Batman the Animated Series: A Timeless Classic

Holy Cartoons, Batman!

In a world full of crime, fast cars, mysterious ladies, greasy food, politics, and jagged shadows, one animated series shines and still shines as a beacon of hope for animators all around the world: Batman the Animated Series.

With a kick-ass composer like Danny Elfman, the fan-faring trumpets immediately thrust the audience into its arms by quickly transitioning images of the Warner Brother's Studio logo into another image of lights hovering over Gotham City. Elfman was also the musical genius behind Tim Burton's first Batman movie titled, "Batman."

It is my observation that the dark tones Elfman chooses to wield in the intro's musical score was highly influential to Franz Schubert's score for the 2008 film "The Dark Knight." The stunning intro of Season 1 ends with Batman standing firm on a building gazing at the city but never displays the title of the show.

After the music and opening visuals have set the mood, immediately the viewers are engaged by what appears to be a movie title from some Alfred Hitchcock film. Each title to each episode is unique in its own way yet still maintains a movie title-like quality. The title of the episodes having a film-noir presence is incredibly reflective of the show's ability to present visual story telling frame by frame, angle by angle, as if the viewer is watching a movie rather than a silly side scrolling cartoon such as the Looney Tunes that mainly pans from right to left or left to right. Comic nerds and fans alike will notice that angles and frame-like sequences also portray themselves to be similar to that of a graphic novel (such as V for Vendetta.)

Lastly animators and illustrators alike should appreciate the show's lighting. Every block of Gotham City is covered in droves of shadows. By the shadows being so effective for setting the overall tone, the lighting from fire places or flashlights are even more powerful because of the surrounding darkness of the images. My biggest complaint with modern animated shows of today is their lack for detail to these, once again, film-like attributes. Shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The New Series (An EXTREMELY important note) are too bright and lack the level of depth that Batman the Animated Series executes.

Final Diagnosis:

- Kick ass intro/ music

- Film-like appreciation

- Lighting effects/ Attention to Detail

Who is Darkwing Duck?

Patient:
Darkwing Duck's real identity is Drake Mallard of St. Canard, a city similar to Duckburg but with more of a Gotham City flavor.

Bio:
Mallard takes on the appearance of not only a fighter but an intellectual, and introspective citizen of St. Canard. He says things like, " The bad part of town... where the sun never shines, where brutality is a way of life, and where, uh, people just rea... they're really not very nice at all. Really."

According to fans and scholarly observers of this Disney hero, Mallard's crime-fighting image is based off of D.C. Comics' Crimson Avenger and Batman. Mallard has a grappling gun, an aircraft called the Thunderquack, and a motorcycle known as the Ratcatcher. He loves solving mysteries using his detective skills such as magnifying glasses and deductive reasoning; thus enforcing the ideals of D.C.'s audience.

Symptoms:
- patient suffers from over confidence, selfishness, and arrogance.
- patient has an uncanny ability throughout the series to know exactly who is behind what crime.
- patient tries to be professional even though he himself is unprofessional.

Final Diagnosis:
The hero is more incompetent than he should be. It is apparent that throughout the series he is only able to complete his missions with the help of others.