Perchance to Dream (Batman: The Animated Series)

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Batman: The Animated Series episode
“Perchance To Dream”
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 030 (26th. to air)
Writer(s) Laren Bright, Michael Reaves
Director Boyd Kirkland
Original airdate October 19th, 1992
Episode chronology
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"Eternal Youth" "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy"

Perchance To Dream is the twenty-sixth episode of the Warner Bros. animated television series Batman: The Animated Series. First aired on October 19, 1992 . Story by Laren Bright, Michael Reaves. Teleplay by Joe R. Lansdale. Directed by Boyd Kirkland. This episode is also considered as one of the greatest Batman episodes ever created.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Image:Maz.jpg
Bruce Wayne, with Selina Kyle, in Perchance To Dream.

Template:Spoiler Bruce Wayne wakes up to find his dearest wish has come true: his parents are not dead, and he is not and has never been Batman. Not only that, but he's engaged to Selina Kyle. At first he's ecstatic, but a number of clues force him to the conclusion that somehow this is all an elaborate charade. His quest to find the truth eventually pits Bruce against Batman in a surreal battle atop a church tower. Only then does he realize that he is trapped in a fantasy world created by the Mad Hatter's mind control. In order to wake up, he commits suicide by jumping off the church tower. He then wakes up and arrests the Mad Hatter. As Gordon wonders what the device that made the fantasy world is, Batman walks away with the famous line: "The stuff that dreams are made of."

[edit] Themes

One of the themes in the episode is duality. As the dream version of Leslie Thompkins points out, Bruce Wayne is jealous of the dream version of Batman, who, unlike Bruce, has gotten things through deeds. In other words, the Bruce Wayne persona has become jealous of the Batman persona, who is far better than Bruce Wayne. This evidently leads to the climax where the two personas duel each other for domination.

Many philosophers have discussed the idea that you may be stuck in a dream and never know it. In the end, how does Batman really know he is in reality again?

[edit] Notes

Although the entire series is heavily indebted to Film Noir, some of the most explicit references are found in this episode. The climax at the bell-tower is perhaps a nod to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo and Batman directly quotes Humphrey Bogart's final paraphrase from The Tempest in The Maltese Falcon in the end. The dreamlike nature of the storyline is very much in common with Films-Noir.

The title comes from a line in the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet, in which Hamlet debates whether or not to kill himself, or to face the cruel travails of the world, and specifically the task of avenging his father which has been put before him. This is a subtle, but intriguing parallel not only to the story of the episode itself, but to the story of Batman in general.

The theme and conflict found in the episode are both similar to those faced by Superman in the Alan Moore story "For the Man Who Has Everything".

Leslie Thompkins essentially sums up part of the episode: the persona of Bruce Wayne, who has never had to work for what he wants, is jealous of the personality of Batman, who is obviously a better person. Thus, the two personalities fight each other in the bell-tower for control of Bruce Wayne.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Kevin Conroy Batman, Thomas Wayne (Uncredited)
Bob Hastings Commissioner Gordon
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Alfred Pennyworth
Adrienne Barbeau Selina Kyle, Martha Wayne (Uncredited)
Brian Cummings Reporter
Roddy McDowall Mad Hatter
Diana Muldaur Dr. Leslie Thompkins

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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