FOX's "Batman: The Animated Series" Discussion (1992-1995)

[shark2k]

Originally Posted by DarthZod

I still remember watching this for the first time. I was so pumped to come home from school and check it out. If memory serves me correct the fist episode was clayface. Good times.

The first episode was a catwoman episode called The Cat & the Claw (Part 1). The second part of that aired a week later.

-Shark2k

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by tob

Just to add the score too by Danny Elfman.

[Show spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XJ3HJXxDwc

To be fair, Elfman only penned the series theme, it was the late Shirley Walker (and her team of composers) who wrote the actual episode scores.

As for B:TAS as a whole, I was far from a kid when it premiered (I was eighteen), but I immediately fell in love with the series for its slick animation, compelling storytelling, cool action and hot women.

[Vendetta-akk]

Originally Posted by TheLaughingMann

I just bought the box set on eBay new for $55. Picture looked legit. Everything inside was right. The first disc looked and played right. In my pc it read as a 4.35gb DVD. If it was a counterfeit then it is the best looking one I have seen. Many tv shows I bought on eBay were either the real deal or very high quality counterfeit work. But only an entity like Amazon can tell.

I bought one of those recently as well. Then I stumbled upon the Amazon listing that had it for $400 plus. Obviously, I got suspicious and looked into it more. I sent it back and got a refund. I never even opened it, but judging by the outside they did an excellent job attempting to pass this one off.

[TheLaughingMann]

Originally Posted by Vendetta-akk

I bought one of those recently as well. Then I stumbled upon the Amazon listing that had it for $400 plus. Obviously, I got suspicious and looked into it more. I sent it back and got a refund. I never even opened it, but judging by the outside they did an excellent job attempting to pass this one off.

Here is what mine had in detail:
-All words were spelled correctly. Older counterfeit copies were misspelled.
-The book with the artwork was there.
-The slipcover was with it.
-The four volumes were split across two fold style cases. You unfold the cover and there are pages with two discs each. The plastic holders are solid at holding the discs but are held together by two clear patches of tape . Not scotch brand and much bigger.
-each disc read as it should with random disc picks. The only thing that stood out was the 4.3gb capacity. But every disc looked manufactured.
-The video and audio are great. Full screen format and did show DVD grade quality in my pc but looked better upscaled in my bluray player. Menus looked legit too.

As I said it is the best looking counterfeit I have seen. Or it is real.

[bfett9]

At that price I'm just going to assume its a counterfeit, unless the guy just found a warehouse full of them, not saying that you aren't essentially getting the same quality stuff as an official release, but it likely was not printed by WB in the initial pressing.

If you really care to check I can try and nab one disc from each volume out of my set, and you can do an exact data size check between mine and yours if you really care to know, but if your happy no real point to it.

I initially bought a counterfeit set, and there was a misspelling on the box set and its how I knew. Why I just returned it and chose to by them individually, I just lost the artbook and bonus disc ( Ill be honest I watched the counterfeit copy before sending it back, since odds are I will never get a legitimate copy unless they do a BD remaster)

[Clark Kent]

New statues coming...

http://www.wbshop.com/product/batman...fType=&from=fn

http://www.wbshop.com/product/batman...fType=&from=fn

[TheLaughingMann]

Originally Posted by bfett9

At that price I'm just going to assume its a counterfeit, unless the guy just found a warehouse full of them, not saying that you aren't essentially getting the same quality stuff as an official release, but it likely was not printed by WB in the initial pressing.

If you really care to check I can try and nab one disc from each volume out of my set, and you can do an exact data size check between mine and yours if you really care to know, but if your happy no real point to it.

I initially bought a counterfeit set, and there was a misspelling on the box set and its how I knew. Why I just returned it and chose to by them individually, I just lost the artbook and bonus disc ( Ill be honest I watched the counterfeit copy before sending it back, since odds are I will never get a legitimate copy unless they do a BD remaster)

The seller was cited as a 'liquidation' type seller. But overall, I am happy with it. If the product looks real enough and does the same thing as the legit copy from the company, I'm happy. Heck, as I said, I've gotten TV shows like Once Upon a Time, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, and Downton Abbey from eBay brand new for $10-15/season, usually around launch. The packaging, the discs, the content on them...it all looks so effing real. But only Amazon was able to flag them as counterfeit and I have no clue how they do it.

