Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of December 4 -
December 10, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse
language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "BUD...LOU...THE ORIGINAL
HARLEY'S ANGELS."
THAT SAID, WELCOME TO PART ONE OF OUR TWO-PART
RETURN-OF-THE-JOKER SPECIAL. ;-Y
-editor Tim "Two-Face" Leighton
very two-faced,
indeed
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SPECIAL
NEWS
EARLY RELEASE OF ROTJ IN CANADA STILL EDITED
Yeah, can you believe it? After all our hype, it turns out the
RETURN OF THE JOKER movie released in Canada WAS edited, just as it will be
in the United States. Nothing major is cut, except a few rather vital scenes
in the flashback sequence (the best one). The flashback scene is still great
and all, but it's just not the same. We really oughta pressure the WB into making a special release for the unedited version of this movie. Go get an
unedited copy ASAP, I urge you.
That is all.
Begrudgingly yours,
Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
* * * *
*
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR 'RETURN OF THE JOKER' GIVEAWAY!
SCROLL DOWN TO JUST BELOW OUR REVIEW OF THE MOVIE FOR DETAILS!
* * * * *
FOR A LIST OF ALL THE THINGS THAT WERE CUT (thanks to Dick
Grayson), CLICK EITHER OF THE FOLLOWING LINKS. BELIEVE ME, THERE ARE MANY
MORE THAN WE ORIGINALLY EXPECTED.
(These have already popped up at DARK HORIZONS, CINESCAPE, and
many other notable sites, too.)
For an article on the history of this travesty, go here (there
are lots more pics there, too!):
http://filmforce.ign.com/news/1716.html
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EAGERLY
ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in
the near future...
BETRAYAL
Batman Beyond #??
Air date: December 9,
2000
Synopsis: This episode is a sequel to "Big Time." Big Time comes
back and Terry has to deal with the guilt he has for having helped turn his
friend into a monster.
BIG TIME
Batman Beyond #??
Air date: November 4, 2000
(on GLOBAL in Canada...TBA on the WB)
Synopsis: A friend from Terry's Juvie
days who gets in over his head.
UNMASKED
Batman Beyond #??
Air date: ???
Synopsis: A
little kid gets a glimpse of the face under the Batman mask.
COUNTDOWN
Batman Beyond #??
Air date: ???
Synopsis:
Zeta and Mad Stan return.
THE CURSE OF KOBRA (Pt. 1, 2)
Batman Beyond #??, ??
Air
date: ???
Synopsis: This two-part episode features a villain named
Kobra.
___________________________________________________________________
KIDS
WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS
site)
Kids'WB! currently airs BATMAN BEYOND five or six times a
week. Batman airs on weekday afternoons Monday-Friday, as well occasionally
Friday morning before Pokemon. Remember, Kids'WB! is notorious for switching
schedules around at the very last minutes. Batman Beyond currently airs at
11am (ET) on Saturdays and 4:30pm (ET) on weekdays. Check out these links if
our schedule is not 100% updated:
THIS WEEK:
Mon 12-04-00:
NONE
Tue 12-05-00: NONE
Wed 12-06-00:
NONE
Thu 12-07-00: NONE
Fri 12-08-00: B-BEYOND #32 Sneak Peak
Sat 12-09-00: B-BEYOND #?? Betrayal
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.
_____________________________________________________________________
CANADIAN
EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BATMAN and BEYOND on YTV)
(courtesy of our friends at
YTV)
YTV currently has the rights to air all 109 episodes of
Batman, as well as the current 52 episodes of Batman Beyond. YTV usually
airs these episodes in either chronological order, or in the original order
they aired on Kids'WB! and FOX. Batman now airs at 3:30am Monday - Friday. (Actually, more correctly, they seem to be airing them at 3:40 am - go
figure.) If our schedules are not updated or are inaccurate, please use these
links:
http://www.geocities.com/worldsfinestpage/epsched.htm
http://www.ytv.com/ytvguide
THE FATE OF BATMAN BEYOND ON CANADIAN TELEVISION:
My co-editor Dick Grayson e-mailed YTV last week regarding the
absense of Batman Beyond from the YTV schedule. We got a response, and
here's what they had to say:
"'Batman Beyond' is not part of our current schedule. We
are sorry if this is disappointing for you to hear. We hope you can
understand that it is not uncommon for television stations to move some
programs to another day or time, introduce new shows, temporarily remove
programs, or cancel shows with expired contracts. It is important to
remember that all schedules are subject to change without
notice.
