Happy 75th Anniversary Batman!

In light of the 75^th anniversary of the first appearance of Batman today,  I would like to dedicate this post to the five things I have learned from the most formative cartoon and superhero during my childhood, Batman the Animated Series. 

Yeah, eff' Looney Tunes man, this was my jam. 

1. 1.       BTAS introduced me to the Film Noir and the Art Deco movement.  The style of show resembled a noir detective film in the early episodes and featured beautiful, time consuming hand painted backgrounds and title cards.
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1. 2.       BTAS made me aware of strong story-telling and the concept of using no dialogue in scenes, such as the famous opening sequence which depicted Batman chasing after two criminals on the rooftops of Gotham City.
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2. 3.       BTAS introduced strong female characters of all races, ages, and sizes such as Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Renee Montoya, Harley Quinn, Batgirl, Dr. Leslie Thompkins, and Talia al Ghul.  Some were pulled from the comic books, others (Harley Quinn and Renee Montoya) created for the show were later added to the comic books.
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Renee "BAMF" Montoya

1. 4.       BTAS pioneered the use of well-known film actors to voice the villains.  David Warner, Richard Glover, Richard Mill, Roddy McDowall, Michael York, Ed Asner all provided their voices for various villains.
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3. 5.       BTAS taught me to fear the Joker.  Joker was still hilarious but also dangerously psychotic.  Despite being a children’s cartoon, the show taught new generations the true potential of the Clown Prince of Crime and also proved that the man who played Luke Skywalker could also create the definitive version of comic’s greatest villain of all time.  Amen, Mark Hamill.
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I'm a fan of Heath Ledger's portrayal too but come on, look at him! And in a cartoon, too!