THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN (1968-69)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological*

 According to the DVD version, the subtitle "with Robin the Boy Wonder" is attached to the main title, making this cartoon the second Bat-adaptation in which Robin got equal billing, following the 1949 serial. Batgirl, who became a regular member of the crimefighting team for the duration of the live-action show's third season, appears in 12 out of the cartoon's 17 episodes, but that's often enough for me to consider her a regular member of the team in ADVENTURES as well.

Despite the influence of the West-Ward-Craig BATMAN on the first Batman cartoon-- with occasional lifted phrases like the Penguin addressing his "fine feathered finks"-- ADVENTURES lacks any of the arch ironic posturing of the live-action show. It's extremely light-hearted, with lots of puns and comic pratfalls, but no more so than a lot of the "Candyland Batman" stories published by DC in the 1950s. Thus, ADVENTURES still fits the category of adventure, not comedy.

Further, since a number of episodes were written by DC comics-writers like Bob Haney and George Kashdan, most of the stories feel like early Silver Age stories, in which Batman and Robin use a comic-book version of forensic science to track down malefactors. Villains also conjure up oddball factoids about science in order to set their death-traps. In the serial's most inventive pun, original foe Simon the Pieman, who uses bakery-gimmicks as a theme, tries to execute Batgirl with "pie-zoelecticity," and even explains what actual piezoelectricity is.

The writers only troubled to make up three new villains, used offbeat versions of Scarecrow and Mad Hatter for an episode apiece, and devoted all other adventures to the quintet of Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman and Mister Freeze. (Regular crooks? Don't be silly.) Like the SUPERMAN cartoon previously produced by Filmation, the animation is extremely limited, but the character designs have a charming "bigfoot" look while the characters on SUPERMAN just looked dull and pedestrian.

Since ADVENTURES is a prime example of what Chuck Jones called "animated radio," the show stands or falls on the quality of the voice-work, and the BATMAN show is certainly one of the few Filmation shows to really excel in that department. Though the stories didn't resemble those of the 1966 BATMAN, actors Olan Soule and Casey Kasem provide letter-perfect emulations of Adam West and Burt Ward respectively. Larry Storch provided a highly individual take on the Joker (owing nothing to Cesar Romero, incidentally) and Jane Webb doubled as both Batgirl and Catwoman. But Ted Knight outshone them all, not only narrating the episodes but also producing the highly distinctive voices of Penguin, Riddler and the W.C. Fields-like twang of Simon the Pieman.

Oh, and not only does the Batgirl-setup re: her identity remain the same, so do the restrictions on her fighting-skills. The 1966 show wouldn't let Batgirl punch any bad guys; she could only kick them or hit them with props. This may have been because punching was unfeminine, or because the producers didn't want Yvonne Craig to damage the costume with strenuous stunts. Neither excuse applies very well to an animated cartoon. So Batman and Robin still got their fair share of punchouts (however limited in motion), while Batgirl was confined to kicks and, in one case, a face-shove instead of a more conventional sock in the schnozz.