DCAU Spotlight: Batman: The Animated Series

I don't know what to say, the monkeys won't do!

And I also don't know what to say about those

crazy producers from the Geek Cop Radio Network!

They're driving me crazy! I brought in a buddy

of mine, Nightwing, from the Earth2 .net forums.

That's earth -2 .net. You can go over there and

be a member of their forums. Nightwing is, like

me, one of those believers that Teen Titans does

not exist within the DCAU, DC Animated Universe

Continuity. There have been plenty of arguments

why it's in, why it isn't in, and it just, to

me, The show, first of all, Teen Titans is a

completely different crew than any of the other

DC Anime Universe shows. It has a completely

different style. It's more anime than animation.

It just doesn't fit. Take it away, Nightwing.

Make your argument. Or state your opinion, I

should say. Oh boy, did we lose him? Aaron, wake

up. Crap. Steve, this isn't a good point. Okay,

here we go. Go ahead. I have microphone problems.

Okay, where do I start? So yeah, every other

show in the entire DCAU has very clear -cut crossovers.

They have characters traversing between one show

to the next. You had... Batman on Superman the

animated series and you had Justice League where

they continued the exact same storylines they

had Brainiac come back they had Joker come back

they had all the same characters in the exact

same character relationships and storylines continue

on you know the Zeta project was a spin -off

of and beyond you know it originated there there's

very very clear -cut crossovers and everything

but But yeah, no Teen Titans great show. I love

it. I've seen almost every episode I think it's

a wonderful animated series totally worthy of

your time awesome awesome totally unique blend

of American and Asian style animation but overall

yeah it is not in the same animated universe

there's a few hints here and there that they

kind of joke oh yeah it could be the same continuity

but there's nothing serious there's no reason

to think that it is in continuity and it only

makes things worse if you actually put it in

there because it it mucks up the entire timeline

it doesn't add any resonance to the characters

actually contradicts so many things that it makes

things more complicated so honestly yeah in my

opinion no it can't be in continuity it's great

i love it but it's not in the exact same universe

yeah and bruce tim even said if teen titans was

ever to be considered in storyline continuity

it would have to have happened before batman

the animated series and that to me doesn't make

any sense Yeah, I mean it makes sense to a certain

extent just because Robin is younger in Teen

Titans than he is in BTAS But right, but the

reason why it doesn't make sense to me Is that

because Robin is a young Robin in Teen Titans?

We're in BTAS Even when he first appears I forget

which episode it is that he first appears in

but he went whenever he first appears with Batman

He's not a kid. He's a he's a teenager Right.

Well, he is in his freshman or sophomore year

of college in BTIS Yeah, so yeah Teen Titans

would have to exist before that yeah, but then

of course then you've got Robin making out with

an alien starfire and You know traveling the

universe before Superman ever shows up and it's

like what and then he forgets how to use kung

-fu And he doesn't have all like quantum technology

in his cape He actually has it in this show like

his cape is made of like um some sort of fabric

titanium, and yet it's not later. It's like,

wait, how did that work? Yeah, it's too weird

for me to allow it to be in continuity. And I've

scoured the internet everywhere I can find. It

is not ever mentioned being within the DC Animated

Universe continuity. It is said that it possibly

could be. but not really. Anytime you look up

DC Animated Universe, it never appears in anything

as far as research materials. Steve, what do

you think? Honestly, I think, like you guys were

saying, there's a lot of inconsistencies, so

that leads me to believe that They're not the

same continuity not only that but I don't see

Robin having ever been in the Titans area I could

have seen if The younger Robin Tim Drake had

been in it. Yeah, I could have understood that

but Dick Grayson Not really. I don't see it coinciding

because for another reason you never see those

characters again in the UCAU Well the thing is

in our Tooncast super fan Kevin, Kevin Cooper

in the chat there cell therapy. He he says that

he thinks that The TT Robin was Tim Drake. No

it in Teen Titans It specifically states that

that Robin is is Dick Grayson and see there's

the other Problem with it is they have him as

a younger version of Nightwing in one of the

episodes uh... it's kind of a uh... a few tonight

when you know yes but it is still ties in uh...

with the uh... the whole team payings timelines

right here and i think it's still in and that

not a k uh... i changed it for my own purposes

uh... i am i am not to grace on a different characters

one -letter quote god We're starting a whole

bunch of other things here, so. Alright, I would

like to thank Nightwing, aka Aaron, for stopping

by. He will return with me on Superman the Animated

Series, which will be recorded tomorrow night,

actually. Friday, the 18th of February. I almost

said June. Why the hell am I fast -forwarding

four months? Yes, so that's it for this segment,

and to Quoth the Raven... Team Titan is not in

continuity. Welcome to the 93rd episode of tune

cast brought to you by the geek cast radio network

I'm your host Steve doing Mike and that over

there returning is Steve Megatron Why is it that

over there? Anyways, hello because I'm Mike and

you are Steve Megatron Exactly now for those

people who may that one person that may have

Thought that I was Steve? What the hell is wrong

with you? Yeah, this is your completely different

tone of voice. Yeah, exactly. Completely different

accent, completely different everything. Yes.

Oh, good lord. Just... Alright, so we are here

and we are starting the DC Animated Universe

Spotlight that will end Tooncast proper. no everyone

is very sad about to cast ending but trust me

they will live on sixty five years in the future

most of us will be dead then yeah probably true

well let's see twenty twenty eleven plus sixty

five i'll be dead six minus nineteen eighty oh

wait that's the wrong thing you're supposed to

add how old you are now plus sixty five I'd be

96 I'd still be alive and I'd still be podcasting

at 96 most likely, but anyway Anyway, we are

here to start with Batman the animated series

Yes, and since our professor isn't here because

well he's He's out of his mind at this moment.

Yeah He's frozen in carbonate. He's frozen in

carbonate I wonder if he has a slave layer coming

after him. Anyway, so getting into the history

lesson here. Batman the animated series often

shortened as BTAS is an American animated series

adaptation of the comic book series starring

the DC comic superhero Batman. The series is

DC animated universe. It was produced by Warner

Brothers Animation. The visual style of the series

is based on the artwork of producer Bruce Timm.

The original series aired on Fox from September

5, 1992 to September 15, 1995. When the first

season of the series aired on weekday afternoons,

it lacked an on -screen title, was officially

titled Batman. When its time slot was moved to

weekends on some Fox channels, for the second

season it was renamed The Adventures of Batman

and Robin. And there have also been other titles

that we will talk about down the line as well.

So Steve, what are your general memories of Batman

the Animated Series? Quite honestly, I would

have to say this is the best Batman series that

I've ever seen. Just the overall... style of

the animation, the voice acting, everything is

superb and it definitely embodies the entire

vibe of Batman, unlike some of the newer incarnations

that are out there. I mean, to each their own,

but I would have to say this is most definitely

one of the best animated series of all time,

especially for Batman. Yes, exactly. Now, were

you able to watch this as a kid? I watched this

every day. I had just about every figure. Funny

thing is, the Batman figure was always my favorite

in this. And my villains changed quite frequently

because I had such a huge gallery to choose from.

