BTAS is 20 Years Old Today

[espanolbot]

Wow I feel old. To celebrate, here is DCAU Batman beating up an entire fun fair of Joker goons to rescue Commissioner Gordon and Babs.




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Also, here's Mark Hamill talking about his take on the Joker,

Comments

[sherkahn]

God do I feel old.

And this show was where I realized I needed to give things a chance, because after the Tim Burton movie I was STRONGLY against a cartoon of Batman.. thihking it would be like the Superfriends or late 60's version... boy was I wrong, and grateful to be wrong.

this still influences me strongly today, as the DCAU, in all it' flaws, carrying the what is best in the DC universe.

Like Batman sitting down with Ace before she died.

[silverzeo]

20 years.... man... remember when FoxKids was still around before getting sold off to Disney to become Jetix...

[icon_uk]

And of course, it debuted in the UK before it debuted in the US! :)

We got the first part of "The Cat and the Claw" at 9.25 on Saturday morning, which is a good few hours before "On Leather Wings" debuted in the USA

I remember discovering at 9am that when the new Saturday morning kids show had said they were going to have Batman it wasn't reruns of the 1970's Batman they meant, and rapidly phoning around a number of friends to alert them (pre-common home access to the Internet dontcha know).... Good times... :)

[beoweasel]

DCAU Joker remains my favorite iteration of the character, and I doubt DC will ever have a means of topping it.

[filthysize]

never seen that story before. Is that supposed to be a DCAU take on The Killing Joke?

[salinea]

Damnit universe, it's already my birthday next week, no need to make me feel old even more!!

[starwolf_oakley]

While I really like this story, I've never been sure if it is a "Take That" to Killing Joke, or just a G-rated spin on "Killing Joke." And there's the question, does the Joker do things just to do them, or do them to see what will happen?

[shadowpsykie]

...20?.... It's not possible.....

[shadwing]

There's a pod-cast out there "The Fatman on Batman" by Kevin Smith one of his features was a hours long interview with Mark H which was a fun listen to, from everything on how he auditioned, how he got the role...and the recording process for the series.

[mullon]

I'm so fucking old! Fuck!

[rdfox]

I recall that I *drove* home from school for the first time the day that BTAS aired.

God, I feel old...

[auggie18]

One of my earliest memories was getting to watch this show whenever my dad worked late. My mom would make us a big bowl of Mac and cheese and let me watch it while I waited for him to get home. Geez, I must've been, like, three. Weird to thInk that it's been so long...

[an_idol_mind]

"So often the Joker has been played as sort of like a harmless clown or a total raving psychotic madman, which actually defeats the purpose of doing the character because then he becomes totally unsavory."

Damn, I wish somebody at DC realized this.

[blackruzsa]

Watched this with my big brothers, then on my own when they all went off to college and.... other countries.

I became the biggest DCAU fan in the family ); From BTAS all the way up to Static Shock.

The DCAU was the best thing DC ever gave to people.

And I remember appreciating the Joker ten times more in that Justice League double episode special, when Joker and the Royal Flush Gang tore up Vegas. He was so funny, and so frighteningly psychotic.

[needagasmask]

I was 2 years old when this show aired.

[md84]

These scans are made even better after watching Batman Beyond Return of the Joker. Bruce could never make the Joker give up because his stoicism only encouraged the madman to try harder. Terry won by beating Joker at his own game and outright heckling him. Even good comedians don't handle heckling well -- and Joker isn't a good comedian.

[indy2012]

I have a distinct memory of being terrified of this show when I was 2 or 3. I remember seeing a Killer Croc episode and running out of the room. I didn't start to watch it again until I was 7, and have been happily hooked ever since. My sister became a huge fan of Harley Quinn from reading my comics when she was in high school, and now my nieces love to watch the old episodes, especially the ones featuring Batgirl and Poison Ivy.

[red_menace]

No matter who does it in the future, I will always hear the BTAS actors when I read these characters.

[twospirit.blogspot.com]

Thanks for posting this - I wouldn't have realized how old I've gotten...I mean, that the series was celebrating a milestone! ;)

This cartoon was one of the biggest influences on me in my teenage years - the style, the voices, the storytelling. I appreciate it so much for the part its played in my life.

(Also, being "friends" with Kevin Conroy on Facebook makes me squee everytime I see a post.)

[icon_uk]

Whilst their Joker was always magnificent, it was what BTAS did with the B and C list villains that impressed me.

Mr Freeze being seen in a completely new light after "Heart of Ice". (and prior to BTAS he was so C List he'd been killed off by the Joker in the comics)

The Mad Hatter as a tragic, wistful fantasist with control issues, and Roddy McDowell so perfectly cast it surely made angels weep to hear him voice Tetch.

Even the Riddler, though used so sparingly because he would be too easy to use as a Joker substitute, made an impression in his few appearances, with the new take on him that he felt he deserved what he stole, because by getting away with his crime after giving away a clue, he clearly EARNED it by showing he was smarter than everyone else.

The Penguin, combining the mutant look of the movie (up to a point) and the wannabe "cutltured gentleman" of the Golden Age, and Paul Williams being another spot on voice.

Personally I don't think the Catwoman grey costume from the first seasons has ever been bettered, it was sleek, practical, stylish and sexy without being the full on fetishwear of Batman Returns.

[wizardru]

On a related note: I AM INCREDIBLY, INCREDIBLY OLD.



(sob).

Aaaand that's how you know childhood is far behind you...

[glprime]

Just now playing Batman Arkham Asylum, listening to the old greats of my youth voicing the characters (though not hearing Bob Hastings as Jim Gordon is weird) but with a grim and grittiness my older self can appreciate.

The scans make me think Batman is just shy of screaming, "I am BATMAN, get the fuck outta my way!"

I STILL desire Gordon to just pick up that knife and save some lives in the future. But no, have to be better than the mass murderer. Sure.