|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 8:39:28 GMT -5
For the first time ever, over Xmas/new year period, I watched The New Adventures of Batman on Region 1 DVD (there's also a great documentary on it, plus a trailer for some Popeye DVDs that I feel I have to own!). It's all very batty.  I don't think Batman, in any incarnation, necessarily has to be high art. I'd even make the case that, flawed though it is, there's something watchable about 1997's Batman and Robin (sue me!). I like the dark and dystopian nature of the character - "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" is a personal favourite - but I can get on board with the smiling crimefighter who attends functions, has fun with his identity, etc. In an 80-year-franchise, there's room for all kinds of interpretations. In the right mood, I'll read Batman: Year One; in another mood, I'll enjoy 60s tales where he travelled to other planets, got turned into a genie, etc. I mean, maybe Batman Begins should have had him battling Kite-Man while being turned into a genie... I've enjoyed The New Adventures of Batman. It's been good to hear the voices of Adam West and Burt Ward. Bat-Mite is actually a valuable character at times, impressive given that I expected him to be irksome and tiresome. I like that they have featured new villains (Sweet Tooth). I'm very impressed with the voice work, particularly Lennie Weinrib as Joker. I like the colourful animation. I love the fact that it's not trying to be high art. Batgirl is a delightful inclusion. There are some flaws. There are no punch-ups in the series (others here, in another thread, told me that was due to network rules and the like). Despite appearing in the opening credits, Riddler does not appear in any episode, he's only mentioned as being in jail during one episode. And I just don't like Catwoman's outfit. There has been one episode I didn't enjoy, "The Bermuda Rectangle". This features an underwater villain called Professor Bubbles, out to capture ships. I was looking at my watch during that episode. But it has been hugely entertaining. And extremely nutty/illogical. I have to say, at a time when the news media has extremely bleak stories for us (more so than ever, it seems), watching the silliness on display in this series is preferable to putting on a modern Batman cartoon featuring a bleak, crime-ridden storyline. Not that I am comparing the two, just stating a preference that works for me right now. "Bite-Sized" is a fun episode. An alien villain, Electro, shrinks the Dynamic Duo down to size and instructs them to enter a military base and steal secrets. One has to wonder why a being who has mastered interstellar travel has to shrink down two humans and get them to infiltrate a military base - or what could be of possible interest to him in that military base. Be like me travelling back in time to the Stone Age to plunder a cave. It's all fun, though. "He Who Laughs Last" has the Joker leave a threatening letter for Batman and Robin at the Batcave. How did he know the location? There's a lift that takes the Dynamic Duo from the Batcave to a tower with a Bat sign on. That is where the Joker left the note. What is going on? In "The Deep Freeze", featuring (guess who), there's a mountain in Gotham City, quite near to the urban area. Oh well. And there's an ice palace atop the mountain. Not sure how Freeze constructed that without attracting attention. What's next, Blofeld building a secret base inside a volcano? Oh, and Commissioner Gordon's office seems very hi-tech at times, like something from Knight Rider. How can one not love this series, though? Sometimes you don't want logic. Sometimes you want silliness. Not many of the villains' plans make much sense if you scrutinise them too closely. However, with all the shenanigans taking place, it really doesn't matter. I just enjoyed the ride. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 9:14:53 GMT -5
One of my favorite cartoons of all times ... LOVED IT.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Jan 15, 2020 9:43:58 GMT -5
Yep, this is silly Saturday morning fun and actually works as a kind of season 4 of Batman 66. Decent cartoon in that it was only 1 season of 16 episodes but it ran as repeats lasting 4 years until 1981. Not too shabby and it really carries a Dick Sprang style to it and the show holds up fairly well for re-watching today.
