Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of September 4 - September 10, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "HOORAY! NOT
ONLY ONE GOOD POTENTIAL BAT-MOVIE IS ON THE HORIZON, BUT TWO!!!!!"
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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in the near
future...
'KING'S RANSOM'
Airdate: September 16, 2000
BATMAN BEYOND
Episode #42
Synopsis: No idea. But could it somehow involve the Royal Flush Gang? Perhaps.
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WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS site)
THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES air Mondays
thru Saturday; BATMAN BEYOND also airs on these days. Check local listings
each day for what show is on at what time.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 09-04-00: NONE
Tue 09-05-00: B-BEYOND #32 Sneak Peek
Wed 09-06-00: B-BEYOND #33 Plague
Thu 09-17-00: B-BEYOND #37 Sentries of the Lost Cosmos
Fri 09-08-00: B-BEYOND #24 Revenant
Sat 09-09-00: NONE
All episodes #86 and onward of BATMAN are
considered THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES while the original 85 are considered
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (BTAS) episodes.
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CANADIAN EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BATMAN, SUPERMAN, and BEYOND on YTV)
(courtesy of our friends at YTV)
-To find the episode guide and airing schedule of
BATMAN and BATMAN BEYOND on YTV then please go to
http://www.ytv.com
and click on the YTV GUIDE icon at the bottom of the screen. To check out the
schedule then click on BATMAN or BATMAN BEYOND in the time grid and it will
have the schedule for the current week.
BTAS will air at Noon on weekdays (in all time
zones), and BATMAN BEYOND will air at 2:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. YTV has
the rights to show all 109 BTAS episodes. They also have the rights to
air the first 26 episodes of BATMAN BEYOND (all of season 1 and the first half
of season 2).
*YTV has just got the rights to air episodes #27 -
52 of BATMAN BEYOND. It's unknwon when these episode to air, but expect fall
2000. YTV may air all the episodes through in ONE run, unlike the first 26
episodes.
THIS WEEK:
Mon 09-04-00: BTAS #48 What is Reality?
Tue 09-05-00: BTAS #33 The
Laughing Fish
Wed 09-06-00: BTAS #56 Harley
& Ivy
Thu 09-07-00: BTAS #55 The
Mechanic
Fri 09-08-00: BTAS #51 The Man
Who Killed Batman
Sat 09-09-00: BEYOND #05 The Winning Edge
Sun 09-10-00: BEYOND #09 Spellbound
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THE CARTOON NETWORK
BATMAN IS BACK ON THE CARTOON NETWORK!!!!
Thanx to CNX: Toonami Revolution - Batman: The
Animated Series is getting more airtime on Cartoon Network; more accuratly, on
Toonami. Toonami has a weekend block called Rising Sun which airs shows in
morning hours. airing from 9 AM to Noon EST/PST. Rising Sun will be changed
this weekend. Not only will Ronin Warriors be dropped from the lineup, but
also, the second airing of Gundam Wing is dropped as well.
So technically, Rising Sun is missing an hour.
Surely they're not going to give that mutt an extra hour, so they've but in a
American flavor to the block, one a familiar Midnight Run standby while the
other is making its debut to Toonami (finally). Batman: The Animated Series
airs on Rising Sun at 11 AM EST/PST while Powerpuff Girls ends Toonami at
11:30 AM EST/PST. This is the new Rising Sun. Check it out! Now you'l have
something to watch besides Pokemon! The lineup, as of May 13, is:
9am-Thundercats (One Hour)
10am-Dragon Ball Z (The Garlic Jr. Saga)
10:30am-Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
11am-Batman: The Animated Series
11:30am-Powerpuff Girls
(all times in Eastern Time)
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EPISODE REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Justin Chen and/or Zanna)
All of Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton's reviews
of the new-style BTAS episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links,
which link to "Two-Face's Tower of Tranquility and Terror":
The creative "team" for this column
alternates between Zanna and Justin Chen, two loyal subscribers and great
friends of ours here. Any other reviews printed here are written by
editor Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton. Enjoy!
It's the summer. It's hot. Here's an episode
review to cool ya'll off!
<BATMAN BEYOND>
ACE IN THE HOLE
Written by Hilary J. Bader
Directed by James Tucker
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original Air Date: August 19, 2000
Rating: ***1/2 of 5
DESCRIPTION: Ace the Bathound is kidnaped, and
Terry's got to get him back.
HIGHS: Pretty interesting plot considering a dog is the focus, a good check
into the relation between Bruce and Ace.
LOWS: Seemingly childish premise might turn some people off, unoriginal end
fight.
OVERALL: A decent episode to break the summer reruns.
