The above was the revised, streamlined version from Mayfair’s original RPG a few years earlier. For those interested in such things, here’s the original, expanded descriptions of Gotham’s districts from the 1986 module, Night in Gotham:
One of my favorite Bat-runs on the character, by Rucka. Intelligent mysteries requiring a dedicated detective, and the personal side showcased magnificently
BRUCE TIMM INTRODUCED A WHOLE NEW LOOK TO BATMAN AND A SMALL SCREEN SUPERHERO NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD!
"It was summer of 1990 when Eric [Radomski] and I put together the Batman promo," recalls Bruce W. Timm. "It's a two-minute short. I storyboarded it and did character designs. We had somebody design the backgrounds, and then Eric actually painted all the backgrounds himself. We timed it and sent it off to a little studio in Canada called Lightbox Animation and they animated it. I went up there to kind
of supervise the shadow process (because they did this weird video
shadowing treatment on it, rather than having painted shadows), and then carried the film back with me. We did sound here in Los Angeles. There's no dialog in it, just grunts and oofs and stuff, so basically it's Eric and I. I think I'm Batman and he's the thugs, like hitting each other. We did full sound effects. The music was just library music from the Batman film. After we finished the promo, we basically got the job to do Batman right away. I think it was September of 1990 when we actually started doing preproduction on the series and by January we were up and running."
Timm, who was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Ohio, is completely self- taught. His animation career began in 1981 with his duties as a layout artist at Filmation on Blackstar and The Lone Ranger. He joined Don Bluth Productions in 1982 as assistant animator on The Secret of N.I.M.H. He subsequently worked on The He- Man Show, Space Ace and Dragonsalyer II. Timm then joined Marvel Productions in 1984 where he spent one year as a character designer and background designer on G.I. Joe. After heading back to Filmation for She-Ra Princess of Power, he took several years off from animation. He freelanced briefly at Mattel Toys where he illustrated six or seven He-Man comics which were packaged with figures. Timm returned to animation in 1986 to work on Spiral Zone, then as a character designer/layout artist on The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse. The Beany and Cecil Show followed the next year, and he directed some of these episodes (only one aired before the series was canceled). Timm joined Warner Bros. Animation in 1989, working as a storyboard artist and character designer on Tiny Toon Adventures.
In addition to developing the initial promo for Batman: The Animated Series, Timm is one of three producers for B: TAS (along with Alan Burnett and Eric Radomski). Timm has storyboarded episodes and approves all character designs. In fact, many characters appear on the series as completely envisioned by Timm, including Batman, Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock, Mayor Hamilton Hill, Harvey Dent, Two-Face, Batgirl, Penguin, Catwoman, Ra's Al Ghul, Talia, Clayface, Red Claw, and Harley Quinn. The final look of some others was actually a collaborative effort (Joker, Poison Ivy, and
Summer Gleeson). Riddler and Mr. Freeze were based on Mike Mignola designs.
Timm is currently involved with post-production on Batman: The Animated movie which is due to be released this Christmas. He is also working on 20 new series episodes for the second season. He is scheduled to illustrate a Batman Adventures graphic novel for DC Comics which will be written by B: TAS story editor Paul Dini.
Few heroes in our society, comic book or otherwise, conjure such distinct images as Batman: the familiar logo, the dark brooding character, the unmistakable silhouette.
By retaining those trademark qualities, history has showed that Bob Kane's original Batman is open to a variety of interpretations. From Tim Burton's shadowy protagonist in the Batman blockbuster films to the twisted and dorky Batman spoof pulled off by Adam West in the 1960's, the Dark Knight has always managed to retain his intrinsic identity.
Batman: The Animated Series continues that tradition, but adds a depth and style that has quickly made it one of the most appealing Batman versions of all.
"Run With It"
In 1992, a new interpretation exploded on the scene in the form of Batman: The Animated Series. One year and a bevy of critical acclaim later (including Emmy awards), this version of Batman has been thoroughly embraced by both traditional Batman fans and mainstream America.
