75 of Batman: History of Animated Series

Even though Batman first appeared animated in Super Friends, and also appeared in Justice League, I am only covering the series that were solely about Batman (or in the case of "Gotham Girls" was set in same world as the original 1992 series).

 

Batman: The Animated Series/The Adventures of Batman and Robin (1992-1995)

Originally ran from 1992 to 1995 on the Fox Kids Network, it is considered one of the best. It spearheaded the Fox Kids craze, being the popular and brought on classics like Tiny Toons, Bobby's World, Power Rangers, Animaniacs and so on. This cartoon was sort of based on Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) and spawned the theatrical release "Batman: Mask of the Phantom" in 1993. It also gave the world Harley Quinn. Dick Grayson's Robin had a similar costume to Tim Drake's from the comics at the time and he was romantically linked to Barbara Gordon's Batgirl. For season two, it was changed to "The Adventures of Batman and Robin." This also spun-off to "The New Batman Adventures" and web series "Gotham Girls."

 

The New Batman Adventures (1997-1999)

Three years after the second season of Batman: The Animated Series ended production, the show was moved (as The New Batman Adventures) from Fox to The WB channel, which was airing and producing Superman: The Animated Series. According to the reference book Batman Animated, series writer Paul Dini originally wanted the new show to be titled Batman: Gotham Knights, but this idea was rejected by the other producers. This series introduced Tim Drake as Robin and Dick Grayson as Nightwing.

 

Batman Beyond (1999-2001)

Batman Beyond depicting teenager Terry McGinnis as a new Batman in a futuristic Gotham City under the tutelage of an elderly Bruce Wayne that aired on Kids WB. Will Friedle (Boy Meets World) played Terry. Among the live-action films proposed between the critical failure of Batman & Robin and the reboot of the Batman franchise was a live-action Batman Beyond feature, to be written by Paul Dini but it was let go. In April 2014, a Batman Beyond short by Darqyn Cooke that airs on Cartoon Network, which saw Conroy and Friedle reprise their roles from the show.

Gotham Girls (2002)

Gotham Girls is an American Flash animation series about the females of Gotham City in 2002. Episodes starred Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Batgirl, Catwoman and Zatanna in short stories. The series lasted for three seasons (10 episodes each), with each episode released month-by-month. Third Season dropped the Zatanna from its lineup and adding Detective Renee Montoya, each episode from this series tied into the next, forming a collective thirty-minute whodunit. The storyline also dealt with issues not seen since Batman: The Animated Series, such as the corruption of the Gotham City Police Department, Poison Ivy's environmental crusade, Commissioner Gordon's wavering faith in costumed superheroes and Det. Selma Reesedale, a character revealed early on to be a male-to-female transsexual.

The Batman (2004-2008)

The Batman ran from September 11, 2004 to March 22, 2008, on Kids' WB. Although the series borrows many elements from previous Batman storylines, it does not follow the continuity set by the comic books, the film series, nor that of Batman: The Animated Series and its spin-offs. The character designs were provided by Jackie Chan Adventures artist Jeff Matsuda; he also directed the ending. Barbara tries to be The Batman's sidekick, but he refuses to accept the need for a partner until the end of the season. This differed from the comics, in which Robin was The Batman's first sidekick; this was due to the Teen Titans animated series using the character, limiting his ability to appear in other shows. Robin later premiered in Season 4 after Teen Titans was cancelled.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008-2011)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain. As the title suggests, the cartoon focuses on Batman's regular "team-ups" with various heroes similar to the most well-known version of the original comic book series. The series premiered on November 14, 2008 on Cartoon Network and ended on November 18, 2011.

Beware the Batman (2013-2014)
Beware the Batman was computer-animated and premiered on Cartoon Network on July 13, 2013, as part of their DC Nation block. It is the replacement for Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Beware the Batman was pulled from the Cartoon Network schedule and put on hiatus on October 23, 2013 without explanation. The series returned to Cartoon Network via Adult Swim's Toonami block on Saturday, May 10, 2014 at 3:00am; Toonami plans to air all 26 episodes starting from the beginning.
 



