Filmation Batman - 1968

[riddler123]

This was a great show. I think "Bubi Bubi Who's got the ruby" may be the most bizarre episode title I've ever seen,

[John Mack]

I was so glad to finally own all the episodes on DVD, but I was disappointed in the box art which didn't show the actual animation style from the series. That 70's/80's look I think lost and continues to lose sales as people are more prone to look at the design of the artwork, rather than read the text. Hey! Wasn't there something about a photo of Batman wearing a watch shown in a newspaper where Batman comments on exactly that point? LOL

[tenderheart bear]

I agree, it would have been good to have appropriate artwork for Warner's DC titles but they rarely do on vintage releases. I think the last 3 Super-Friends releases used this style too.

Mind you, The New Adventures of Superman seasons 2 & 3 used the right art on the DVD cover (more or less) so that's something.

[Bookworm]

I agree, it would have been good to have appropriate artwork for Warner's DC titles but they rarely do on vintage releases. I think the last 3 Super-Friends releases used this style too.

Mind you, The New Adventures of Superman seasons 2 & 3 used the right art on the DVD cover (more or less) so that's something.

Similar complaints have been made about the cover art on Warner Home Video's recent release of the Tarzan cartoon. Not sure why they insist on doing it.

[Golddragon71]

It's funny my first exposure to Batman was the Second Filmation series with Adam west and Burt Ward (and that plus the original TV series being on every day after school) a few years later I ran into the older series and it threw me for a loop because Batman and Robin were actually throwing punches! The weird thing is I recall an episode of the latter series where Batman hit his head while chasing Clayface (it was in an auto-junkyard) The blow on the head caused Batman to lose his memory. Of course I sat through the entire series trying to find it only to discover no such episode. I guess I could have dreamed it but It seemed pretty real.

[Yellow Oval]

It's funny my first exposure to Batman was the Second Filmation series with Adam west and Burt Ward (and that plus the original TV series being on every day after school) a few years later I ran into the older series and it threw me for a loop because Batman and Robin were actually throwing punches! The weird thing is I recall an episode of the latter series where Batman hit his head while chasing Clayface (it was in an auto-junkyard) The blow on the head caused Batman to lose his memory. Of course I sat through the entire series trying to find it only to discover no such episode. I guess I could have dreamed it but It seemed pretty real.

Golddragon71, do you have the 1978 Batman Filmation DVD set? Batman does lose his memory in an episode with Clayface but it's when he crashes (I believe) a truck or some other such vehicle into some sort of lot so you didn't dream it.

I have to say I really love all of Filmation's background music in this series that was also used on Shazam, Isis, Tarzan, and their animated Star Trek run. I wish a CD would be released with all that great atmosphere music.

As for them throwing punches back in 1968 - action on TV was acceptable until around 1969 or 1970 when Mothers of America protested too much violence on the screen for kids. This also helped get some series like The Wild Wild West taken off even though it still was a ratings winner. Makes one wonder why they didn't go after the evening news then...?

[Golddragon71]

That is it! (I could have sworn I watched the whole series when i got the DVDs but the Dead Ringers is the episode I remembered all right!)
Thanks for the tip!


edit: funny, Every once in a while I go through my past posts just for the fun of it...
when I did this just now and found this post, it was on a night that I watched the Batman '66 episode "The Dead Ringers" featuring Liberace as Chandell and Harry.

[bat-rss]

I've had a question pending at http://www.66batman.com/forums/viewtopi ... 689#p87689 for a while, but no one seems to have noticed it (or noone knows the answer!) I'll re-post below. Anyone have any info on this?

====

I'm watching the DVD collection of this now and I have some questions. This seems like the place to ask them!

1. I'm baffled to find that the order of the episodes is different from every listing I can find on the Web (IMDB, Wikipedia, Fandom.com, etc). For example, all those sites say the first episode is My Crime is Your Crime/A Bird Out of Hand. But on this collection, it's How Many Herring in a Wheelbarrow?/A Bird out of Hand. My Crime is Your Crime doesn't show up until the 11th episode in the collection, paired with Beware of Living Dolls, which allegedly is part of episode 10, as listed everywhere else. Does anyone know why this discrepancy exists?