:-( I did have to do a re-order from GoHastings. My copy of Subzero was cracked. However, Mask of the Phantasm was immaculate. I also realized I needed Mystery of the Batwoman, so that's ordered too. Least GH refunded me on the bad Subzero copy.

[Mr. Chaverria]

Originally Posted by DarthZod

I still remember watching this for the first time. I was so pumped to come home from school and check it out. If memory serves me correct the fist episode was clayface. Good times.

I watch the series at most 2 times a year. That Clayface one has some great animation to it. Truly horrifying. The commentary on it is awesome too.

The changes are really really unique. Really really great story telling. Perlman had the perfect voice for it too. He fits either form of him.

I'd love to see him in live action. A literal horror show he is.

[JackKnightStarman]

Originally Posted by TheLaughingMann

First post. Welcome Jack. What I found surprising was Mask of the Phantasm was such a darned good tale that the Phantasm character (and the person they are) were reused once more to establish darned good continuity among both Batman Beyond's story and Justice League/Unlimited's. When I saw that episode in JL/U, my jaw dropped at how brilliant they worked in the continuity of many of the DCAU's stories into a single episode. I don't think it was the best episode of JL/U, but it was one of them.

Mask of the Phantasm is definitely great...it's seen best as a prequel/current tale to Batman: TAS, for any who have yet to see.

The thing I liked about Phantasm was he was kind of like a character that was in comics from Batman year Two, and I think the sequel was Batman the Circle Chase. I still have year Two in tpb form along with the comics adaptation of mask of the Phantasm. Need to repurchase the Circle Chase, and reread them.

Originally Posted by TheLaughingMann

The seller was cited as a 'liquidation' type seller. But overall, I am happy with it. If the product looks real enough and does the same thing as the legit copy from the company, I'm happy. Heck, as I said, I've gotten TV shows like Once Upon a Time, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, and Downton Abbey from eBay brand new for $10-15/season, usually around launch. The packaging, the discs, the content on them...it all looks so effing real. But only Amazon was able to flag them as counterfeit and I have no clue how they do it.

:-( I did have to do a re-order from GoHastings. My copy of Subzero was cracked. However, Mask of the Phantasm was immaculate. I also realized I needed Mystery of the Batwoman, so that's ordered too. Least GH refunded me on the bad Subzero copy.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5OP-wrRdJzs
This helped me. Also I purchased individual sets as they were released back in the day, and I wasn't going to double dip for a book and 20 min documentary...

[TheLaughingMann]

Originally Posted by JackKnightStarman

The thing I liked about Phantasm was he was kind of like a character that was in comics from Batman year Two, and I think the sequel was Batman the Circle Chase. I still have year Two in tpb form along with the comics adaptation of mask of the Phantasm. Need to repurchase the Circle Chase, and reread them.






http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5OP-wrRdJzs
This helped me. Also I purchased individual sets as they were released back in the day, and I wasn't going to double dip for a book and 20 min documentary...

Yeah, I relooked over mine and it does look pretty close to the official one. The only thing I think gives it away is the disc design. :-( One of the little teeth holding disc 2 of Vol 3 fell out just now. But fortunately, it's tucked behind disc 1, so it's still held snug in there. I thought getting the whole series for $50-60 was manageable for wanting to watch it. And that's what I am doing, pretty much. Heck, if I can convince my friends it's real, they will think I am more awesome.

[Vlad Draculi]

Originally Posted by DarthZod

I still remember watching this for the first time. I was so pumped to come home from school and check it out. If memory serves me correct the fist episode was clayface. Good times.

Nope. Feat of Clay was like 2-3 weeks into the run.

The first episode to air in selected markets was "On Leather Wings," while the actual series premier is what shark said, "The Cat and the Claw Part 1."

Some episodes seem to have aired differently in different areas though as we had Two-Face 1 and 2 during the week while some of my friends here in CO have said the two parter was split between two different Saturdays.

[Canada]

Loved, loved, loved this show growing up, did I mention it was one of my favorite shows growing up.

[shark2k]

Originally Posted by Vlad Draculi

Nope. Feat of Clay was like 2-3 weeks into the run.

The first episode to air in selected markets was "On Leather Wings," while the actual series premier is what shark said, "The Cat and the Claw Part 1."

Some episodes seem to have aired differently in different areas though as we had Two-Face 1 and 2 during the week while some of my friends here in CO have said the two parter was split between two different Saturdays.