Yeah, I liked all of the villains and I loved

that I loved the interaction between Batman and

Robin and just everybody around Batman But I

also liked Batman doing his his solo thing unfortunately

in 1994 for so I don't know I did something my

stepmother decided to punish me and told me that

I could never watch Batman and read series as

long as I lived in her household She said it

was too violent But nobody dies. I wonder if

she's actually seen cartoons today like South

Park. Somebody dies every episode in that. I

mean, at least in Batman, you knew nobody was

really going to die, even if the Joker fell from

a 30 -story building. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, eventually

I came back to Batman, obviously, after I left

my stepmom's house and all that stuff. And I

just love this cartoon. This cartoon's amazing.

It does so many things on so many levels It's

just so so awesome So getting into the characters

and voice actors and all of that stuff There

is a lot of stuff to go through here. I'm gonna

try to keep it short and sweet Did you know that

we hear Batman before we actually ever see Batman?

If you go back and you watch on leather wings

as the man bat flies up across the front of the

helicopter the helicopter pilot says hey did

you see that or what was that? That's Kevin Conroy's

voice before he was ever in the batsuit. As far

as the characters, new villains such as Redclaw,

Kodikan, Tigress, and the Sewer King were invented

for the series but to little acclaim. On the

other hand, Joker's accomplice Harley Quinn,

Gotham City police detective Rene Montoya, and

sociopathic vigilante Lockup grew much popularity

in which they became characters in the comics.

aside from creating characters that crossed over

to the mainline dc comics several of the series

reinterpretations were carried over as well mister

frees revised to emulate the series tragic story

uh... the success of which actually compelled

dc to bring the character back after killing

him off some years earlier uh... it just over

all ages going on the character list i'm just

gonna name off the garrison are going to read

anything about the characters we got bruce wayne

and a grace and obviously batman robin And then

you've got Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner James

Gordon, Detective Harvey Bullock, Dick Grayson,

as I said, who is also Robin the Nightwing, Barbara

Gordon, slash Batgirl, Officer Renee Montoya,

Lucius Fox, Summer Gleason, Dr. Leslie Tompkins,

Mayor Hamilton Hill, Veronica Vareland, Carl

Rossum, Jonah Hex, Zatanna, Simon Trent, slash

The Gray Ghosts, or the great ghost, I should

say, not great ghosts. One thing very interesting

to note, and I never knew this, because I don't

think I had seen, I think it's the first nine,

maybe ten episodes of the series, Alfred Pennyworth

was voiced by Clive Revel before Ephraim Zimbalist

Jr. had took over and made Alfred what he is

today, as far as that voice goes. I don't like

the Clive Revel version of Alfred at all. I also

have to agree with you. It just doesn't... It

just doesn't sit right with you when you listen

to the voice. Yeah, it doesn't fit at all. But

who is your, out of the protagonists here, who

is your favorite character? Well, obviously Batman.

Batman hands down. I like Batman. I really do.

But I also like Robin and Batgirl and just the

dynamic that the Bat family has in this. I really

really like that out of the heroes and I also

like the dynamic between Batman and Commissioner

Gordon. Yeah, I'd definitely say I did like Commissioner

Gordon, especially his initial interpretation

or style, I should say, animation style. We should

also mention that Bob Hastings voiced Commissioner

Gordon, Robert Costanzo, voiced Harvey Bullock,

Lauren Lester voiced Dick Grayson slash Robin,

and Melissa Gilbert had voiced Barbara Gordon

Batgirl. The other voice actors include Ingrid

Olu, I think it's said, Leanne Schreimer, who

played Montoya, Brock Peters, Mari Devon, Diana

Moldar. Yeah, some of these are weird names.

Mary Lou Henner was Veronica Vreeland. That's

awesome. William Sanderson was Carl Rossum. William

McKinney was Jonah Hex. Julie Brown was Athena.

And of course, Adam West was the Grey Ghost.

Yeah, that definitely was one of my favorite

characters to be injected into the Batman line.

And this interpretation of Robin was probably

one of the better ones too in recent years. Just

because the voice and his whole dynamic, it just

seemed to fit with the character. You know, holy

bat flaps, you know from the 60s, but it wasn't

Just you know, it wasn't too much Exactly and

getting into the antagonists the rogues gallery

You have I'm gonna go through the characters

first and then I'll go back and through the I'll

go back through the voice actors You've got the

Joker the penguin Catwoman The Riddler, Mr. Freeze,

Two -Face, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, The Scarecrow,

Killer Croc, I almost got him. I hit him with

a rock. The Mad Hatter, Clayface, Manbat, The

Ventriloquist, Raish Al Ghul, is how you say

it, and Bane, just... Wow, I mean just and the

thing about Batman the animated series I know

we're talking about the characters But the thing

about the series is they have said both Eric

Radomski and Bruce Tim had said when they first

started the series They approached it like many

movies and it so felt like a movie every episode

Because no matter what you did it was highly

interesting. Yeah The voice actors are as follows

obviously going down the same line Mark Hamill

Paul Williams Adrian Barbeau John Glover John

Glover was the Riddler for Christ's sake. That's

amazing. John Glover has gotten to play two of

the I'm not really that well. All right. He got

to play two of the best villains in DC Universe

He got to play Riddler in this and he got to

play Lex Luthor's father in smallville, which

is very awesome uh... michael and sarah as mister

freeze richard mall as to face which is very

an interesting choice uh... dianne per uh...

perishing as uh... poison ivy arlene sorkin as

harley quinn henry pollock the second as scarecrow

erin kinkade as the killer croc roddy mcdowell

as the mad hatter that was awesome Ron Perlman

as Clayface. Ron Perlman rocks the DC animated

universe. Mark Singer as the man bat. George

D'Sunsda. I can't, I'm sorry if I mispronounce

his name, I just, I can't. As the ventriloquist.

David Warner as Raish Al Ghul. Supposedly Warner

is rumored to be Shockwave in Transformers Dark

of the Moon, but anyway. uh... henry silver has

been who is your uh... which this doesn't this

won't surprise me then i'll be a surprise anybody

else here but who is your favorite uh... villain

from the dc another piece of from bt s now see

i can't uh... i have a hard time choosing just

one because there's so many good ones right in

this list although some of these are definitely

weaker than others Right. I I would have to say

my number one is the Joker Just because of his

total interaction with Batman throughout the

DCAU and how much torment he has caused and How

deep he has stuck the knife in Batman? Yes time

after time and I would have to say a tie for

second place for me would be Raish Al Ghul and

the Riddler and probably Mr. Freeze which is

kind of a cop -out because I would say Mr. Freeze

has the best voice actor yeah for that role ever

although I'm quite interested to see Maurice

LaMarche in the new Batman game but that's besides

the fact the Riddler used to be my favorite villain

in the Batman series I have no idea why because

I never owned the original Joker toy back in

the day I had the Riddler and I never did have

a race toy, but I always liked the character

in the episodes just because It was just some

way that he played into the whole dynamic Yeah,

the Riddler in this cartoon was it was because

before this we had only had Before BTS we had

only had the Frank Gershon Batman 66 riddler

and that riddler was kind of he was borderline

nuts because he always had a crazy laugh like

the Joker did yeah and this one good I was gonna

say he was more borderline Joker with you know

instead of you know the whoopee cushion jokes

he just had riddles right yeah Whereas this one

portrayed by John Glover was just you know conniving

and cunning and always there to outsmart Batman

which that's how they also He's kind of gotten

a Wrap for that now where they they continuously

use that In all of his current iterations, right?

Yeah Which I definitely think adds to the role.

