Batman Beyond - The Complete First Season (DC Comics Classic Collection)Director: Curt Geda
Cast: Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, Jane Alan, Stockard Channing, Rachael Leigh Cook
(Warner Bros., 2006) Rated: PG
DVD release date: 21 March 2006
By Mike Jozic
This aint your 10-year old’s Batman.
In the late ‘90s, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Glen Murakami, Alan Burnett and others who had worked on the Batman and Superman animated adventures throughout the decade, were commissioned by Warner Bros. to develop a new show. It was decided by the 'people upstairs’ that the ongoing Batman series was skewing a little old and they wanted to recapture some of the younger audience the WB felt had left for more fertile ground. It was proposed that Timm and co. should reimagine the Dark Knight once again, but this time as a teenager. The result is what we know as Batman Beyond.
The show ran for 52 episodes on the KidsWB and became, ironically, one of the more adult series that the group ever produced. Despite having a teenage protagonist and a desire from the network to lighten things up, the show dealt with darker themes and the writers treated their characters and the world more seriously than they did on any of their previous shows.
The series was groundbreaking in many ways. Taking everything they had learned from working on Batman and Superman, they created something never before seen on a kids animated program. Beneath the super-hero conventions – costume, action, villains and gadgets – was a deeper story of responsibility and redemption for the new Batman, Terry McGinnis. He was an all-new character, he was angry at the world, he had been to juvie and carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Over the course of the first season’s 13 episodes, Terry discovers what it means to accept the mantle of the Bat. Instead of having crazy adventures and playing with all the cool gadgets, Terry had to deal with the impact that being a super-hero entailed. His social life suffered, his school life suffered, he had family problems and dealt with all the usual things teenagers deal with all the while trying to dodge all the crazies who wanted to beat the tar out of him at night when he was ‘on duty’. To be perfectly honest, I would be surprised if Spider-Man wasn’t an early model for Terry.
In the commentary for the pilot episode, “Rebirth”, Bruce Timm mentions an early note from the network advising them to make the show more like Buffy in order to appeal more to a younger demographic. At the time, Timm was not a Buffy viewer and had no idea how to go about making his show more like Whedon’s Slayer epic, but after watching the show for any length of time the similarities begin to creep through, intentional or otherwise.
These similarities occurred, I think, because both shows shared a combination of smart writing, great action pieces, and most of all, a strong focus on developing character.
The real beauty of what Timm and co. did was that they wrapped it all in a package that kids could enjoy and would continue to enjoy on different levels as they grew older. Kind of like those other Warner Bros. classics featuring a carrot chomping wise guy and his pals.
The newly released DVD set comes with all 13 episodes of the first season in full-frame with a 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtrack. In this age of crystal clear digital images, I should also note that while some of the color in certain episodes may appear ‘murky’, this presentation is exactly as the producers of the show intended it to look. Timm has stated in commentaries for the Batman Animated series that he doesn’t approve of the digital manipulation used in ‘cleaning up’ animated films and series, choosing instead to leave all the minor imperfections intact. In fact, Timm will be the first one to point out, but not apologize for, any residual dirt or dust on the image during the commentaries (just one of the downsides of making these things without the aid of computers).
Also included on two of the episodes (“Rebirth” and “Shriek”) are audio commentaries featuring Timm, Dini, Murakami, Burnett, Curt Geda, and Stan Berkowitz giving an informative and entertaining recollection of events on the shows and its production. These guys are probably bigger fans of these shows than any of us and it is pretty clear while listening to them how much fun they had working on them, and how much they enjoyed working together.
There are also featurettes included with this set. The first one is called “Inside Batman Beyond” and is a 10-minute segment featuring the creators in a round robin style interview setting, while the other, called “Music of the Knight”, showcases some of the music cues from the show without dialogue or sound effects to encumber the experience. As a nice added touch for the die-hard fan, the producers of the DVD chose cues not previously featured on any soundtrack album so the music is, essentially, all new.
There is also a fun easter egg where you get to hear composer Kris Carter’s original demo for what would eventually become the show’s rockin’ theme song.
As a features junkie, I would have loved to see a few more extras included with this set, but overall, Warner Bros. has put together a really nice package with Batman Beyond season 1. There’s something here for casual viewers as well as longtime fans of the show as well. I’m looking forward to seeing what they will do for seasons 2 through 4.
I didn't want the effort to be a wasted one, so there you have it. A little on the ripe side, maybe, but at least I can say it was 'published'.
mike
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