During a retrospective of Bruce Timm's 15+ year DC Animated career at SDCC, a clip of Batman Beyond was played.
It received a -tremendous- positive audience response. More than any of the other shows.
Timm remarked that it's funny, when the show was announced back in 1998 all the fans HATED the idea. A teenage Batman? Fighting crime in the future? With gear obviously designed to court the 6-11 year old demographic?
Yet, it ended up being the darkest, edgiest, most violent and explicit of all the DC Animated series to this date.
Upon thought, I realized Timm was right. To this day I can't believe a Saturday morning show got away with some of the stuff Batman Beyond did.
(The Talia episode comes to mind!)
What made this so? The semi-dystopian future setting? The increase in science fictional ways of supplying villains?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I dunno, but I enjoyed the show immensely and I was sad to see it go, I thought it still had many awesome places to go.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Timm said the lukewarm response to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (saleswise, anyway) and the fact that a show meant to appeal to kids still ended up skewing towards adults lead to it ending long before they ran out of stories.
Which is why I'm glad JLU managed to squeeze a little bit of closure about Terry in. Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Oh I loved that show. I never saw the end, though. I'll have to work on that.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I never saw much of it, but liked what I saw. I'll have to see about watching the whole thing.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat: Timm said the lukewarm response to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (saleswise, anyway) and the fact that a show meant to appeal to kids still ended up skewing towards adults lead to it ending long before they ran out of stories.
Which is why I'm glad JLU managed to squeeze a little bit of closure about Terry in.
I really enjoyed Return of The Joker, I bought it on DVD. They did a REALLY good job in capturing the insanity of The Joker in that one.
Posted by DarkKnight (Member # 7536) on :
I was never a fan of Batman Beyond. With the super costume it always felt more like Iron Man than Batman
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by DarkKnight: I was never a fan of Batman Beyond. With the super costume it always felt more like Iron Man than Batman
What have you got against ironman!?
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
PT, how was San Diego? (How 'bout a thread on it?) Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Great show.
For fans of it, check out JLU episodes "The Once and Future Thing, part 2" and "Epilogue", which both feature Batman Beyond prominently.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
i liked BMB, it had that dark setting to it which I liked good animation, cool fight scenes even ninja's on occasion.
But ya the Joker arc was amazing.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
I loved Batman Beyond. Very cool.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I enjoyed that show as a teenager. I never did get why they marketed it to kids, though.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
San Diego was...mixed. I was a newbie there, it was too crowded, and the security people became flustered and mean by the weekend...but the cool stuff at the con was very cool.
I'll post a thread on it later.
I'll add that Timm was extremely funny and honest. For instance, he was quite open about the first season of Justice League not being the best super-hero cartoon on TV...that X-Men: Evolution and Samurai Jack were the super-hero 'toons that raised the bar that year.
Plus, the Legion of Super-Heroes: The Animated Series panel was great fun. Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
I remember this show. I wasn't a fan of it but I do recall that it was different -- as in, it was dissimilar to the rest of the stuff on CN at the time.
--j_k
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
I loved Batman Beyond and adored X-Men Evolution even more. They both made me feel less guilty about watching Saturday morning cartoons as a teenager.
That I liked BB as much as I did is interesting if only because I REALLY don't like the Batman character. I've always preferred Marvel heros over the ones from DC. But I loved the new spin. It worked for me.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shanna: I loved Batman Beyond and adored X-Men Evolution even more. They both made me feel less guilty about watching Saturday morning cartoons as a teenager.
That I liked BB as much as I did is interesting if only because I REALLY don't like the Batman character. I've always preferred Marvel heros over the ones from DC. But I loved the new spin. It worked for me.
Blasphemy!
Why don't you like the Batman character? He happens to be my favorite comic hero (followed closely by Spider-man), so I'm just curious what you don't like about him.
And then I will begin to convert you! Mwahahah.
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
I am a Spiderman fan, first and foremost. I like that Peter Parker is so easy to relate to. And what I enjoy about Spiderman and X-Men is seeing how the person and the hero identity are integrated and viewed. When you have a mutation storyline, you get alot of characters who are just average people struggling with gift/power/curse that was thrust upon them. Its interesting to see how that resolves itself.