I mean despite the fact he wasn't in the DCAU

very much. Right. I still think he left a lasting

mark on the series. Oh yeah, so much so. Some

of these supporting antagonists are Ed Asner

as Roland Daggett, Jeff Bennett as Hardack, Hart

Brockner as Arthur Reeves, George de Sonsda again

as Gregory Belson, Robert Ito as Kyodai Ken,

Allison Lapeca as Mary doll slash baby doll Joseph

mayor as dr. Emil Doran Dick Miller as Chucky

soul Kate Mulgrew as red claw George Murdoch

as boss biggest Michael Pataki as sewer King

Alan rations as temple fugate slash the clock

King clock King rules Mark Ralston as the Firefly,

John P. Ryan as Buzz Bronski, Helen Slater as

Talia Al - Oh my god, what? I did not know that

was her. Holy crap. You got Supergirl to play

Talia Al -Ghul? Oh my god. Wow. That's amazing.

John Vernon as Rupert Thorne, Abe Vigoda as Salvatore

Sal -Velestra, Bruce Whites as Lockup, Treat

Williams as Professor Milo, and Michael York

as Count Vertigo. You have any characters that

you really didn't like out of the heroes or the

villains? People that I didn't like? I would

have to say something about the man bat. drove

me nuts. I just couldn't stand the role. Out

of the main antagonists, out of the supporting

ones, pretty much the only characters I like

out of the supporting antagonists are Hardack

and Taliyah al Ghul and the Clot King. The rest

of them I could just, I don't even care. They

just, they didn't leave that much of a lasting

impression on me that they were that important.

Yeah. Um, I think like a lot of like the, the

non main antagonists aren't important, but I

also think that they, they filled in nicely.

Cause let's face it. I mean, there really is

like Batman, the animated series stands on its

own. The actual continuity, the actual starting

of continuity for the DC anime universe actually

comes in Superman the Animated Series. These

are standalone mini movies. And there really

is no continuity to them, but honestly there's

probably only 10 episodes out of the 109 or 108

or however many there are. There's like 10 episodes

that I really could care less for. It's just

one of those things I I like them all because

they are individual and that's very different

for me to say especially on Tooncast and especially

on one of our podcasts because I have always

said I prefer continuity to not continuity type

of shows but this it makes sense because At the

time when it was originally on and it was running

once a week on Saturdays it was like a Saturday

matinee mini movie It really was, and I didn't

need a continuity to it. You know what I mean?

Getting into the behind the scenes, some stuff

for behind the scenes as far as some development.

The original series was partially inspired by

the Frank Miller comic, Batman the Dark Knight

Returns. The Tim Burton films, Batman and Batman

Returns. and the acclaimed Superman cartoons

produced by the Fleischer Studios in the 1940s.

Bruce Timm and Eric Rodowsky designed the series

by closely emulating the Tim Burton film's otherworldly

timelessness, incorporating period features such

as black and white title cards, police blimps,

even though no such thing has existed. Timm has

stated that he found it to fit the period they

were going for. Fordy's influenced look and a

vintage color scheme in largely film noir. influenced

style. The series initially took a variation

from music written by Danny Elfman for the Burton

films Batman and Batman Returns as its theme.

Later episodes of the series used a new theme

with a similar style by Shirley Walker, who was

occasionally Elfman's conductor on the films

that they had worked on. The score of the series

was influenced by Elfman and Walker's work on

Batman and Batman Returns in the music of the

40s film noir. The other major element inspired

by the 1989 film is the series interpretation

of the Joker character as halfway between psychotic

killer and the prankster clown versions of the

comic book character. His real name in the series,

like the film, is given several times as Jack

Napier although it is later suggested that it

is simply his primary alias. I gotta say, I'm

so not a Batman comic aficionado. There's so

much Batman continuity since 1939, I wouldn't

know where to start. But I know for a fact that

the Joker, the true apparition of the Joker,

he should never have a name. Don't give the guy

a name and I know they had to do that in the

1989 Batman film because you know, no one would

get it Especially, you know coming out of the

80s. I don't think anybody would have gotten

it, you know Yeah And they went back to this

and the dark night where they had the Joker kind

of just making up his own random, you know, version

of what he says happened. Right. Or what he says

his name is, even though it just leads you to

believe that he's just fucking crazy. And, you

know, just you don't know any different. Mm hmm.

Which, you know. series actually says later on

I believe it's in season four with the mad love

episode and he says you know because Harley says

one version of the story in Batman says oh he

told you that he told me blah blah blah and then

she starts wigging out and you know he says he's

got a million of them yeah so I mean it's just

it adds to that that dynamic that you just, you

don't even know anything really about this character

other than he's just crazy. Oh yeah. Yep. I totally

agree. Let's see here. This is pretty interesting.

The episode Robin's Reckoning won an Emmy in

1993 for most outstanding half hour or less program.

Heart of Vice also won the show and an Emmy.

in nineteen ninety three but instead for most

outstanding writing in an animated program heart

of ice is easily one of it's it's not the best

in my opinion it's not the best episode heart

of ice the mister freeze story what the way they

flushed out the mister freeze character that

was a totally awesome episode oh yeah because

they make him sympathetic instead of just I'm

going to freeze you because I have cold puns

and yeah, let's not go there. Let's not flash

to 1995, please. Or no, no, no, not 95, 97. That's

what it is. 97 is when that stupid movie came

out. Let's see here. You want to take some of

the adaptations down there? We're talking about

there we go the adaptations. Okay The cape and

cowl conspiracy was an adaptation of the cape

and cowl death trap from the detective comics

issue number 140 of August 1975 The strange secret

of Bruce Wayne has been based on the comic stories

the dead yet alive and I am the Batman from the

detective comics number 471 and 472 also from

1977. Dreams in Darkness takes its cues from

a graphic novel titled The Last Arkham. Moon

of the Wolf is based on the comic story of the

same name by writer Len Wien from the Batman

number 255 in 1974. Moon of the Wolf is easily

one of the worst episodes of this series. episode

yeah I still can't watch it no no if you were

so smart why aren't you rich is a loose adaptation

of the Riddler from Detective Comics number 140

and that was a most excellent episode yeah it

was especially a great introduction to the Riddler

yeah off balance is a direct adaptation of Batman

into the den of the death dealers from Detective

Comics number 411 in 1971 and it makes the first

appearance of Telly Al Ghul. Hmm that's interesting

considering the also of a direct adaptation is

the two -parter episode The Demon's Quest based

on the daughter of the demon from the Batman

from Batman number 232 June 71 and the demon

lives again Batman number 244 September 72 also

by Dennis O 'Neil and Neil Adams famous for Introducing

one of Batman's deadlier foes Raish Al Ghul father

of Talia The episode are you gonna take the Joker

one? Yes, the episode the laughing fish was based

on three Batman comics blended together the Joker's

five -way revenge from Batman number 251 in 1973

Followed by the laughing fish and sign of the

Joker from detective comics number 475 and 476

from 1978 During a spotlight podcast from comic

-con 2007 Paul Dini explained that the reason

why the episode combined those stories was because

The show's creators could not adapt them separately

because their content and thematic elements would

not have been cleared by the sensors Yeah, they

got away with a lot of stuff in the DCA you in

general, but There is a lot of stuff that they

couldn't have gotten away with. There's just

no way, and none of the stuff that they did in

the DCAU back then would have been able to get

away with nowadays. Part 1 of Robin's Reckoning

takes its cues from Detective Comics number 38

of June 1940. A bullet for Bullock is based on

the comic of the same name from Detective Comics

number 651 of October of 1992 by Chuck Dixon.

