The New Batman Adventures (1997-99)

The New Batman Adventures (1997-99)

Dirs. Various | 24 episodes, approx 22 mins each.

A direct continuation of Batman: The Animated Series set two years after TAS ended. It had many of the same cast and creative team behind the scenes, but it's visually different to what came before, with a different title and a distinct logo design.

It's been previously marketed both as a different show with two produced seasons of its own, and, perhaps erroneously, as a third season of TAS. Like many fans I subscribe to the belief that it is indeed its own thing, albeit one that continues TAS continuity. The many visual changes in the series seem to support that belief.

It features Batgirl (Tara Strong), Robin (Mathew Valencia), and Nightwing (Loren Lester) at various times throughout, with Batman (Kevin Conroy) being the only team member who appears in every episode, but the characters were redesigned to more closely match Superman TAS, due to how the two series were being screened on TV at the time.

It's tactfully termed a 'revamp' of the original style, but in many respects it's a simplification, likely to shorten the time it took to animate. Some of the new designs are more radical than others (e.g., Scarecrow) and some are just plain awful (e.g., Catwoman), but what they have in common is that all are weaker than their original TAS versions. Many of the stories are weaker, too, but there are still some interesting themes explored, so it's worth watching at least once.

- For comparison: TAS Catwoman (LEFT) and TNBA Catwoman (RIGHT) -

As mentioned in the Batman TAS post, TNBA is included in that particular Blu-ray Collection. Relevant, but for some reason NOT included in the collection even though it's part of the same continuity, is Dir. Curt Geda's Mystery of the Batwoman (2003) movie. Its omission could just be WB saving money, or maybe they were unwilling to negotiate licensing, I don't know, but it's a shame that it's missing. The visuals are reminiscent of TNBA's style of animation, which is why I'm mentioning it here, and while it's not as good as the previous two movies in that shared continuity it has some fun moments and isn't as bad as its reputation might imply.