Batman TNAS Retrospective: what are your overall thoughts on the series?

[Miles To Go]

Knowing all that has come out of the TNBA/Beyond universe and Timm's perverse ideas about Bruce and Barbera, I don't even associate TAS with TNBA any longer, to me the latter is an elseworld. I kind of like the idea that the franchise ended with a happy ending for Mr. Freeze (fitting too, given Heart of Ice was what initially put the show on the map for me)

[corbanford]

Oh I'm sorry, I totally agree with your thoughts on the animated series as a whole, more specifically though I was referring to The New Batman Adventures (TNBA) from 1997-1999, which has had a decidedly more mixed response in my opinion.

[corbanford]

Oh yeah, I definitely don't blame you for that. Timm has...lost some points with me to be sure, not at all with his great stories but just his more recent devotion to "fan-service" over cohesive plot.

[corbanford]

Oh yes, sorry for not clarifying further. When I used TNBA I meant the The New Batman Adventures (TNBA) from 1997-1999.

[corbanford]

Completely agree.

[corbanford]

The bold one is my only criticism to the show. Batman in TAS was probably the best version of Batman, Conroy voice acting was excellent and you could feel the difference in tone between Bruce and Batman.Plus,he was a character who showed interest in helping some of his villains rehab.

The New Adventures version was closer to the comics, with Batman being a Batgod/Batjerk and Conroy stopped trying to make an effort.Unfortunately,this followed all his voice acting as Batman after that,

That is very true!

[corbanford]

In a way, I kinda feel there's some untold story between TAS and TNBA that turned Batman into the colder and bitter version we see in the last season. Batman Beyond just expanded on that version of Bruce which made him so cold and obsessed with his mission, he ended up being old and alone because he drove everyone away.

I honestly wish there were more stories told in that continuity that delved into Bruce/Batman post-TNAS before Batman Beyond, because I definitely agree.

[Mace Dolex]

the redesign for Bruce Wayne was an improvement, he went from looking fat/squat wearing oversized suits to looking slimmer in slick black suits.

[Mistah K88]

I'd say Selina's civilian design was an improvement from BTAS as well. I've always liked her with black hair better. The best part is they explained why she went from blonde to black in a tie in comic.

Another thing to mention is that I'd say Catwoman was handled better in TNBA than BTAS. In the latter, she seemed to always be a damsel in distress.

[Batman Begins 2005]

In a way, I kinda feel there's some untold story between TAS and TNBA that turned Batman into the colder and bitter version we see in the last season. Batman Beyond just expanded on that version of Bruce which made him so cold and obsessed with his mission, he ended up being old and alone because he drove everyone away.

Third this motion.

[MajorHoy]

Oh yes, sorry for not clarifying further. When I used TNBA I meant the The New Batman Adventures (TNBA) from 1997-1999.

Problem was that you didn't use "TNBA" in your original post.
You said

Batman TNAS Retrospective

which was the big problem people had understanding what you were trying to talk about.

[SiegePerilous02]

I definitely regard TNBA as the lesser sequel to B:TAS. The character designs are crappier, while it may lead to more streamlined animation it never looked as good as B:TAS did when the animation was firing on all cylinders. I didn't like Bruce getting colder (though he was still leaps and bounds better than BatJerk of the comics at the time), didn't care for the conflict with Dick which we know didn't end happily by the time of Beyond (and Nightwing is deeply unsatisfying without the Titans history), and the Bruce/Babs stuff is atrocious. B:TAS is distilled perfection for the Bat Mythos, TNBA is okay as the next best thing but cannot beat the original.

Scarecrow's new design was awesome though.

[Spencermalley935]

TNAS was an overall solid Batman show with some truly excellent episodes (Legends of the Dark Knight, Over the Edge) but I vastly prefer TAS especially in terms of character designs.

[corbanford]

I always hated that shift in TNBA. They never bothered to explain the change, and it reeked as an excuse to have unnecessary melodrama between Bruce, Dick, and Barbara. It works better in Beyond because of the story they were trying to tell, and the gap in time is big enough where I can actually buy B:TAS Bruce becoming bitter.

I completely agree with that. It was just a weird jump to not have any explanation. They could have definitely benefited from fleshing it out a bit more, even the comic didn't do that period justice in my opinion.

[SiegePerilous02]

I think his encounter with Andrea was meant to be what put him down a darker path. While I love that movie on its own, if that were the case it's not very satisfying and you kind of want Bruce to just suck it up already and call Selina or something.