joker's millions from the new batman adventures

is based on detective comics number one eighty

in february nineteen fifty two the feature film

mask of the phantasm is also an adaptation of

the film's flashbacks were inspired by batman

year one whereas the character of andrea beaumont

uh... and the phantasm were inspired by batman

year two that's pretty interesting actually uh...

getting into kind of judge on the off the trigger

actually know that one last really don't jump

off of this uh... the episode almost got him

where two faces strategies stripping that's having

now batman to a giant coin flipping the coin

in the air was taken from the comics were both

batman robin were tied to a giant penny that

was catapulted onto spikes. However, they were

able to create a negative magnetic field to repel

the spikes and enable themselves to land heads

up, snap the ropes, and defeat Two -Face. I love

the Almost Gotham episode. you know, just guys

sitting down playing poker, you know, complaining

about, oh, I almost got Batman this one time,

just to be sitting with him. Yep. I threw a rock

at him. We'll get to that in a little bit. Getting

into some of the directors, writers, producers,

everything, normally in most of this, we kind

of list people off and kind of recognize people.

All of the DCAU people, for the most part, the

majority of them I know. I don't know them personally,

obviously, but I know of them. There's probably

not a lot on this list that I won't recognize,

obviously, from watching the series. Kevin Alteri

was one of the main directors. Boyd Kirkland,

rest in peace Boyd. He just actually passed away

a couple of weeks ago. He was a director for

Batman the Animated Series for about 21 episodes.

Frank Parr, I think is how it said, Dan Reba,

Dick Seabast, Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, Paul

Dini, Michael Reeves, Randy Rogel, Steve Perry,

Alan Burnett, Denny O 'Neill, these are all writers,

Len Wein, Tom Ruger. Yay, Tom Ruger, Animaniacs.

You recognize the next two Daves, don't you?

We talked to one of them. We haven't talked to

the other one yet. Marty Eisenberg and Robert

N. Skier. Yes, we actually interviewed Robert

N. Skier, mostly for Beast Machines. But head

on over to geekcastradio .com and check out our

featured guest page. And you can find that interview

with Robert N. Skier. It was a very, very interesting

interview. Funny thing is, there's a lot of memorable

names in the writing credits. Oh yeah. His just

being one of them, Eisenberg, the Reeve Stevens,

they've written many books. You've got Bob Kane

in there, David Wise, Alan Burnett, Marv Wolfman.

I mean, there's just a ton of great writers in

the show which have created the... possibly the

best animated series of all time. Exactly. And

that's the thing, you know, because there was

such great writing on the show, it didn't matter

if it was a master villain or if it was a, you

know, a side character villain, because the writing

was so good. And as I've said throughout this

episode, and I will continue to say these are

many movies. Each episode had its own feel no

episode felt like it was Like any other episode

they were all individual and it was just awesome

amazing great Just everything about it was awesome

Okay, so I love this it's gonna be quick um the

actual show getting into the actual show Each

episode focused on an individual plot, most with

Batman, Rogue Gallery, and each one. And the

creators have said that they thought the episodes

were like mini -movies, like I said. And yes,

I totally meant to read that as monotone as I

could. Because when I was looking for an overall

plot of Batman the Animated Series, I couldn't

find one. Which I'm so glad of. Because... Why

don't you name off some of your favorite episodes

Steve? Good lord. There's a lot Well, don't name

all a hundred and nine, but name like I have

a list of ten Okay, your top ten. There you go.

Okay I would I would have to say the last laugh

with the Joker mm -hmm heart of ice the clock

King His silicon soul where you have the hard

act Batman who thinks he killed himself. It's

a conscious issue. What is reality? Which was,

I believe, written by Bob Skir. And it's got

the Riddler. Almost got him. Joker's millions,

which I thought was hilarious. He gets duped

by a crime lord. Mad love. Beware the creeper.

Mostly because the Joker's Basically recreating

himself, but it failed miserably Cold comfort

because you can see mr. Freeze's new Look with

his spider legs, which is kind of weird. Yeah,

that's creepy. It's creepy, but it's funny Not

really funny in the right sense, but I mean it's

just funny because he's ahead like Futurama Then

you've got the great ghost episodes because there's

not one there's two yeah And I just loved any

time that Adam West got to get on the episodes.

Yeah, that was very awesome. For me, if I was

going to do a Top 10, Last Laugh is up there.

I like Christmas with the Joker just because

it's a Joker episode. What was the other one?

I loved the two -faced two -parter. That was

very, very compelling. I loved the clay face

episodes. If I was going to pick an overall number

one or number two favorite episode, just for

me personally, it would have to be Almost Got

Him. Actually, it would be a tie between three

episodes. Almost Got Him, Over the Edge, and

Old Wounds. Over the Edge was the one where Scarecrow

knocks out Batgirl and she has this dream of

what would happen if Commissioner Gordon ever

found out what you know who Barbara was what

she did and who if he found out you know who

I mean Commissioner Gordon kind of knows You

know and always has given Batman a kind of a

free rein, but I mean really what would happen

if if Batgirl, his daughter Barbara Gordon died

on Batman's watch. And that was what that whole

episode was about. And I just absolutely loved

them. Loved that episode because it was such

a compelling story. It was a nice way to, you

know, it just folded out nicely. Almost got them,

we've kind of talked about it. It's basically

criminals sitting around a table, card table

telling stories of how they almost got Batman.

And then old wounds was the story of how because

at that point you had Tim Drake as Robin Because

Dick Grayson had left to become Nightwing Old

wounds was the story of how it came that Robin

left that Dick Grayson had left and I just I

really really like that episode Yeah, that was

a pretty good episode yes, it was so I've decided

to let you guys hear some of the alternate themes.

You're going to hear the Batman and the Adventures

of Batman and Robin theme and you're also going

to hear the new Batman Superman Adventures theme

before we head into the music segment. We'll

be back after this. and now we're on to the music

segment the series original music was done by

surely walker lonely to remind us michael mcquestan

stuart ball calm richard bronze skill carl johnson

and christopher carter what did you think of

the music when you first like saw the show like

when you first like you'd the very first of the

city watch what did you think of the music state

It's just, it's catchy, it's memorable. You know

what it is when you're listening to it, partially

because it's familiar for those that watch the

89 Batman film, being that's what it's based

off of. But it's, I don't know, it's just every

cue in the show fits really well with everything

that's going on. Exactly, yeah. There's no other

like sound that you could put in there even for

when it gets goofier and the Season four when

when they go to the you know Batman Superman

Adventures It's Even then the the audio and the

music sound perfect Yeah, it does it does I absolutely

love the music from this cartoon every single

cue is just amazing and December 16th of 2020

oh boy 2008 I almost said 20 odd eight. Oh my

god. That's horrible. I hate December 16 2008

la la land records had released the two disc

limited edition soundtrack. The musical score

was written by several different composers throughout

the course of the series. The main theme of the

show, which was heard during the opening and

ending credits of each episode, was composed

by Danny Elfman. At first Elfman turned down

the Bruce Timm offer to compose the theme for

the show, and so Timm hired Shirley Walker to

do so. Though as time went by, Elfman changed

his mind and composed a variation of his 1989

Batman movie theme. Walker's unused theme went

on to become the main theme for the second season

of the show when the name was changed to The

Adventures of Batman and Robin. In 1996, Walker

won her first Daytime Emmy Award for her music

direction. for the Adventures of Batman and Robin,

she would then go on to win another Daytime Emmy

Award in the category of Music Composition for

Batman Beyond in 2001. Although at least several

different composers worked on the series, Walker,

Lolita Romanis, and Michael McQuistion are regarded

as the main contributors. After the series finished

up in 1995, 3 went on to score the new Batman

Adventures in 1997 and Batman Beyond in 1999.