"With this said, your comments have been forwarded to our
Programming Department for future consideration. Please keep in mind that
although we do try to make all of our viewers happy, as a national network,
it can be quite a challenging task."
Maybe it is just gone temporarily - they are under contract to
air all 52 episodes at least twice. However, if you don't want to take any
chances and encourage them to bring it back, e-mail them, Canadian
viewers!
Anyhow, the original BTAS series is still airing, and it will
be shown as follows:
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 12-04-00: BTAS #01 On
Leather Wings
Tue 12-05-00: BTAS #14 Heart of
Ice
Wed 12-06-00: BTAS #20 Feat of Clay (Pt.
1)
Thu 12-07-00: BTAS #21 Feat of Clay (Pt.
2)
Fri 12-08-00: BTAS #11 It's Never Too
Late
_____________________________________________________________________
THE
CARTOON NETWORK
Cartoon Network has the right to air all 109 Batman episodes,
as well as all 54 Superman episiodes. Come September, Cartoon Network will
begin airing these. Shows. Batman currently airs during the weekday Toonami
block at 6:30pm (ET). Superman will soon have a set airdate as well. Since
Cartoon Network is unpredictable with their schedules, we are unable to keep up with them. Please, use these links to find out the schedule information you
need:
http://www.geocities.com/worldsfinestpage/airdate.htm
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/TOONAMI/lineup/batman.html
_____________________________________________________________________
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!
BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER
THE EDITED
VERSION
Written by: Paul Dini
Directed by: Curt Geda
Starring:
Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, and Mark Hamill.
Released: November 28 (Canada),
December 12 (USA)
Rating (out of five): ****
Despite all the cuts, all the outrage, all the petitions, and
all the gnashing of teeth between censors and fans, BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF
THE JOKER is still one great movie. The skinny is as follows: the Joker has
been mysteriously absent in the future of Gotham, though many episodes kept
his presence alive. Remember the Joker want-ad at the old GCPD headquarters in
SHRIEK? Remember Bruce off-handedly mentioning the bullet-holes in Barbara's
costume in A TOUCH OF CURARE? All these questions are answered.
"The Joker's lookin' pretty spry for a guy who's gotta be in
his, what, mid-80's?" Terry asks. You betcha, Bat-fake. The seemingly
immortal Joker has managed to survive the fifty odd years between the
current Batman timeframe and that of BATMAN BEYOND, which, in itself, was quite
a feat to convince to the fans. I mean, really...seeing Mr. Freeze, Bane,
and Talia survive through the ages all made sense in their respective
episodes, but the Joker was a mere mortal. How'd he survive? That is one of
the twists revealed in the movie - a very creative one at that.
RETURN OF THE JOKER also features Bruce Wayne reclaiming his
place as CEO of Wayne Enterprises; it would appear that he's finally managed
to get rid of the Powers family once and for all. (I just wish they were in
the movie somehow, but that's another story.) The Joker crashes Bruce's party, saying to Bruce, "who'd know you better than me?" Quite a chilling
comment, if you think about it - though Bruce knows exactly what it means.
It all ties back to that one fateful night, fifty years
before...
The Joker himself is more menacing than ever. In recent
episodes I've often complained that Dini has written his Joker scripts far
too light and goofy (like the awful JOKER'S MILLIONS and HOLIDAY KNIGHTS),
much unlike the Joker's earlier classics (like THE LAUGHING FISH). He's always been just a whacko wimp that likes to laugh; even Hamill's voice was
off a lot of the time. Here, it's obvious that Dini set out to make the
Joker not just insane, but truly evil. Seeing him mind-rape various...people
(not saying whom) and torment Batman and anyone he crosses is not a pretty
sight; the on-screen deaths committed are a great touch to his frightful
demeanor.
Mistah J of the future also has a new crew. Long gone are his
goons Lar, Moe, and Cur, Rocco, Henshaw, Bud and Lou, and most notably
Harley Quinn - though her fate is revealed here, as well. The Joker has
forced his way into one of the cliques of the Jokerz - neither of the cliques we've seen before (the main group with J-Man and Terminal's group).
