The Batman: new animated series.

Cafe Society
#1

Okay, so a while back, they started running little teasers announcing they were going to be making another Batman animated series. This was exciting news for me, because the first Batman: The Animated Series was one of the best cartoons to come around in a long, looooong time. Then the animation got a little stupid with the Batman and Robin cartoon (all the women went from being drawn as rather realistic and full bodied to grotesquely thin waisted/huge hiped/huge headed monstrocities), but the animation was still pretty good. The same style animation has been picked up with several other DC based cartoons like Batman: Beyond, Superman and both JLA cartoons.

So, one would think The Batman would be another great looking rehash, but apparently, they’re planning on taking a different route. In recent commercials on the WB, they’ve shown pictures of both the Joker and the Penguin, and I’m really saddened by what I’ve seen. For example, the now rather classic image of the Joker in his nice purple suit is being replaced by a wild haired look dressed in a stylized straight jacket with stripes. And the Penguin looks to have long blonde hair?

Why must they continue to destroy the things I love from my childhood?

#2

Gallery of pictures can be seen here.

Also, according to Hannibal Tabu, in an upcoming episode of JLU, Batman is forced tosing. More details: [spoiler]In a move that will surely inspire horror, an upcoming episode of “Justice League Unlimited” will feature musical numbers with the immortal witch Circe (voiced by Rachel York) and a very special song … by the Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy). “Since 1991, when we first started making Batman, we always joked about making ‘Batman: The Musical’ because Kevin Conroy, who voices Batman, is a fine singer,” said voice director Andrea Romano. “In this episode, Batman is forced to do something humiliating in order for a spell to be reversed. And what he is forced to do is sing a song, and he sings it wonderfully. You just don’t get to do many musical numbers in Justice League, so that’s really, really fun.” This cavalcade of hilarity will also feature original SNL cast member Lorraine Newman as both Justice and Medusa. Okay.

[/spoiler]

#3

Oh, man, is that really the Joker?? They’ve turned him into Hades from Disney’s Hercules.

#4

I obviously haven’t seen the cartoon yet, but I’m cautiously optimistic about it even though I really hate some of the character designs (I don’t know what they were smoking when they came up with that Joker). On the plus side, I think Batman himself looks pretty neat. I think it’s really nice to get a break from the usual DC animated style, which, as you said, has gotten wayyyy too exagerrated (and just plain boring) in the time its been used.

Also, I’ve been predicting that every DC cartoon that’s come out since the original Batman: TAS was going to suck, and I’ve always been proven wrong.

#5

Oh, the pain. The Joker looks terrible. Everything about him looks ridiculous, from the straight-jacket shirt to the bizarre red eyes. And Bruce Wayne looks like a caricature of Jackie Chan! I couldn’t find a picture of the Penguin, but perhaps that’s for the best.

#6

I was just thinking the same thing. He looks asian to me.

#7

Some folks have mentioned the new LOOK, does anyone have any thoughts on the new cast (vocals)? I think I’ll have a hard time forgetting Kevin Conroy’s voice as Batman. Now, it’s Rino Romano. No more Mark Hamill as the Joker; now it’s Kevin Michael Richardson.

I kinda like some of the other choices though: Dan Castellaneta as Scarface, Ron Perlman as Killer Croc, Gina Gershon as Catwoman (though I think I’d prefer to see Ms. Gershon IN a Catwoman costume as opposed to just voicing her), and Adam West as Mayor Grange.

Oddly, Frank Gorshin will voice one of the Bat-villains, but it will NOT be the Riddler. Gorshin will voice Hugo Strange. Robert Englund will voice the Riddler.

#8

Well, let’s do a comparison…

-The “new” Bruce Wayne
-The version of Jackie from his animated series.

Here he is. He looks very…uh…Not great.

The Joker, on the other hand, just looks like an animal. Like someone sprayed Lobo or Sabertooth with Joker Venom.

And, personally, I’m just disappointed that they haven’t used a"Justice Lords" style costume design for Bats. Y’know, something that looks more “armor” than “spandex.”

Well, at least it doesn’t have nipples on it.

#9

She was actually my #1 choice to play Catwoman in that movie… you know, the movie that will be retconned out of existence in the next Crisis.

#10

I predict this toon will go the way of X-Men: Evolution.

Okay, but not memorable. That show never seemed to get off the ground.

#11

The guy with no cable has a question:

When is this coming on and what channel?

Thank you from a die-hard fan of the original animated series.

#12

The WB. Check your local listings. :smiley:

#13

I was thinking of that cartoon. There’s definitely a resemblance.

About the Penguin: Well, he isn’t as bad as the Joker. I can overlook the hair, but what’s with those pointy teeth? Is he related to Jaws from the James Bond movies? :dubious:

I agree with your comments about the Joker. He looks like he’s a wild man, just barely sentient. I’m having a really hard time imagining him masterminding anything. The Joker from the good old days was normally a suave, laid-back guy.

It also doesn’t help that they appear to be recycling the plot from the “happy fish” episode. Presumably, we are seeing stills from one of the first episodes of the new series. If they’re already cribbing stories from the older material, then that’s a bad, bad sign.

#14

Not just any old Batman.

THE Batman.

#15

For those of you who think Bruce Wayne bears a resemblance to the animated Jackie Chan, you’re more astute than you may know. The creator/character designer of Jackie Chan Adventures, Jeff Matsuda, is also the mastermind behind The Batman, so expect some similar art styles and character designs.

For those of you who are into comics, the earliest place I’ve seen Matsuda’s work is a little-known title called Kaboom, from ROB LIEFELD’s Awesome Comics (from which Jeph Loeb also came)!

#16

I don’t really have a problem with it. What’s the point of making a new cartoon if its just going to look exactly like the old one? I like the older Joker design better, but that doesn’t mean I have to hate the new one. Anyway, I rather like Jackie Chan Adventures, so if this is going to be by the same guy, I’m cautiously optimistic.

#17

I think the toon looks pretty cool. It may have to grow on me. Nothing like the original animated series, I was in love with that from the beginning.

Kinda funny, I remember, in my first year of high school batman was in its second year run. After school I would walk this girl to the subway station everyday. God, I had the hugest crush on this girl but around 4:20 (NO!) she would send me home so that I can watch my batman. She knew I loved that show and she was also the firtat girl I was in love with. Sorry for babbling just feels so nostalgic.

#18

You mean that…they’ll only realease “The Batman” action figures of the Penguin, Alfred, and Bruce Wayne in two different civilian outfits?

#19

Bruce doesn’t look like Jackie on his toon…he looks like Finn (One of the recurring villains).

(And X-Men Evolution lasted 4 seasons…damn good run for a cartoon. Not bad for something that ‘never got off the ground’.)

#20

That’s always been the appropriate way to refer to the character in the comics…just ask Bob Kane…