Kid's WB's, "The Batman"

[Takato]

I was watching the Kid's WB today expecting to see Yugioh on at 4:30 P.M., but they were airing "The Batman" instead. I didn't bother watching the premiere last Saturday, but out of curiosity, I decided to check it out today. I thought it was an ok show. Still nowhere near the greatness of the early '90s Batman animated series, but not abosuletly awful either.

I still can't get used to this new style of animation that's been popping up in a lot of American animated series lately. You know what I'm talking about. How American companies will try to combine the Japanese style of animation with the American style. They did it with Totally Spies and Teen Titans, now they're doing it with "The Batman", too. I think it just looks tacky and because Batman is just so American of a character, I don't think it looks right for him. I think it would've been better if they just stuck with the classic American style of animation. Also, did anyone else notice that the sky looked green towards the beginning of the episode? That just looked weird.

I miss the old voice actor for Bruce Wayne they had in the early '90s series, but he's supposed to be younger in this animated series, so I suppose I'll get used to it sooner or later. The Joker isn't the same without Mark Hamill, though. I mean, Mark Hamill IS the Joker. The Joker without Mark Hamill is like Christmas without a Santa Claus. I also miss his sauveness from the early '90s animated series, but maybe since this is supposed to take place before then, he'll develop his sense of style later on? I doubt I'll be watching this series faithfully every week, but if I catch it on and I'm bored, I'll probably watch it again. So, have you guys checked "The Batman" out and if so, what're your thoughts on it?

[ViciousKatanaGuy]

I don't like it when American animation tries to imitate the Japanese stuff either...

[Lord Cyber]

Ahh...so much to write...so little time.

I apologize if I overpost here Takato, but Batman The Animated Series is something near and dear to my heart and it is interesting to see how it has shaped animation (good and bad) over the past years.

Takato said:

...I thought [The Batman] was an ok show. Still nowhere near the greatness of the early '90s Batman animated series, but not absolutely awful either...

Damn straight. The one thing this show easily has over Batman:TAS is animation timing. That bridge explosion was handled superb, right down to the little sparks. That said I'll get into my rants at the bottom of this post about what it lacked...

Takato said:

...I still can't get used to this new style of animation that's been popping up in a lot of American animated series lately. You know what I'm talking about. How American companies will try to combine the Japanese style of animation with the American style...

That's interesting you should mention that. I see the same style of action sequences (and collateral damage) that show up in Teen Titans on The Batman...all out martial arts action and explosions...I figure the same team is doing the storyboards. However the character animation...if you look at the characters again, Takato, you'll see it's the same style as Jackie Chan Adventures...BUT the backgrounds are done in a completely different style from JCA...2D with CG painting, THEN they've added 3D artwork for the batmobile and other random items which don't match the first two styles at all! Crazy!

Takato said:

...I think it just looks tacky and because Batman is just so American of a character, I don't think it looks right for him. I think it would've been better if they just stuck with the classic American style of animation...

"Dark Deco" is the name of that style. Run, don't walk, to your local Barnes n' Nobles and pick up Batman:Animated by Paul Dini and Chip Kidd. You'll learn the aforementioned style and more about the show. It's a look at the history of the first run of Batman:TAS very focused on the artwork and production process...and some really interesting stories about what they couldn't get past the censors...and I quote; "...third gang member MUST be caucassian."

Takato said:

...I miss the old voice actor for Bruce Wayne they had in the early '90s series...

Kevin Conroy...he rocks!

Takato said:

...The Joker isn't the same without Mark Hamill, though. I mean, Mark Hamill IS the Joker.

I totally agree. Though the new voice actor is doing Mark's laugh for Joker. No Joker before Mark Hamill had that messed up laugh and now EVERY Joker on out will have that laugh. Rave Joker from The Batman was like, my biggest concern about the show from what I read and heard leading up to it...and it was the thing I liked the most about that entire episode...it'd probably make a good Joker for a WB Elseworld's comic.

Takato said:

...so, what're your thoughts on it?