Five Hot Gay Actors You may not know are gay

These actors that may not be known that well, have bit parts, here and there

Sean Maher

He is best known as Simon Tam in the series "Firefly" and the movie Serenity. He has been Wedding Wars as John Stamos' boyfriend before he came out in real life. He has been in Make It or Break It and Arrow as Sharpnel. He's from New York and 39 years old, he came out in 2011. He most of the time plays 'perfect' guys.

 

Jonathan Bennett

He is famously rumored to date Matt Dallas (Kyle XY) who has recently came out. Jonathan is best known as Aaron in Mean Girls, Van Wilder in a prequel and Bo Duke in a Dukes of Hazard prequel. I don't think he has officially come out. Next up for him is The Out and Out, Mining for Ruby, and Submerged. He's 33.

 

Jonathan Chase
35 year-old actor best known as Jarod in Another Gay Movie and rumored to date Anderson Cooper. I don't know he officially came out as well. He played Sam in Tyler Perry's "Love Thy Neighbor" as a Neil Patrick Harris' Barney-like character. He has also been in Bones, Victorious, Shake It Up, Monk, and Chemistry.

 

Matt Dallas

31 year-old actor I mentioned before, he did come out and he is best known for Kyle XY. He came out in 2013 when he announced his fiancé. He has also been in Baby Daddy, Anne & Jake, Eastwick.

 

Adam Rikaart

37 year-old actor best known for Young and the Restless, he came out recently.

 

 

 There is also Matt Bomer (White Collar, Magic Mike), Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek, Heroes) but I think they are well known now. They all came out already.

 

Related: http://spanengrish.blogspot.com/2013/03/im-not-gay-but-my-brother-is-celebrity.html | http://spanengrish.blogspot.com/2009/12/out-celebrities-and-where-they-are-now.html



Female Warrior Toylines that failed

She-Ra Princess of  (1985) is best known of the following which I call female warriors but others might refer to as female He-Mans. She-Ra was He-Man's sister. She-Ra had a main male villain, Hordak who was supposed to be He-Man's villain, he even came as a He-Man toy and was not part of the She-Ra toy line. Catra, Entrapa and Double Face were the only villainesses in the toy line. She-Ra had dolls, coloring books, storybooks, posters, stickers, birthday stuff, her own animated series, and now DVDs. She was the only popular one. The other ones were ignored.

 

Golden Girl and the Guardians of Gemstone (1983)

Galoob came out with this toy line in 1983, it predates She-Ra. They had t-shirts, coloring books, board games and books. It somehow is remembered by toy fans but it was pretty much forgotten. It has a unique distinction of having a group of villainesses. They didn't have an animated series.

For more information on Golden Girl: http://www.thelaironstormisle.com/

 

Wonder Woman and the Star Riders (1992)

Probably done to have a recognizable Wonder Woman to attract the toyline but it didn't really work... actually it wasn't even released! Mattel made the prototypes. The only thing that exist that gave me an inkling about this was a mini comic that came with Minibuns. I got it thanks to a speech teacher I had, I think she got it from there. Anyways, the dolls were later used for Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic.

http://www.toyotter.com/actiongirl/starriders/

 

Saban's Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic (1995)

A cartoon doesn't equal a hit. Tenko wasn't exactly a warrior but the dolls of Wonder Woman and the Star Riders were used for Tenko. Tenko was a real life magician and she had live-action segments. This show aired on Fox Kids and was produced by Saban Entertainment, who is responsible for Power Rangers. It was canceled after one year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenko_and_the_Guardians_of_the_Magic

 

Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders (1995-1996)

This show lasted two seasons and it was syndicated. It had a toyline. It had fans but it didn't last passed two years and it is not as memorable as She-Ra. She was known as Starla outside of the US. Other Arthurian characters in the show include Merlin and Lady of the Lake. It was a pretty good series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Gwenevere_and_the_Jewel_Riders

 

Related: http://spanengrish.blogspot.com/2012/06/golden-girl-and-gaurdians-of-gemstone.html | http://spanengrish.blogspot.com/2006/07/best-of-she-rasecret-of-sword-review.html

Unused or Discarded Disney Characters

While developing a script or a movie, creators have to get rid of a character or no longer see the need for it. Or the character evolves into something better.