Television composer Christopher Carter scored

alongside Walker, Romanus, and McQuiston throughout

many DC anime universe shows that later filled

in for Walker after her death in 2006. Yeah,

the soundtrack from La La Land Records It's a

two -disc soundtrack. Like I said, it was a very

limited edition. I was able to get it. It basically

has Gotham City Overture, which is a 14 -minute

just... all different themes from the series

and within a 14 minute time span obviously you

have batman the animated series the main title

the danny elfman stuff and then it has tracks

from on leather wings the last laugh it's never

too late pretty poison christmas with the joker

and then it has the alternate main title which

you've heard earlier in this episode of tooncast

which is the one that shirley walker had used

at the second season point And then it's got

Two -Face, Parts 1 and 2, Joker's Favor, Vendetta,

Perchance to Dream, Birds of a Feather, and then

it's got the end credits theme as well. I absolutely

love this soundtrack. This soundtrack is... I

love hearing the music with the show, but just

hearing the music itself, it's so awesome. As

I said before, La La Land Records had released

Batman the Animated Series onto a 2 -disc CD

set. The release was limited to a pressing of

3 ,000 copies. So if you didn't get this back

in 2008, you're going to be paying hefty, hefty

eBay prices now. You're kicking yourself in the

pants. Yep. Of course, if you want to email tf2andmike

at gmail .com, maybe I can... yeah. Maybe. I

don't know. The 3 ,000 copies sold very quickly.

About one month after its release, the soundtrack

set had sold over 2 ,500 copies. According to

a spokesperson of La La Land Records, the sold

-out status of the soundtrack can only help as

the label hopes to convince Warner Bros. to release

more Batman the Animated Series soundtracks.

Upon its release, the soundtrack received outstanding

reviews and is now completely sold out, as I

said. As far as soundtracks, I believe La La

Land Records has released other DC soundtracks.

They've done soundtracks for the new DC Universe

original animated movies. But they also did the

soundtrack for Mask of the Phantasm, which again,

it's just amazing to hear that music without

the sound effects. I'm so hoping that La La Land

Records will eventually get to release Superman

the Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice

League and Justice League Unlimited. The Batman

Beyond stuff we'll talk about in the Batman Beyond

episode. Those do have soundtracks which are

very good, but they're not La La Land. uh...

they're made by somebody else which we'll talk

about when we get to episode ninety -five of

Junecast so in about two, three weeks do you

have any final thoughts on the music Steve? No,

I think I'm good. You sure? Yeah. You want to

read the IGN rating there? In January 2009 IGN

ranked Batman the Animated Series at number two

on their top 100 animated TV shows list which

I Don't know if I give it number two just for

the sake of that there's cartoons such as like

I don't know that have a lot lasted the test

of time such as You know Looney Tunes and other

shows like that, but I would definitely say that

it would be within my top five um Yeah, I you

know if I was just ranking this amongst other

superhero cartoons it would be number one but

it would be number one it would so be number

one but if we're going to rank the top 100 animated

series of all time see what I did there shameless

plug shameless plug coming March 7th 2011 anyway

yeah it's a very awesome series uh... and it

did so well uh... and it was so different i don't

think i don't know if any animated series since

then has done this but i knew for a fact even

before uh... will even before we get a call from

will smith on the voicemail lines will hear a

little bit later uh... that's an inside joke

that only one of the u stream viewers will catch

uh... Even before he told us about that they

had used the black paper to to draw on for the

series I had already known that and it was just

so it was such a different way to approach the

series and it was just so awesome It premiered

on the Fox networks children's block Fox kids

on September 5th 92 and aired in that block for

the first several episodes of the series during

the week afternoons, then moved to Saturday morning

television for Batman the Animated Series. It

actually began re -airing in 2007 on Toon Disney's

Jet -X lineup along with Superman the Animated

Series, despite Warner Bros. being one of Disney's

biggest competitors. Both shows then continued

to air on Toon Disney's successor, Disney XD,

which began on February 13, 2009. The show airs

on Teletoon Retro, a Canadian broadcasting channel,

debuting on January 8, 2010. The first 65 episodes

are confirmed with the first being The Cat in

the Claw. The show is scheduled to air on a weekly

basis, airing at 7 a .m., 6 p .m., and midnight.

All times are Eastern, that's right. You wanna

take with the reception there? almost universal

acclaim and has been highly praised for its sophistication,

mature writing, artistic ambition, and faithfulness

to its source material. In the 1992 year and

issue Entertainment Weekly ranked the series

as one of the top television series of the year.

Writer Les Daniels described the show as coming

as close as any artist's statement has to define

in the look of Batman for the 1990s. Deidre Shepherd,

a reviewer for Common Sense Media who posted

her review on Go .com, described the series as

a fairly violent cartoon with an overly grim

quality. Yeah, well, most reviewers don't know

what the hell they're talking about. Well, especially,

it's being posted on Go .com, so I'm not gonna,

I don't know. Does Go .com still even exist?

I've never even heard of it. I don't know how

important they are. Anything less than five letters

for a website address, it's not worth remembering.

Speaking of which, in 2009, IGN .com named Batman

the animated series the second best animated

television series of all time. Wizard Magazine

also ranked it number two of the greatest animated

series of all time. In both cases, the show lost

to the Simpsons. Somebody should be shot in the

face. Another more mature Fox cartoon series,

Crave Online, also ranked the show number two

for top five best superhero cartoons behind the

1940s, Fletcher Superman cartoons. I'm sorry,

I like the Fletcher Superman cartoons, but there

is no way in hell that they are over Batman the

Animated Series. Those are crap compared to the

DCAU. Yes. uh... in nineteen ninety nine a new

spin -off series batman beyond was released to

further critical claim then in two thousand one

the justice league animated series was released

building on the success of both batman the animated

series and soon ran the animated series feature

batman is one of the founders of the league in

addition several of the animators from japanese

animation studios sunrise worked on the series

their work on batman answers would become a great

influence on one of the later series big o and

cowboy b -bop episode here at least you know

i have no idea i don't do anything so i don't

know uh... As far as it had an immense impact

on comics, characters such as Renee Montoya and

Harley Quinn were originally created for the

Amid It series, but their popularity proved such

that the characters were introduced into the

DC Comics universe. The Lego minifigures of various

Batman characters are more strongly based upon

the designs from the Batman the Animated Series

than any other form of Batman media. More precisely

they are the Joker, Two -Faced Poison Ivy, Mr.

