Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of December 18 -
December 24, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse
language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "ONE FACE, TWO-FACE, RED
FACE, BLUE FACE."
(Long live Dr.
Seuss!)
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MERRY
CHRISTMAS, BATMAN STYLE!
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
Scarecrow: "Twas the fright before Christmas."
Riddler:
"And that was a fact."
Creeper: "Not a Creeper was stirring."
Penguin:
"'Cept that Flyin' Rat."
Lock-Up: "The lockdown in place, Gotham won't recieve a
scare."
Joker: "Hoping I don't return this Christmas to catch them
unaware."
Scarface: "Us inmates were nestled all snug in their
cells."
Mr. Freeze: "Visions of tragedy and heartbreak making our dreams
hells."
Catwoman: "With I, in my lyrca, I take a long nap."
Mad
Hatter: "And I cannot rest, for I've lost my cap."
Clayface: "I rolled out of bed and caused such a
splatter."
Scarface: "I giggled in glee, amused gy the matter."
Harley Quinn: "I'm starving in here. Got any
Who-Hash?"
Poison Ivy: "Oh shut up, Harley, or I'll give you a
rash."
Killer Croc: "The moon, it seeped through my jail-cell
bars."
Maxie Zeus: "I'm picking up something...do I hear
a...car?"
Two-Face: "Then out of the blue, lo and behold,
appear."
Joker: "The Bat and his farm-team, and at us they
sneer."
Baby-Doll: "Keeping us in check, and they did it so
quick."
Bane: "I knew right away it was Bruce, Tim, and Dick."
Phantasm: "They gusted in here like a puff of
smoke."
Rupert Thorne: "And sickly, the leader named each, ev'ry
bloke:"
Batman: "Now Richard! now Timmy! now Barb'ra and Clark!
On
Jimmy and Alfred, advance 'to the dark!
To the top of the hill, soar over the
wall!
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away, all!"
Penguin: "Oh God, he brought that boy scout from Metropolis,
too?"
Firefly: "Quick, set a fire in the fire-place, flew!"
Two-Face: "Gawking out my window, I saw them arrive."
Mr.
Freeze: "They come down on us like there's no snow in July."
Riddler: "I questioned the noises I heard on the
roof."
Penguin: "We're speaking in rhyme - this poetry's a
spoof."
Bane: "With each little footprint, my anger arose."
Mr.
Freeze: "Gulping in horror, I sat up and froze."
Scarecrow: "Swivelling in my rocking chair, I turned
around."
Poison Ivy: "Sitting tightly and silent, rustling leaves th'only
sound."
Clayface: "He was dressed up as Santa - the cowl still in
tact."
Joker: "Harvey Bullock's the only man that I know is that
fat."
Harley Quinn: "A bundle of toys he had tucked in his
belt."
Catwoman: "You wouldn't believe how wonderful both his pecs
felt."
Maxie Zeus: "His eyes, they both narrowed, with the likeness
of Hades."
Creeper: "Oh, I wonder if he got me a Mercedes."
Two-Face: "The face - that chin - looked familiar
somehow."
Rupert Thorne: "His presence causes sweat to soak through my
brow."
Ra's Al Ghul: "The cape that he wore was black like the
night."
Scarecrow: "Ensuring all evildoers be faced with a
fright."
Penguin: "As he wandered down the hall, we all returned the
sneer."
Killer Croc: "I'd throw a rock at him if I had one in my cell,
here."
Catwoman: "He was rippling with muscles, broad shoulders, how
sweet!"
Scarface: "Oh quiet down, Kyle, you sound like a dog in
heat."
Harley Quinn: "Monolithic in size, not a jolly old
elf."
Joker: "I laughed when I saw him, cuz he wouldn't,
himself."
Riddler: "With the glare of his eye, and the twist of his
head."
Lock-Up: "He's coming for ME, all the inmates did dread."
Ra's Al Ghul: "He spoke not a word, the Detective while at
work."
Two-Face: "And put things in our stockings - maybe he wasn't a
jerk."
Poison Ivy: "And leaving the cellblock as quick as he
came."
Firefly: "He removed himself pronto - geez, that was
lame."
Harley Quinn: "And we all had at look at the presents he
brought."
