Richards Favorite Videos

My favorite episode from Batman the Animated Series. I was so impressed and excited over this episode, it made me into an unbelievably obnoxious twit. I taped it and memorized every line. When I showed it to my friends I would prepare them for the good lines coming up and then pause it with a “did you hear what he said!?” Pathetic. But the episode IS quite the sparkling jewel in the treasure trove that is Batman the Animated Series.

Two-Face recounts how he tried to get rid of Batman using a giant penny. When Joker asks him what became of it, he replies, “They actually let him keep it!” The giant penny can be seen later in the series in the Batcave, along with other “memorabilia”. This is noticeable in some of the spin-offs as well.

Kudos to Mark Hamil. He clearly gets it. And he brought new life and a new take to the Joker character, even though I wish they focused more on his visuals and less on the slapstick wackiness which was traditionally the Riddlers role. Hamil nails it on the Jokers laugh in that it should be a symphony of psycho that changes with the theme and mood of the character.

NO CARTOON VOICES. That was the rule towards the voice actors of Batman The Animated Series. In keeping with the movie style of the series, the voice director, producers and writers found actors with character voices rather than voice actors with cartoon voices. This made the casting of Kevin Conroy, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Mark Hamill, and Adrienne Barbeau of their respected characters of Batman, Alfred, Joker, and Catwoman.

Here is the insight of the voice acting work on Batman The Animated Series.

Intros to Batman: The Animated Series (1993) and The Batman (2003) contrasting the gothic noir first run with the hip and trendy recent version. Obviously the Animated Series is better and anyone who says otherwise is an asshole, but The Batman is not without its merits.

From the Christmas episode of Batman Gotham Knights.

Harley reflects on what led to her partnering with the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker.
The comic book that this episode was adapted from was originally released in 1994 as a special issue of The Batman Adventures based on the show Batman: The Animated Series. It won the Eisner Award for “Best Single Story.”

Poison Ivy is seen in Arkham Asylum during the flashback to Harley Quinn’s origins, meaning that this episode takes place at least after Poison Ivy’s premiere episode, “Pretty Poison”. This episode takes place with the designs of Batman and the Joker from Batman Gotham Knights in Harley’s flashback of how she became Harley Quinn. But at that time she was in Batman: The Animated Series which had different designs for them.

Allusions:

Joker: May the Floss be with you. This is a direct allusion to the movie Star Wars, even more so because it was Mark Hamill, voicing the Joker, who said it as Luke Skywalker.
Title: While there have been several movies by this name, the title almost certainly alludes to the most famous - the 1935 movie starring Peter Lorre as an insane doctor obsessed with a beautiful woman who replaces her mutilated hands with those of a knife murderer.