Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas
Herb and Rex, the Jurassic odd couple, introduce segments featuring the Three Wise Men, singing camels, ice-skating penguins, and the hilarious Paris Bellharmonic Orchestra. There’s even a Motown rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The entire cast joins a rousing chorus finale of “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” which is certain to put everyone in the Christmas mood. (1987, 24 minutes.
Merry Christmas Mr. Bean
Part 2:
Batman the Animated Series: Almost Got ‘Em
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.
Batman Beyond. The Fall of Batman
It’s been 20 years, and Gotham is still stricken with crime. Bruce Wayne continues to fight crime by himself, with Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin having left their former mentor for good. Batman however, is not like he was during his prime. He is older, slower, and his health has grown weaker. To continue his war on crime, Bruce Wayne has created a new high-tech Batsuit that amplifies his strength, agility, and endurance 10 times more than a normal humans. Unfortunately, the one thing Batman cannot stop is his ailing heart…
From the Season 1 episode, Rebirth Part 1, and also includes the Batman Beyond opening theme
Dinosaurs. Vegetarian Robby
Part 2:
Batman The Animated Series. Voices of the Knight
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.
Snow Miser and Heat Miser Songs
I always thought the Heat Misers song was kind of a cop out. The lyrics seem a little lazy. Snowie has a rhyme on the verse about what temperature he prefers it to be (“degrees” with “freeze”). Heat Misers version just repeats the word degrees. Wtf is up with that?