My first impressions of Batman were of a very rich and angry man. I found that universe too dark and foreign. In the few incarnations that I've been exposed to, I did like Robin's character. He had emotions and motivations that I felt I could understand. Batman was just too distant of a character.
Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :
*sigh* So is there no chance that Bruce Timm will return to do more work in the DCAU? JLU and BMB both ended before their time, but I'm also thankful JLU had that episode that effectively served as the finale of BMB. By the way, did anyone notice that the final scene of Terry flying in that episode is a "shot-for-shot reversal" of the opening scene of the first episode of Batman: The Animated Series ("On Leather Wings")?
Also, there are two versions of the "Return of the Joker" movie. One with the "graphic content" censored, and the other uncut.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
quote:Originally posted by neo-dragon: *sigh* So is there no chance that Bruce Timm will return to do more work in the DCAU?
Who said that?
Bruce Timm is producing the Superman/Doomsday animated movie. He has also confirmed that he'll be involved in the upcoming New Frontier and Judas Contract animated movies in some way.
He teased that there was other stuff in the pipeline, but that it's too early to discuss. Yet.
Posted by Humean316 (Member # 8175) on :
quote:Also, there are two versions of the "Return of the Joker" movie. One with the "graphic content" censored, and the other uncut.
Oh yes, and I definately recommend the uncut version, it is awesome.
At Comic Con, Timm did reveal that he will be working on the "Death of Superman" animated movie, so thats something incredible to look forward too. But for me, Batman is always the greatest character, and though I prefer Marvel to DC, my favorite is Batman.
quote: My first impressions of Batman were of a very rich and angry man. I found that universe too dark and foreign. In the few incarnations that I've been exposed to, I did like Robin's character. He had emotions and motivations that I felt I could understand. Batman was just too distant of a character.
Yeah I can see that, but for me, I always related to him because he was human. He wasnt Superman, he didnt have super-strength, he was just a hero who went out and decided to help his fellow man. He was vulnerable, anytime he went out could be the last time, and in the end, that brought Batman to me. Good stuff...
Posted by DarkKnight (Member # 7536) on :
Blackblade, I like Iron Man, I get his series too, but a superpowered flying suit with all kinds of weaponary and computers built into it just isn't Batman.
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
The suit was not that 'superpowered'. It's difficult to estimate of course, but it didn't appear to put his strength at very much of a metahuman level, for one thing. Most of the weapons integrated into the suit were ones already being used by Batman previously. And as for computers, well ever since they've been in use computers and Batman have worked together.
'Isn't Batman'? What wouldn't be Batman would be Batman going about his bat-business in a world where even commonplace thugs and hoodlums stand a good chance of being seriously amped up with some sort of genetic or chemical treatments, which would put even Bruce Wayne at the top of his game on the lower-end of the spectrum in terms of strength, speed, agility, durability and stamina.
I mean, he just wouldn't do it. You can't have a Batman in a world that far into the future, without that sort of technology, without having something like the new Batsuit...or without Batman undergoing genetic/chemical treatment of his own, and I think that's even less likely. Bruce Wayne certainly wouldn't.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
To add to Rakeesh's point, there is an episode in which Terry defeats the Bat Suit when it's controlled by a villain. So just because he has it doesn't mean he needs it.
Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :
quote:Originally posted by Puffy Treat:
quote:Originally posted by neo-dragon: *sigh* So is there no chance that Bruce Timm will return to do more work in the DCAU?
Who said that?
Bruce Timm is producing the Superman/Doomsday animated movie. He has also confirmed that he'll be involved in the upcoming New Frontier and Judas Contract animated movies in some way.
He teased that there was other stuff in the pipeline, but that it's too early to discuss. Yet.
Oh, okay. For some reason I assumed that the 15 year tribute thing was a sign that he was retiring or something.
Doing a Death of Superman movie sounds cool, but I wish he would do a Knightfall one too. I recently read the novelization of that story arc. I'd like to see Timm's version of Jean Paul Valley's Batman.
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