Why don't the other DCAU shows get as much praise as Batman: The Animated Series

[Raider969]

Ok, don't get me wrong, I like Batman: The Animated Series, it is one of my favorite cartoons of all time along with the other DC Animated Universe cartoons, like Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

These cartoons are great too, but why don't they get as much praise as Batman: The Animated Series? I believe it is because Batman: The Animated Series was groundbreaking that it had a formula that no other cartoon had before and that the other DC Animated Universe cartoons just took the same groundbreaking formula that made Batman: The Animated Series great and put it on the other shows, but I just want to make sure from other people.

[Immortal Weapon]

I've seen the other DCAU shows get their due respect. I think only Static and Zeta fall to the wayside. Static because it's quality wasn't constant (personally the best episodes of the show were when it has guest stars) and Zeta sucked.

[Sacred Knight]

Yeah, I thought the Timmverse had a pretty good reputation. Batman: TAS is generally regarded as the best, a sentiment I agree with, but the others aren't exactly crapped on. JL/U is pretty beloved by a whole generation of fans, heck I often argue how I think its overrated. Superman: TAS had a healthy fanbase though never doing as much for his mythos as Batman's show did for him. All in all they do get their regard and I think are generally looked upon fondly. Its just that Batman TAS is generally seen as the bar and the gold standard of what would eventually grow into a whole verse of shows.

[j9ac9k]

Ok, don't get me wrong, I like Batman: The Animated Series, it is one of my favorite cartoons of all time along with the other DC Animated Universe cartoons, like Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

These cartoons are great too, but why don't they get as much praise as Batman: The Animated Series? I believe it is because Batman: The Animated Series was groundbreaking that it had a formula that no other cartoon had before and that the other DC Animated Universe cartoons just took the same groundbreaking formula that made Batman: The Animated Series great and put it on the other shows, but I just want to make sure from other people.

I would say yes- that's exactly why. It was ground-breaking, especially with the noir visuals and more mature writing. That show pretty much reinvented every single member of Batman's rogue's gallery and provided the core of who many of them are to this day.

[Thezmage]

Because it was the first and the best.

Also it had a freedom that the latter shows did not. By having nothing before it to answer to and they were able to pick and choose and jump around from one moment to the next without having any need for narrative consistency. They can introduce a Riddler who is never intended to show up again because they have no expectation that they need to follow up. As the shows went on the need for characters to come back (or to bring back characters that were written with no intention of coming back) impacted the stories they could tell.

[Triniking1234]

The Zeta Project is mostly forgotten because of how independent it is from the rest of that universe.

I feel Batman TAS gets the most praise due to the Batman fanbase being pretty vocal about it.

Also Epilogue from JLU seems like the most popular DCAU Batman story.

[Immortal Weapon]

Also Epilogue from JLU seems like the most popular DCAU Batman story.

I wouldn't call it popular. Infamous more like like it.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Because Batman: TAS was far and away the gold standard for the DCAU, a standard precious few shows that followed were able to match. Superman: TAS? Maybe. Justice League? Maybe, but B:TAS was all but untouchable, and remains so to this day.

[DrNewGod]

...These cartoons are great too, but why don't they get as much praise as Batman: The Animated Series? I believe it is because Batman: The Animated Series was groundbreaking that it had a formula that no other cartoon had before and that the other DC Animated Universe cartoons just took the same groundbreaking formula that made Batman: The Animated Series great and put it on the other shows, but I just want to make sure from other people.

I would say yes- that's exactly why. It was ground-breaking, especially with the noir visuals and more mature writing. That show pretty much reinvented every single member of Batman's rogue's gallery and provided the core of who many of them are to this day.

j9ac9k pretty much covered what I came here to say. Also, IMO, Timm really seemed to have poured more of his soul into those first seasons of BTAS than anything that followed.

[Cyke]

Even if B:TAS is the most highly regarded, I feel like a good number of the DCAU shows get their due. Superman evoked a lot of that wow factor from the old Fleischer cartoons. Static Shock gave rise to issues that would predate Miles Morales' own mainstream exposure by many years. Batman Beyond is often seen as a worthy successor to B:TAS. And the sheer number of clips from JL/JLU on Youtube compared to other DCAU shows just indicates its sheer impact (even though B:TAS can easily be uploaded from countless collections), digging the Justice League out of the depths the Super Friends dug for them.

I don't know what the hell the Zeta Project was aiming for exactly, but hey, it gave us a DCAU Diedrich Bader.

[Kirby101]

In the minority, but I liked Superman TAS better than Batman.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The original Batman The Animated Series gets praised or singled out because:

It's the Longest show.
With 85 half-hour episodes (and 2 Made For TV movies - Mask of the Phantasm, Sub-Zero), it's longer than
--Superman TAS (54 half-hour Episodes),
-- The New Batman Adventures (24 half-hour Episodes and 1 Made for TV movie - Mystery of the Batwoman),
-- Justice League (24 half-hour epsidoes in S1, 13 double-part episodes in S2 airing 1hr each. Total both seasons comes about to 52 half-hour episodes, especially once you sub-divide the three-parters and the single half-hour episode 'Comfort and Joy")
-- Justice League Unlimited (39 half-hour episodes)
-- Batman Beyond (52 half-hour episodes + 1 Made for TV Movie - Return of the Joker).

