Few animated series have endured like ‘Batman: The Animated Series‘ and Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy is sharing why he feels that is the case. For fans of the 25-year-old series, it might feel like common sense that this “deep drama” has lasted so long, but according to Conroy, it was the way that the writers handled the material by taking it seriously and not just by making it an action adventure aimed solely at children that made it timeless.
At Fan Expo Vancouver this year, Conroy shared producers Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski, and Paul Dini never intended to do a “kid’s show.” Confoy feels that he “was really serviced so well by the scripts they wrote” because the creative team hadn’t set a definitive age for their target audience.
Conroy went on to say:
“They never condescended to the audience. And they never condescended to the material. They respected the audience, and they respected the material.”
When working in an animated format about a man who dresses up as a bat with villains named Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face, it is easy to see a network pandering to a younger audience, but that wasn’t the plan with ‘Batman: The Animated Series.’ 25 years later this commitment to excellence still shows today.
“And that’s why when you look at it now as an adult, I look back at these shows, and I think, ‘This still looks so new, this still looks so fresh.’ Because it was always created to appeal to people on many different levels.
There is something there for kids of 10, but there’s also something there for people of 60. It’s just lots of different levels.”
Conroy also attributes the show’s success to voice director Andrea Romano:
“I was encouraged — in fact, I was pushed, by Andrea — to be as genuine and as sincere, to go to the depths of my emotions, to really pull something up.
People were giving really full-out performances in there. And I watched Mark go crazy, crazy, and you think, ‘No one can see these performances! But they can hear them.’ And it’s why the show resonates with people because we were really giving full-out performances in there.”
Fans of comics on either side of the aisle for The Big 2 have all showered praise for ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ giving us a cartoon that hardcore and casual fans can enjoy and appreciate over the years.
Do you agree with Kevin Conroy as to why ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ has resonated with fans so well over the years? Could another series end up bringing this kind of enjoyment to so many fans for so long or was this the right story created at the right time? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Comic Book