2. Wikipedia and other sources contain the baffling (to me) statement that the show "showcased the 12-minute Batman segments from The Batman/Superman Hour". There seems to be some idea that the Batman cartoons from the Bat/Super show were repackaged into The Adventures of Batman. My assumption is that the Batman show and the Superman show were just scheduled alongside each other and the network dubbed it an "Hour". I'm not persuaded that "The Batman/Superman Hour" was ever really a single program. (IMDB has it really tangled: the listing for The Adventures of Batman includes all the actors and episode titles from the Superman show as well!) Or was there really a B/S show that was later repackaged as two separate shows - perhaps for syndication?

3. The 13th Dimension article linked above points out that Larry Storch did not voice the Joker, in spite of what the publicity for the home video release, and IMDB, say. Does anyone know the source of this urban legend?

[clavierankh]

I watched when it was originally on. I seem to remember How Many Herring in a Wheel Barrow being first.

[bat-rss]

I watched when it was originally on. I seem to remember How Many Herring in a Wheel Barrow being first.

Oh, interesting. So is the episode order another place where IMDB (and everybody else online) is wrong, and the DVD order is correct???

[bat-rss]

We're going to be doing a TO THE BATPOLES episode soon on the '77 cartoon. Joker on this show is CLEARLY Ted Knight - I'm hearing Ted Baxter all over the place -- but sounds completely different from the Joker in the '68 cartoon.
Joe Hill in a comment on 13th Dimension in 2022, responding to an article about the Blu-Ray of the '68 show, maintained that the '68 Joker was Ted Knight, not Larry Storch. But that Joker sounds completely different from the '77 Joker, and I've never been able to recognize it as a Ted Knight voice. But if it's not Storch either, I'm baffled as to who it actually was. Maybe it was Knight, but I'm not hearing it.

[BAT 77]

We're going to be doing a TO THE BATPOLES episode soon on the '77 cartoon. Joker on this show is CLEARLY Ted Knight - I'm hearing Ted Baxter all over the place -- but sounds completely different from the Joker in the '68 cartoon.
Joe Hill in a comment on 13th Dimension in 2022, responding to an article about the Blu-Ray of the '68 show, maintained that the '68 Joker was Ted Knight, not Larry Storch. But that Joker sounds completely different from the '77 Joker, and I've never been able to recognize it as a Ted Knight voice. But if it's not Storch either, I'm baffled as to who it actually was. Maybe it was Knight, but I'm not hearing it.

Lennie Weinrib did the Joker's voice in the '77 Filmation as well as Gordon and most of the villains (with the exception of Clayface). Joker's voice in his first appearance (in "The Pest") is very Ted Knight in delivery, but it's definitely Weinrib. All subsequent appearances of the Joker have him sounding more like Pee Wee Herman, switching from a high, nasally voice to a low, throaty voice, usually in mid-sentence.

In the "Have an Evil Day" two-parter, Weinrib is clearly having trouble distinguishing the multiple voices he does in the same scene (Joker, Penguin and Zarbor).

As far as Larry Storch, I can't say for certain about the '68 Filmation series, but I'm certain he voiced Joker in his appearances in "The Scooby-Doo Movies" as by then he had already voiced Drac in "Groovy Ghoolies" for Filmation. On both his appearances on "The Scooby-Doo Movies", he was paired with Penguin, who was definitely voiced by Ted Knight.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

as by then he had already voiced Drac in "Groovy Ghoolies" for Hanna Barbera.

Hey, The Groovie Goolies (CBS, 1970-72) was a Filmation production.

[Yellow Oval]

I believe Lou Scheimer said the reason for the short life of the Ghoulies series was that at the time it was exorbitantly expensive to produce. I have the DVD set and still love it, especially the goofy humor, and super-cool songs.

[BiffPow]

I have the DVD set and still love it, especially the … super-cool songs.

”Super Ghoul! Super Ghoul! Everybody loves ol’ Super Ghoul!”