In terms of episodes, JL+JLU combined has BTAS beat but as a single show, BTAS outshines all of them. Since there's so much more of BTAS to dive into than the later series, it does occupy a disproportionate space.

It has a unique visual style

The other DCAU shows have a streamlined visual style, whereas BTAS has a unique aesthetic. It's got Art Deco backgrounds, 30s-50s style car designs and costumes, film noir style visuals and backgrounds. The BTAS show also has those unique title cards that none of the later shows mimicked. For someone interested in aesthetics, the BTAS show is a lot more original and distinct (looking like no other superhero cartoon or for that matter any cartoon in any genre) than the follow-up shows do, which have a greater realism, grounded sensibility, and while quite stylish doesn't stand out so much from other action cartoons made in that time.

It's more standalone whereas later shows are serialized

BTAS isn't continuity heavy at all, except for the 2-Part episodes and one or two instances. You can watch the episodes out of order and any order. It's not serialized. Whereas the later DCAU shows are heavily serialized. Superman TAS for instance builds episode to episode to big arcs dealing with Brainiac and Darkseid. Justice League especially the JLU series is heavily serialized.

It focuses heavily and exclusively on Bruce Wayne/Batman

Most Batman TAS episodes focus on Bruce Wayne/Batman as a character, putting you in his shoes and in his mind. There are big episodes dealing with Robin/Grayson of course but they pale in comparison to the show's focus on Bruce. The later DCAU shows, The New Batman Adventures especially deal with Batfamily stuff, with sidekicks. Batman Beyond deals with his legacy character, Terry McGinnis. Justice League is about an entire ensemble.

Ultimately Kevin Conroy's Batman is the protagonist of the entire DCAU, the entire continuity is about his career from beginning to retirement and old age, so that only adds to the importance of BTAS.

It's a lot less darker than the later shows

This might be a surprise since so many talk about how the Bruce Timm/Dini cartoons are dark and so on. And yeah it was darker in comparison to other cartoons but on the whole the BTAS shows mix dark and light, it has a Batman and Bruce that cracks jokes, smiles, and banters with Alfred, Gordon and others. Whereas the Batman of later series is a jerk and A-hole. If you see it as a whole, you can see it as a tragedy, Bruce slowly becoming darker and colder, and that's addressed in the TNBA episode - "Old Wounds" which shows in flashback how Robin Grayson quit because he couldn't put up with him anymore.

Conclusion

So that focus on a single character and his world, the standalone low-continuity nature of the stories, greater humor, unique aesthetics, and greater volume of content make BTAS the most original, most unique, and most famous of the DCAU. I personally think that's somewhat unfair because the later shows are as good if not better than BTAS. And it's not a case that later stuff hasn't been influential. Like you know Injustice Superman derives from the JL two-parter "A Better World". "Over the Edge" inspired Arkham Knight.

[DrNewGod]

The original Batman The Animated Series gets praised or singled out because:

It's the Longest show.
With 85 half-hour episodes (and 2 Made For TV movies - Mask of the Phantasm, Sub-Zero), it's longer than
--Superman TAS (54 half-hour Episodes),
-- The New Batman Adventures (24 half-hour Episodes and 1 Made for TV movie - Mystery of the Batwoman),
-- Justice League (24 half-hour epsidoes in S1, 13 double-part episodes in S2 airing 1hr each. Total both seasons comes about to 52 half-hour episodes, especially once you sub-divide the three-parters and the single half-hour episode 'Comfort and Joy")
-- Justice League Unlimited (39 half-hour episodes)
-- Batman Beyond (52 half-hour episodes + 1 Made for TV Movie - Return of the Joker).

In terms of episodes, JL+JLU combined has BTAS beat but as a single show, BTAS outshines all of them. Since there's so much more of BTAS to dive into than the later series, it does occupy a disproportionate space.

It has a unique visual style

The other DCAU shows have a streamlined visual style, whereas BTAS has a unique aesthetic. It's got Art Deco backgrounds, 30s-50s style car designs and costumes, film noir style visuals and backgrounds. The BTAS show also has those unique title cards that none of the later shows mimicked. For someone interested in aesthetics, the BTAS show is a lot more original and distinct (looking like no other superhero cartoon or for that matter any cartoon in any genre) than the follow-up shows do, which have a greater realism, grounded sensibility, and while quite stylish doesn't stand out so much from other action cartoons made in that time.

It's more standalone whereas later shows are serialized

BTAS isn't continuity heavy at all, except for the 2-Part episodes and one or two instances. You can watch the episodes out of order and any order. It's not serialized. Whereas the later DCAU shows are heavily serialized. Superman TAS for instance builds episode to episode to big arcs dealing with Brainiac and Darkseid. Justice League especially the JLU series is heavily serialized.

