Batman: The Animated Series/Broadcasting

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DC animated Universe: Chronology

Batman: The Animated Series | Superman: The Animated Series | Batman Beyond | The Zeta Project | Static Shock | Justice League | Movies

Characters: Heroes and Supporting · Villains · Minor · Organizations | Places and Props

Episodes | Movies | Web animation | Comics | Video games | Cast and crew | Broadcasting | Awards | Internet sites | DVD releases

Batman: The Animated Series premiered on the Fox Network and aired there for its first several seasons; however, it was then switched to Warner Bros.' new WB Network in the late-1990s. Shortly before the transition, Fox aired episodes of the series in prime-time on Sunday evenings, marking one of the few times a show created initially for Saturday morning cartoons was scheduled for prime-time broadcast. However, the TV ratings were poor (the show aired opposite the perennial favorite 60 Minutes), and the series was removed from prime time.

After the series produced its 65th episode (the minimum number necessary for a TV series to be successfully syndicated), the show's popularity encouraged Warner Bros. to produce further episodes, furthering the animated adventures of the Caped Crusader. The series reached 85 episodes before finishing its run. Many of the creators went on to design and produce Superman: The Animated Series for Kids'WB!. In the late 1990s a new series based on Batman: The Animated Series was started called The New Batman Adventures which aired in an hour-long Batman/Superman show. The shows was not nearly as well received as the original Batman: The Animated Series due to a significantly lower animation budget which resulted in a far more stylized look, each individual episode just having background music mixed rather than being scored, and a more comedic approach to the storylines in general. In 1999, a new spin-off series, Batman Beyond, was released to further critical acclaim. In 2002, the Justice League animated series was released, building on the success of both the Batman and Superman animated series, and featured Batman as one of the founders of the League. Also of note is the fact that several of the animators from Japanese animation studio Sunrise worked on the series - their work on Batman would become a great influence on one of their later series,Big O, and the Cowboy Bebop episode "Pierrot le Fou".