The series began development when Warner Bros. Animation Studios executive producer Jean MacCurdy approached the Tiny Toons Adventures duo of Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski about doing a Batman animated series. "The only criteria Jean gave us was that they wanted something reminiscent of the Fleischer brothers Superman cartoons," Timm recalls.
Inspired by the unusual amount of freedom, Timm, Radomski, producer Alan Burnett, story editor Paul Dini, and a growing creative team began developing the series. Propelled by an uncommon synergy between animators and writers, they began modeling the show after what they considered to be the best animation and comic art styles.
The Shape of a Bat
"I've been a Batman fan since I was a kid," Timm continues. "The first thing that got me into the character was the live-action TV show. I was only six and I didn't realize it was a spoof. I took it seriously and was a Batman fan from then on. I had the Batman lunchbox, a thermos and all that.
As I grew older and started reading comics I learned who Batman really was. The comic books are our biggest influence on which version of Batman we consider to be the definitive Batman."
"Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers comics from the 1970's are the quintessential Batman comics. The stuff Frank Miller did with the Dark Knight in 1986 is also a real big influence on our Batman."
"I think I liked Batman because he was mortal, without super powers, so he was readily identifiable on a human level. We have retained that aspect solidly in the series," Burnett added.
Another major influence on Batman: TAS's nouveau-classical style is the work of comic book illustrator and animator Alex Toth. "What's great about his art is that it's both ultra dynamic and illustrative but at the same time it's ultra simplified." Timm said. "When I was a kid, I actually didn't even like his comics, because I thought they looked like coloring books. But as I got older I began to see how deceptively complex his artwork actually is."
"The Sleeping Beauty cartoon that Disney did in the 1950's was another influence on Batman: TAS. "It was the first Disney film that got away from the real rounded cartoon characters and introduced more sharp, angular characters," Timm revealed.
"There's many ways of doing Batman, as long as they're cool, like the Frank Miller version or the Neil Adams interpretation. We feel Batman: TAS is one right way to do Batman," Timm said.
"My opinion on the Batman movies has gone back and forth. The first time I saw the movie I didn't like it. I went and saw it again and thought it's really neat. The mood is really good but I have some problems with Tim Burton's vision.
On one hand, parts of them work really great but the biggest problem is that they're action films and there's very little action in them. They also took some liberties with the characters that I just wouldn't have done. My biggest problem is that they're just not much fun. The mood and mystery is great, but it's a little too dark and unpleasant," Timm stated.
Bat Technique
In an attempt to combine classic elements of the Fleischer cartoons with a cutting edge Japanese anime style, the team fused techniques from seemingly opposite ends of the animation spectrum. "We were trying to do something that had never been done before in TV: a feature film quality look on a Saturday morning budget and time frame," Timm said.
"At first, we had some great ideas, such as Eric Rodomski's idea for black backgrounds. We didn't know who was going to animate the series overseas, so we sent out a few sequences and the first one that came back was really awful - it looked like a typically bad Saturday morning cartoon show - just what we didn't want," Timm remembers. "It was really choppy. They didn't follow our background styling or character designs very closely. It really looked very standard and we were crushed wondering, 'Maybe it's going to look like typical stuff after all.""
Bummed but not unbowed, Timm and his team tried other studios. "It took us a year before we got our first full cartoon back, which was the On Leather Wings show featuring Man Bat. After seeing it, we knew the series was going to work. Everything we laid out, they did. They followed our plans faithfully and we said 'Wow, it does work!""
One reason the show works so well is that it incorporates virtually any and every animation trick in existence, in addition to a few original ideas.
Radomski's idea for using black backgrounds, for example, was at first scoffed at by tradition-minded animators who never used anything but white backgrounds. To create a heavier mood, the basic design for the series called for large patches of black in almost every frame.