 

Little Mermaid

Ariel not only had Flounder and Sebastian, she also had a dolphin friend. Breaker the dolphin's personality was then implanted into Ariel.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/6928/The_Little_Mermaid

 

Beauty and the Beast

Belle was supposed to have a cute little music box who didn't speak but had music. He was replaced by Chip. He does appear in the movie next to Lumiere before the villagers attack the castle.

http://fancysomedisneymagic.tumblr.com/post/3922625605/unused-disney-characters

Aladdin
Aladdin's mom was once in the movie and Aladdin had a song called "Proud of your boy", a song that Clay Aiken even sang at one point in time. She was removed from the movie and Aladdin was made an orphan. It returned in the Broadway show. Also, there was to be another genie, one in a ring that Jafar would use. Rumored voices were Jim Carey and Lily Tomlin, unknown if they were actually asked.
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Aladdin's_Mother
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Genie_of_the_Ring

Before Jeffrey Katzenberg's "Black Friday," Aladdin had three human friends called Babkak, Omar, and Kassim. "One Step Ahead" was originally written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken as "Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Cassim" and was deleted. They came back in Broadway's Aladdin. Cassim's spelling was changed because Aladdin's dad was called Cassim in "Aladdin and the King of Thieves."

 

Lion King

There was Meethu ("Mee-Too"), Nala's brother had a desire to tag along with the two older cubs and their other friend, a bat-eared fox. After Scar’s coup, Nala would’ve been tasked with protecting her brother from Scar. The development of characters like Timon and Pumbaa rendered a second group of friends for Simba not needed.

http://thefw.com/more-deleted-disney-characters/?trackback=tsmclip

 

Pocahontas

Believe it or not, Pocahontas had another friend in a turkey. Redfeather the turkey was replaced by Meeko.

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Redfeather

 

Mulan

Mulan had two dragons named Yin and Yang instead of Mushu, then it was a dragon and a phoenix, eventually they were canned for Mushu.

http://www.curatormagazine.com/aaronbelz/the-maker-of-mulans-mushu-speaks/

 

Muppet's Treasure Island

Amazonia the Parrot was Black Beard's female friend. Apparently Black Beard's Parrot friend was too flirty and female, was changed to Stevenson (above) who appeared in a CD-ROM game and he was ditched for Polly the Lobster.

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Amazonia_the_Parrot

 

Bambi

Bee was an insect that was taken out of Bambi, no reason given.

http://www.disneydreaming.com/2011/03/27/discarded-bambi-character-bee/

 

Not only the bee, but Thumper's dad was booted too. Mr. Hare is referenced in the movie but never seen but he was to be included, as he was in the original book. In one early draft of the script, he is constantly trying to tell Bambi a story, but keeps having to run off to avoid a fox before he can finish. He was to die as well. Thumper replaced him because of a cute child actor.

 http://thefw.com/lost-disney-characters/?trackback=tsmclip

 

 

Snow White
In the original Snow White story, the dwarfs all had generic names and no defined personalities. Disney gave them names, but there were some that were unused. Deafy, sometimes written as 'Deefy,' he was hard of hearing.  Story drawings of Deafy still exist, proving that he was a more serious contender for a role in the film than other suggested dwarfs like Thrifty, Burpy, Wheezy, Jumpy, Baldy and Awful (steals and drinks and is dirty). Sneezy did replace Deafy. In Once Upon a Time, an 8th Dwarf has been added named Stealthy. http://thefw.com/lost-disney-characters/?trackback=tsmclip

 

 Alice in Wonderland

Gryphon and Mock Turtle were in the books and they were planned characters for the movie but they were probably cut for time, which is funny because Alice in Wonderland is one of the shortest Disney animated features. Gryphon and Mock Turtle were actually used in a Black and White Jell-O commercial and it looks like they reused some cells from the planned canceled scene and some cells of Alice from the exact movie and just put new voiceovers for Jell-O.

http://thefw.com/lost-disney-characters/?trackback=tsmclip

 

 

The Rescuers

Among the ideas considered early on was a story where the mice rescue a bear trapped in the zoo. Very little has been written about this version of the film, so not much is known about Louis the bear. Louis Prima (King Louie from ‘The Jungle Book’) was slated to voice him. Walt Disney’s death in 1966 may have weakened enthusiasm for the bear in the zoo storyline and also that Louis Prima had a brain tumor.

 http://thefw.com/lost-disney-characters/?trackback=tsmclip



That is not Leslie Mann in the LG Refrigerator commercial?

