i remember when it cams on sunday nights sometimes. it was touted on saturday mornings "REMEMBER KIDS: THE BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES SPECIAL COMES ON TOMORROW NIGHT AFTER THE SIMPSONS!" and if you have a lead in like the simpsons, that is AMAZING. me and my dad would watch it. even my mom loved it! the only kid shows i know which made the primetime jump were batman and power rangers which came on for a month on thursday nights when they introduced the thunderzords. x-men came on ONCE on sunday nights to bad ratings to my knowledge. but otherwise, batman was the show which was good enough to, if it stayed on fox, could dominate prime time.

Batman and Spectacular Spider-Man were one one those shows that could really translate into live action well, maybe even Young Justice as well.

This show was probably the greatest gig Mari Hamill had since star wars. To me he is the only voice of the Joker. The Kevin Michael Richardson version in The Batman was tepid and whoever does the Joker in Brave and the Bold just sucks.

@thveej said:

greatest cartoon i have ever watched....EVER

Agreed...

Batman TAS is the best the world saw on TV ever!

@johnny_spam said:

God I loved this show. I think it is one that people who do not read comics or watch animation might be surprised at how good it was with the right episode some I think people would shrug off and hopefully no one's first episode is "I've got Batman in my Basement."

It was a show we needed that helped American animation raise it's bar and did lead to shows like Justice League Unlimited which I think is a bit more better.

Only two things bothered me one has nothing to do with how the show was made but the attempts at always replicating it or the impression it is the only way to do Batman. Kevin Conroy does not always have to be Batman. Joker does not have to only act like he did in this show. The other was introducing Harley Quinn, a worthless character that I think only works for nostalgic reasons she has done nothing of importance since Mad Love.

Agreed on all.

1 of the greatest animated series of all time!!!

Are we forgetting Justice League or Justice League Unlimited?

I got into comics because of this show.

What age range would you say the show is best for? I have two nephews ages 5 and 2 and I would live to give them the DVDs at some point but I think it might be a bit much for them right now, and they could be a little scared of stuff like Two-face and Scarecrow. I think I'm definitely going to get them Super Hero Squad next time they visit next summer, but definitely want to eventually want to get them on BTAS, X-Men, and the Spiderman cartoons at some point.

I think my favorite episode was [I think] the second appearance of Clayface. Tragically beautiful. The morose score touched on the emotion I felt when Clayface couldn't keep his form in the rain and fell from the cliffs. Ron Perlman had the perfect voice for it. Come to think of it, it may have been his first appearance.

Batman TAS, Superman TAS, Justice League TAS, proudly presents by DC produced by fans for fans. The Batman was kind of awful comparing the TAS and BAtman was weak in this one.

Sure Marvel did well too with Spiderman TAS, X-Men TAS, but The Spectacular Spider-Man was a little kiddy for me. Iron Man Armored Adventures pretty bad, Wolverine and the X-Men better than X-Men Evolution which was weak and boring.

Now we have Young Justice and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, I prefer YJ because I feel a more adult side with this one. Both are great also.

Its the ONLY Animated series of DC I took to buying. Not until the DC direct to video's start did I find another series to get...but the only ones I've wanted have Batman in them.

Wonder Woman was Awesome along with the Shazam/Superman collections of shorts.

Best Superman is still MAX & DAVE FLEISCHER series. Its the only one I own.

JLA sereis is Great too...but in comparison to just the BATMAN series...no contest. Even the 1st animated Batman movie (bought that soundtrack) beats it down.

Batman the animated series just delivered the story/development/drama/GREAT MUSIC and most importantly it kept itself on track with the batman universe that was. Its remembered more I think because in comparison to other animated series, a stronger focus seem to went into Batman, even some episodes have a different feel to them. The animation in the Max & Dave Superman holds up better in emotion than Superman series of now.

The new DC direct to video movies are to me bringing that level back. Each movie does well, but holds up strong and different.

Still waiting for my Wonder Woman animated 4 season TV show? With all this great animation going on, and DC reboot, Wonder Woman (Original Universe) should get one. She's the only one of the big 3 that doesn't have one.

The 90's were definitely a great time for cartoons. Though I disagree that the X-Men TAS looks dated today, like the Batman and Spider-Man shows it still holds up. All 3 of them were fantastic and you really do have to wonder just how many people were pulled into reading the comics after seeing those shows.

No dispute. Easily the best animated comic book series ever. I liked the Spider Man series and the Super Man one was good to, partially because they toned him down, but nothing before or since holds a candle to Batman TAS. So respectful of the source material, so brave to spin it in their own direction, and also so well written that it introduced a new character that ended up in the comics. Love that show.

@n25philly: Definitely Super Hero Squad for that age. They'll love it. I'd wait until the older one is 7 or 8 years old. They may get it now, but it could also scare them. The five year old might be able to watch it, but the two year old might not even sit through it because the pacing is a little slower in order to establish mood, and at that age his attention span would be better suited to Super Hero Squad. I'd say at 7 or 8, the older one will love it. And by then the younger one will be 4 or 5 and should be able to attend for longer on something like that. And if his big brother is loving it, he will too.