After seeing the amount of time it took to fill in all the black areas, Radomski came up with the ingeniously simple idea of beginning with a black background and painting the scene over it. The effect worked perfectly.
But incorporating a dazzling array of tricks does not necessarily mean a desired effect will work. "All the tricks we use have been used before," Timm said. "But it's all in how you use them knowing when to use the right trick at the right time. The imitated camera movements that simulate a live-action camera panning across an accident scene have been used for years by the Japanese."
In another departure from the helter skelter flow of typical Saturday
morning fare, Batman: TAS has a much more deliberate pace." There's been a lot of other cartoons that I've worked on where they've tried to employ the same techniques," Timm recalls, "But for some reason or another, whether it was budget or timing constraints or whatever, it did not work."
"Timing is a very important part of our show. It's not like most other adventure cartoons where everything is moving at the same speed. In them, when two characters are speaking, the lines are falling on top of each other - there's no dramatic pauses. It's something our directors are very conscious of. They try to give our series a real-time, live action pace.
"The biggest lie of animation is that you don't need writers for an animated story," Dini attests. The Emmy awards won by the writers for the Heart of Ice episode vindicate that statement.
Good Guys
Turning from the show's style to its substance, the cast is made up of a collection of engaging, if not complex, characters.
Of course, Batman himself is the most important good guy. The Dark Knight is driven by a single, devastating personal event in his life - the murder of his parents. This wanton act of violence brought him to the iron-clad decision to devote the remainder of his life to the eradication of criminal activities. Obsessed with this mission, he can never truly rest.
Batman has no personal desire to inflict harm, even on his enemies. Bound by a code which forbids killing, his sole desire is to thwart crime and protect innocents.
Young Dick Grayson (a.k.a. Robin) was orphaned when his aerialist family, The Flying Graysons, fell to their death in a trapeze accident. Soon thereafter, the boy became the ward of Bruce Wayne who provided him with a home and solid financial support, and also allowed him to enter the secret world of Batman.
As the boy grew, Batman taught Robin excellent new skills which supplemented his gymnastic abilities. During his early teenage years, Grayson, as Robin, ventured forth into the night with his caped mentor.
"Personally, I like Batman alone the mysterious dark avenger of the night," Timm said. But I'm kind of like Joe Q. Public in that on one hand I really like Batman just as a loner, but on the other hand, there's just something classic about it when he and Robin team up."
In the second season, Robin will be a more common element, appear- ing in 13 of the 20 episodes.
Other than Robin, Bruce's butler Alfred is the only other person to know his employer's secret identity.
Alfred covers for his millionaire boss in many ways, deflecting every possible suspicion that Wayne might actually be the Dark Knight. He'll even go so far as to don a Batman costume on occasion.
World-weary and politically incorruptible, Gordon is loved by the law- abiding citizens of Gotham City and hated by its criminal elements. Although he cannot publicly condone the actions of Batman, the noble Commissioner is occasionally contacted by him and attends clandestine meetings with the Dark Knight.
Crass, scruffy and genuinely obnoxious, toothpick-chewing Harry Bullock is a rogue detective who, like Batman, gets results. Bullock feels threatened by the unsanctioned presence of Batman in police affairs.
The attractive, red-haired daughter of the Police Commissioner, Barbara Gordon, is a high-school student who has taken her idol worship of Batman a step too far. In a misguided attempt to meet the Dark Knight, she has donned a look-alike costume and prowls the night as Batgirl looking for, and invariably finding, trouble.
Other characters who occasionally appear in the series on the side of fighting for truth, justice, and the Animated way are stylish attorney Harvey Dent, cynical cop Rene Montoya, weak-willed Mayor Hamilton Hill, and sensationalistic TV anchor Summer Gleeson.