The weird thing about this show (and I don't know if it was mentioned in this thread or during a Google search I did) is that the way the episodes either aired or the way they are shown on the DVD, neither way is chronological or works the best. I don't remember which order it is but in one of them Robin appears in one episode and then is basically not seen again without an explanation. I just ripped my DVDs this past week to put on my server and went with the aired order from TheTVDB and watching the first 24 episodes, I definitely understood what I had read about it feeling out of order when watching.

-Shark2k

[Vlad Draculi]

Originally Posted by shark2k

The weird thing about this show (and I don't know if it was mentioned in this thread or during a Google search I did) is that the way the episodes either aired or the way they are shown on the DVD, neither way is chronological or works the best. I don't remember which order it is but in one of them Robin appears in one episode and then is basically not seen again without an explanation. I just ripped my DVDs this past week to put on my server and went with the aired order from TheTVDB and watching the first 24 episodes, I definitely understood what I had read about it feeling out of order when watching.

-Shark2k

That's because Robin started out as just a special guest character. He wasn't meant to be in the show full time, which is why they made him be a college student. In 1993 Fox wanted the show to feature a lot more Robin to get some younger viewers involved with it, which is when the show changed to "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" and focused a lot on Saturday mornings.

[TheLaughingMann]

Originally Posted by Vlad Draculi

That's because Robin started out as just a special guest character. He wasn't meant to be in the show full time, which is why they made him be a college student. In 1993 Fox wanted the show to feature a lot more Robin to get some younger viewers involved with it, which is when the show changed to "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" and focused a lot on Saturday mornings.

This. It went through three different incarnations. The visual style alone was a big tell in the changes, especially with Vol 4 aka the third iteration of the series.

[Freezeup]

Brilliant show. Before it's time. Happy with my DVD collection! TNBA I loved just as much, EXCEPT for the majority of the designs.

It's a crime that Mask of the Phantasm has not gotten any respectable release on bluray yet. It's one of the greatest Batman films EVER. In my opinion, the last great Batman film.

[DJMcNiff]

Originally Posted by TheLaughingMann

This. It went through three different incarnations. The visual style alone was a big tell in the changes, especially with Vol 4 aka the third iteration of the series.

Actually, BTAS only had the one incarnation. The Adventures of Batman & Robin, was BTAS with its name change for season 2. The New Batman Adventures, which makes up vol. 4, while a continuation of BTAS, is a separate follow-up series.

[AeroK]

Always reminded me of the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons with the art deco styles. As a kid I could tell it was a bit more mature than Spider-Man and X-Men. Related, I'm a little disappointed I missed out on most of the Mondo Phantom City Creative prints. They look amazing.

[Batman1980]

I am one of five people alive who thought Batman Beyond was of a comparable quality, especially since this series dipped a bit in quality in the final season.

[shark2k]

Originally Posted by Vlad Draculi

That's because Robin started out as just a special guest character. He wasn't meant to be in the show full time, which is why they made him be a college student. In 1993 Fox wanted the show to feature a lot more Robin to get some younger viewers involved with it, which is when the show changed to "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" and focused a lot on Saturday mornings.

Here is the link to the forum I found the other day when searching for the proper order: http://www.toonzone.net/forums/threa...be-it.5140101/

Here is what the post said:

There are 4 ways you can watch Batman: TAS. Production order, airdate order, DVD order, and a fan-made chronological order.

Production order creates the well-known problem of Robin showing up in the second episode, Christmas with the Joker, and disappearing soon after for no real reason.

Airdate order fixes this issue, but now we have Two-Face Part 2 coming directly after Part 1, when months have passed in-between.

DVD order combines both problems into one. Production order, but putting two-parters together.

So that is what I trying to say (remembering from memory). Basically, unlike most series, this seems not to have any official good watch order that has the series flow nice. If the episodes are stand-a-lone and don't have anything to do with/reference previous episodes (2 part episodes aside) then it really doesn't matter what order to watch it, but I do believe there is some sort of timeline the story follows.

Originally Posted by Batman1980

I am one of five people alive who thought Batman Beyond was of a comparable quality, especially since this series dipped a bit in quality in the final season.

I really enjoyed this series as well. I actually need to get it on DVD. Really wish I got the complete series set before it stopped being produced and went up to super expensive at any location.

-Shark2k