Decades before Batman: The Animated Series premiered and embraced the title character’s dark roots, the best animated depiction of Bruce Wayne came from Filmation, which began airing its own Batman cartoon in the late ‘60s. Although it was more family-friendly than later versions, The Adventures of Batman holds a special place in the hearts of many comic book fans who came of age during this time period. Now, they can revisit its classic stories on Blu-ray. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has announced a new box featuring high-definition remasters of all 34 segments.
The Adventures of Batman originally debuted on CBS on September 14, 1968. The series derived much of its campy influence from Adam West’s Batman series, which arrived just two years earlier. The show technically aired 17 half-hour episodes over the course of its four-month run. But each episode was spit into two segments, giving viewers more bang for their buck. It was also famously paired alongside Filmation’s earlier DC cartoon, The New Adventures of Superman, to create The Batman/Superman Hour.
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Olan Soule and Casey Kasem headlined the show as the voices of Batman and Robin, respectively. The series also featured many of the Dynamic Duo’s most popular villains, including Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Riddler, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter. Years later, Soule and Kasem reprised their roles in Hanna-Barbera’s Super Friends animated series. You can check out the box set’s full list of episodes below:
- My Crime Is Your Crime / A Bird Out of Hand
- The Cool, Cruel Mr. Freeze / The Joke’s on Robin
- How Many Herring in a Wheelbarrow? / In Again, Out Again Penguin
- The Nine Lives of Batman / Long John Joker
- Bubi, Bubi, Who’s Got the Ruby? / 1001 Faces of the Riddler
- The Big Birthday Caper / Two Penguins Too Many
- Partners in Peril / The Underworld Underground Caper
- Hizzoner the Joker / Freeze’s Frozen Vikings
- The Crime Computer / The Great Scarecrow Scare
- A Game of Cat and Mouse / Beware of Living Dolls
- Will the Real Robin Please Stand Up? / He Who Swipes the Ice, Goes to the Cooler
- Simon the Pieman / A Mad, Mad Tea Party
- From Catwoman with Love / Perilous Playthings
- A Perfidious Pieman Is Simon / Cool, Cruel Christmas Caper
- The Fiendishly Frigid Fraud / Enter the Judge
- The Jigsaw Jeopardy / Wrath of the Riddler
- It Takes Two to Make a Team / Opera Buffa
The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection will hit stores on February 28, 2023.
Will you be picking up a copy of the collection next year? Let us know in the comment section below!
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