Tim Burton and Batman TAS

[eledoremassis02]

Overall a fun interview with BTAS director Dan Riba but this part I never knew!

"These were untested guys (Bruce Timm and co.)...so they sent the materials to Tim Burton and he said "These can do it, they can absolutely do it"

I know the show was a sort-of spin-off of the films but I didn't realize Tim had some sort of say. What sort of involvement did he have/suppose to have?

But kudos to him for having the faith in Timm and co.

[thecolorsblend]

Link?

[eledoremassis02]

Link?

My bad, I thought I included it already but I must have forgotten. Updated the original post

[The Laughing Fish]

Going by what Dan Riba is saying, the BTAS Penguin had a strong resemblance to DeVito because it was out of gratitude for Tim Burton's encouragement and support. In turn, Riba saw the BTAS Penguin design as supporting BR, as a way to say thanks to Burton for supporting the show.

Burton's filmmaking background lies in animation, and his expertise enabled him to recognise great talent. People can say whatever they want about Burton, but there is no doubt in my mind that Batman across all media would've been a lot poorer if he never got involved in the first place. A true pioneer.

[eledoremassis02]

Going by what Dan Riba is saying, the BTAS Penguin had a strong resemblance to DeVito because it was out of gratitude for Tim Burton's encouragement and support. In turn, Riba saw the BTAS Penguin design as supporting BR, as a way to say thanks to Burton for supporting the show.

Burton's filmmaking background lies in animation, and his expertise enabled him to recognise great talent. People can say whatever they want about Burton, but there is no doubt in my mind that Batman across all media would've been a lot poorer if he never got involved in the first place. A true pioneer.

Burtons controbution to the franchise really doesnt get the attention it desirves, espshally since, while there are people who dont care for his batman, he had the faith in Bruce Timm and Co. to create what most people think is the definitive Batman.

Now I wonder if using the 89 theme in some of the episodes was a thank-you/homage to Burton/Elfman (Shirly walker) than more so for a tie-in since Elfmans' TAS theme wasnt a rehash of the 89 theme but somthing a bit different.

[BatmanFurst]

I don't think people are aware of how many Batman related things originated in the 89 film. Every time I see those "Things you didn't know about Batman 89" videos they never mention how this invented the grapple gun for example.

[The Laughing Fish]

Burtons controbution to the franchise really doesnt get the attention it desirves, espshally since, while there are people who dont care for his batman, he had the faith in Bruce Timm and Co. to create what most people think is the definitive Batman.

Revisionists can try to rewrite history all they want. But once again, Tim Burton is the real MVP when it comes to Batman on film and animation.

Dan Riba isn't the only one from the show who recognises Burton's impact. I was watching The Heart of Batman documentary on YouTube earlier this week, which is a look back at the creation of BTAS and its legacy. Everyone who worked in the animation industry lamented that for many years, cartoons in general were cheap in quality and were made by committee.

Until a revolution came in the mid-to-late eighties, from Frank Miller to Tim Burton. As you can see on 19:40 minutes of the documentary which I linked below, film producer Michael Uslan and art director Glen Murakami described B89's importance, with Uslan saying that film and BTAS were leading the way in comic book-related entertainment in the early nineties, and you couldn't speak about one without mentioning the other.

On 23:36, it was revealed that BTAS co-creator Eric Radomski was a huge fan of B89, and took inspiration of the look and atmosphere from the film to draw concept art for BTAS. According to Bruce Timm, B89 was the reason why Radomski wanted to work on BTAS in the first place.

Even Timm and Paul Dini acknowledged Burton's importance. In the DVD commentary for House and Garden, Timm admitted the show would never have gotten made had it not been for B89 and the studios wanting to capitalise on that success. Un Dini's autobiographical comic Dark Night: A True Batman Story, he recounted the time he watched the film when it first came out and described it as "reinvented Batman as the dark, brooding character he had been in the comics. It proved people could take the character seriously again".

This goes to show that even without Burton's approval, his work was appreciated among the creators of the show and they wanted to replicate that vision in some way. It's a testament to Burton's work that his vision is well-regarded - even emulated in some respects - and it spawned such a beloved show to this day.

Take that, revisionists.

Now I wonder if using the 89 theme in some of the episodes was a thank-you/homage to Burton/Elfman (Shirly walker) than more so for a tie-in since Elfmans' TAS theme wasnt a rehash of the 89 theme but somthing a bit different.

In the past, I used to wonder if the those Easter eggs were studio-mandated. But now I'm more convinced those instances were paying tribute to Burton more than ever.

[The Laughing Fish]

I don't think people are aware of how many Batman related things originated in the 89 film. Every time I see those "Things you didn't know about Batman 89" videos they never mention how this invented the grapple gun for example.

I believe they're being willfully ignorant. Even Keaton doesn't get enough recognition for using two distinctive voices as Bruce Wayne and Batman. I love Conroy as everybody else, but most people pretend he was the one who started that approach to the character.

Now to be fair, while Conroy isn't exactly the first actor to speak in different voices as the main character, you can definitely say that he is the first voice actor to play Bruce Wayne as a certain type of facade (i.e. sounding pompous or charismatic whenever he's out in public) and Batman's voice as the real identity. Keaton's Bruce, in contrast, is more introverted and prefers to speak as little as possible.

It's too bad that Conroy's Batman voice got rather lighter over time, both on TV and in games. I suppose his age got the better of his voice.

[thecolorsblend]

I don't think people are aware of how many Batman related things originated in the 89 film. Every time I see those "Things you didn't know about Batman 89" videos they never mention how this invented the grapple gun for example.

I believe they're being willfully ignorant. Even Keaton doesn't get enough recognition for using two distinctive voices as Bruce Wayne and Batman. I love Conroy as everybody else, but most people pretend he was the one who started that approach to the character.

Now to be fair, while Conroy isn't exactly the first actor to speak in different voices as the main character, you can definitely say that he is the first voice actor to play Bruce Wayne as a certain type of facade (i.e. sounding pompous or charismatic whenever he's out in public) and Batman's voice as the real identity. Keaton's Bruce, in contrast, is more introverted and prefers to speak as little as possible.

It's too bad that Conroy's Batman voice got rather lighter over time, both on TV and in games. I suppose his age got the better of his voice.

All of this.

People point back to Adam West sometimes and say he used the same voice for Batman and Bruce. That's not really true but I understand why people say that.

The difference with Keaton's voices, though, has always been pretty impressive. And maybe the best example of it is in BR where Bruce has a moment in the Batcave with Alfred going through microfiche while using a normal conversational voice and in the very next scene he cruises Gotham City in the Batmobile while talking to Alfred in his Batman voice. It's a great moment in the movie and it really says a lot about how powerful the identity change really is. I love that Burton didn't dwell on that moment very much but the contrast is pretty sharp.

[BatmanFurst]

The difference with Keaton's voices, though, has always been pretty impressive. And maybe the best example of it is in BR where Bruce has a moment in the Batcave with Alfred going through microfiche while using a normal conversational voice and in the very next scene he cruises Gotham City in the Batmobile while talking to Alfred in his Batman voice. It's a great moment in the movie and it really says a lot about how powerful the identity change really is. I love that Burton didn't dwell on that moment very much but the contrast is pretty sharp.

If there was one thing that Keaton improved upon for Returns it was the voice. It sounds like he had a better handle on it the second time around.