Batman : An Animated Life

Batman Begins

We are in 1992. The five broadcasts its last show before dying live, the Super Nintendo arrives in Europe, Sharon Stone panics the box office in Basic Instinct while Whitney Houston becomes, with the album Bodyguard, the soundtrack of best-selling movie of all time. 1992 was also the year of the release of a cult series: Batman the Animated Series.

We are not going to insult you for representing you Batman / Bruce Wayne, dozens of stories have already told of the death of his parents before his eyes, then his reconstruction through violence, fear and justice.

Created in 1939, the character will emancipate himself from the paper medium in 1943 with a serial of 15 episodes which will see the first appearance of the Batcave and will influence the comics, in particular on the character of Alfred who will find himself physically transformed to bring him closer to William Austin, his performer in the series.

Alfred before the serial

Alfred after the serial

Two years later, he was found on the radio and as a guest of the soap opera Superman. This soap opera was the first collaboration between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight, almost 10 years before the World's Finest comics.

1966 will be a decisive year for the hero of Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Comic book sales are plummeting and the character needs to be revitalized. A live action series thus arrives on ABC and plays the card of the second degree: rigging based on false walls, onomatopoeias, catchy music. On paper Batman is dark and sad, on screen he will be bright and cheerful. Three seasons long (and a cult film), the series was a resounding success before the interest of the spectators gradually waned and thus marked the end of the series.

"Batman, célébration d'une série culte" is available here !

Batmania

Crowned with the success of his first film, Pee-Wee big adventures, Tim Burton was commissioned by Warner in 1986 to make a Batman film. After several scenarios (including a version that included Robin) and the shooting of Beetlejuice, the film is finally made in 1989.

Presented in Deauville during the 15th American film festival, the film is a colossal success with more than $ 400 million in revenue for a budget of $ 35 million.

Far from being only a blockbuster success, the film unleashes an unparalleled Batmania with an abundance of derivative products.

After grumbling in his corner saying that no, he wouldn't do Batman a sequel, Tim Burton grabs the carte blanche from Warner Bros. and realizes Batman the challenge (Batman Returns in Shakespeare's tongue). Much darker film, it stirs up criticism from various family associations and McDonalds who find themselves removing the toys, initially planned in the Happy Meal. Nonetheless, it remains a colossal success with almost 267 Million Dollars in revenue.

Warner believes the success could have been even greater and will take Project Superman out of the hands of Tim Burton, depriving Nicolas Cage of one of his best roles.

Batman : Animated Revolution

In 1990, Tiny Toons Adventures hit television screens and was the first collaboration between two animation legends: Paul Dini and Bruce Timm

Two years later, on September 5, 1992 to be precise, the Warner Bros Logo vanished into a reddish sky populated by Police airships. The camera descends in ill-famed alleys before stopping in front of a bank and two thugs for a few seconds. Suddenly, a violent explosion, the two criminals flee and a black car shaped like a rocket bursts away leaving behind a shower of flames.

The criminals run, pursued by the police and manage to throw them away by climbing on a building when suddenly he appears.

His body is bathed in semi-darkness, but his shining gaze is enough to understand that he is not there to pick currants although they are a very tasty fruit. Our two robbers may take out their weapons, he has already taken out a batarang which immediately disarms them before pouncing on them to engage in a merciless fight.

The punches follow one another, but nothing stops him and very quickly the two brigands are tied up at the foot of the building. The camera starts again from the ground to rise towards the roof of the skyscraper on which our mysterious vigilante contemplates the abyss.

A lightning flashes, the world lights up for a moment, this man is Batman, this Gotham city, this credits a note of intention.

This credits contains everything that will make the DNA of the series: a marked "dark deco" aesthetic with cut out shading and polished animations, haunting music by Shirley Walker, and a city reminiscent of Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

Composed of 85 episodes, the series will highlight many characters deemed forgettable at the time such as Clayface  or Mister Freeze.

The series will also invent several characters, one of which is today one of the most famous heroines of the DC universe: Harley Quinn! She will appear in the 22nd episode of the series, an episode which is a turning point in the way the Joker is perceived by the viewer.

Although for children, the series has a number of adult themes and, thanks to a strict list of taboos, the series manages to avoid censorship.

KEVIN CONROY

Kevin Conroy is the voice actor for Batman / Bruce Wayne in the 1992 animated series, but also in many other appearances of the Dark Knight. Today he is the man who has dubbed a superhero the longest in addition to being the first to have had the idea to compose two different voices for Batman and Bruce Wayne. He will physically play Batman for the first time in 2019 during the "Crisis of infinity earth" crossover of the Arrowverse series.

In the photo above you will find the 9 bans in the series: gunshots, drugs, broken glass, alcohol, cigarettes, nudity, endangering a child, religion and strangulation.

MARK HAMILL

You know Mark Hamill, that's for sure, but probably for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga. Did you know that he had a great career as a voice actor having been, among other things, the English voice of the Joker for years.

MCU BEFORE IT WAS COOL

Building on the success of this series, Warner decided to produce a new series this time centered on a well-known hero: Superman. The same team is at the helm and in 1996 the series arrives on small screens.

TIM DALY

Superman's voice actor, Tim Daly is a name well known to series fans since he has been seen in turn in Grey's Anatomy, his Spin Off Private Practice or even the cult series The Sopranos.

