Batman: The Animated Series Season 1- Part 1

If you follow my movie blog, you're pretty familiar with the idea that I love superheroes. That exists in films, comics, and television. The television landscape for superhero shows has been in a revolution as of late with successful shows like Daredevil, Arrow, Jessica Jones, and The Flash. Yet, there was also a huge boom for superhero cartoons in the '90s. Shows like X-Men and Spider-Man existed and entertained a ton of viewers, but if there was an animated show that dominated television for years, it was Batman: The Animated Series. Lasting for four seasons and having one of the biggest followings a cartoon series targeted towards children has ever had, the show was the beginning of a renaissance that led to the creation of shows like Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, Batman Beyond, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, all existing in the same universe, held together by a number of team-ups and Easter eggs. Recently picking this phenomenal show on DVD, I'm going to go through the most memorable episodes, characters, and technical aspects of the series. Let's start with Disc 1, covering episodes 1-7.


Episode 1- On Leather Wings: This episode did in 20 minutes what most Batman movies are unable to do in 2 hours: utilize Batman's detective skills. Without giving too much away, Batman solves the mystery of Man-Bat. It's a pretty good episode to kick off the series. It's an impressive mystery that brings any casual viewer the status quo that surrounds the story of Batman, while also delivering a story that is contained in itself. It's not the biggest story in the history of the show, leaving the door open for the show to grow and expand to bigger heights. That's an important quality for a show's first episode. Pull your audience in with a good effort, and keep the quality of the show improving as time goes on.

Episode 2- Christmas with the Joker: This episode was a landmark in superhero television history, as it marks the show's first appearance of The Joker. He debuts in glorious fashion, escaping from Arkham Asylum on Christmas Eve. He plans to cause as much chaos as possible, all of which is Christmas related. Robin also makes his first appearance in the series, requesting that they stop looking for trouble on Christmas and go home to watch It's a Wonderful Life instead. Batman replies by saying he's never watched it because he couldn't get past the title. Stuff like that is proof of how well-written the show is. It's a good episode that will please any fan of holidays and superheroes. Not to mention, it introduced that Batman-themed Christmas song that you will never be able to get out of your head.

Episode 3- Nothing to Fear: This episode appears on the surface to be an important episode simply because it marks the debut of The Scarecrow. And while that is a good reason to watch this episode, it also has some great character moments for Bruce Wayne and Batman. We learn that his greatest fear is disappointing his parents. That's some pretty heavy stuff for a "kid's" show to cover. But then again, this isn't your ordinary kid's show. We also have a good moment from Alfred telling Bruce that his parents would be proud of him because he is proud of him. That's a really touching moment that doesn't take much time to execute, but leaves a strong, lasting impact on the episode. If I had one complaint about the episode, it's Scarecrow's look. This is a very early stage of the Scarecrow look and it hadn't been fine-tuned yet. When we see him in later episodes, his mask is much more scary and threatening. Here, it's a bit silly, but I think they were testing the waters to see what kind of character designs they could get away with on a children's program.

Episode 4- The Last Laugh: It's April Fool's Day and Joker has released a toxic laughing gas throughout the town. This episode might seem pretty ordinary when it comes to the Joker and Batman stuff, but what I really enjoyed was seeing the people of Gotham just lose their minds as a reaction to the laughing gas, including Alfred destroying all the furniture in Wayne Manor. Plus, having Alfred exposed to the gas fuels Batman's desire to find an antidote as quickly as possible. Not an awful episode, but we all know Joker's best material in the show came later on when a certain sidekick of his was introduced.

Episode 5- Pretty Poison: We have the debut of Poison Ivy, as she poisons Bruce Wayne's good friend Harvey Dent. We once again see Batman's detective skills take full effect in this episode, as he investigates the poison, the flower needed for an antidote, and suspects Pamela Isley (Ivy's alter ego) almost immediately. And THAT is why Batman is the greatest detective mind! Anyways, the final confrontation with Ivy offers a unique climax in terms of the animation choices. We have Batman fending himself off against some of Ivy's deadly plants, and even uses some great psychology to get the antidote from Ivy.

Episode 6- The Underdwellers: I was very optimistic heading into this one. When I read that it was Batman going up against the Sewer King, I thought this was going to be a very uninteresting episode. And then the plot began to unfold and I realized there was a lot going on in the episode's favor. First of all, we get to explore the underbelly of Gotham's sewers. Secondly, whomever is voicing the Sewer King is having the freaking time of his life, as he hams it up in all the right places. I also really enjoyed the bits involving Alfred and Frog, a child who Batman takes from the sewers to his mansion. And I really loved how Batman deals with the Sewer King. We all know Batman has a set of rules with how he deals with the criminals, but he even said he was thinking of making an exception after the Sewer King has corrupted the minds of dozens of children. Some powerful stuff here and I didn't even see it coming. That's the beauty of a show like Batman: The Animated Series.

Episode 7- P.O.V.: The title should be an indicator that this episode offers some interesting perspective. Detective Bullock, Officer Montoya, and Officer Wilkes are under questioning for a botched sting operation. They all tell their stories from different viewpoints, with Batman showing up being the only thing that ties their stories together. You can tell pretty early on that one of them is lying, but I dare not give that away. It's a smaller plot in terms of the villains, but it's a cool episode that dives deeper into the characters within the Gotham Police Department, particularly Montoya. She's protective of Wilkes, a rookie cop, stands up to Bullock's accusations, and has an appreciation for what Batman does for Gotham City. I also like how Commissioner Gordon stands up for his crew, even Bullock, who has been known to be a thorn in Gordon's side.

Series Spotlight: The Animation

I'm going to save my thoughts on some of the key characters for down the road as I dive deeper into the series. Let's go ahead and look at some of the great technical aspects that make the show incredible to watch. For starters, big kudos to the animation department. From the Batmobile, to the shots of Gotham City, to the designs of the iconic characters. Every shot in this show feels like a piece of art. Need some proof? Just watch the opening to the show. They don't even need to give you the title of the show. After that minute long opening, you know, based on the brilliant animation that you are watching a show about Batman.

Series Spotlight: The Music

Accompanying the fantastic animation is a wonderful score, mainly composed by Shirley Walker, Lolita Ritmanis, and Michael McCuistion. To add even more awesomeness to the score, is the fact that Danny Elfman composed the main theme song. The show already has so much going for it as a piece of living art, and then the music chimes in. The first thing you see in every episode is a title card, featuring a main theme song. The music is so grand and ranges on a variety of emotions. The music can be whimsical, dark, haunting, heartwarming, and much, much more. It can be a lot of things. I also love that a lot of the main characters get their own unique theme music. That's something you see in big budget movie scores from Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. You wouldn't expect it to be part of a children's cartoon about Batman. But it's very appreciated and one of the many reasons why this show can be considered one of the finest crafted cartoon shows to ever exist.

Things are off to a good start with Batman: The Animated Series. Join me in Part 2, as we dive deeper into the early folklore of one of the greatest animated programs television has ever seen...


Batman: The Animated Series and images are copyrighted by Warner Bros. Animation