|
|
|
|
Post by badwolf on Jan 15, 2020 10:05:05 GMT -5
Was this the series that had the Moon Man? That character's voice creeped me out as a kid. I MUST RETURN THE MOON WHAT IS THE MOON'S.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 10:06:47 GMT -5
I like the plots, bizarre and illogical though they are. Some criminal plots make no sense, but they are pretty much just a means of having the good guys battle the bad guys. I mean, Joker steals a hydrogen car for...well, I'm not sure the reason. But it's just an "A to B" means of getting the Dynamic Duo to battle him. I'm sad only 16 episodes were made. I feel they could have done so much more. Love the way the heroes defy the laws of physics, too. During the end credits, Batman leaps off a building (not a very tall one, I give you that), landing on his wrists and then flipping up to a standing position. Pretty sure a leap off a building resulting in a landing on your hands/wrists would break bones. And, yes, it does feel like a continuation of the live-action series. That series did create villains specifically for that show such as Bookworm. Here we have the likes of Sweet Tooth and Electro. Nice that they went beyond that, although I would have liked to have seen Riddler and Scarecrow here. It would be interesting to know why Riddler made the opening credits, but didn't appear in the episode. The documentary is good, but not the most insightful. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 10:07:54 GMT -5
Was this the series that had the Moon Man? That character's voice creeped me out as a kid. I MUST RETURN THE MOON WHAT IS THE MOON'S. Yes, episode 2, I believe. Great character, great story. (One has to presume Batman, Robin and Batgirl are the only superheroes on Earth in this adventure; Moon Man's actions threaten the entire planet, but the likes of Superman and Green Lantern are nowhere to be seen). |
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Jan 15, 2020 13:17:15 GMT -5
I like the plots, bizarre and illogical though they are. Some criminal plots make no sense, but they are pretty much just a means of having the good guys battle the bad guys. I mean, Joker steals a hydrogen car for...well, I'm not sure the reason. But it's just an "A to B" means of getting the Dynamic Duo to battle him. I'm sad only 16 episodes were made. I feel they could have done so much more. Love the way the heroes defy the laws of physics, too. During the end credits, Batman leaps off a building (not a very tall one, I give you that), landing on his wrists and then flipping up to a standing position. Pretty sure a leap off a building resulting in a landing on your hands/wrists would break bones. And, yes, it does feel like a continuation of the live-action series. That series did create villains specifically for that show such as Bookworm. Here we have the likes of Sweet Tooth and Electro. Nice that they went beyond that, although I would have liked to have seen Riddler and Scarecrow here. It would be interesting to know why Riddler made the opening credits, but didn't appear in the episode. The documentary is good, but not the most insightful. Riddler and Scarecrow were part of the Hanna Barbera Contract for Superfriends at the same time,so Filmation couldn't utilize them. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 14:07:37 GMT -5
I like the plots, bizarre and illogical though they are. Some criminal plots make no sense, but they are pretty much just a means of having the good guys battle the bad guys. I mean, Joker steals a hydrogen car for...well, I'm not sure the reason. But it's just an "A to B" means of getting the Dynamic Duo to battle him. I'm sad only 16 episodes were made. I feel they could have done so much more. Love the way the heroes defy the laws of physics, too. During the end credits, Batman leaps off a building (not a very tall one, I give you that), landing on his wrists and then flipping up to a standing position. Pretty sure a leap off a building resulting in a landing on your hands/wrists would break bones. And, yes, it does feel like a continuation of the live-action series. That series did create villains specifically for that show such as Bookworm. Here we have the likes of Sweet Tooth and Electro. Nice that they went beyond that, although I would have liked to have seen Riddler and Scarecrow here. It would be interesting to know why Riddler made the opening credits, but didn't appear in the episode. The documentary is good, but not the most insightful. Riddler and Scarecrow were part of the Hanna Barbera Contract for Superfriends at the same time,so Filmation couldn't utilize them. I heard this and it was a total bummer that Riddler and the Scarecrow could not appear at all. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 16:16:37 GMT -5
As that was the case, why did they even bother to include him in the pre-credits?
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Jan 15, 2020 17:02:38 GMT -5
As that was the case, why did they even bother to include him in the pre-credits? Knowing Filmation and cost cutting procedures, they likely used a shot from the earlier Filmation Batman series which DID have Riddler in it. Also since Joker, Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman are the biggest name Bat villains at the time, you can bet they probably went ahead and put him in for recognition factor to draw viewers. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 17:22:48 GMT -5
As that was the case, why did they even bother to include him in the pre-credits? Knowing Filmation and cost cutting procedures, they likely used a shot from the earlier Filmation Batman series which DID have Riddler in it. Also since Joker, Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman are the biggest name Bat villains at the time, you can bet they probably went ahead and put him in for recognition factor to draw viewers. Make sense to me. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 19:56:51 GMT -5
As that was the case, why did they even bother to include him in the pre-credits? Knowing Filmation and cost cutting procedures, they likely used a shot from the earlier Filmation Batman series which DID have Riddler in it. Also since Joker, Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman are the biggest name Bat villains at the time, you can bet they probably went ahead and put him in for recognition factor to draw viewers. Can I retrospectively sue for false advertising? After all, Robin's voiceover during the credits promised us we'd see them tackling the biggest Bat-villains - and Riddler was shown... |
|
|
|
Post by dbutler69 on Feb 11, 2020 9:15:44 GMT -5
I actually watched this whole series about a year ago. Yes, this is a fun series, and one could definitely think of it as a 4 season of Batman '66. I loved having Adam West and Burt Ward doing the voices. I agree that Catwoman's costume is not good, and Bat-Mite can be annoying, but either he got less annoying as the series went on (and even helped out a couple of times!) or I got used to him. The other thing I disliked was some of the sound effects. They were too cheesy.
