Line #20 Trivia/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker


1	* ActingForTwo: Creator/MarkHamill voices both the Joker and Jordan Pryce. [[SignificantDoubleCasting This is a deliberate example]]; Pryce is used as a RedHerring for the returned Joker's true identity and them sharing a voice actor makes the deception all the more convincing.
2	* AuthorsSavingThrow: The DCAU crew were aware of the negative reception towards the Joker’s design in ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'', so this film features yet another re-design for him that’s presented in the flashback sequence. It combines elements of both his ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' (general appearance and details) and ''TNBA'' (the color scheme and triangular jawline) designs and adds a darker color scheme to his mouth and sharper teeth. This design was re-used for his chronologically earlier appearances in ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague.''
3	* CreatorBacklash: According to the DVD Commentary, Mark Hamill had minor creative conflicts with Timm and company during the recording sessions. Hamill came in immediately going right into his by-now customary manic Joker mode, only to be asked to pull back and restrain his performance. They wanted Hamill to tone it down to play into this being a different, darker (albeit still manic and funny) version of the Joker. While Hamill groused (half-jokingly, half seriously) about missing the old Joker, his performance was ultimately lauded as one of his best outings in the entire DCAU.
4	* CrossDressingVoices: Creator/AndreaRomano plays Young Tim Drake and is actually credited as "Laughing Boy" in the film. Matthew Valencia couldn't pull off the maniacal, Joker-like giggle that the producers wanted because his voice [[VocalEvolution had changed too much]].
5	* DeletedScene: One was included on the DVD release. Terry follows Bruce as he visits Joker's grave site at the old Arkham facility, only to see a message waiting for them.
6	* DevelopmentGag: The character design for one of the two prostitutes that Batgirl interrogates during the flashback to when Robin was missing is the design for ComicBook/BlackCanary that had been developed for a planned guest appearance in [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries the original series]].
7	* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: The reason there is both a cut and uncut version of this movie - the original release date for the uncut version was going to be on [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/BBROTJ.jpg Halloween 2000]], which was unfortunate when it was still during the fallout of the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} shootings, and movie companies were coming under heavy criticism for violence in films. As a result, the film was postponed, then heavily edited and released as the unrated version on December 12, 2000. Fortunately, the producers still retained the original version in shelves and eventually released it as "the original, uncut version" under the PG-13 rating on April 23, 2002 (just three days after the third anniversary of the Columbine tragedy) following an online petition to have it released.
8	* ExecutiveMeddling: Anyone who has seen the edited version of this film knows what we're talking about. [[https://dcanimated.com/WF/beyond/backstage/rotjedits/ World's Finest Online has a rundown of the changes here]].
9	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The edited version is harder to come across nowadays, being superseded by the PG-13 cut
10	* RealitySubtext: The Joker seems to be used as an AudienceSurrogate for people who didn't really like Terry as Batman during the final battle. Terry's takedown of the Joker, meanwhile, is used to cement the fact that Terry ''isn't'' Bruce, [[ContrastingSequelProtagonist and that's the point]].
11	* SerendipityWritesThePlot: Due to Creator/BruceTimm mandating that Harley would die for her part in torturing Tim, Creator/PaulDini found a compromise that she survives but gives up the criminal life with "Pudding" dead for real, showing she didn't become a KarmaHoudini after breaking a child's mind. This ends up making it stronger (and scarier) when we learn that the [=DeeDee=] twins are her granddaughters, and Joker had coerced them into working for him. Indeed, the implications are that Joker specifically hunted them down because of their relationship to Harley.
12	* SimilarlyNamedWorks: This movie is not to be confused with the ''[[VideoGame/BatmanSunsoft Batman: Return of the Joker]]'' games by Sunsoft.
13	* SparedByTheCut: Creator/BruceTimm mandated that Harley Quinn had to die, against Creator/PaulDini's protests, and they laugh about it on the uncut DVD commentary. Timm said that her torturing Tim Drake crossed a line, and her mental illness and toxic relationship with the Joker was no excuse. Dini found a compromise: Harley "retired" that night after falling down the pit in Arkham, with Barbara adding that they never found her body. And with neither the authorities nor the Bat-Family hearing from Harley in ages, it's unlikely she'd still be causing trouble, especially at her advanced age. In the end, "Nanna Harley" appears to bail the [=DeeDee=] twins out of jail, showing that karma did get to her with the Joker recruiting her grandkids. Not to mention she is walking with a cane, like Bruce is, showing she didn't survive the fall or natural aging unscathed.
14	* ThrowItIn:
15	** The bit at the end with Nanna Harley wasn't originally in the script, but Dini didn't want to let the character go. Bruce Timm agreed to leave it in because the funny moment served as a good release after the climax.
16	** Ghoul came about because Creator/MichaelRosenbaum's impression of Creator/ChristopherWalken was never used in previous collaborations.
17	** The salute the police officer gives Batman wasn't in any storyboard given to the animators. Everyone was surprised to see it in the final print and found it too hilarious to be upset.
18	* TwoVoicesOneCharacter: While Matthew Valencia returned to voice young Tim Drake, Drake's laughs as Joker Junior were provided by casting director Andrea Romano, because Valencia couldn't pull it off.
19	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
20	** The initial design for the Dee-Dee twins was [[http://www.catsuka.com/gengal/batman/beyond/beyond_design_2d27s.jpg very different]] from what appears in the finalized film. Probably a good idea that they changed it, as it perhaps gives away the fact that they are Harley Quinn's granddaughters.
21	** The comic includes several scenes that did not make it to either versions of the film, such as:
22	*** Bruce's visit to the remains of Arkham Asylum to find clues on the Joker's return. He is unknowingly followed by Terry. (Storyboard drawings, however, do appear as deleted scenes, which were present on both versions of the DVD as part of the special features.) The trip to Arkham even made it into the movie-licensed games on the Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Game Boy Color; serving as the third level, though Terry is there alone looking for clues on the Joker.
23	*** Batman's interrogation of the Penguin in the flashback. Both were part of the script that got cut out of the movie due to time and pacing concerns, as confirmed in the commentary.
24	** As many fans had speculated, Harley Quinn was indeed originally going to die when she plummets into a chasm, but Paul Dini decided to leave a scene showing her survival at the end of the movie, as he did not want to kill off the character who he felt was his biggest contribution to the Batman mythos.
25	** During the flashback, The Joker wears the "Kiss the Cook" apron in both the cut ''and'' uncut versions. Originally it was going to say "''Kill'' the Cook", but the execs decided that the words would be too gruesome.
26	* WordOfGod:
27	** The writers admitted that as they talked about the novel ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'' one night, after the book came out but while the movie was being made, elements inspired by the novel description of Hannibal Lecter made their way into the Joker designs for the movie--the slicked-back hair on the future Joker and the {{red eyes\|TakeWarning}} on both the future and flashback/''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''[=/=]''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' Joker designs.
28	** Harley managed to survive her fall into the chasm at Arkham because of the serum Ivy gave her in "Harley & Ivy".
29	** Despite what many fans had thought and hoped, Poison Ivy is unrelated to the [=DeeDee=] twins (especially since Ivy was implied to be sterile in ''TAS'' anyway).
30	* WriterRevolt: Again, Paul Dini's refusal to kill off Harley despite direct orders from Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett.

Context Trivia / BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker