Continuing to dig into my rather deep pile of DVDs to review (I have been real busy installing and stuff so now got to do some catching up) I have stepped back into the world of Warner Brothers animated classics. Warner has recently sent in a good amount of animated material, much of it being of the DC superhero variety. The big daddy of the group which took me longer to get through than I would have liked (because I was busy) is Batman: The Animated Series Volume 1 which is the entire first season run of the show. Batman: The Animated Series was a good hit back in the day and its success has spilled over to direct to video animated movies and such that just are getting better and better with each release. Now you can see (likely again) where it al began, with Batman facing down The Joker and Killer Croc, The Scarecrow and a whole bunchmore.
The first volume of Batman: The Animated Series features 28 episodes spread out over 4 DVDs.
On Leather Wings
Christmas with the Joker
Nothing to Fear
The Last Laugh
Pretty Poison
The Underdwellers
P.O.V.
The Forgotten
Be a Clown
Two-Face: Parts 1 & 2
It's Never Too Late
I've Got Batman In My Basement
Heart of Ice
The Cat and the Claw: Parts 1 & 2
See No Evil
Beware the Gray Ghost
Prophecy of Doom
Feat of Clay: Parts 1 & 2
Joker's Favor
Vendetta
Fear of Victory
The Clock King
Appointment in Crime Alley
Mad as a Hatter
Dreams in Darkness
The show is presented in 4:3 and does show its age to some degree. The animation is not all that crisp compared to some more recent offerings as well as in comparison to some WB animated classics that got the big time restoration effort. Still the show is pleasing and beat VHS hands down. What DVD does here in the negative is make all those imperfections a bit more noticeable. All the dirt, specks and artifacts are much more noticeable given the black start point that this show has. When you can see inking errors, well then cleanup should have been done to some degree. Some of the really dark stuff leads to some color bleed and well loss of detail. Other nasties include some aliasing, crosshatching concerns, and some compression artifacts. Lots of negatives I know but it is always easier to harp on those. I will say that this show is best viewed in as dark a room as possible to help cover up a few of the issues. Even so the show doesn't look bad and it is cool to have this in one collection. Myself, having seen a lot of the recent movies and stuff of the Batman: Animated family, I might be a bit too hard given how great some of those look in comparison to the show. It was not a big budget affair and it is somewhat old, so keep all that in mind. For kids this is great and won't be an issue. For older adults, those with a good display, well you will notice a lot of this but who cares really as the show is a ton of fun and I am happy to have it on DVD even if slightly imperfect.
English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 audio for each episode. Subs for all three languages which is cool. The score of the show is well above notch for an animated program. That and the animation style are just what make this show cool (voice work is superb as well). The score is the biggest plus here for DVD as it sounds pretty good with some kick. Dialogue is centered well and not the greatest in terms of design but it is clear and has a good tonal quality. Effects suffer a bit as they are a bit low and fast, lacking the flash and well, um how to say, I guess they don't resonate. They don't have the impact quite like they should.
Each of the 4 DVDs has some kind of extra available. Disc 1 includes the Pilot Promo feature Dark Knight's First Night which is the animated short that inspired the series. Bruce Timm hosts the extras discussing how it came to be and how it led to the show and what changes and stuff he and Eric Rodomski went about to give us the final style that the show ran with. Also on the first disc is the first of two audio commentaries. Eric and Bruce gives us some comments on the first episode of the show, giving props to what was done right and pointing out what all was done wrong.
Disc 2 has the second commentary for the episode Heart of Ice. Bruce and Eric along with writer Paul Dini give us some insight into this fan favorite episode. Also on disc 2 is Batman: The Legacy Continues featurette which is a good overview piece on the series. The villains, the actors, productions ideas, plus a lot more get covered here.
Disc 3 has a Tour of the Batcave which leads to individual of tours and clips of Batman the man, his utility belt, his vehicles, and with the last covering Alfred and his role as Batman's most trusted aid.
Disc 4 has tons of Warner trailers for other superhero animated shows and movies, all of the animated variety.
A long time ago Warner gave us a couple of episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and fans backlashed out for season collections. TV shows in big box sets were not the rage then but now they are the shizzle (cool Snoop speak, yeah I'm hip). Warner has bestowed upon superhero fans a lot of animated DVD goodies of late and this one is likely the topping on the cake. Finally a collected full season DVD edition of Batman: The Animated Series. While the audio and video are not perfect given they didn't get major restoration treatment like more established shows such as The Jetsons and The Flintstones, one still can appreciate easily having all these episodes in one collection. Call me a nerd for liking cartoons and anime but I don't care. Animation gives you a great bit of freedom to bring to life some great ideas that would be great for film but can't be done for realistic monetary reasons. Plus the art and style is great and such is and should be appreciated for what it is. CGI stuff is cool and art but to me hand drawn stuff is an art form that hopefully will not go way even though it looks like it might. Show your support and pick up this box set and enjoy a pretty cool little cartoon of the best crime fighter ever put to paper or film.
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