Joker: "I seem to be the only one for whom he did
not."
Mad Hatter: "I got some mouse ears."
Penguin: "I got a
singing 'Billy Bass'."
Scarecrow: "I got BLAIR WITCH 2 - damn, this movie
sucks a**."
Two-Face: "I'm not the proud owner of Playstation
TWO."
Riddler: "I have a copy of RIDDLE OF THE MINOTAUR just for
you."
Poison Ivy: "I got a dancing flower - that is sooo
'nineties'."
Harley Quinn: "Oy to the world! I got a harmonica! I'll sing for
ya, Red, alrighty?"
Maxie Zeus: "Disney's HERCULES? I absolutely ABHOR this
version!"
Talia: "What is this, a joke? I got the single for Madonna's 'LIKE
A VIRGIN'."
Scarface: "I got a Muppet."
Killer Croc: "I got a pet rock.
Lame."
Bane: "I got an autographed photo of the wrestler of the same
name."
Catwoman: "A saucer of milk? But this has
expired!"
Baby-Doll: "Please quiet down, Baby-Doll is soooo
tired."
Creeper: "No Mercedes for me, I just got some
candy."
Clayface: "Ahhh, sucks to that! He got me some brandy!"
Mr. Freeze: "He delivered to me, the necklace of my
wife."
Joker: "Oh, shut up all of you, and just get a life!"
Harley Quinn: "Mistah J, you can play with my harmonica,
too."
Two-Face: "Just don't think I'll be so kind with sharing my
PS2."
The Mad Hatter: "With our presents distributed, he sprang to
his car."
Riddler: "And drove to his cave located afar."
Penguin: "But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of
sight."
Two-Face: "Merry Christmas TWO all, and TWO all a good
night!"
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
-BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR 'RETURN OF THE JOKER' GIVEAWAY!
SCROLL DOWN TO JUST BELOW OUR EPISODE REVIEW FOR DETAILS!
-WE HAVE ALSO INCLUDED OUR FORM FOR THE "GOLDEN OVAL AWARDS",
OUR VERSION OF THE "BEST/WORST OF 2000" POLLS THAT ARE RUNNING RAMPANT
ACROSS THE NET RIGHT ABOUT NOW. BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN AND VOTE - THERE JUST
MIGHT BE A CERTAIN UNEDITED VIDEO IN IT FOR YA!
-NOTE: Even though this newsletter is set to cover the dates
of December 18-24, it is unlikely there will be a delivery on the
25th. That said, expect of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER
to be delivered on either December 26th or 27th.
Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
-editor
extraordinaire
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EAGERLY
ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in
the near future...
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.
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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 12-18-00:
NONE
Tue 12-19-00: B-BEYOND #20 Once Burned
Wed
12-20-00: B-BEYOND #25
Babel
Thu 12-21-00: B-BEYOND #09 Spellbound
Fri 12-22-00: B-BEYOND #19 Hidden Agenda
Sat 12-23-00: B-BEYOND #46 The Call (Pt. 1)
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
WANNA GET BTAS ON AT A BETTER TIMESLOT ON CANADIAN
TELEVISION?
(courtesy of subscriber "Carlos O")
"The current BTAS timeslot is too late for me and I'm sure it
is for many others. I tried e-maling them asking if that timeslot was going
to change and they said they can't change it for now. However, if they
recieved enough demand to move the show to an earlier timeslot, they would
definitely consider it - that's what they said. It's kind of hard for me to let
this oportunity go by since this is the only way many of us can catch this
show (as most Canadians don't receive the CARTOON NETWORK)."
That's a very good point, Carlos. If there are any Canadian
Bat-fans reading this that want BTAS to be back on at a more reasonable
timeslot (it used to be on at 7:30 am and then it was moved to Noon), go to
http://www.ytv.com, then to the HELP section,
and then to the CONTACT US section. E-mail them (politely but in a demanding
manner) and hopefully something will be done!
Anyhow, the original BTAS series is still airing, and it will
be shown as follows:
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 12-18-00: BTAS #86 Holiday
Knights
Tue 12-19-00: BTAS #09 Be a
Clown
Wed 12-20-00: BTAS #26 Appointment in Crime
Alley
Thu 12-21-00: BTAS #07 P.O.V.