The new group is a far deadlier motley crew of post-pubescent outcasts: a
spliced hyena named Woof, a zombie-like oaf named Bonk, a tubby but
shockingly agile man with a thing for pink named Chucko, a lanky gothic boy
decked out in scarecrow gear (Professor Crane would be proud) named Ghoul, and a pair of living, breathing Raggedy Ann dolls named Dee Dee. They're far
more colourful and have greater characterization than any of the other
cliques we've met thus far, but pale in comparison to their leader and
namesake, of course.
RETURN OF THE JOKER finally allows Terry to prove to Bruce,
Barbara, and all fans that he is capable of "being" Batman. (I personally
still don't see anyone truly inheriting the mask except Bruce, but if we
must pick a replacement for half a century from now, Terry's the man.) He
not only relies on his braun and all of the funky gadgets in the new Bat-suit,
but makes use of some good ol' sluething to hunt for his mentor's greatest
foe. Though he picks up some of Bruce's old moves - check out his
backward punch squarely into Ghoul's nose towards the end - he defeats the
Joker on his own terms by playing mind-games - something the original Batman would never do. Bruce? Talk? Yeah, right. But as Terry tells us, "I
like to talk."
The music is fabulous as always. My personal favourite is the
end title by Kenny Wayne Shepherd, quickly followed by the three distinct
tracks found during the flashback scene, "A Trap for Tim", "Joker Family
Portrait", and "Arkham Mayhem". Each track fits the time in which its
corresponding scene is set: orchestral opera for the flashbacks, hard-rock and
electric guitar (and all that "funky" stuff) for the futuristic
scenes.
The animation is superb as well. TMS outdoes itself again.
It's brighter than that found in MASK OF THE PHANTASM and SUB-ZERO, though I
suspect that's due to digital colouring. Unlike in SUB-ZERO, CGI effects are
not quite so easy to find - maybe there aren't any at all. To be honest, I
kind of missed that - I was hoping to see the Batmobile and any of the other
vehicles animated similarly to how the Batwing was animated in SUB-ZERO. But
I digress. The industrial heist action sequence between the Jokerz and
Batman that opens the movie is superb, both the hand-to-had combat and the
ariel battle above Gotham. The nightclub scenes are well done, too - I've
always been impressed by the simple yet effective way in which the animation
crews animate the strobe and neon lights in the nightclubs on the series. It
would appear that the overseas crews also recognized their mistakes with the
more recent BTAS episodes; in the flashback sequences, they gave back the
Joker his old white eyes and actually gave him lips. Go watch JOKER'S
MILLIONS right after you view this movie; the Joker design is kind of painful to
bear, especially when you discover the vast difference.
And that brings us to the flashback sequence, easily the most
crucial and anticipated scene in the movie. I won't say what happens, but I
will say that it's traumatic, heart-wrenching, and all-out fabulous at the
same time. Batgirl and Harley's fight is amazing, and Batman's final showdown with the Joker is truly haunting. I won't say anything else, as
this may be the
biggest surprise in the film; we'll go ahead and spoil it
next week.
Overall, I give it a four-star rating. I've seen the unedited
version as well, and I give that movie a slightly higher rating; I'll
explain myself next issue. So how does this compare to the other
Bat-movies? Though it's a great movie, it still does not surpass MASK OF
THE PHANTASM in my opinion. It's got action in spades, great
characterization, terrific animation, good music, a decent running time, and
provides insight into some pivotal moments in the animated Bat-mythos, but
it lacks the overall sense of brooding and oppression of the world that PHANTASM provided. It's head and shoulders over SUB-ZERO, though - and I loved
SUB-ZERO tremendously. All it needed was a more creative title; RETURN OF
THE JOKER seems a little too blase and literal, while the other two animated
Bat-movies were more metaphorical and symbolic.
All I can say is...sequel? I'm not spoiling anything by saying
that Dick Grayson doesn't appear in this movie at all (though he's
mentioned), and neither do the other two important unmentioned people in
Batman's life, Commissioner Gordon and Alfred. Should the next animated Bat-film be set in the BATMAN BEYOND timeframe, it is likely that it would
focus on Dick's ultimate departure to Bludhaven, Bruce and Barbara's
romantic relationship, and more villains (a cut-out scene from this version
sorta suggests one could be involved - a friend of Bruce's, but I won't say
whom, hush hush) of the past whose fates may be revealed.
It's all up in the air at this point. All I can say is that
edited version or not, give this movie a look; as great as the unedited
version is, the version that's for sale on the continent at the moment is
still a great movie and well worth every penny.
Tim "TWO-FACE"
Leighton
-still very, very pleased with this movie
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