Line #762 WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries


1	%%Image replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1484221208027187200
2	%%Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
3	%%
4	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_tas.png]]
5
6	->''"I am vengeance. I am the night. I... am... BATMAN!"''
7	-->-- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xbbpH-20ak Batman]]''', in "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE3NothingToFear Nothing To Fear]]"
8
9	''Batman: The Animated Series'' (or ''Batman: TAS''. Sometimes shortened to just ''Batman''), which originally aired on the Creator/FoxKids block from 1992 to 1995, is one of the most popular and groundbreaking series in WesternAnimation. Towards the end, it was given a minor {{Retool}} into ''The Adventures of Batman & Robin'', which promoted the latter hero from a recurring role to a regular star. A more noticeable retool occurred in 1997, where a ChannelHop and an {{uncancel\|ed}}lation order led to Creator/TheWB's ''[[TheNewAdventures The New Batman Adventures]]'' (also known as ''Batman: Gotham Knights''). This retool streamlined the character designs to better match those of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' (which it aired alongside as ''The New Batman/Superman Adventures''), allowing for the inevitable {{Bat Family Crossover}}s.
10
11	[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title suggests]], the series is an animated adaptation of the adventures of the popular comic book character ComicBook/{{Batman}}. It drew heavily from the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams era in TheSeventies and the live-action films Film/Batman1989 and Film/BatmanReturns, directed by Creator/TimBurton (although some of the latter's baggage, such as the mutated version of the Penguin, caused them some problems). The often-minimalist look of the show was largely influenced by the 1940s WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons, with character designs resembling those of Creator/JackKirby, [[ComicStrip/DickTracy Chester Gould,]] and Creator/AlexToth. The resulting product, revolutionary for its time, was dubbed "dark deco"; it was also the result of co-producer Eric Radomski's standing order to the animators that all backgrounds be drawn with light colors on black paper (instead of dark colors on white paper, as is the industry standard) to ensure that the artwork stayed as dark as possible. Head producer Creator/BruceTimm -- who also took on other roles -- carried his design style over into other shows, thus making ''Batman: The Animated Series'' the first entry in the fully-realized canon known as the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse''.
12
13	''Batman: TAS'''s brief venture into primetime[[note]]It aired Sunday nights against ''Series/SixtyMinutes'' and got annihilated in the ratings.[[/note]] showed off its well-known edgier themes, pushing the limits of what had been acceptable in Western animation (notably, sparse application of TheHitFlash, use of {{Censor Decoy}}s, and overt use of realistic -- if unlikely -- guns, rather than [[FamilyFriendlyFirearms dubious stand-ins]]).
14
15	Most of the episodes took place entirely in [[CityOfAdventure Gotham City]], although Batman and Robin occasionally ventured to other cities and even other countries. Besides the [[RoguesGallery familiar villains]], this series introduced other characters from the comics, such as Ra's al-Ghul, to the television audience. It even introduced a new character, [[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harley Quinn]], who proved to be so popular that she eventually [[CanonImmigrant made her way into every other Batman medium]], intrinsically tied to The Joker in most works while becoming one of DC's signature characters in her own right. The series also marked the first major exposure of Two-Face outside of the comics, and its revised origin for Mr. Freeze soon became the definitive version of that story.
16
17	The new designs in the second series, ''The New Batman Adventures'', notably restored the Penguin to the comics version and emphasized Poison Ivy's plant-like nature. Since Creator/TheWB's broadcast standards were more relaxed than FOX's, the producers were allowed to use more action and violence and somewhat stronger language than before. The status quo of this show was close to the comics of its time, as Batman was partnered with a younger Robin named Tim Drake, [[CompositeCharacter although Tim's origin in the show was taken from the character of Jason Todd]], and Dick Grayson was the independent hero Nightwing due to a falling out occurring during the interim between the two series. Batgirl, who only had three appearances in the original series, became a recurring character and Batman's primary assistant.
18
19	Three movies based on the series were produced: ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' (which had a limited theatrical run), ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndMisterFreezeSubZero'' (a pseudo-tie-in to the live action movie ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''), and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMysteryOfTheBatwoman'' (created and set after the end of the series). ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' was a DistantSequel set about 40 years in the future, where an 80 year old Bruce Wayne becomes the mentor and MissionControl to a teenage protege Terry [=McGinnis=], featuring a number of other returning characters and what has happened in the interim.
20
21	The series also had an official tie-in comic, ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'', which also received critical and financial success (most notably, the Eisner-Award-winning ''Mad Love'', which detailed Harley Quinn's [[StartOfDarkness origin]] and was later adapted as an episode of the TV series). ''ComicBook/HarleyAndIvy'' was another tie-in miniseries released in 2004 and based around Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Then there is also the one-shot ''ComicBook/BatgirlAdventures'' from 1997, featuring Batgirl, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, in the style of ''The New Batman Adventures''.
22
23	Four completely different [[LicensedGame Licensed Games]] based on the series were released in 1995 for the Platform/SuperNintendo, Platform/SegaGenesis, Platform/SegaCD, and Platform/GameGear, all titled ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobin''. Also, while it's not officially part of the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse, the 2009 video game ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' is (in some ways) considered a DarkerAndEdgier spiritual successor; Creator/PaulDini returned to write the script, while Creator/KevinConroy, Creator/MarkHamill, and Creator/ArleenSorkin (Harley Quinn) reprised their characters from the original series. The game was so popular it led to two sequels and a prequel, respectively ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins''.
24	----
25	!!This series provides examples of:
26	[[index]]
27	* BatmanTheAnimatedSeries/TropesAToD
28	* BatmanTheAnimatedSeries/TropesEToM
29	* BatmanTheAnimatedSeries/TropesNToZ
30	[[/index]]

Context WesternAnimation / BatmanTheAnimatedSeries