Animation Observation: Batman: The Animated Series-On Leather Wings

    In September of 1992, I was preparing to enter the first grade. That June I had turned six years old and the one thing I probably asked my parents for the most was their permission to go see one of the biggest movies of the year: Batman Returns. 

    I was pretty Batman crazy as a kid. The first Halloween I can remember, I went as Batman. For my fifth birthday I got two Batman videos on tape (One being the 1989 film and the other being the 1966 movie starring Adam West and Burt Ward) and some Batman toys. However even though I had gotten colouring books, action figures and story books based on the movie I wanted to see, my parents were steadfast in their denial. What made it worse was that at the time, all over my bedroom I had newspaper clippings about the movie all over my room despite the fact I didn't know how to read them.

    But...there was hope. On the local FOX station, their weekday afternoon line-up showed commercials for a new animated series starring none other than Batman. I knew that while my parents wouldn't let me see Keaton, Pffeifer and DeVito, there was no way that they would deny me the chance to see the greatest hero of all time on TV. NO WAY!!!

    Around Labour Day we were visiting my Tante Kim in Toronto. We were watching TV in her apartment when my dad announced that it was time to go. All of a sudden, a cartoon I hadn't seen before had started it's opening theme.

I knew what I was watching and suddenly realized that I could not miss out on this opportunity.
"We have to stay!" I insisted to my folks. 

Looking at the adorable six year old in front of them, they both shrugged and relented.
"But only for a half-hour," my father told me. "Is this a half-hour?"
"Yeah, yeah!" I said, even though I had no idea how to tell time. 

The episode we watched was On Leather Wings.

Animation Observation: Batman The Animated Series-Christmas With the Joker

When you're a kid, nothing is more fun and exciting than Christmas. Hell, I'm an adult and as cynical and sarcastic as I can be at times, having Christmas day off to enjoy good food and relax is still something that makes me happy. And when I was six, nothing made me happier than Christmas and Batman. Combining the two can lead to...interesting results. One of them was 'Christmas With the Joker' from Batman: The Animated Series

 

Animation Observation-Young Justice: Welcome to Happy Harbor

'Welcome to Happy Harbor' has the distinction of not only being the first episode to air after the two-part pilot but also for having the longest title in the whole series. After the action packed, mile a minute pace of 'Independence Day' and 'Fireworks', this episode is more relaxed and serves as a vehicle for us to understand some of the characters (Particularly the newly introduced Miss Martian) a bit better. Onto the review...

Animation Observation-Young Justice: Fireworks

In our last episode, our three young heroes decided to show their maturity by disobeying their mentors and getting themselves captured by Constable Odo. Oh and Superman has a clone who doesn't know how to play nice with others. Onto the review...

Animation Observation-Young Justice: Independence Day

Young Justice came into development when Sam Register of Warner Bros. Animation wanted a show based on the concept of a cross between the Teen Titans and Young Justice series of comics but didn't want it to be an adaptation of either. Brandon Vietti, an animation director who had just finished work on Batman: Under the Red Hood and Greg Weisman, creator of Gargoyles and producer of the acclaimed but short lived Spectacular Spider-Man were hired to produce but also included in the writing process.

The series takes place outside of what is known as the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) in which series like Batman, Superman and Justice League took place. Basically we were seeing characters done before but now being done in a new light. I don't want to dwell too much on the production of this show, so without further ado, let's start with the first episode, Independence Day.