Fri 12-22-00: BTAS #02 Christmas with the
Joker
_____________________________________________________________________
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:
Here is where you can find an air date schedule:
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!
Just as in , we are providing a review of BATMAN
BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER. However, this time it is co-editor Dick Grayson
doing the honours, and it is of the unedited version. Enjoy!
DA REVIEW:
BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER is one of those movies that
make it great to be a Batfan. Batman is one of the few characters who is
actually perceived best in the cartoon format (excluding the comic) than any
other of the huge media formats that have tried their hand at him. Movies?
As we got to BATMAN & ROBIN, you can just tell they didn't care about the
property one bit, especially with that nipple fetish. The Cartoons got him
dead on. First Batman. Then Superman. The the futuristic animated Spin-off,
Batman Beyond. This movie can count as either the first Batman Beyond movie,
or the third animated Batman movie, after BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM and
BATMAN & MR. FREEZE: SUB-ZERO. I like to count it as a movie all on it's
own, foregoing and comparisons to the two other animated movies starring the
original Dark Knight. But since they threw in the flashback seqeunce, I just
gotta.
The movie starts out with Batman foiling a Jokerz heist, but
it's a new gang who have been stealing big pieces of technological
equipment, not the usual cashcards and jewelry - but why? Batman is able to
foil them in a spectuacular fight scene in which Batman just takes down the thugs that keep on coming. I like the fact that these Jokerz didn't fall
after one punch, but kept on coming back, as well as double teaming him. One
the TV show usually they fall one by one, but these guys just kept on
comin', and they get away, too - but without their machines and
whatnot.
We have a couple brief scenes in between the next action
peice. There is a brief scene in the cave where it's revealed that Bruce is
back as the head of Wayne Powers, after Paxton's departure in KING'S RANSOM;
series newcomer Jordan Pryce isn't too happy about that either, since he was
next in line. Terry then heads out to the clubs with Dana where he promptly
falls asleep. When then cut back to the Jokerz gang's hideout and meet their
new leader - none other than the Joker himself! It seems he's back (and
tanned, rested, and ready to give this town a wedgie again) and he means
business. After some resistance from Bonk (which he pays for), he is ready
to head out and attempt to get that equipment he needs, and after reading a
computer readout on the places that have it, he knows exactly where he wants
to get it.
The Joker attacks the party help for Mr. Wayne by WaynePowers,
but it serves only as a distraction for part of the Jokerz gang to
successfully steal the peice of equipment they need. Bruce Wayne is stunned
seeing the Joker alive and they meet face to face. Batman arrives on the scene to scare off the Joker and his crew.
What follows next is the most intense fifty minutes of just
about any movie I've seen. Everything, save the fate of Nightwing, is
revealed. What happened to Tim, Joker, Batman, all of them. It's nice that
the flashback is done in the newest animated style; TMS animated
it beautifully. Even the Joker/Robin seqeunces are done to near perfection.
Another thing that is absolutely astounding about this movie is its musical
score. Kristopher Carter is able to provide us with a mix of techno and
classical music, so deftly intertwines that in some moments, they blend
togethor with the best of ease.
Paul Dini has written a killer script for the movie, and the
script hits every mark exactly how it should. It impacts on emotion, on
action and suspense, and on drama. He also got the Terry/Dana relationship
just right, I think. I think they interacted perfectly in the club scenes,
and you can get a sense that they have a beautiful relationship, but it's just
holding on by a thread. That one small thing can break the relationship.
Throughout the series the relationship has been strained constantly, and
they even split once, and inexplicably got back together.
The Jokerz gang is the first one that's actually scary and
intimidating. Every Joker in this group have their own unique attribute
which they use deaftly, and they are able to use each other's strenghts as
well. The opening battle betwen Batman and the gang reflects this, although
I was dissapointed how they handled themselves in the last battle. And, my god,
the show off between Joker and Batman (both of them) just have to be seen to
be believed. Dini made this so perfectly tense and they just keep going,
never losing a step.
This movie is the things that dreams are made of, and you
can't miss it. I'm rarely excted so much about a simple movie, but this
movie is just superb. Don't miss
it.
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