you be daffy, I'll be dilly

[thehefner]

So I finally brought myself to watch an episode of THE BATMAN, the new animated series. I'd avoided it like the plague beforehand since... ok, I freely admit it, I think the 90's Dini/Timm BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES is about as close to perfect as you can get for a "kids" cartoon, not to mention a brilliant summation of the comics' spirit. I reluctantly admit that I'm biased; reluctant, because I don't want that to invalidate my opinion when I say that this show is... not good.

I mean, I don't want to outright say it's crap based on having only watched one full episode, but every single character design and plot I've followed about this show has given me zero interest to watch it. Like, the idea of making the Riddler a Marilyn Manson wannabe. Not even Robert Englund's vocal talents could draw me to that. In fact, let's bring up vocal talents for a moment. Again, I'm biased because B:TAS had some of the very best voice casting I've ever seen in animation. Now some of the vocal casting for this current show sounds interesting (like Englund and Gina Gershon as Catwoman), but Batman himself bugs the hell out of me. They're obviously going for a younger Bruce Wayne to jive with Christian Bale, but the actual voice...! When Batman opens his mouth, I do not want to hear Robin/Nightwing talking, because that's what he sounds like.

I do my best not to care all that much, because after all, this is more blatantly for children than B:TAS. I mean, if kids grow up holding this show as the gold standard for Batman, I shall be most displeased and grumpy. But otherwise, there's about as little point to complain about it as there is to watch it in the first place.

The reason I watched this in the first place is, quite simply, because it was the introduction of their version of Harley Quinn, written by Harley's creator Paul Dini. Because if anyone could make this show interesting, it'd be Dini. Well... my fears and complaints from the outset were not alleviated. Dini's writing certainly made it watchable, and he was always good for giving Joker some great one-liners. Really, I could read or watch pretty much anything Dini writes; he just does great, solid work.

It wasn't bad, certainly. But it's not about to convert me, and certainly will never replace B:TAS in my heart. Part of that has to do with the voice actors for Joker and Harley, who do their best to imitate Mark Hamill and Arleen Sorkin, but they just... don't have the same magic. And Harley as a pop psychologist... well, there was always something naively endearing about Harley before, but here, she just needed a good smack.

That said, this episode has one moment that, honestly, might be one of my new all-time favorite Joker/Harley moments of all time. As many of you know, I'm totally gay for random musical numbers. So imagine my surprise when Harley suits up in costume for the very first time and...

bloo_mountain especially, take note. If, in some future time, we ever get to dress up as Joker and Harley again, we have got to do this.



Speaking of Bloo, after reading the first draft of the first hundred pages of my Harvey Dent novel, she and I came upon a fascinating new way to examine and explore the relationship between Captain Jim Gordon and Harvey. Jim's Wyatt Earp to Harvey's Doc Holliday.

Man oh man. I am going to be thinking about that for weeks to come. Now I have *got* to finish revising THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES so I can get back to work on the Two-Face novel. Also, methinks I need to re-watch TOMBSTONE. Wow.

Comments

[holli.livejournal.com]

Okay, the song was cute, but who the *hell* came up with that Joker character design? The Joker is *dapper*. He is, at least in his own mind, *debonair*. He has-- and I cannot stress this enough-- *good teeth*.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if I didn't say so outright above, the character designs are horrible. The Joker is completely screwed-up wrong-looking in so many damn ways, the Riddler looks like a refugee from Hot Topic, Bane looks like a tomato in S&M gear, Scarface is modled after Al Pacino.... guhh! That said, Batgirl is kinda cute.

Joker here has buck teeth, hideous style, and acts like a orangutan. The idea is that Joker here is supposed to be Batman's equal in terms of fighting, which just seems... to, like, totally miss the point. Ugh ugh ugh!

[holli.livejournal.com]

I second your ugh and raise you an oh *no*. That just makes me want to sound even *more* crotchety and in-my-day-we-had-cartoons-that-understood-what-the-Batverse-was-about, etc.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I content myself with the knowledge that no right-thinking people were watching B:TAS in the early 90's and longing for SUPERFRIENDS.

I can understand clinging to the Adam West Batman. But I dare say anyone who actually cares about superheroes on a serious level would still take B:TAS, by and large.

Again, I so fear kids growing up holding THE BATMAN as the gold standard for Batman stories. Already there are comments in the youtube videos for this episode ("Two of a Kind," look it up, it's all on there) saying how this Harley is better than the original, and how this show is superior to B:TAS. I know all these people are probably fourteen and younger, but still. Idiots and fools.

Now get off my lawn, you kids!

[swimpenguin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not liking the new animated Batman from the episode or two I've seen of it, but that song was pretty funny-loved the squirrels.
It's interesting that they haven't done Two Face on this new version yet, as far as I know. But then they'll probably base him off of the magenta faced-hyper wacko Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever :(

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

That, or he'll be decked out in bling and lowrider jeans to appeal to make him edgy and cool.

I had a better snarky joke here, but I failed. You know what I'm getting at, though. The show is doing its best to move away from art deco noir and more to hip, modern style. Oy.

[holli.livejournal.com]

The trouble with that is, we have not actually gotten better at design, as a culture, since art deco and noir were invented. Some things can't be improved on, you know?

...this is possibly why so many of my favorite movies aren't set now. It's not my fault! People just used to have a better aesthetic.

[suburbfabulous.livejournal.com]

THE BATMAN is interesting unto itself, but I can assure you that most children (not just my highly-trained geek demigod ones) recognize the inherent quality of B:TAS.
Of the two active series, the Legion cartoon is better. Not by much, but it is.

[kwsapphire.livejournal.com]

I was very skeptical of The Batman when I saw that the Batmobile was a ricer. So when the show came out I ignored it. I forced myself to watch the first Catwoman episode. They gave Batman's move (disappearing when someone looks away) to Catwoman. They also had Batman drooling on her, and Catwoman playing with his emotions, rather than Catwoman falling for Bats, and him fighting the urges. I feel like the whole dynamic was wrong. I wasn't going to watch the show, but that episode clinched it.

Their joker is terrible, and I'm not too thrilled with their character design of any of the charracters, frankly. The Animated Series is still the pinnacle of Batman as far as I'm concerned, with Batman Begins right up there.

[gnort.livejournal.com]

Yes, The Batman is pretty bad, I remember seeing the first episode and during the fight Joker just says flat out to Batman "we're linked, you and I; like two sides of the same coin" couldn't they wait a few episodes and let the audience figure that out for themselves? Must it be stated directly (and awkwardly) so that no one misses the idea? The VA is odd because it's not that they have bad people. Kevin Michael Richardson was a damn good Trigon but Joker he just can't seem to nail. Hamill set the bar pretty high with, you know, his perfect dead on Joker voice (and laugh) but surely they could've done better then that.

Oddly enough, The Batman vs. Dracula movie they made about a year ago is not half bad. I'm certain Dini/Timm could've done a much better job with it but compartively speaking it is tolerable. That Joker design is horrible but turn that Joker into a vampire, have him fight Bats in a bllod bank where a whole shelf of blood is spilled while he dances around in it and laps it up off the floor. I hate to say it, but it worked there. Not so much in a "damn they got the character right" kinda way more in a, that's fucked up and disturbing kinda way