my mind even further.

Everyone talks about the art style of the show, but what I loved about Mad Hatter's character design is how his toothy grin seemed very similar to the Cheshire Cat, another Alice in Wonderland character. Whether or not that was intentional, it's yet another comical little detail that made the show stand out from all the other cartoons, even to this very day.

The TV channel that I used to watch it on aired episodes out of sequence, so the following week I saw Christmas with the Joker, the Two-Face episodes and I've Got Batman in My Basement. It didn't matter to me, I was hooked on this show for every Saturday morning. Lots of laughs and lots of scares, from Joker's shenanigans to Two-Face and Scarecrow's terrifying moments. Not many cartoons like this had this appeal to all ages.

When TNBA debuted in 1997, I must admit to not giving it much of a chance. I was too stubborn in my mind to ever see another Robin that's not Dick Grayson, or Dick moving on to become Nightwing. Perhaps the very best of BTAS and its atmosphere worked too well for me, to the point it took me years to give TNBA a proper chance. Ultimately, TNBA has its own strong moments, but the first couple of seasons BTAS still holds very dear to me.

That's enough of me babbling on. Which was the very first episode you remembered watching thirty or so years ago?

[thecolorsblend]

I keep hearing stories about how BTAS was a "slow burn" for most people, it crept up on them and they were gradually drawn into the series. That's... just not my experience at all.

Rather, I was an early adopter of the show and was a fan from the jump. My first episode was the first one broadcast on Fox on Saturday morning: The Cat and the Claw: Part 1. September 05, 1992, according to Wikipedia.

I enjoyed it. But then as now, I didn't believe it was the best episode of the series. Not even close. On Leather Wings came on Sunday, September 06 in primetime and THAT was totally my jam. I loved Man-Bat even tho I didn't know much about him. Always thought he was a great villain.

When the afternoon broadcasts began on September 07, it was with Heart Of Ice and I loved that one from the start too because of Freeze's new, more sympathetic backstory. Between OLW and HOI, it became clear that The Cat and the Claw: Part 1 was probably chosen to lead off the series because of Catwoman (hot off Batman Returns from the summer) and because it's a two-parter rather than genuine merit.

Interestingly, HBO Max has BTAS in mostly original broadcast order. That main exception, of course, is The Cat and the Claw, both parts of which are adjacent to each other. Otherwise, that's the broadcast order. And at the time, it was powerful to see Harvey Dent's glory days followed by the Two-Face two-parter.

The more times goes by, the more legit BTAS looks all the time.

[Travesty]

Yeah, my first was the Cat and the Claw. I also remember seeing the promo for it before it released. It was pretty similar to the opening that we all know, but it was a tiny bit different.

[The Dark Knight]

The first memory I have of BTAS is the opening title sequence. That left a big imprint on my brain and quite honestly even if I didn't watch one episode that brief introduction would've been enough to cement Batman as my favorite hero. It has just about everything that makes the character great distilled into a short period of time - the cave, the Batmobile, the way he intimidates people, his fighting ability, theatricality and mystery. And it wouldn't have the same effect if it wasn't for the music. One of the best openings to any cartoon of all time.

[The Laughing Fish]

Check out these killer electric guitar covers of the intro music and The Last Laugh theme.

[The Laughing Fish]

A look back at how Arleen Sorkin's character from Days of our Lives gave Paul Dini the inspiration for Harley Quinn.

In 1987, Sorkin was a regular on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, playing the show's comic relief: the ditzy, leggy, Noo Yawk–accented Calliope Jones. But unlike her flighty character, Sorkin was a skilled and experienced comedy writer. "I could never just come in and run my lines," she told Vulture. "I was forever suggesting stuff, probably out of boredom!" So when she went to a screening of the faux-medieval The Princess Bride, an idea struck her: Why not do a fairy-tale dream sequence on Days? The producers were into it and aired an episode in which Calliope acts as a court jester, roller-skating into a throne room and doing some hackneyed borscht belt gags for a royal family.


(Writer Paul) Dini and Sorkin were college friends, and one day, she gave him a VHS tape of her favorite Days moments — including her jester bit. The tape sat idle for years. But in mid 1991, Dini was sick as a dog and popped the tape into his VCR. He was a budding television writer at the time, cranking out freelance scripts for the as-yet-unaired Batman: The Animated Series. He'd been struggling to come up with a female character to use as a one-off in an episode about Batman's archnemesis, the Joker.

"I thought, Maybe there should be a girl there," he said. "And I thought, Should the girl be like a tough street thug? Or like a hench-person or something? And then suddenly the idea of someone funny kind of struck me." When he saw Sorkin in clown makeup, the pieces fell into place, and he came up with a silly little sidekick. He gave her the comic-book-y name of Harley Quinn, sketched out an idea for her look, and brought the sketch to the cartoon's lead artist, Bruce Timm.

https://boingboing.net/2019/09/17/watch-the-soap-opera-inspirati.html


I never knew that Paul Dini and Arleen Sorkin were friends at college. That explains her going out of her way to give Dini emotional support while he was recovering from a violent robbery, according to his autobiographical comic book Dark Night: A True Batman Story.

[The Laughing Fish]

Here is a rare picture of some of the cast members I found online.

[The Laughing Fish]

[Travesty]

So the book, Batman: The Animated Series: The Phantom City Creative Collection, is on sale at Amazon for $35. Normally it's $60, so I picked it up today. It's hardcover. Check it out, it looks really good.

https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Animated-Phantom-Creative-Collection/dp/1683839641/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1VH3VEGNQ5TQU&keywords=batman+the+animated+series&qid=1697765188&sprefix=batman+the+%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-9

[The Laughing Fish]

I love this fan art. It reminds me of the Almost Got 'Im episode.