Thought you'd never ask!
devilish grin
The point of "The" in "The Batman" is because that's what he was originally called back in the day when the character was introduced in Detective Comics. The promo blitz for this show at Animation World Magazine was that it'd be a retelling of the origins of all the characters that were already established in Batman:TAS. It fell way short...Joker is already Joker, Batman's been doing his thing for three years when this episode starts up...he's got pictures of playing basketball with his cop friend...when was his college basketball career!? Between learning martial arts and chemistry? He's not a very good brooding character in this series. And Alfred came off unconvincing as well. And I don't see this version of Batman connecting at all with any of the other continuities out there.

I see they're experimenting alot. They used silhouettes on shadow during the gang member fight, a matrix-esque dive to avoid Joker's razor cards, and a stutter-flash sequence when Batman walks up behind the infected security guard (yeah, I'm coming up with all this terminology, I don't know what the stuff is really called) but it got annoying...they didn't do things just one way, they kept mixing in a new thing.

Did I mention the bad script yet? The story touched on stuff, introduced Batman to the Joker and went no where...it was a bad story.

Realism. The more freakish you make characters look, the less realistic they are and the less you can associate with them. The Jackie Chan Adventures art style doesn't fit this show. It makes everyone feel like a cartoon. Some of the stuff characters do make it feel like a cartoon: ie asian cop jumping off the bridge like a complete moron, Batman shooting a batarang thru the stone wall of Arkham to swing over, and then Batman swinging away from Arkham on a rope attached to heaven...I dunno, Spiderman must've taught him that trick.

The character depth isn't there either...you know what...to this day I feel bad for villain Victor Frieze because of what happened to him...he had depth! He had a reason for being evil! I feel bad for Penguin falling in love with Veronica Vreeland in the episode "Birds of a Feather" you can pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks...it's tragic...and it was a good story that had a plausible plot and conclusion.

Okay, I'm done ranting...in fact I blew off The Batman today to see what F Zero was like...I'll probably blow off that show as well in the future, but I will say it had more character depth than The Batman (oooh, burn!)

Thanks for the chance to let me ramble for an hour Takato...dang, hour and a half...I've gotta get lunch.

LC

[Lovely]

Haven't seen it, I have seen people from the AoD message boards express their... displeasure... with it though ^o^ . Also, apparently scar face will be going through a design change.
scarface

Kind of funny in a sad sort of way...

[resurie]

*blinks* you mean that thing with the mask........ok...his name no longer fits him...

[Shotakon]

2 face didnt have a mask,watch batman forever again with
tommy lee,He was a great 2 face. Me&my twin watch the
permire,I was like the sky's green? She ofcoures'I like it"
greens her fave coler. I like the green sky too.Ugh thier
ganna do the f**king manbat story,Blah I hate that 1! I
think clayface(I allso hate him) ganna get a new look too
Anyway the same ppl who does jackie chan is doing Da batmon
Haha,lil joke I made up,for the show&if batman was black.
They had a sneek peek the wekk b4&I was like the ghange
jokers&batman voice! Hes being doing batman for like a
decade&No mark! Nooooo! Its not that same& I think its a
black guy doing joker too. Oh,BTW WB ganna show batman
every friday,So we can all catch it then,cuzz I rather
watch F-zero,but I may tape batman.Oh,have these been my
thoughts? Well I make more latter, but I should say Im not
a big batman fan,after goku&other anime I cant get into USA
stuff much anymore.They say batman the greatest super
hero&everytime I say 'no hes not' call me anime spoil but I
think goku deserves that title. Or Vegeta(I like vegeta
better) I mean,any of the DBZ chars could whip batman
ass,even the kids. Ok I"ll stop here,but I'll probbly have
more to say,Oh I like jokers bare feet,but maybe thats just
me,my twin does too
PEACE OUT

[Jr.]

Being a fan of Jackie Chan adventures I was expecting a lot out of "THe Batman". It will take some getting used to, but Bruce looks quite a bit like Chans character from his series. I also kind of like the direction they took with the Joker, but after reading "The return of the Dark Knight" I just think the Joker is too soft. I enjoy the Catwoaman who made her debut this morning. The humor they add with alfreds comment about "meeting a woman with similar interests to his own" really made me laugh.