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

[corbanford]

Hey y'all, my name is Corban, and I'm new so forgive me if you've discussed this in the ghosts of forums past, I'm just genuinely interested in thoughts over this series overall. Admittedly I'm also pretty happy to start what I hope will be a fruitful little chat here.

[Celgress]

Groundbreaking and fantastic, an instant classic. Likely the definitive depiction of the Batman's world outside of the comics.

Edit - This is The Animated Series we are discussing, right? If so, there might be a typo in the thread title. If not, I apologize for my ignorance.

[MajorHoy]

Edit - This is The Animated Series we are discussing, right? If so, there might be a typo in the thread title. If not, I apologize for my ignorance.

I'm also wondering, since at least here in the U.S. we had Batman: The Animated Series (B:TAS) from 1992-1995 and The New Batman Adventures (TNBA) from 1997-1999.

[BruceWayneJr.]

I was the biggest fan of BTAS and the redesigns for TNBA made me livid. After seeing them in action, the fluidity and dynamicism of the animation won me over and I see the change as a natural progression of the story.

[Batman Begins 2005]

I really liked TNBA show. The redesigns were hit and miss though, usually the latter.

[Batman Begins 2005]

I'm also wondering, since at least here in the U.S. we had Batman: The Animated Series (B:TAS) from 1992-1995 and The New Batman Adventures (TNBA) from 1997-1999.

Same in UK. B: TAS and TNBA.

[Armor of God]

It has its flaws but its still the definitive Batman material for me.

[Vinsanity]

I thought it was average (TNAS). I have re-watched only once.

[sunofdarkchild]

It was pretty good, but a clear step down in quality.

Most of the new villains were terrible. The Joker was neutered and was always depicted as a down-on-his-luck loser rather than an actual threat. Most returning villains were just less effective than they were before, with very rare exceptions.

I dislike most of the redesigns. Joker in particular was terrible. Commissioner Gordon also went full-on decrepit for some reason. Scarecrow was the only one I remember being an improvement over the original BTAS design.

The character of Batman had less depth. For whatever reason Conroy stopped changing his voice and did the gruff Batman voice for both Bruce and Batman, while at the same time Batman was depicted as meaner, more manipulative, and humourless than he was before.

There were standout episodes, like the 1 where Batgirl is 'killed' and the 1 where Robin meets Clayface's daughter, but it could never approach the best episodes of the original BTAS or stay as consistently good.

[Master Planner]

It was pretty good, but a clear step down in quality.

Most of the new villains were terrible. The Joker was neutered and was always depicted as a down-on-his-luck loser rather than an actual threat. Most returning villains were just less effective than they were before, with very rare exceptions.

I dislike most of the redesigns. Joker in particular was terrible. Commissioner Gordon also went full-on decrepit for some reason. Scarecrow was the only one I remember being an improvement over the original BTAS design.

The character of Batman had less depth. For whatever reason Conroy stopped changing his voice and did the gruff Batman voice for both Bruce and Batman, while at the same time Batman was depicted as meaner, more manipulative, and humourless than he was before.

There were standout episodes, like the 1 where Batgirl is 'killed' and the 1 where Robin meets Clayface's daughter, but it could never approach the best episodes of the original BTAS or stay as consistently good.

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,

[MarkRodriguez09]

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.

[bat39]

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.

That makes sense actually.

BTAS was kinda a throwback to the Bronze Age Batman of the 70's and early 80's - thematically and plot-wise (a number of episodes were in fact adapted from this era).

TNBA, from what little I've seen of it, was far more reflective of the then-contemporary Modern Age Batman.

Well, the 'untold' story was told in the 'Batman Adventures: The Lost Years' comic, though that focused mostly on Dick's transition to Nightwing from what I remember. But broadly what happened is the same thing that happened in the comics - Dick left and Bruce gradually become increasingly darker without a partner and because the years of crime-fighting were starting to take a toll on him.

[Mistah K88]

Designs were hit an miss for me. Some characters like Clayface, Harley, and Two-Face were simply streamlined and looked very similar. Some characters like Penguin and Scarecrow were MASSIVE improvements. Characters like Ivy and Catwoman, were different...but alright and would be better with some small modifications. Some like Riddler...No...just no...

It was pretty good, but a clear step down in quality.

Most of the new villains were terrible. The Joker was neutered and was always depicted as a down-on-his-luck loser rather than an actual threat. Most returning villains were just less effective than they were before, with very rare exceptions.

I dislike most of the redesigns. Joker in particular was terrible. Commissioner Gordon also went full-on decrepit for some reason. Scarecrow was the only one I remember being an improvement over the original BTAS design.

The character of Batman had less depth. For whatever reason Conroy stopped changing his voice and did the gruff Batman voice for both Bruce and Batman, while at the same time Batman was depicted as meaner, more manipulative, and humourless than he was before.

There were standout episodes, like the 1 where Batgirl is 'killed' and the 1 where Robin meets Clayface's daughter, but it could never approach the best episodes of the original BTAS or stay as consistently good.

I like to think of Joker having a lot of his operations in Gotham shut down as Batman being effective. Interestingly, I'd say Joker had quite the body count in TNBA from World's Finest alone...

As for Batman becoming more cold, I can see that as him becoming cynical after so many years of this. By Batman Beyond Bruce didn't believe Victor Fries had changed at all, due to going through "reformations" from Ivy, Riddler, Two Face, Joker, etc.

Overall I liked it still and am one of the few people who will clump the shows together when talking about BTAS. While it may not have too many Heart of Ice like episodes... Or rather, a lot of episodes like Over the Edge, it didn't have episodes as bad as "I've got Batman in my Basement"...though "Critters" comes PRETTY close..

[Batman Begins 2005]

I liked Batman's redesign but preferred the original...which goes for nearly all of them. Scarecrow was the only improvement. Riddler and Joker were especially bad.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

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 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.