Freeze, and Harley Quinn's minifigures seem to

have identical costumes and faces to those characters

from the series. The dark atmosphere, mature

themes, and even some of the voice cast from

the series are heavily employed in Batman Arkham

Asylum video game. Yay! Yay! Batman the Animated

Series is on DVD. I'm gonna say right now, I

know that a lot of people can't afford big DVD

sets and that's fine. If you want to just have

the cartoons to watch them, seek out the volume

sets, but if you want a complete anthology of

everything, BTIS with 140 page booklet, bonus

disc with only one additional bonus feature on

it, but hey, it's still better than nothing.

uh... you should have back in two thousand eight

you should have gotten batman the complete animated

series this was a limited run uh... i don't know

exactly what the numbers were for it uh... but

is now at this point it's on amazon for like

a hundred ninety nine dollars new i bought my

copy of best buy in two thousand eight for seventy

five bucks Want to share your eBay story? Yes

for anyone trying to obtain the Batman animated

series Complete animated series box set do not

and I repeat do not Go on eBay If you purchase

this on eBay, you will most likely and most definitely

get a bootleg copy I know this because I purchased

one for $100 and I got online and I started comparing

it with mics, which mine had typos, words upside

down and missing letters, leading me to realize

I just got duped. So I contacted and returned

it and obtained the volume sets from Amazon,

knowing that I was getting legit copies. If you

do decide to buy the complete animated series,

only get it through Amazon .com. printed because

it was a limited edition if you have two hundred

dollars and you want to go spend it on it you

will be very happy that you were able to do so

uh... i don't recommend it obviously if you don't

have the money but if you if you're that type

of person that can spend two hundred dollars

on a broken masterpiece rodimus you can surely

spent two hundred bucks on a really awesome dvd

series set Work for Kevin our super fan There

were some feature films brought out of Batman

the animated series There was Batman mask of

the phantasm which released in 1993 based on

the animated series the film started production

Is a direct -to -video release, but was changed

to be a theatrical release the next end near

the end of the production and then you have Batman

and Mr. Freeze sub -zero which was a 1998 direct

to video release also based on the series which

was initially completed as a tie -in to 1997's

Batman and Robin ah no but due to the poor reception

of that movie it's release was delayed a year

oh thank god I love i love batman and mister

freeze sub -zero but seriously it was supposed

to be a continuation of batman and robin no no

no no then you have batman mystery of the batwoman

which came out in 2003 the direct -to -video

animated film based on the follow -up animated

series the new batman adventures i do not like

this movie this movie is nuts uh... is just not

that great uh... and again this is something

we'll be talking about in nineteen nineteen uh...

episode ninety five is what i meant to say uh...

batman beyond return of the joker was a two thousand

directed video animated film released before

batman mystery of the batwoman but acts as a

sequel due to the order of events the film is

set in the continuity of the animated series

batman beyond And crossovers as far as that goes

Let's see one other couple of things here. We

got some crossovers here uh... superman the animated

series crossovers before the new batman adventures

started airing alongside superman the animated

series a three -part story had the joker and

lex luther team up against batman and superman

this was later released at home video as the

batman superman movie and adapted into a comic

book the commentary on the batman superman movie

stated that the feature was intended to kick

-off The new Batman episodes thus taking place

before the first episode of the new Batman adventures

Following the Batman related episodes were individual

stories titled nighttime and the demon reborn

You want to take the static shock stuff there

Alright, so Steve, this is an end point. The

other crossover that we had was with Static Shock.

In a parallel with their appearances in Justice

League, Batman and some of his supporting cast

and villains also appeared in five episodes of

Static Shock. While these episodes were actually

made during the same time as Justice League and

were being produced in the subjective chronologically

of the DCAU, three of these episodes fall during

the new Batman Adventures era, while the two

-parter episode of League of Their Own takes

place during the Justice League years. World's

Finest, the three -parter is just, oh god, that

is so amazing, just seeing them. Just seeing

them interact with each other, the Batman and

Superman, the world's finest is just amazing.

I love that three -parter. Yes, Kevin, no love

for Mystery of the Batwoman. That movie sucked.

I have to second that. Yeah, that movie really

really sucked the story mainly why I don't like

mystery the battleman the story really really

sucked You want to take some of the merchandise

Steve Yes, the television series was accompanied

by a tie -in comic book the Batman adventures

Which followed the art style and continuity of

the television series? instead of other Batman

comic books. The Batman Adventures, through several

format changes to reflect the changing world

of the series and its spin -offs, outlasted the

series itself by nearly a decade, finally being

canceled in 2004 to make way for the tie -in

comic of a new, unrelated Batman animated series,

The Batman. There were also a short -lived series

of tie -in novels adapted from episodes of the

series. Some of them include Shadows of the Past,

Duel to the Death, The Dragon and the Bat, and

Mask of the Phantasm, three of which I actually

owned. Sweet! Yes, there's still, I believe,

at my mom's and her bookcase. But anyways, several

video games, The Adventures of Batman and Robin,

based on the animated continuity, were released

during the 16 -pick game machine era. Somewhere

between, I don't know. It was somewhere between

89 96 somewhere is during that era Konami developed

the game for the SNES while Sega versions were

released later They were also Versions various

versions throughout all the different game systems

One later on was Batman Vengeance, which was

released on a GameCube, PS2, and Xbox in 2001,

which was based on the new Batman Adventures

and reunited much of the cast. Batman Rise of

Sin Zoo was released for the Game Boy Advance,

GameCube, PS2, Xbox, and PC and used the style

of the new Batman Adventures. Batman Chaos and

Gotham was released for the Game Boy Color. It

was also based on the same style and though not

directly related, Batman Arkham Asylum features

many of the old cast talent from the show reprising

their roles and makes some references to the

cartoon as far as costume design and various

other little tech elements and character portrayals.

Yes and we also have coming up here soon this

year in 2011 we'll have Batman Arkham City which

is the sequel to Arkham Asylum. which looks so

good, it's realistic looking. Yes, very much

realistic looking. So, I think we're going to

take a break. You're going to hear some ads,

but before the ads, you're going to hear some

voicemails from some various people, and then

we will come back, respond to the voicemails,

and give our final thoughts on Batman the Animated

Series. Tooncast will be back after these messages!

Hey Tooncast, it's Tara, the rising star here

with my thoughts on Batman the animated series.

Growing up, I used to watch Batman a lot, mostly

on Saturday mornings. I loved the storylines,

the animation style, and the great characters.

I especially enjoyed watching the Joker's antics.

Having an older brother definitely encouraged

me to get into the Batman franchise. I have to

say, I definitely do not regret watching this

every Saturday morning. Batman to me is such

an amazing series, and it's kind of sad that

it's not available to watch on TV anymore. I

hope it comes back one day, because it truly

was one of the best animated franchises ever.

It is kind of sad that kids today do not get

to experience great cartoons like this one. Hopefully,

one day they'll be able to bring back these shows

and put them back on air, so kids of the new

millennium will get to experience what we all

grew up with. That was just some of my thoughts

on Batman the animated series, but don't worry,

I'll be back with more voicemails to talk more

about the DCAU spotlight here on Tooncast. This

is Tara the rising star, signing off. Hello Tooncast.

This is Kevin C. calling in with a few thoughts

on Batman the animated series. This is one of

the few cartoons that I had to catch every episode

of. You know, I had to catch every episode I

could and, you know, if I missed any I was really

mad. But, you know, just the opening alone is

enough to capture any fan. You know, and there

really aren't enough good things that I could

say about this series. I love Bruce Timm's arc

style on the series. And, you know, when it comes

to characters... I love it when an artist can

do more with shape and volume than with lines

and detail. So for example, you can tell that

Batman is muscular without actually drawing tons

of muscles. His shape is what sells the design.

