Batman: The Animated Series recently hit its 25th anniversary, as well as officially released on Blu-Ray, therefore a few members of the cast and crew recently sat down with
Comicsbeat.com to discuss the show and their characters all these years later.
Batman: The Animated Series ran from September of 1992 to September of 1995 and consisted of 85 episodes. The show received widespread acclaim, winning four Emmy awards, for its dark tone and intricate themes. Many including, the voice of Batman on the show itself, Kevin Conroy believe it to be the best adaptation of the popular DC Comics character to date.
Conroy has become synonymous with the role - having played the character, in various mediums, since the early 90s. He's starred as the iconic caped crusader in the
Arkham series of video games and even now reprises his role in animated films such as
Batman and Harley Quinn. Conroy recalled being mostly unfamiliar with the character when first auditioning - bar Adam West's jovial incarnation.
Luckily, for me, I was not even aware of the Tim Burton Batman movie, which came out I think maybe a year before we did ours. I had not seen it. So I wasn’t colored by it at all. The only input I had was the Adam West show in the 60s, and when I told Bruce Timm that at the audition he said ‘no, that’s not what we’re doing.!’ He said ‘we love Adam, we love him and we love that show, but that’s not what we’re doing.’ And he brought me up to speed on the The Legend Of The Dark Knight. You know the whole legacy of Batman. So, Bruce kind of educated me.
I think the fact that I was a clean slate and was just an actor approaching a role is the reason I got it. You know what I mean? Because they saw over 500 people for this role-they’ve been looking for months. But I think everyone was coming in with all these preconceived notions and anticipation and trying to do something. And I came in and just winged it in the audition, putting myself as an actor in that situation. So, luckily, I had not seen Michael Keaton so I didn’t have any of that Tim Burton influence. After I saw it later, I thought oh this is kind of the world we’re creating -that darkness. Ours is more noir, more gritty. But it was a similar dark quality.
Though the role of the Dark Knight has been portrayed by a ton of different actors, both vocally and in live-action, Conroy's take is widely supposed to be one of the most renowned and iconic. Upon being titled "the definitive voice" of Batman, Conroy had this to say:
Yes! The brainwashing worked! No, I get them at a very young age and I brainwash them really well so they’ll be fans for life. I’m so proud to have been a part of this. It’s such an amazing character to be a part of. He’s so resonate in the culture, you know? People love him. He’s the only superhero who has no superpowers, all he has his wits and his passion to do good. And that really resonates. So, I love being a part of the character.
What do you think about Conroy's comments? Is he your favourite Batman (if not, who is)?