New Adventures of Batman
1977 - 1978
The New Adventures of Batman
is an animated series produced by Filmation in 1977 featuring the DC Comics
superheroes Batman and Robin, and Batgirl.
It originally premiered February 10, 1977 on CBS. The episodes from this series were later aired along with other Filmation shows — such as Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976, CBS) — as part of: the Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour (1977–1978 CBS), Tarzan and the Super 7 (1978–1980 CBS), and Batman and the Super 7 (1980–1981 NBC).
In The New Adventures of Batman, The Dynamic Duo fights crime in Gotham City, encountering the classic Batman rogues gallery as well as some original villains. Complicating matters is Bat-Mite, a well meaning imp from another dimension called Ergo, who considers himself Batman's biggest fan. As a result, he wears a variant of Batman’s costume and attempts to help him, only to often create more problems (although he is occasionally an asset). Missing is Alfred, the faithful butler of Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne; also notable in this series are the inverted colors of the "R" on Robin's costume.
In September 1968, before The New Adventures of Batman and half a year after the Batman live action TV series' demise, Filmation Associates had created and aired an animated Batman series (pre-Bat-Mite), named The Batman/Superman Hour, for CBS. This series, the first Saturday Morning vehicle for the Caped Crusader, paired up new Batman and Robin adventures with old Superman/Superboy episodes. In 1969, it was repackaged into 30-minute episodes without the Man of Steel and renamed The Adventures of Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.
The New Adventures of Batman was produced concurrently with Super Friends, which was produced by the competing Hanna-Barbera Productions and included Batman and Robin as members, marking a rare occurrence in animation history which saw two studios simultaneously producing series featuring the same characters. The main distinction was that in Filmation’s series, Batman and Robin were voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward, the lead actors of the 1960s Batman series (unlike the live action series, West and Ward played their respective roles with a greatly reduced degree of campiness). Hanna-Barbera's Batman and Robin were voiced by Olan Soule and Casey Kasem, who, ironically, voiced the Dynamic Duo for Filmation's 1968 version, The Batman/Superman Hour.
The Riddler and the Scarecrow were off limits to the show, as Hanna-Barbera already had the rights to the characters for Challenge of the Superfriends (though The Riddler does appear in the opening credits of the show in a red colored costume, and was mentioned being arrested at the beginning of the episode Deep Freeze). This is also the reason why the Joker could not appear in Challenge of the Superfriends, though he was planned as a Legion of Doom member
The New Adventures Of Batman was released on DVD format on June 26, 2007; all sixteen episodes are collected. A retrospective detailing the creation of the series titled "Dark Vs. Light: Filmation and The Batman" featuring Filmation historian Michael Swanigan and Filmation founder Lou Scheimer is included as well.
(info from Wikipedia)
It originally premiered February 10, 1977 on CBS. The episodes from this series were later aired along with other Filmation shows — such as Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976, CBS) — as part of: the Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour (1977–1978 CBS), Tarzan and the Super 7 (1978–1980 CBS), and Batman and the Super 7 (1980–1981 NBC).
In The New Adventures of Batman, The Dynamic Duo fights crime in Gotham City, encountering the classic Batman rogues gallery as well as some original villains. Complicating matters is Bat-Mite, a well meaning imp from another dimension called Ergo, who considers himself Batman's biggest fan. As a result, he wears a variant of Batman’s costume and attempts to help him, only to often create more problems (although he is occasionally an asset). Missing is Alfred, the faithful butler of Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne; also notable in this series are the inverted colors of the "R" on Robin's costume.
In September 1968, before The New Adventures of Batman and half a year after the Batman live action TV series' demise, Filmation Associates had created and aired an animated Batman series (pre-Bat-Mite), named The Batman/Superman Hour, for CBS. This series, the first Saturday Morning vehicle for the Caped Crusader, paired up new Batman and Robin adventures with old Superman/Superboy episodes. In 1969, it was repackaged into 30-minute episodes without the Man of Steel and renamed The Adventures of Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.
The New Adventures of Batman was produced concurrently with Super Friends, which was produced by the competing Hanna-Barbera Productions and included Batman and Robin as members, marking a rare occurrence in animation history which saw two studios simultaneously producing series featuring the same characters. The main distinction was that in Filmation’s series, Batman and Robin were voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward, the lead actors of the 1960s Batman series (unlike the live action series, West and Ward played their respective roles with a greatly reduced degree of campiness). Hanna-Barbera's Batman and Robin were voiced by Olan Soule and Casey Kasem, who, ironically, voiced the Dynamic Duo for Filmation's 1968 version, The Batman/Superman Hour.
The Riddler and the Scarecrow were off limits to the show, as Hanna-Barbera already had the rights to the characters for Challenge of the Superfriends (though The Riddler does appear in the opening credits of the show in a red colored costume, and was mentioned being arrested at the beginning of the episode Deep Freeze). This is also the reason why the Joker could not appear in Challenge of the Superfriends, though he was planned as a Legion of Doom member
The New Adventures Of Batman was released on DVD format on June 26, 2007; all sixteen episodes are collected. A retrospective detailing the creation of the series titled "Dark Vs. Light: Filmation and The Batman" featuring Filmation historian Michael Swanigan and Filmation founder Lou Scheimer is included as well.
(info from Wikipedia)