And something else that was really amazing about

the artwork is the fact that they drew on black

paper, which really adds to the mood of the cartoon.

See, when you draw on black paper, it kind of

changes how you think about the composition,

like what sort of stuff you want to weave in

and what stuff to take out. So, you know, that

was a great decision on their part to kind of

flip it like that. And another thing I liked

about the cartoon was the music. You know, they

took it seriously. Just the beat and beautiful

compositions that fit every scene. I still remember

the fight between Bruce Wayne and Killed I Can.

You know, that shit resonates, seriously. I mean,

you know that a cartoon is epic when you can

remember the scene and the music. The sound effects

are memorable as well. You know, the unique sounds

that the machine gun made are very unique, you

know. And it's different, but it works somehow.

And another part that I wanted to hit on was,

you know, That bandana made a series really symbolizes

a turning point in western animation. A lot of

people were saying that, you know, animation

in the west, it's too kiddy, there's no real

depth and... you know, they were turning to anime

to get their fix. And I had issues with friends

of mine that were praising anime like it's the

new hotness when there were awesome cartoons

that they could watch right here. And I'm not

putting anime down by any means, in any way,

shape, or form. I love both styles. I just don't

like it when people hate on shit without giving

it a chance. But, um... Batman the Animated Series

uses... art, music, and story to put it way above

other cartoons. And there aren't many shows that

can say that they're strong in all three of those

areas. It's also one of the only comic to cartoon

properties that made the original better. So

I'm saying that Batman is better because of this

cartoon. And Bruce Tim even gives a nod to Michael

Keaton, Batman, for some of the darkness and

the grit. Because of Batman the Animated Series,

it's now okay to have mature themes and market

towards an older audience. You know, this led

to Superman, Justice League, and all of the DVD

movies that now have a PG -13 rating. So, I would

say that western animation and cartoons in general

owe a lot to Batman the Animated Series. Thanks

y 'all, and I'll talk to you later. Bye. Hi everyone,

Glade, aka the Podcastinator, Podcastify, the

plugin, air freshener, here for thoughts about

BTAS. Oh man, where do I begin? The series that

started it all, the DCAU, influenced my personality.

I was five when it aired. It got me to comics,

the music, the stories, all of it really. Totally

legendary. Sure, there were a few duds, but what

series? outside of Avengers Earth's Mightiest

Heroes. No, seriously, go watch the series. Doesn't

have any. The voice acting, the art, man. What

wasn't great about this series, plus we get the

definitive Batman voice from Kevin Conroy in

a creepy, yet somehow funny Joker from Mark Hamill.

I don't think we'll get anything quite as groundbreaking

as this series, perhaps ever again. Oh, be sure

to check out my podcast, The 8th Circle FL, at

tsaproductions .podb .com. So until the next

DCAU series Superman, I'll talk to you guys later.

Hi, this is Tim leaving a voicemail message about

the upcoming episode of Tooncast, episode 93

on Batman Animated Series. Man, what an incredible

series that was. If you go back and watch the

first episode of that series and compare it to

the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons, you see

exactly where the inspiration for that series

came from. Animation is just incredible. The

look of the show, the designs, you know, they

still resonate with DC animated today. But just

the great storytelling, the dark, overtones of

some of the stories, the dark art that was used

in the background, just all the colors. It's

just an amazing show. It really is incredible.

Very smart storytelling. Just so glad to have

had that amazing show. Greetings from beyond

the new 20... Tooncast once again, I'm the Vacuminator

and I'm coming at you with a voicemail Oh for

the Batman the animated series episode Now I'm

not that familiar with Batman the animated series.

I caught like maybe 20 something episodes on

Boomerang thing one night Hey, cuz they were

having a marathon I'm more familiar with the

DCAU from the Justice League cartoon and I will

be getting the box set of all the DVDs eventually.

Eventually I will. But I digress. Batman the

animated series is a complete masterpiece and

without it we wouldn't have gotten some of the

great cartoons that came after it. Also by Bruce

Kim and company including the currently airing

young justice cartoon, which I love to death

Now There's not really all that much to say about

Batman the animated series in my opinion. It's

just The comics but brought to life and I don't

have to read and I don't particularly like reading

so I love this show but One thing I do want to

comment on real quick, there were two episodes

of the series featuring a character called Baby

Doll who never appeared in the comics and she

was one of several characters who were invented

during the show's airing. Baby Doll is essentially

Gary Coleman but a chick and she's white. And

yes, rest in peace, Gary Coleman. Baby Doll was...

She had a condition that basically made her look

like she was five for her whole life. And in

the episode that we first see her in, she's like

30 -something. Her whole backstory was she was

a... at Inner 20. She was an actor playing a

little girl on a sitcom. She got upstaged by

a new character who had brought in. The show

was shortly thereafter canceled and she's now

seeking revenge on the cast. It was a pretty

good episode and I did really enjoy it. Her second

episode I believe was called Life is a Croc.

I forget the title of her first episode. In Life

is a Croc, she was working at this hotel. A guy

pissed her off at the front desk. And in her

room, she's watching the trial of Killer Croc

who breaks free and runs away. No wait, he gets

recaptured after he breaks free. She goes to

prison and visits him and breaks him out and

they start a relationship. Later on in the episode

she finds out that she's been getting two times.

And she attempts to kill them both by blowing

up a nuclear power plant. Dumbass. Gonna destroy

the whole frickin' city. But Batman and Batgirl

show up to save the day. End of Baby Doll's story.

We never saw her in the comics, to my knowledge,

and I read quite a bit of Batman literature.

Or the movies. And I think she'd be a pretty

good villain for both the movies and the comics.

Just tweak her slightly. Ever so slightly. But

yeah, um... That's all I really have to say on

Batman the animated series It's a fantastic show

and if you're listening to this episode of Tooncast

go out and buy the DVDs right now Go watch it

do it But yes, thanks for listening to this message

and if you put it on the show I thank you and

until next time this is the vacuuminator saying

I'm Batman Hey, I'm calling in for the Batman

Animated Series podcast. This is JT from South

Catoon calling. What can I say about this show

that hasn't already been said? It is my number

one favorite all -time animated series. It has

got the definitive voice of Batman and Kevin

Conroy. I really love this series. My only problem,

the only problem I ever had with this series

is when they went to the new Adventures of Batman

in the last couple seasons, you know, the Red

Sky series where the art style has basically

changed. It went from this really, well not soft,

but it had this like really animated look to

it with the original stuff. Like it was beautiful,

the Bruce Timm style art. And then they went

to like this very angular... Monochrome, but

I didn't like the last couple seasons, but that

animation, notwithstanding, it is one of the

best animated series of all time, in my opinion.

So, anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this, and keep

on geeking out. Okay, bye. Dudes, dudettes! You're

listening to the podcast on the Gatecast Radio

Network! Cowabunga! This is Dr. Wily, and I will

destroy Mega Man while listening to Tooncast!

This is Megatron, leader of the Predacons. And

if you're hearing this, it means the Beast Unleashed

podcast is now over. Yes. In the Beast Unleashed,

myself, Steve Megatron Phillips, Pecan Court

Michael Wilson, and TFG1 Mike review Beast Wars

and Beast Machines in the very first podcast

of its kind. Yes. In the podcast, we interview

voice actors, writers from the show, and talk

in -depth trivia between everything in between.

