B:TAS, but only in its original incarnation. The late '90s revamp with the terrible character redesigns failed to draw me in.

No, there were not 40s Batman cartoons. Only Superman appeared in feature animation, prior to the 1960s (the Fleischer cartoons). BTAS deliberately aped the style ad color palate of the Superman shorts.

Now, there was an anniversary cartoon, done in the style of the Fleischer 'toons...


The 60s Filmation Adv. of Batman (when split off from the Batman/Superman Hour) had a couple of Saturday morning runs, as part of the complete hour and on their own.  Then, some of the individual segments ended up syndicated, on local cartoon showcases (such as WGN's Bozo show).  Later, some of that material was edited together with some Super Friends material, for syndication and the Superman/Batman Adventures, on the USA Network.

I watched them as a very little kid, in the 30 minute version.  Even when I was older, and hadn't seen them in a long time, I still recalled seeing batman and Robin punching crooks, in those cartoons, especially after watching them just lasso the Legion of Doom, in the Super Friends.

A few of the cartoons were packaged on VHS, as part of the Super Powers series, which also included some of the Filmation Superman cartoons, the Superboy ones (companions to the New Adv of Superman cartoons, in the half hours) and the Aquaman cartoons.  They only had something like 5 episodes, rather than the complete run.  I had those, plus bootlegs of the New Adv. of Batman; and a later dvd bootleg of the 60s toons, before Warner finally released the whole bunch, in remastered form (my bootlegs had pretty spotty quality).  I'm still hoping the Shazam movie will finally get us the Kid Power Hour Shazam cartoons, as only a few of those were on VHS and the bootleg I have has really poor quality for the ones that weren't part of the vhs releases.

I'll second this.  Although I suppose a lower budget might have accounted for how the characters looked in the late 90's run - Batman looked as though every line were drawn with a ruler - I still can't figure out why the show decided to transition from a 70's/early 80's inspired Batman to the cold, one-dimensional creep of the period.  I will say there were a few improvements though - the Dick Sprangeqsue Penguin and the Scarecrow looked fantastic for instance.

Batman Beyond was supposed to be "Batman done wrong" as the creators admitted.  That is, do everything you're not supposed to do with Batman, (young kid, no cape, super outfit, Bruce Wayne's relationship with Barbara Gordon, lack of interesting villains) and this approach just didn't work for me.  

I think I'll go with the 1968 animated series as my second choice though I'll forever be grateful that someone realised that history forgot to give us the Dick Sprang animated series the 1950s deserved and rectified that oversight with Brave and the Bold.

Honourable mention as well to the 1985-86 Super Powers series.  First time Batman's origin was ever presented on screen and it was genuinely chilling.  Actually, The Fear also introduced the idea that Alfred was part of Bruce Wayne's life prior to the death of his parents.  Plus, with the characters clearly influenced by Jose Garcia Lopez's work and Batman voiced by Adam West (though I admit if given a choice, Leonard Nimoy would have sounded about as close to what I think Batman sounds like) you had a beautiful melding of two classic elements that could have only taken place during that period.

The one I probably saw more of than any other is this version:

New Adventures of Batman from '77 I loved because It was my first Batman Cartoon.I was 5 when it came out) Also it had Adam West sand Burt Ward voicing the dynamic duo and I recognized them from the Live action series that was on every day after school ( wouldn't find out until ten years later that I was watching a show that was 10 years old! (That, plus they were on the two Legends of the Super Heroes specials that year)

When Batman the Animated Series was being announced I immediately thought back on the 77 series as I got more excited for it. B:TAS didn't disappoint. It was just as much fun as the 77 series but as I was then 21 when it came out, I was happy to find this had "grown up" just as much as I had. Until Barbara Gordon had appeared in B:TAS I had actually started to think of it as a continuation of sorts of the previous series. (In the older series Barbara was an assistant D.A. as well as being pre-established as Batgirl. while the B: TAS Barbara had no such job and had not yet created the Batgirl persona) Dick had grown up and gone off to college as I had. Batman was more serious and driven by not having Robin constantly around. There was no more Bat-mite (some of the sillier elements had to go!) But Commissioner Gordon didn't look all that different from his previous incarnation (the '68 version looked more like District Attorney Frank Scanlon from the Green Hornet)

Superfriends Batman was my first exposure to animated Batman. But Batman The Animated Series was the one that was dearest to my heart. Even to this day, when I watch an episode here and there it brings fulfillment unlike any other animated series. However, Batman the Brave and the Bold is one that makes me laugh the most and definitely entertained in a comedic way.