And yes, the network censors were very strict on cartoon violence in the 70's and 80's, which is also why you don't really see punches and kicks throw in the Super Friends cartoon. Heck, even Thundarr doesn't really feature that, and that was supposedly "too violent".
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Feb 11, 2020 14:12:24 GMT -5
I can answer a few things. Yes, Filmation could not use Riddler and Scarecrow because of Challenge of the Superfriends. Similarly, Hanna-Barbera had been blocked from using the vaillains that apepared here. Early concept art featured Joker, Catwoman and Penguin, none of whom would end up in the series, but were all on NAB.
The Catwoman look was because they were reusing models from the original Batman/Superman Hour show, from the late 60s, which was based on the Julie Newmar costume.
Sweet Tooth was also from the 60s cartoon, which also included Simon the Pie Man, since they were a bit light on villains and didn't want to constantly repeat the biggies.
The 60s cartoons contained the actual violence, with punches and kicks, plus thrown objects. It was the cartoon that was cited most by the parental watchdog groups that led to network censorship, in the 70s, that made those cartoons so bland (by comparison).
The original series had Ted Knight doing the bulk of the male villains and Commissioner Gordon, with Olan Soule and Casey Kasem doing Batman & Robin. They were working for H-B, on the Super friends (and Ted Knight did the first series, but that was his last hurrah in cartoons).
Lou Scheimer, the producer and head of Filmation did Bat-Maite, and would use the same voice for MO, in Space Sentinels and Orko, in He-Man. Jane Webb did Batgirl and had also voiced her and Catwoman in the 60s cartoon (and did Catwoman here). She did most of the Filmation cartoons.
Much of the series was done using the original 60s model sheets and lots of repeated footage. This was a Filmation staple. It was a cost saving move, as they rarely had the budgets of even H-B. Another was the use of silhouettes, running in the background and repeated music cues. They would compensate with more vibrant background plates (scenery, etc) and in their scripts, often using seasoned tv writers and up and comers.
For its day, it was decent to good; but, if you compare the action to the previous cartoon it just paled, apart from the fact the newer version was a longer story (about 25 minutes) vs the shorter stories of the original (about 7 minutes). The 60s cartoons were done like others of the era, taking cues from theatrical shorts, for length, and usually having 3 cartoon segments per half hour. Longer stories were usually left to prime time (Jonny Quest, Flintstones, Jetsons), until the 70s.
Filmation had the rights to adapt the DC characters, in the 60s, starting with the New Adventures of Superman. Superman was then joined by Aquamana, with companion cartoons in between, with Hawkman, Flash, Atom, Green Lantern and the Teen Titans. Superman was then paired with Batman, in its most popular version. Filmation also used Superman in the Brady Kids cartoon (based on the Brady Bunch tv show) and debuted Wonder Woman on there (they also used the lone Ranger, in an episode). With the debut of the first Super Friends and the New Scooby Doo Movies, the DC characters were at Hanna-Barbera, until the New Adv. of Batman debuted. Superman would get a new cartoon series in the late 80s, from Ruby-Spears, based on the John Byrne revamp, though sadly devoid of most villains, aside from Luthor. It did have an episode with Wonder Woman (who was in development for a cartoon series and toy line, but which never came about).
The last Super friends series, The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, featured an episode with Scarecrow, called "The Fear," which detailed Batman's origin, for the first time, on tv (apart from a short piece of dialogue in the first Batman 66 episode). It also featured one episode with the Joker. Adam West voiced Batman; but, Casey Kasem continued to voice Robin. "The Fear" was written by Alan Burnett, who would be story editor and producer on Batman TAS.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Feb 15, 2020 20:49:33 GMT -5
Here's what got the watchdogs all up in arms, on the Batman /Superman Hour (aka The Adv. of Batman, for ita solo segment)
|
|
