Warner Bros./DC Entertainment
Get out your party hats, folks! Batman is celebrating his 75th anniversary this year and cartoon legend Bruce Timm (BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES) is paying tribute to the Dark Knight Detective with his animated short BATMAN: STRANGE DAYS! Check out the video below:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwOS2R9o_8[/youtube]
This is a pretty awesome short that harkens back to Batman’s roots: a simpler time when monster men and mad scientists abducting women were all a superhero/vigilante had to worry about. It plays like an old movie serial, but has all the darkness and adventure I expect from the one and only original Batman. I feel that Bob Kane’s original take on the Caped Crusader is captured perfectly here albeit missing the handgun Bats used to carry around in his first couple of appearances (though given his origins and evolution over the years to abhor firearms, it’s pretty understandable why that little aspect of his characterization has been all but ignored). And you can’t help but notice Timm’s signature design of Batman and the overall “old school Fleischer Superman cartoon” atmosphere that B: TAS took heavy influence from. Heck, even Mr. Kevin Conroy himself returns to give voice to the role that has been his bread and butter for more than 20 years! All in all, a great tribute to a great character.
Happy Anniversary, Batman! You’re the hero Gotham deserves: a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight.
Check out Mike’s favorite Bat-movie moments from this episode of “Movies & Music” at McGTV:
[blip.tv ?posts_id=6613811&dest=-1]
Sound off below, folks! What have been your favorite Bat-moments from the past 75 years?
