Batman The Animated Series And Batman The Brave And The Bold

I am a huge fan of Warner Bros. animated superhero TV series and Direct-To-DVD movies that have been produced over the last 20+ years.  Batman, Superman, The Justice League, The Teen Titans and others have raised the bar when it comes to animation.

But, if it were not for a 1989 movie such cartoons may have never been made.  Tim Burton's Batman, and its sequel Batman Returns, upped the ante when it came to super hero movies.  Gone were the Biff! Bam! Pow!, one-dimensional characters, silly dialogue and ridiculous storylines.

The movies redefined what a comic book movie could be: engrossing storyline, interesting characters with multi-levels and action the drew the viewer into the stories.

Warner Bros. Animation took a big gamble and decided to produce a Batman animated series with much the same flavor and look as the two Tim Burton Batman movies.  The stories were more mature, the characters well fleshed out and complex and the animation cutting edge with huge action scenes, moody backgrounds and sober settings.

Gone was the bright primary color theme.  Instead lots of deep colors and blacks accented by dynamic lighting set the tone for the series that portrayed The Dark Knight as a true creature of the night and a formidable crime fighter.

Often the line between heroes and villains was blurred.  Talented voice actors were hired to play key roles such as Mark Hamill as the Joker.  The series was played seriously and audiences loved it.

Warner Bros. has compiled the complete series on 17-discs in a massive collector's slip cased box that also includes a full-color booklet containing characters, background, equipment, weapons and vehicles guides and never-seen-before artwork.

Commentaries on 12 episodes, a bonus disc documentary: Shades Of The Bat: Batman's Animated Gotham and 8 in-depth featurettes complete the package. This is a remarkable collection of a series that rejuvenated and perhaps saved the animated super hero animated series on TV and disc.

A great deal of gratitude is due Warner Bros. Animation for taking the chance on what was then an untested and iffy proposition. 

This next animated series DVD collection would not have ever existed except for the ground-breaking work done on the Batman Animated Series.

While the original Batman show was dark and somber, Batman The Brave And The Bold harkens back to 1950s and 1960s Silver Age adventures of Batman.  In the series Batman is a much more colorful character who finds himself in some outrageous situations accompanied by many of DC Comics' cast of characters.  

Whether it's supernatural tales guest-starring Dr. Fate and the Demon or whimsical tales with Batmite or Elongated Man or cosmic epics with OMAC or Green Lantern the series is high on action, filled with clever dialogue and bursting with unique characters and situations.  Look for the entire first season on DVD.