Development In 1990, following the success of the
Tiny Toons series, Warner Bros. Animation president Jean MacCurdy announced to the animation team that Warner wanted to develop several of its licenses, including Batman. Following this news,
Bruce Timm was tasked with designing Batman, and
Eric Radomski was assigned to design the sets.
Visual style and themes Originally, the series was partly inspired by
Tim Burton's blockbuster
Batman (1989), which portrayed Batman's universe as darker than in previous adaptations. The creators abandoned some of the
gothic aspects of the film, instead incorporating more
Art Deco elements inspired by 1940s-era New York, coining this unique aesthetic "Dark Deco." Without a precise temporal setting, the city features a blend of 1940s cars, police "
blimps," and
futuristic helicopters, alongside Batman's advanced vehicles, while television broadcasts are shown in black and white. The backgrounds were drawn on black paper to create darker settings, whereas white paper is typically used. The series employs "
vintage" colors, partly inspired by the 1940s
Superman cartoons, as well as
film noir classics like
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1921),
Citizen Kane (1941), and
Metropolis (1927). The show depicts outright physical violence against antagonists, including realistic firearms (though only one character,
Commissioner Gordon, was ever depicted as having been shot, in the episode "I Am the Night"). First-time producers Timm and Radomski reportedly encountered resistance from studio executives, but the success of Burton's first film allowed the embryonic series to survive long enough to produce a pilot episode, "
On Leather Wings", which, according to Timm, "got a lot of people off our backs". Much of the short film ''The Dark Knight's First Night'' was reused for the series introduction. Its final shot, showing Batman overlooking Gotham City with a lightning bolt behind him, evokes both the cover of Frank Miller's
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and the closing scene of the 1989
Batman film. For example, instead of Two-Face's plaid shirt, he wears a suit with one side white and the other black to emphasize his internal conflict. Poison Ivy does not wear a leaf-covered costume; instead, she dons a simple one-piece outfit. During pre-production, character designer
Kevin Nowlan stated that his challenge was to convey as much as possible with as few lines as possible. He also mentioned that real people served as inspirations, such as
Rhea Perlman for Jesse and George Will for
The Ventriloquist. Initially, Nowlan designed
The Penguin and
The Riddler based on the 1966
Batman series, but his designs were ultimately rejected. Instead, The Penguin's appearance was modeled after his depiction in the film
Batman Returns, featuring deformities and slicked-back black hair. Similarly, Catwoman adopted
Michelle Pfeiffer's blonde hair. Bruce Wayne's design was inspired by
Walter M. Baumhofer's
Doc Savage and
Dick Tracy, created by
Chester Gould. The appearance of the Gray Ghost was largely inspired by the hero
The Shadow. Other character inspirations include the
Mad Bomber, who was based on Timm, while Charlie Collins was based on Burnett. Harvey Bullock's appearance was inspired by one of the criminals Batman fights in the short film ''
The Dark Knight's First Night. Mr. Freeze was designed by comic concept artist Mike Mignola. In an interview with Back Issue!'' magazine, Mignola related, "I doubt I spent more than 20 minutes on that. As I recall, I had some old book on the history of DC Comics and there was an old drawing of Mr. Freeze there (that) looked very simple (could have been from the '50s or early '60s), and I just pretty much copied it. I might have done something with the goggles or eyebrows, but that's probably it."
Casting The series is notable for its voice cast, with numerous well-known actors providing voices for a variety of recognizable villains. Most notable was
Mark Hamill, previously famous for his role as
Luke Skywalker in the original
Star Wars trilogy, whose prominence as a voice actor was heightened through his "cheerfully deranged" portrayal of the
Joker. The role was originally given to
Tim Curry, but he developed
bronchitis during the initial recording sessions.
John Glover, who later voiced the Riddler, also auditioned for the Joker role. Hamill, who found himself to be the biggest fan of the Batman comics among the cast, credited the laughs he had honed on stage in
Amadeus with landing him the role. The recording sessions, under the supervision of voice director
Andrea Romano, were recorded with the actors together in one studio instead of undergoing separate recordings, as is typical. This method would later be employed for all subsequent series in the
DC Animated Universe.
Al Pacino was considered to voice
Two-Face in the series, but he declined the offer;
Richard Moll was instead cast in the role. Other actors included
Ron Perlman as
Clayface,
Roddy McDowall as the
Mad Hatter,
David Warner as
Ra's al Ghul,
Michael York as
Count Vertigo,
Kate Mulgrew as Red Claw,
George Murdock as Boss Biggis,
Ed Asner as Roland Daggett and
George Dzundza as the
Ventriloquist. Romano initially wanted
Christopher Lee to voice Ra's al Ghul, but since he could not work out his schedule to voice the character, Warner was cast instead.
Writing and voice recording One of the intentions of the series was to make the audience feel empathy for Batman's enemies, so even if Batman were to win, the episode was not necessarily a happy ending.
Soundtrack The series initially took a variation of music written by
Danny Elfman for the Burton films as its theme; later episodes of the series used a new theme with a similar style by
Shirley Walker, an occasional collaborator of Elfman. The score of the series was influenced by Elfman's work on the Burton films, as well as the music of 1940s film noir. Walker's work on
The Flash series (1990) caught the attention of Timm. Although initially hesitant, she joined the project after being impressed by the show's art and character depth. While collaborating with Elfman to incorporate his Batman film score, she also created her own "memorable" theme for the series. Walker's approach to composing was notably sophisticated. She crafted character-specific themes based on traits, voice acting, and design, mirroring the techniques of composers like
John Williams and
Howard Shore. Beyond
Batman: The Animated Series, she went on to contribute to
Superman: The Animated Series and
Batman Beyond, helping to define the sound of the
DC Animated Universe. ==Characters==