So... If you're interested, you can tune in to

the now finished Beast Unleashed podcast over

on Geekcastradio .com. Excellent! Yes! Sword

of Omens, give me sight beyond sight. I see a

new episode of Tooncast coming this week. Do

you like retro shows? Did you grow up in either

of the 80s or the 90s? Then tune into Telecast,

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Yakko Warner here, and you're listening to a

podcast on the Geekcast Radio Network. Lucky

you. Welcome to a collaboration between the Geekcast

Radio Network and the Pop Culture Network. This

is From the Command Center, the podcast. I am

your host, DFJ1Mike from the GCRN, and joining

me is Zordon himself. Uh, oh, wait. I mean, Scotty

Cash. That's right Scottie Cash from the Pop

Culture Network and today we're introducing you

to the audio version of from the command center

the podcast that will entail our Intake on Mighty

Morphin Power Rangers the episodes the season

and all that other good stuff So, thank you to

everyone who left us voicemails and to anyone

who said they were going to leave the voicemail

but never did You are not a fan of this podcast

or this cartoon slap in the face slackers Bunch

of freakin slackers. It's all you people are

and if you're a person who's never actually watched

the cartoon That's fine. If you're a person who

is too young to even remember the cartoon. Well,

why are you calling in? But thank you to everybody

seriously that thank you to the six people that

did leave voicemails a couple of things I gotta

point out Our super fan, Kevin Cooper, he says

in his voicemail the new hotness, talking about

anime, and I'm sorry, the first thing that popped

into my head was Agent J. Oh god, that's hilarious.

What else do we want to say about these voicemails

before we give our final thoughts, because I'm

drowning here. Definitely good feedback. I like

a lot of what, for instance, Tara saying it was

a really good show. Everybody kind of nailed

a little piece of it. The only thing I've got

a little peeve with is the whole babydoll comment.

Think that has any place in any movie because

it's always going to be one of the core villains

Yeah, and always should be because that's what

everybody knows. Whereas baby doll was what two

episodes? Yeah, and She was pretty useless. I

Mean if they wanted to make it like a mini B

plot of one of the movies or maybe give her some

sort of Like a running gag through one of the

movies like like We all know after The Dark Knight

Rises, Christopher Nolan is done. So whoever

picks up the mantle of Batman and goes on with

the live -action films, if they want to bring

in Baby Doll as kind of like a little cameo in

the background, I wouldn't mind that, but having

her as a main villain, or even as a secondary

villain, it wouldn't work. See, most of these

characters have been done in a film. I would

rather see the ventriloquist over Babydell in

a film. Bane's been featured twice. I mean, the

new film's gonna have him. I would rather see

the Mad Hatter show up. Killer Croc. A better

rendition of the Riddler, Mr. Freeze. Catwoman's

already gonna show up. A better rendition of

the Penguin. I mean, just... Some of these characters

could be done better. than they've previously

been done. Shit, I'd love to see the Clock King.

I mean, just, it just, I don't see potential

in the Babydow area. I mean, freaking Rupert

Thorne and Tally Al Ghul and Hard Ack are more

villainy than that. I mean, it's just, it's one

of those kind of throwaway villain of the week

type things. Yep. I mean, I'm not trying to bash

the review, but this series, I mean, it's not

a continuation of the comics. The comics are

completely 100 % different from the actual series.

It has nothing to do with the comic line. Right.

Which is why it's the animated series. I've read

the old comics. I had been an avid reader from

the 600s on to 700s before I quit reading them.

And then I just recently started picking it up

again, reading them, due to Batman dying, coming

back to life and all that, and his Batman incorporated

type thing, where there's two Batman. a Robin,

a Batgirl, I mean just all different aspects

of the Bat family expanding through Bruce Wayne's

funding. And this is nothing like the comic series.

No. It draws from older plot lines from the main

comic series of the, you know, pre -80s. Yeah,

but it's still an entity all on its own and the

only way you can truly appreciate it is if you

actually grew up with it If you were you know,

like two years old or five years old when it

came out it's kind of hard to Draw a good viewing

of it Exactly other than I mean I could see where

you could most most people in that age range

like Teen Titans Which has nothing to do with

this at all So, I mean I'm not trying to bash

it I just that's just Hmm. Yeah. Um, I do have

to play I forget who it was I think it was glade

that said something about young justice and And

Bruce Tam dude Bruce Tim has nothing to do with

young justice That's not his style that's more

in line with the dc animated original movies

rather than the bruce tim style uh... however

bruce tim will be coming back with something

in his own style with the new green lantern animated

series coming i think later this year uh... but

as far as my overall thoughts of that many in

series it's it like i said before if you're just

ranking superhero cartoons it should be number

one I don't care what anyone else says, it should

be number one because it is that awesome. The

voice acting, we kind of hit on it a little bit,

we didn't really hit on it too much, but I mean

Kevin Conroy for Christ's sake. He's the definitive

voice for animated Batman. Doesn't matter what

kind of style Batman is drawn in in animation,

Kevin Conroy is the definitive voice. And then

Mark Hamill is the Joker, just an amazing, amazing

voice talent all around the entire cast. Yes,

and when you think of these characters, those

are the voices that come to mind. Exactly. It's

not these live action ones. It's not these other

series. It's this set of actors. You hear them

when you hear this character's name. Oh, yeah,

most definitely Most most definitely so I think

that's gonna do it for us Considering is how

the ghost of tooncast past is bugging us in the

you stream chat Maybe he needs some sort of California

raisin. I don't know. Oh Boy, there's some kind

of telecast there. There's in the California

raisin. There's another date pun for you Thank

you for joining us here on Tooncast. As always,

get in contact with us. Leave feedback for the

show. Visit the website, geekcastradio .com.

Join the forums over at Predacon Empire and Geekcast

Radio. Let's see, what else? I'm probably going

to have to have you edit this because I'm searching

for the iTunes crap because I didn't have it

pulled up at the time. i know can sing over taking

the issue that you more on you bastard you dumbass

and he's taking something even though i'm not

looking at and yet you are to cut all this crap

on stage god i'm drowning here uh... c most recent

yes you can leave the shows feedback in itunes

speaking of itunes we have new reviews 6SYXX

wrote us one on February 11, 2011. Says, great

job. Gives us five stars. Thank you for that

rating. I've listened to just about every episode

of this podcast, and I have to say it's great.

Keep up the good work. I must also commend you

on adding Tara to your cast. She's great. Keep

up the good work. And then we have another one

from long time fan, Jason Jackson. He writes,

excellent, give us five stars. This was posted

on February 15th, 2011. Thank you, Jason, for

writing in. Love the show. First of all, you

guys are great to listen to and each brings something

different to the table and guys do a good job

on doing your homework and giving us as much

info as possible. Keep doing the excellent work.

So, thank you for leaving the iTunes reviews.

Please do so in the future. You can follow us

on Twitter. The show name there is GCRNTunecast.

It's all one word. Mine is DFJoneMike. What is

your Twitter? SCP21. Become a fan on Facebook.

Go to Facebook .com slash Geekcast Radio Network.

You can call the Weisman Line and tell us the

show you're leaving the message for and your

name. 502 -526 -5821. We hope you enjoyed this

episode of Tooncast. I wish you'll join us next

time when we will be continuing the DCAU spotlight

with Superman the animated series and Nightwing

will be returning with me for that one. For now,

I am TFG1 Mike with Steve Megatron Phillips.

Thank you for listening until next time.