Over three decades ago, one ambitious show impressed audiences as perhaps the greatest cartoon ever made. It permanently changed the course of animation history while forever transforming the world’s coolest comic book character. That show is Batman: The Animated Series, and you can now stream this Emmy-winning superhero masterpiece on Prime Video.
He Is the Night
The premise of Batman: The Animated Series should be familiar to any comic fan: millionaire Bruce Wayne watched his parents get murdered when he was a boy, and he grew up to become a masked vigilante dedicated to ridding his city of crime. As the fearsome Batman, he forges an uneasy alliance with the police and does his best to keep anyone else from being traumatized like he once was. Unfortunately, Gotham City has a growing number of colorful supervillains vying for control, and if any one of them manages to defeat the Dark Knight, the entire city will be plunged into the darkness of pure, unadulterated chaos.
In addition to its jaw-dropping animation, Batman: The Animated Series has a killer cast, including Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (best known for the movie Wait Until Dark and the television show Sunset Strip) as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s faithful butler. It also stars Arleen Arkin (best known outside of this franchise for Days of Our Lives) as Harley Quinn, Joker’s lovelorn henchwoman who was created specifically for this show. As for the Joker himself, the Clown Prince of Crime is played to hilarious and horrific perfection by Mark Hamill, best known for Star Wars (though he is arguably even better as Joker than he was as Luke Skywalker).
Best. Batman. Ever.
Nobody, however, gives a better performance than Kevin Conroy, who plays bother Bruce Wayne and Batman. His Dark Knight voice is simply flawless, and he is able to imbue Batman with both grim, growling menace and a few pinches of decidedly dark humor. Conroy would go on to voice the same characters in Justice League, Batman Beyond, and the Arkham Asylum franchise of games for the simple reason that an entire generation of Batman: The Animated Series fans couldn’t imagine anyone doing a better job voicing the Caped Crusader.
Once the Bat-signal went up and this show was released, the critics decided that Batman: The Animated Series was a fearlessly flawless superhero series. On Rotten Tomatoes, its first season has a rating of 100 percent, with critics praising the show for its heavily stylized animation and surprisingly deep character development. They decided that these qualities and the show’s dark, mature storytelling helped to set it apart from the many Batman movies and TV shows that had come before.
Batman: The Animated Series was so good, in fact, that it took home a number of prestigious awards, including Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition and Outstanding Sound Editing—Special Class. Thanks to the show’s killer storytelling, it also earned the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program. Finally, the show took home a very well-deserved Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program, and these major awards helped to cement it as the greatest show in animation history.
Holy Major Awards, Batman!
Growing up, I was the right age to fall in love with Batman: The Animated Series, a show that perfectly blended the serious, stylized world of Tim Burton’s Batman with the colorful world of DC comics. Returning to the show as an adult, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the show was even better than I realized: it blends solid pacing with beautiful set pieces and unforgettable action, all while modernizing some of Batman’s best villains (like Mr. Freeze) and adding brooding depth to the Dark Knight’s characterization. Throw in the gorgeous animation remaster, and you have a show as gloriously gorgeous as it is charismatically compelling.
Will you agree that Batman: The Animated Series is a masterpiece of comic storytelling that lives up to the hype, or is this one legendary cartoon you’d like to see swim with the Joker fishes? You won’t know until you pull the remote control out of your utility belt and stream it on Prime Video. Trust me: by the time you’ve watched just an episode or two, you’ll want to hit anyone who badmouths this classic show with a few doses of shark-repellent bat spray!
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