Review - Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1999)

            Hey guys, Chuck here, and it is with a heavy heart that I post today's review. This past Thursday, the world tragically lost voice actor Kevin Conroy. Now, of you don't know his name, you will probably know the one superhero he's most famous for being the voice of: Batman. From cartoons to video games, heck even playing a live-action version of the character during the DC/CW crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths, this man was for '90s kids what Adam West was for children of the '60s and '70s: the definitive Batman. But, his tenure as the Dark Knight started with an animated Saturday Morning cartoon series simply known as Batman: The Animated Series.  Now, admittedly, I'm using the name Batman: The Animated Series as a blanket title for two different cartoon series: Batman: The Animated Series , which is later re-titled The Adventures of Batman & Robin, and The New Batman Adventures. The former would get its start on the Fox Kids block and later jump over to the Kid's WB block, whilst the latter would be exclusively on Kid's WB. However, while we do get some artistic design changes, the writing and storytelling is pretty consistent. Anyway, I've rattled on long enough, let's talk about the show. 

          So, the series is centered on Bruce Wayne aka Batman, whose backstory is well known, so I'm not going to reiterate it here. Anyway, the series sees him team up with several allies, including Alfred Pennyworth, Robin, Batgirl, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and Detective Harvey Bullock , to protect the city of Gotham from a cavalcade of nasty characters. 

         Now, the list of villains that show up throughout the series is pretty self explanatory, and fans will be happy to see several fan favorite villains from the comics appear throughout the series. These villains include the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, the Ventriloquist, the Mad Hatter, Clayface, Killer Croc, Man-Bat, Scarecrow, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Clock King, Ra's al Ghul, and Hugo Strange. Now, during the inaugural season, two characters would see their transformation into villains in ways that are genuinely tragic. First off is, of course Harvey Dent, who gets early establishment as a Gotham City DA, but during a two-part episode, he is transformed into the villainous Two-Face. Now, while his villainous turn in the two-parter is tragic, his later appearances are far from so. The other instance is in the Daytime Emmy winning episode "Heart of Ice," which introduces Batman's most tragic for Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze. The episode is easily the best written episode in the series, and its Emmy win helped get the series mainstream attention and I love it. 

          And, of course, this is also the series that, in an episode titled "Joker's Favor," introduces the fan-favorite character Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn. Before Margot Robbie took on the role on the big screen, this series introduced Harley to the world. Veteran actress Arleen Sorkin served as the basis of the character of Harley, and would actually be brought in to voice the character in the series, and her voice would help define the character for years. Now, later voice actresses like Tara Strong, Melissa Rauch, Hynden Walch, and Kayley Cuoco would bring fantastic voice talent to the character of Harley over the years, but let's not forget that Arleen Sorkin paved the war for all of these ladies taking on the role. 

          Speaking of the voice acting, let's get into that. First off, Kevin Conroy as Batman. What needs to be said about his performance? It's practically legend status. Hell, every time I, along with so many others, pick up a Batman comic, we usually read Batman's lines in Kevin's Batman voice. The same often goes when it comes to the Joker. Mark Hamill, who the world knows most famously for his role as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, takes on the voice of Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime, and his voice is genuinely iconic. Sorry, Cesar Romero fans, but there is one true Joker, and his name is Mark Hamill. Other phenomenal voice actors include the likes of Michael Ansara as Mr. Freeze, Adrienne Barbeau as Catwoman, Richard Moll as Two-Face, John Glover as the Riddler, Diane Pershing as  Poison Ivy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred, Bob Hastings as Commissioner Gordon, Robert Costanzo as Bullock, Loren Lester as Robin, Melissa Gilbert as Batgirl, Roddy McDowall as Mad Hatter, and David Warner as Ra's al Ghul. 

        The art style is also what stands out. From what I've read, it was predominantly drawn on black paper, which gives it its dark look and tone. Also, the art deco style of background design, and having elements like police airships in the Gotham skyline, is a major defining element of the series that made it so memorable for long-time fans. Now, unlike the live-action TV series of the '60s, this series was able to find that perfect balance between dark storytelling and being all-ages friendly, proving for a fact that you can be both. You don't have to choose between kid friendly or dark, you can achieve both to great success. However, I should point out that Adam West, who portrayed Batman in that 60's television series, does feature in an episode of this series titled "Beware the Gray Ghost," wherein West plays an actor who portrayed a television superhero from Bruce Wayne's childhood: the Gray Ghost. So, yeah, while I do prefer Kevin Conroy as Batman over Adam West as Batman, it was cool getting to see them work together on this episode. 

          The music, which was composed by several composers, takes its cues from the theme from the 1989 Batman movie theme by Danny Elfman, who oddly enough also did the opening theme for this series as well. Honestly, can we just have Danny Elfman's Batman theme be a permanent fixture of the Batman franchise? Seriously, it's just as much a part of the character as the song "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal. Just saying. 

          Overall, this series is the definitive Batman series. What Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and co. did with the series is truly transcendent, which is a huge reason why the two were brought back by Rocksteady to help produce the Batman: Arkham game franchise, which saw both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and Joker. I loved this series as a kid, and I'm glad I can watch it any time on Blu-ray along with Superman: The Animated Series, which I reviewed previously. And just like with Superman, I'm giving Batman: The Animated Series a rating of 5/5. 

          It really is sad that the world has lost Kevin Conroy. I had the chance to meet him back in 2018, and he was easily one of my favorite voice actors that I got the chance to meet at a fan convention. He was truly a fantastic person and truly the definitive Batman. Rest in peace, Dark Knight. 

         This is Chuck signing off, and I'll be back on Friday. Reviewing what? Well, let's save that for Friday.