Contrary to some statements I've seen online, this
is NOT the start of the new season, just an unaired episode left from last
year's batch. Anyway, being used to sleeping past air time for months now, I
reluctantly dragged myself up to check this one out. I'll admit when I found
out that the dog was the focus here I was ready to dismiss it as another one
of the less mature and more "cartoony" eps from last season's end.
Fortunately that's not entirely the case.
It starts with Bruce going to the chiropractor,
and Terry is left outside to watch Ace. Suddenly the dog gives chase to an odd
man nearby. Terry tries to restrain the beast, but the man pulls a gun and
fires. Terry drops low to avoid the shots, and Ace chases the stranger all the
way to his car, and then runs off. Bruce thinks Ace may have somehow
recognized this man, and checks the computer files. The guy turns out to be a
major dog fight gambler in Gotham...a Mr. Boxer. Terry has to go out to shut
him down, while Ace is out wandering the streets. This sets up the main plot
of the episode...now I'll comment on a few points.
-Terry goes undercover to find out about this dog
fighting league. He wraps his arms with fake bandages and adopts a rough
streets accent-classic Batman tactic. Good to see Terry use his brains here.
-This dog fighting organization is a cruel
business. We see scenes of the proprietor deliberately provoking the animals
to make them more aggressive. He shows no concern for the dogs, even when his
assistants mention the dangers here he just shrugs it off and says there's
plenty more where he came from. This isn't some kiddie theme...it's a real
problem.
-We see how Bruce first met Ace. Trained by Boxer
to be a fighting machine, Ace is about to risk death in the ring when the
police raid the match. The dog escapes during the confusion into the snowy
streets. Bruce is paying his annual visit to the site of his parents' death
long ago. It can be assumed that he would keep doing so up until now, but it's
still great to see confirmation that Bruce still remembers. As he lays flowers
on that spot, Ace saves the old man from a Jokerz gang member. Cool origin
story...my only complaint? The butler/chauffeur just looks kind of goofy. Oh
well...Alfred was one of a kind.
My biggest gripe about this episode however, is
the end battle. Terry tracks down the dog fighting mastermind, and must
face...a giant dog? This aspect is corny and ruins the dark feeling set by
earlier scenes. The creature is drawn rather poorly too...I wasn't scared by
its appearance, rather the thing was laughable. This scene is almost exactly
like the TNBA episode "Cult of the Cat"...which isn't exactly a
compliment.
In my opinion, this was an alright ep, I found it
satisfactory for injecting some freshness into the boring rerun season, and
pretty good as an exploration into Bruce's companion. Personally I'd like to
see more gritty and hard-hitting stories like from BB's early run, but I'll
accept this one for now.
Anyone wanna contribute?
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED TRIVIA
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)
This is one of my favourite sections, where
I get to boggle the minds of all our readers!
*EVIL LAUGH* This trivia is all animated-related in some form, and can deal
with ANY aspect of the show or comics based on the show. Remember, answer the
questions WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE ANIMATED CONTINUITY. Now have fun - let's
see how well you do! Answers are provided below.
"HEIGHTS"
(All these questions have to do with "heights" of things in and
around Gotham City. Enjoy!)
371. What villain does Batman confront on the
"highest building in Gotham"?
Answer: _____________
372. In what episode does this confrontation take
place?
Answer: _____________
373. How tall is Poison Ivy?
Answer: _____________
374. In what episode is this fact revealed?
Answer: _____________
375. In which "design style" is the Mad
Hatter shorter? The old style or new?
Answer: _____________
376. In which episode can you see Batman and Robin
jumping from a very high snowy cliff?
Answer: _____________
377. Name the BTAS episode in which Mr. Freeze can
be seen at the highest altitude (SUB-ZERO
excluded).
Answer: _____________
378. When Harley Quinn was knocked out of a
window, how many storeys did she plummet before she
hit the pavement?
Answer: _____________
379. What is the name of the mountain in Gotham
City upon which an observatory can be found?
Answer: _____________
380. In which episode of BTAS can Batman and Robin
be found sky-surfing?
Answer: _____________
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AND THESE ARE OUR FINAL ANSWERS (to the trivia)
Answer to #371: The Joker
Answer to #372: OLD WOUNDS
Answer to #373: 5'1"
Answer to #374: PRETTY POISON
Answer to #375: New style
Answer to #376: THE DEMON'S QUEST (Pt. 2)
Answer to #377: COLD COMFORT
Answer to #378: Five storeys.
Answer to #379: Mount Gotham
Answer to #380: In ANY episode - granted that you're hallucinating. (Batman
and Robin would NEVER sky-surf. Whoever would come up with such a nutty idea
and put it on film? Like, really!)
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