New Adventures of Batman- Filmation 1977

[Mr.Marion]

I bought the set when it came out on DVD but could not even make it through half of the episodes

Same, maybe I'll watch the other half a month from now. Not looking forward to Zarbo being in 3 of those episodes.

[hedrap]

Having young kids when the DVD came out, it ran at least 20 times in my house. The only thing that really got on my nerves was Lenny Weinrib after a while, he wasn't a very versatile guy with the villain voices.

Exactamundo. It's great for little ones. Like Scooby and Batman except those played non-stop for a period.

Challenge did well until they could follow plot. Then it comes across as insane. Legendary and Galactic Guardians are underrated.

But once you show a kid Justice League TAS, it's all over.

[ProfessorArturoLived]

I remember looking forward to this show on Saturday mornings, but I was 7 and craving more superhero related entertainment. Sounds like I should rely on my nostalgic memory and not revisit it.

[filmation batman fan]

With respect to filmation batman fan (and his post), the bottom line is that NAOB was never designed to compete with '66. It was produced as a product of its time.

So, of course, if you're expecting anything resembling the previous West/Ward offering, its highly likely you'll be disappointed.

I occasionally enjoy watching NAOB... but West/Ward are meaningless in the equation (as far as their presence not altering the fact that the show is not cleverly written satire as their '66 series was).

The sole reason I enjoy NAOB is the nostalgia. Loved the show as a kid, and its pretty neat to re-visit every so often for that nostalgia-buzz.

No offense taken. The reason for my post and why I probably love the New Adventures of Batman more than most is that this cartoon was my gateway introduction to Batman, let alone any Super Hero or comic book. I was 5 when I first saw it. Most fans back then got their start with either the comics or the 1966 TV series. I recently acquired the Lou Scheimer story about Filmation and you're right, those 2 Batman series were not designed for competition. From what I read, the 1968 series, like Superman, Aquaman, and the other DC Heroes were written by actual DC Comics writers, but the 1977 series was written by the Filmation team of writers, and they were inspired off that bizarre scifi period of the 50's and early 60's comics. The New Adventures of Batman is what I call a hybrid series. It had the look of the mid to late 1960's but had the storylines found in the 1950's/early 60's comics, and it was animated 40 years ago in 1977 when the comics were darker by then. I will love the New Adventures of Batman until the day I die, but for the many who don't like it, just remember the quote from Chris Pine's Steve Trevor in the Wonder Woman movie. "It's not for everybody."

[Jorge Galvan]

THE CONS: Although this is a great cartoon, keep in mind, that aside from Batman: The Animated Series, these old cartoons are far from perfect. Here are the flaws:

1: BatMite! The fans agree. BUT keep in mind, BatMite was brought in at a time when the censors and the Action For Children's Television restricted how cartoons would be made. And back then, animators had to throw in some cutesy cartoon character to provide comic relief. Space Ghost had Blip, Aquaman had Tusky the Walrus, The SuperFriends had Wonder Dog and later on, Gleek, Godzilla had Godzooky, you get the idea. The Scrappy Doo Syndrome. Not only that, but BatMite's inclusion resulted in his replacing Alfred the Butler.

I LOVE THIS SHOW! When I first saw the trailers for the premiere on tv, I'm thinking who is this? and when I saw the show I just fell for Bat-Mite. He was brilliant and funny as hell and I didn't CARE if the "Dark Knight" had some humor to it!

From the Planet ERGO in another Dimension (Forget the 5th dimension!) And I was bummed when the show was over. Had bootlegs of it for years on VHS and was grateful when it came out on DVD.


What I DIDNT KNOW at the time was Bat-Mite was a historic character from the 50's and I didn't know until I saw him in Detective comics ( # 466? I believe, the story where he bugs all the DC staff!). And then later on the day I saw a vintage BATMAN comic with him on the cover and I didn't realize his TV outfit was NOT his original outfit!!!! SInce then I collected EVERY APPEARANCE of Bat-Mite (along with Batwoman, Bat-Girl and Ace!) My FAVE Batman Period. Yeah, I did DIG the SCIFI era of Batman and sad that most people want to sweep it under the rug.


BAT-MITE FOREVER!!! :D

[comicmike]

I seem to recall this 1977 series aired in the autumn after I saw the 1966 movie re-run in theatres (I only read Batman comics growing up; I had never seen the '66 tv series; I only had the Catwoman episodes on View-Master). I was in a rural CAN area with "2.5" channels on a BW TV, and no cable. I only knew about it from comic book ads and the TV Guide. I did not get to discover the actual cartoons until I discovered the internet, and starting buying multi-generation copies on VHS. When I finally picked up the bette, publicly released DVD set, I truly missed the interstitial commercial break cel art. Those were some of my favourites; I recall seeing 1 or 2 of those drawings for sale in Starlog Magazine at that time.