Bad Guys
Viciously funny, cruel and sardonic, the Joker first encountered Batman during a botched robbery at the Monarch Playing Card Factory. Escaping by leaping into a drainage vat of chemical waste, he later discovered that the toxins had bleached his skin white, dyed his hair fluorescent green, and stretched his lips into a hideous, permanent grin.
Despite his clownish appearance, The Joker is one of Batman's most deadly enemies. Intelligent, theatrical and ever the showman, his arsenal of toys is second only to Batman's and includes joybuzzers, gas-squirting flowers and exploding whoopie cushions. Ouch!
A mutant bird-like man with a mys- terious past, the Penguin resides in the underbelly of Gotham. He's a ruthless, flamboyant, grandiose character, spouting bad Shakespeare with dreams of riches and status.
Well known for her large donations to animal rights organizations, Selina Kyle leads a double life. She is also the Queen of Crime who carries a cat-o'-nine-tails.
There is an undeniable attraction between Batman and Catwoman, and the Dark Knight sometimes finds himself torn between his feelings for her and seeing justice done.
A sharp-witted genius whose cryptograms befuddle Gotham police, Eddie Ashton (a.k.a E. Nigma, a.k.a. The Riddler) made a fortune inventing puzzles.
Tiring of the challenge, Nigma began masterminding crimes on a grand scale. When Batman deciphered one of his puzzles and sent The Riddler to jail, the analytical wizard swore to engineer a crime that even Batman couldn't solve.
Surprise, that handsome, charismatic D.A. Harvey Dent has another face. One of the most tragic figures in Batman's rogues gallery, Dent fell victim to an explosion which scarred half his face and twisted his psyche in the process. Two-Face carries a silver dollar which he flips to determine if he'll perform a good, or evil, deed.
As a child, Pamela Isley's only friends were the plants she tended in the family's greenhouse. But her life took a tragic turn when a large corporation forced her parents off their land. Vowing revenge, Pamela used her botanical skills to devise a love potion extracted from rare plants to bend evil men to her will. Adopting the name Poison Ivy, she began a life of crime, and subsequently leaves her victims screaming for calamine lotion.
During a fight, a freeze tank exploded, covering Mr. Freeze with cryogenic chemicals. After nearly freezing to death, Freeze recovered but learned that he must permanently live in sub-zero temperatures. Now, Freeze seeks revenge in a special helmet and suit that maintains his body temperature at an even 50 degrees below zero.
The Mad Hatter is a psychotic genius who commits crimes based on Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland theme and controls peoples minds. Other villains include the lanky Scarecrow, the deceptively dangerous
Ventriloquist, the shape-shifting Clayface, the warped Dr. Hugo Strange, the brutish Killer Croc, and the rampaging but fascinating Man-Bat.
Ugly Guys: Censors
"The worst thing about the censors, BS&P (a.k.a. Broadcast Standards & Practices), is that we never really know what they're going to say," Timm frets. "The rules change on every single show. Some shows we can have people getting hit in the face and other shows we can't."
"It's frustrating because we'll do something we've done in a previous show and they'll say 'Oh, you can't do that.' And we can't justify it by saying we've done it before."
"We always get tons and tons of censor notes on every show such as 'Get rid of those alcoholic beverages.' That's a big no no. But it's also a real touchy one because every time we have a party scene such as a big charity ball, what are the people drinking? So we've always had to make glass tumblers and put water in them. I guess everyone is drinking Perrier."
"In the upcoming season, we have an episode named Harlequin-aid, where there's this whole scene that takes place in a speakeasy and, well, people drink in a speakeasy. BS&P said we can't have any glass- es, none at all. It becomes a game after a while."
"On the other hand," Timm concedes, "The BS&P people serve a really good purpose. If we were allowed to go crazy, we might make some kids out there psychotic or something."
Despite such behind-the-scenes obstacles, "The BS&P people have never ruined a show. They've never taken the guts out of a show so completely that it ruined the episode."
