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"Batman: The Animated Series" (often shortened "Batman:TAS" or "Batmantas") is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series adaptation of the comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero, Batman. It is widely regarded by fans as the most iconic modern representation of the Batman character and mythology, and also as the most faithful animated series based on a comic book. The dynamic visual style of the series is based on the artwork of producer Bruce Timm. Lacking an on-screen title in the opening credits, the show was originally known only as Batman (and would be referred to as such in episode recaps that summarised what had happened "previously on Batman..."), but was retroactively officially titled Batman: The Animated Series, as clarified by Warner Bros.
The original episodes, produced by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, were first aired from 1992 to 1995. The show was called simply Batman: The Animated Series in the first season, which aired on weekday afternoons, and then was renamed The Adventures of Batman and Robin when the show moved to weekends to emphasize the crime fighting partnership of the characters and also to allow younger audiences to become more familiar with Robin who was featured in the then soon to be released film Batman Forever.
It should be noted that the title The Adventures of Batman and Robin was originally used in the 1969-70 animated series, created by Filmation and aired on CBS.
After a successful 85 episode run on Fox, new animated Batman episodes were created for Kids' WB & also went on to air on YTV. Titled The New Batman Adventures, it aired from 1997 to 1999 with 24 episodes produced. They were aired as part of The New Batman/Superman Adventures. Paul Dini stated in an interview that they were originally going to call the show Batman: Gotham Knights, but no opening credit title was produced with that name. Only early production art for new episodes have that title and the comic based on this version being called Batman: Gotham Adventures suggests it may be possible. Reruns of The New Batman Adventures, on Cartoon Network for example, were mixed with episodes of Batman: The Animated Series using the same intro sequence.
Some of the creators have gone on record saying that The New Batman Adventures is truly an extension of Batman: The Animated Series. The producers have repeatedly stated and confirmed that the show does take place in the same world, continuity, etc, just a few years down the line. The character designs underwent significant changes, going even further down the stylized path of the original episodes. This was in part due to a lower budget for the series; the new character models would be easier to animate well on the lower budget. Also there were some voice actor changes. Batgirl became a more important character and was no longer voiced by Melissa Gilbert. Wikipedia |
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