Parts could be a little scary, like I said, but around 7 or 8 it should be fine. Just don't show them the animated movies. I haven't seen Mask of the Phantasm or Sub-Zero in a long time, but I remember the Batman Beyond movie Return of the Joker was really dark, so avoid that until they are at least 10 or so.

Of course, check for yourself and with the family. I'd say in order of content maturity, it goes like this: Super Hero Squad -> Spider-Man (90's) -> X-Men (90's) -> Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes -> Batman Animated Series. Avengers you very likely show before at least X-Men, but you'd have to check watch it yourself. It's an excellent show, but right now I'm just blanking on the scariness/maturity of the content.

@daredeville: Thank you. Along the lines of what I was thinking. Definitely getting Super Hero Squad for them and maybe Spiderman as the older nephew loves Spiderman. I'll probably work them through the others one year at a time.

Nice little write-up, Tom. I'll have to go back and check out your X-Men and Spider-Man articles too.

You are right that this show gets more love from our community, but I feel like it doesn't get as much from the entertainment community at large. It did win Emmys and various other awards, and really launch Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's careers, but when people list their favorite series, this doesn't often make it in the same breath as Seinfeld, Lost, etc. And among other cartoons, it is always the comedies, which is something you talk about. People will always say their favorites are the Matt Groening or Seth McFarland shows or South Park, sometimes Archer or Venture Bros., but BAS doesn't get listed the same way. It's too bad.

This just got me thinking – did you watch The New Adventures of Johnny Quest? My brother and I loved that one...

Also, I still hold strong to my believe that Kevin Conroy is the best Batman ever. He gets the character so well, and balances his Batman and Bruce Wayne voices expertly (he even has been quoted talking about how Bruce Wayne is the "mask" and Batman is who this man truly is). Mark Hamill is tied as my favorite Joker with Heath Ledger, as they are two different – but equally brilliant – interpretations.

@n25philly: Yeah, I think that is the way to go. No only is it on level of scariness, I think it is also on the level of understanding what is happening and being able to "get" that and appreciate it in addition to not be (too) afraid.

Glad I could help!

batman and Spider-man TAS

Because of Batman the Animated Series I get offended when people claim cartoons and superhero shows are strictly for kids.

I loved this series...but I think that I am more of a fan of JLU

And I was just talking about that show today

I own and have watched every single episode i say this and spiderman animated series were the best superhero cartoons eva

Maybe X-men TAS too.

They seemed a little more serious than any other Superhero show. Every Spiderman cartoon (minus the computer animated one), Hulk cartoon, etc. were directed to 7 year olds.

Kinda unrelated, but I prefer Marvel comics, but that being saaid DC in the 'cartoon and movie' deprtment is way better than Marvel right now.

The 90's were IT for American Animated Series. We have a few good ones here and there but nothing can top the 90's.

@Vance Astro said:

The 90's were IT for American Animated Series. We have a few good ones here and there but nothing can top the 90's.

Actually, the JLU series from 2001-2006 was the last good DC show....

Superman the animated series was great! Then when they merged Batman and Superman it got even better. Justice League and Unlimited was just F'ing AWESOME! Batman Beyond gets 5 stars. So the answer to this topic would be no, Batman the animated series isnt the only Superhero Cartoon Viewers Took Seriously.

I really enjoyed this article, and I kind of thought it could have gone on longer. Like reminiscing with a friend. I actually wanted to read more,lol. Nice read.

After months following your site, today I set my mind up straight to the point where I finally had to sign in myself in order to gather to these good fellas' common voice and say that this is a damn well deserved article, and this is one of the best animated shows ever, and surely as hell the best concerning any superhero. not only that, but, as some already also said so, this series were one of the best in the sense of delivering the character in it's most definite and desirable form. Gloomy, cynical and as disturbed as any of his rivals, he also gets to stand alone and deliver that kind of inner-reflection that is one of the highlights of Batman. Robin might have been ok over the decades to humanize the character, but any Batman real fan will prefer to catch their hero investigating the bad guys alone and living the tension of not knowing what he's thinking or will do all the time, as well as not having someone joking around and trying to make him laugh, except for Joker, of course.

Also, you gotta love the fact that almost all the action takes place during the night; unlike Justice league animated, or... well, let's not even get there.

Definitively the Best animated Batman and superhero show ever, and one of the best animated series ever made.

Congratulations for bringing this one up, and thanks for suporting great entertainment.

before the 80s ever no animated series was taken seriously.

@Black_Kn1ght said:

before the 80s ever no animated series was taken seriously.

Johnny Quest (1964/65).

Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, JLA & JLA Unlimited were awesome. hope they start them again. & this article is way 2 cool, thanx

Nostalgic T^T

To date, this is my favorite comic book cartoon ever, with Batman Beyond coming in a close second.

Any love for The Brave and The Bold? I love their depiction of the Silver Age Batman.

Undeniably my favorite repetetive Batman fix: eminently watchable, brilliantly paced, well voiced, and Harley Quinn is the Bees Knees, yo. Nothing against the Nolan and Burton offerings, mind you, but compared to animation at the time, it was a can't miss show. Still is.