A year later, arrives The New Batman Adventures, a series of 24 episodes which takes place 2 years after the events of the 1992 series and which takes advantage of this ellipse to change some designs and above all to afford a rather crazy scriptwriting freedom.

And then on October 4, 1997 the unthinkable happens, Batman and Superman meet for 3 episodes titled Nec Plus Ultra. If all 3 episodes take place in the Superman series, we understand one thing: the two universes are linked.

THE BATMAN SUPERMAN MOVIE

The Alluring-Smelling Warner smelled the odor of dollars at the mention of Batman and Superman's crossover on CRTs. So he decided to bring the three episodes together, call it a movie and sell it on VHS.

After these three successful series, Timm, Dini and their team tackle an original project: Batman Beyond. We follow Terry McGinnis, a difficult high school student who dons the Batman costume 20 years after he hung up the costume. The mauve sky replaces the redness of the beginnings, the art deco is crushed by gigantic and luminous constructions while on the side of the soundtrack we start on more electric sounds.

LOBO & GOTHAM GIRLS

The beginning of the 2000s is the heyday of Flash Player, a plug-in that has now disappeared. Warner, eager to conquer a new audience, then offers two interactive series on the internet. On the one hand Lobo, sort of South Park in the DC universe and on the other Gotham Girls, a series on Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Batgirl. If the animation is frankly passable, the freedom of tone is total and these two series, although accusing their ages, are totally recommendable.

Two new series will then follow, always with the same team at the helm: Static Shock and The Zeta project.

The first is an adaptation of the character of Static published by Milestone Comics (a subsidiary of DC) and although in the first season nothing suggests that the series takes place in the same universe, from season 2, he crosses paths with Batman and Robin while season 3 is generous in crossover.

The second series focuses on an android previously appeared in Batman Beyond. To help launch this series, the writers make Zeta reappear in Batman Beyond before bringing Terry McGinnis into the series.

The last major stone in the Diniverse / Timmverse came in 2001 with The Justice League. With a team made up of Hawkgirl, Batman, Superman, Wonder-Woman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern, a quality of animation and special effects quite unprecedented for the time and narrative arcs spanning two or 3 episodes of 22 minutes, the series quickly established itself as an essential work of animation.

After two seasons of 26 episodes, the series changes its formula and is renamed "Justice league unlimited". Returning to single episodes but with 50 new heroes, the series undergoes a little hesitation on its beginnings before offering high quality episodes that will complete a cycle that will have lasted 14 years (1992-2006)

And elsewhere?

From 1993, the universe of the series tries to expand with a film and a video game.

The first entitled "Batman Mask of the phantasm" is released in theaters in the United States, receives very good reviews but will only be released on VHS in France. We follow Batman fighting against the masked ghost, a mysterious enemy whose hobby is to assassinate several godfathers of the Gotham underworld. Troubled by the return to Europe of his ex-fiancée, Andréa Beaumont, Bruce Wayne will have a lot to do with a film of crazy ambition and a certain quality.

At the same time, Konami decides to release a Game Boy game derived from the series. Against all expectations, the game is well received thanks to its solid gameplay and its graphics frankly successful compared to the constraints of the Nintendo console.

A year later, Konami and Sega put the cover back by releasing The Adventures of Batman & Robin on several platforms, Super Nintendo, Game Gear, Genesis or even Mega-CD.

If the Mega-CD version is separate (see box), the three versions, although totally different are eminently recommendable and have visually aged excessively well.

The Lost Episode

If the Mega-CD version of the game is objectively a very poor playful adventure, it contains 16 minutes of animated sequences roughly integrated between two game sequences. These sequences are sometimes called the “lost episode”.

In 1998, a new movie hit the screens with Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero. Well below its predecessor, the film was due out in 1997 but the test sessions were so catastrophic that the film was postponed for a year.

Batman Mystery of The Batwoman arrives in 2003 and is based on The New Batman adventure although the series has been over for several years already.

Two new video games by Ubi Soft will be released in 2001 and 2003 with the excellent Batman Vengeance and the rather forgettable Batman Rise of Sin Tzu.

En 2017, l'univers de la série animée est de retour dans un long métrage issu de la gamme "DC universe original movie", des DTV d'animation que Warner sort à raison de 3 ou 4 par an.

Splendide esthétiquement, le film vise plutôt un public adulte de par son humour

In the comics department, Urban Comics offers in France several of the period comics in their Urban Kids range. They are divided into three distinct series: Batman Adventures, Batman The New Adventures, Batman & Robin Adventures and Batman Gotham Adventures

Bat toys

Series for children requires, the mercantile machine around the series did not wait long to get started. Between 1992 and 1997, Kenner produced 75 figures and 16 vehicles.

After 5 classic waves, the figurines are available with different subtitles:

• Mask of the phantasm
• Crime Squad (with Batman & Robin in armor and armored gadgets)
• The adventure of Batman & Robin (to stick to the new name of the series )
• Duo Force ( where each character is accompanied by a giant prop )

Surprisingly enough, Kenner will launch a final wave in 2001 with Arkham Asylum Escape.

The figurines will subsequently be released by Hasbro in 2002 and Mattel in 2003

In 2014, DC released figurines through its label DC collectibles. 16cm high and with 22 points of articulation, the figurines are collector's items that delight fans.

The reason for this article is not however to declare his love for the work of Timm and Dini, but to reveal to you the next Bearbrick that we will put in preorder on 06/03/2021 from 4pm.

This is a 100% + 400% set and a 1000% of the Joker in its animated version!