The Second Season
To reflect its comic book roots, and in honor of Batman #500, Timm disclosed the team was working on an episode featuring Bane. "It's going to be a bit different than the comics. We're not going to be able to break Batman in two, so we've come up with a slightly different take on it."
"It won't be anywhere near the depth of the comic version, because we're trying to do in one episode what the comic series has covered over several issues. There's no wheelchair, no Azrael, no angst. It's going to be more of a fun knock- about half hour."
"Most of the other changes for the second season are reflective of what Fox feels. They do market research and survey kids and pass it on to us."
"The show is going to be a little less grim than the first season. Less of Batman being tortured by the death of his parents. I think the second season is going to be just as good as the first; it's just a little bit more fun. Fox definitely wants more super villains. Apparently kids would rather see Batman fighting the Joker rather than some thug with a trench coat and a big hat."
"That's fine, we've done enough of those kinds of shows. We don't need to keep using gangsters. There will also be more emphasis on larger- than-life action and more humor, but that doesn't mean it will ever be that campy Adam West style."
"There are still things I don't want to do with Batman. We'll never send him into outer space or anything. But the personality of the villain he confronts in a particular episode helps dictate the story. Batman wouldn't be in the same situations if he was fighting the Joker or Poison Ivy.
We're very aware of not repeating ourselves. During the course of the first 65 episodes, we kind of fell into a sort of formula such as: Batman does this, then he fires his grappling hook, then he flies away. So we're always trying to come up with new things for him to do and the villains."
"There's not going to be a whole lot of new villains in the second season, basically just more of the rogues gallery including the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, etc.
Paul Dini and I did create a new character called Baby Doll. She's a former child star, TV actress (a la Shirley Temple). She kind of has that Gary Coleman syndrome. Now she's 33 years old, but she still looks like a 6-year- old. Of course she's psychotic and she has a disgusting speech pattern that Paul came up with.
There will be one more Batgirl show in the second season. "I really like the Batgirl character and what the writers have done with her," Timm said. "Rather than making her this goofy young girl when they first introduced her in the Heart of Steel show, they established her alter-ego Barbara Gordon as being very intelligent, resourceful, and capable. So when she became Batgirl, it was almost logical. But she's also a fun character like Robin. A Batgirl/Robin team-up is actually planned where Batman appears very little. She'll appear in the fall.
There's been some talk about Sandman, but I don't know; it doesn't really seem to fit our show. Paul and the writers would like to do an episode with Neil Gaimon's metaphysical hero, but the Sandman comics are pretty talk-oriented and not very action oriented, and I
don't see it working in our format.
Animation is about fluidity and movement, and Sandman stories don't have much of that."
Other episodes include: a three- part series dubbed The Trial- where the inmates of Arkham Asylum act as judge and jury; A Bullet for Bullock-loosely based on a Chuck Dixon detective story; House & Garden - Poison Ivy appears to have retired from crime; Harlequin-aid-Batman embarks on a 48 Hours style romp to defuse a nuclear bomb; The Terrible Trio- featuring the Fox, the Shark and the Vulture; and a Batman crossover with Jonah Hex.
The Movie Outlook
"The current plan is to use the computer generated Gotham City from the movie," Timm said.
The map itself is a technological triumph. An upcoming feature film, it will eventually be used for the series. "The map is amazing," Timm said, "Gotham City exists. All we have to do is tell the computer where we want to start and where we want to end and we can zoom anywhere."
As far as the movie goes, it's basically being animated as we speak," Timm said. "Our end of it is done, pre-production was done months ago, and we're just now starting to get sequences back from overseas. We're starting the post-production process such as editing. The computer generated title sequence is being rendered on a machine in France."
Although most of the characters in the movie have already appeared in the series, a few new voices and faces will debut in the film. Stacey Keach does a voice in the movie. So does Abe Vigoda, Dick Miller, and Bill Mumy. When the movie is released this Christmas, keep an eye, or an ear, open and you'll be sure to recognize a few more Hollywood personalities.
