I’ve always been impressed with the voice casting on Batman: The Animated Series. Many of the casting choices are highly appropriate, bordering on out-and-out fanboy service, especially in some of the guest characters:
Willam Sanderson as the voice of Dr. Karl Rossum in the episodes Heart of Steel, His Silicon Soul, and Deep Freeze: Dr. Rossum is an acomplished Roboticist, whose android creations end up trying to take on a life of their own. This actor is also known for playing J.F. Sebestian in Blade Runner, one of the scientists who had a hand in creating the ‘repicants’, artificial people who end up trying to take on a life of their own.
Diana Muldaur as the voice of Dr. Leslie Thompkins, one of Batman’s longtime friends and confidants: This character was a much more compasionate and convincing doctor than the one the same actress played on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Ron Perlman as the voice of Clayface: Arguably, some of this actor’s best roles have been the ones where his face was hidden under layers of latex makeup. His ability to portray an actor who has to deal with loosing his identity because his appearance becomes so mutable was probably drawn from real life experience.
Adam West as the voice of Simon Trent/The Gray Ghost in the episode Beware the Gray Ghost: Adam West playing an actor who starred as a costumed vigilante decades earlier, only to be forever associated with that role. Even without the obvious “passing the torch” from the old Batman TV show to the animated series, this one seems pretty obvious.
Mark Hamill as the voice of The Joker: To anyone who saw Mr. Hamill’s short stint as the villian The Trickster on the live action series The Flash, this one is a no-brainer. He was The Joker in all but name in that series. And because this was merely a voice role, the audience is much less likely to think “Isn’t that the whiny farm boy from Star Wars?”
So, were the casting directors for the show deliberately choosing such talent for these seemingly tailor-made roles, in order to appeal to the hard-core geeks who would care about such things, or were these just lucky breaks?
I give the credit to the casting directors. For me, anyway, Kevin Conroy is Batman. I was about 7 or 8 when B:TAS debuted, and so when I read Batman comics now, I hear all the characters speak in the cartoon’s voices.
That said, it’s kind of disappointing now to watch “Justice League” and hear just how bored Kevin sounds when he reads Batman’s lines.
I’m convinced that Hamill got the role of the Cock-Knocker in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back because of the one-two punch of Kevin Smith’s dual fascination with Star Wars and Comic Books.
Hamill was a great Joker voice, his dubious sexuality fit right in with that of the Joker.
Conroy was perfect as Bruce Wayne, but I thought the Batman voice should have been more sinister. I have always seen the Batman persona as vicious creature which Wayne can barely control.
Even if he wasn’t married, I wouldn’t take his performance as Joker as proof of his gay-ness. Hamill is not a particularly good actor, so he may as well “ham” (pun intended) it up as much as possible.
Another interesting though not as subtle bit of cartoon casting was done for Disney’s Gargoyles. At least nine Star Trek actors were hired at various times, some with recurring roles.
For me, Hamill’s is the voice of the Joker. (That laugh!) The same can be said of Kevin Conroy’s voice work. But the voice casting was just one of many things the producers of that show got very right.
I could use a general B:TAS appreciation thread. With it’s re-runs and spin-offs, it’s hard to appreciate it, but that show’s pretty old. I remember coming home from school to that and TMNT.
I wish they’d offer a much better DVD release than the one that’s out. (And as with all DVD releases, even ones that don’t need to be redone and re-released, it’s only a matter of time.)
I can’t think of the name, but the guy they got for Mr. Freeze is beyond perfect. Damn, but they should have dubbed his voice over Ah-nuld’s in that train wreck of a movie.
William Forsythe(?) as the voice of Alfred for one season? Wonderful.
Harley Quinn’s voice. Just so…Harley
I second Williams as the voice of the Penguin, aka Oswald T. Cobblepot. Good choice!
I was never a fan of Batman until I started watching the Animated Series. Posting here is making the theme song run through my head, over and over, which is not a bad thing at the moment.
