'Batman: The Animated Series' Debuted 25 Years Ago Today
Batman: The Animated Series, the show that introduced an entire generation of afternoon television [...]
Mark Hamill's Joker
As Conroy redefinned the Dark Knight, so too did Mark Hamill – a last minute replacement for Tim Curry – do the same for the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker. Where so many other interpretations of the Joker have chosen one aspect of the character and played it to its extreme, Hamill showed the versatility to bring out the Joker's many different sides, from suave charmer to crime boss to agent of chaos, with a laugh that's sure to be etched into the minds of many viewers forever.
Batman: The Animated Series offered the same kind of reinvention to many of Batman's greatest villains, including supplying the once comical Mr. Freeze with a backstory so tragic that the episode, "Heart of Ice," won one of the three Emmy Awards the series would collect over the course of its run.
prevnextHarley Quinn
But an even greater contribution to the Batman mythos may be the character of Harley Quinn. Created by Timm and Dini and originally voiced by Arleen Sorkin, the Joker's perky henchman/romantic interest captured the hearts of many viewers.
Harley's popularity has only grown over her 25 =-year history as she's made her way into the DC Comics Universe and the DC Extended Universe. Now Harley co-headlining Batman and Harley Quinn, Timm's most recent return to the Batman: The Animated Series style and universe, and stealing some of "Batsy's" spotlight for this year's Batman Day festivities.
In addition to all of that, Batman: The Animated Series led to Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, an animated feature film that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best Batman movies to date (and which was also recently remastered and re-released on Blu-ray).
Happy 25th anniversary to Batman: The Animated Series, the series that birthed the DC Animated Universe, and gave the world Harley Quinn, Mask of the Phantasm, and the Batman and Joker voices of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Its influence is sure to be felt in Batman stories for another 25 years at least.
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