 

 

This is not Leslie Mann? I thought it was her. Leslie Mann was in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This is 40 and 17 Again.

Interracial couples (African-Americans and Caucasians) in TV sitcoms (and some dramas)

 

Maybe this subject is moot these days but I don't see this much happening anymore these days in Sitcoms but in the 90's and 00's, occasionally a white character would be paired with a black character. Here I cover the rare main relationships and then the minor characters for just one episode. I will mostly cover African-American with White Americans. Because if you get nitpicky, you can call almost any couple interracial if Italian with British or Irish and Polish.

 

 Saved by the Bell

Lisa and Screech

Screech was madly in love with Lisa and the subject of her being black and him being white never came up. She mostly was disgusted with him and didn't return his advances. Even if she didn't feel the same way and they were never an official couple, it was refreshing they made no big deal about them being from different races. Occasionally she would show signs of liking him back but it didn't happen much.

 

Saved by the Bell

Zack and Lisa

In one episode where Lisa was a fashion designer, Zack and her worked together closely and fell for each other. They ended up kissing, breaking Screech's heart. Again race was not an issue. This relationship was not brought up again.

 

That 70's Show

Hyde and Melissa

Hyde is attracted to Donna's radio work buddy Melissa (Reagan Gomez-Preston---voice of Roberta on "Cleveland Show"). They don't kiss or date, it is alluded that it will continue but we never see her again. We later find that Hyde is half-black but he doesn't date a black girl after this.

 

Mr. Sunshine

 Alice and Alonzo

In the now canceled show "Mr. Sunshine," Alonzo (James Lesiure) and Alice (Andrea Anders) were a couple. James Lesiure is now on the TBS sitcom "Men at Work."

Parenthood

Crosby and Jasmine

Crosby (Dax Shepard) and Jasmine (Joy Bryant) had a kid together and then were engaged. They get married and have a second child.

 

True Colors

A Fox TV sitcom in the 90's was about a blended family with a black father and white wife, two sons from the father and daughter from the mother. Lasted two seasons from 1990 to 1992. People said it was a bad show but I was 8 when it came out and I liked it.

 

New Girl

Winston and Daisy

While Cece is Indian-American and has dated Schmidt who is Jewish and now seems to be paired with Coach who is African-American, I want to bring to light the rare pairing of Asian with Black. Daisy (Brenda Strong) was dating Winston only for a few eps and inadvertently broke up with him when he discovered she was seeing someone else. It was never mentioned about their different races even though the Schmidt character often mentioned him being Jewish and Cece being of Indian heritage.

 

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue

Joel and Angela Fairweather

In season 8 of Power Rangers in 2000, they had got in the habit of having new cast and story and Joel the Green Ranger was after the scientist Ms. Fairweather. She ignored him for the most part but ultimately he won her heart and they married. 

Angel

James Gunn and Winifred 'Fred' Bruckle

In the end of season 3 and beginning of Season 4, Fred and Gunn became a couple. Like most couples in the Buffy and Angel universe, the relationship ended tragically. Gunn ended up killing for Fred and she didn't like that. She ended up kissing Wes. They broke up and next year Fred died. Anyway, their races wasn't mention but there was clear cultural differences.

 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Captain Ray Holt and Kevin Cozner

Ray Holt is a main character and we don't meet his husband until Episode 16. Holt's husband who dislikes the NYPD due to their treatment of Holt and his homosexuality during his earlier years on the force. He claims Holt is the 'funny' one in their relationship, while he is very stoic. Their races are quickly mentioned and what is emphasized is that Kevin is one of those pretentious smart gays.