It focuses heavily and exclusively on Bruce Wayne/Batman

Most Batman TAS episodes focus on Bruce Wayne/Batman as a character, putting you in his shoes and in his mind. There are big episodes dealing with Robin/Grayson of course but they pale in comparison to the show's focus on Bruce. The later DCAU shows, The New Batman Adventures especially deal with Batfamily stuff, with sidekicks. Batman Beyond deals with his legacy character, Terry McGinnis. Justice League is about an entire ensemble.

Ultimately Kevin Conroy's Batman is the protagonist of the entire DCAU, the entire continuity is about his career from beginning to retirement and old age, so that only adds to the importance of BTAS.

It's a lot less darker than the later shows

This might be a surprise since so many talk about how the Bruce Timm/Dini cartoons are dark and so on. And yeah it was darker in comparison to other cartoons but on the whole the BTAS shows mix dark and light, it has a Batman and Bruce that cracks jokes, smiles, and banters with Alfred, Gordon and others. Whereas the Batman of later series is a jerk and A-hole. If you see it as a whole, you can see it as a tragedy, Bruce slowly becoming darker and colder, and that's addressed in the TNBA episode - "Old Wounds" which shows in flashback how Robin Grayson quit because he couldn't put up with him anymore.

Conclusion

So that focus on a single character and his world, the standalone low-continuity nature of the stories, greater humor, unique aesthetics, and greater volume of content make BTAS the most original, most unique, and most famous of the DCAU. I personally think that's somewhat unfair because the later shows are as good if not better than BTAS. And it's not a case that later stuff hasn't been influential. Like you know Injustice Superman derives from the JL two-parter "A Better World". "Over the Edge" inspired Arkham Knight.

That's a good analysis.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

In the minority, but I liked Superman TAS better than Batman.

It might be more consistent than BTAS (which has some weak episodes and the animation quality in later seasons dipped).

I like the Superman of the TAS and the DCAU on the whole. He's a believably flawed, relatable, but essentially decent version of the character. Superman TAS captures a range of attitudes in a single character. He's kind and decent but also insecure and lonely, he's humble but he can also be a little smug. And Superman TAS' version on Lois has more or less become the template of the character in the comics. After the show, the comics' Lois started wearing a lot of purple and had purple eyes, and called Clark "Smallville" and it's become impossible to not hear Dana Delany's voice.

My favorite episodes include "My Girl" (a Lana Lang who's basically Mary Jane Watson), "Mxyzsplxiated" (my favorite Superman bad guy gets the episode that Paul Dini cited as his favorite), the Bizarro episodes which are hilarious and sad, and of course all the Fourth World Episodes. It was a pretty big deal for me and others to see Dan Turpin get killed by Darkseid, it was a rare instance of on-screen death in a kid's cartoon, and especially a superhero cartoon aired primetime. You didn't get that in the Batman cartoons (where death only appeared on-screen in the made for TV movies). And "World's Finest" was great as is "Knight Time" (aka Superman cosplays as Batman and fights Brainiac).

It's kind of sad that we haven't had a Superman cartoon since STAS ended. It's more than 20 years now since that ended and in that time there's been a Green Lantern the Animated Series, two successive Batman cartoons (The Batman, Beware the Batman, both forgettable) but no series focusing on Superman since then.

[Huntsman Spider]

It might be more consistent than BTAS (which has some weak episodes and the animation quality in later seasons dipped).

I like the Superman of the TAS and the DCAU on the whole. He's a believably flawed, relatable, but essentially decent version of the character. Superman TAS captures a range of attitudes in a single character. He's kind and decent but also insecure and lonely, he's humble but he can also be a little smug. And Superman TAS' version on Lois has more or less become the template of the character in the comics. After the show, the comics' Lois started wearing a lot of purple and had purple eyes, and called Clark "Smallville" and it's become impossible to not hear Dana Delany's voice.

My favorite episodes include "My Girl" (a Lana Lang who's basically Mary Jane Watson), "Mxyzsplxiated" (my favorite Superman bad guy gets the episode that Paul Dini cited as his favorite), the Bizarro episodes which are hilarious and sad, and of course all the Fourth World Episodes. It was a pretty big deal for me and others to see Dan Turpin get killed by Darkseid, it was a rare instance of on-screen death in a kid's cartoon, and especially a superhero cartoon aired primetime. You didn't get that in the Batman cartoons (where death only appeared on-screen in the made for TV movies). And "World's Finest" was great as is "Knight Time" (aka Superman cosplays as Batman and fights Brainiac).

It's kind of sad that we haven't had a Superman cartoon since STAS ended. It's more than 20 years now since that ended and in that time there's been a Green Lantern the Animated Series, two successive Batman cartoons (The Batman, Beware the Batman, both forgettable) but no series focusing on Superman since then.

The closest would be Legion of Super Heroes from the mid-2000s that had a young Superman as the viewpoint character, since DC didn't have the rights to Superboy at the time . . . and voiced by a pre-Spider-Man Yuri Lowenthal, no less.