Voice director Andrea Romano was the show's secret weapon.
The legendary voice and casting director, who recently retired after 30 years in the business, helped set the stage for DC's domination in the world of animation.
"She staged every recording like it was a play. You weren't there to just do your lines," says Glover. "She'd play your previous episode so you could see how you attacked the character. Then we'd do a read-through and Andrea would give us notes. Then we'd record the episode. It was an incredibly joyous experience."
Those who worked with her say Romano created an environment in which you were safe to explore your craft.
"We were all working off of each other and most of the people involved had a big theater background, so it was kind of like doing a mini play every day, which was exciting," says Lester.
"She always goes to bat for the actors, even though she's working for the studios. She had an enormous loyalty to her actor. She could coax performances out of people," says Conroy.
Conroy recalls one time where Romano deftly handled an actor who was having trouble.
"I remember one day we had an actor who kept giving the same line reading no matter what direction Andrea gave him. She tried several different prompts and he just couldn't do it. Finally she said, 'Perfect, let's keep going,' " says Conroy. "At the end of the session, Andrea said, 'OK, great work, thanks everyone. Kevin, could you stay after a minute?' I said, 'Sure.' So, I stay after and Andrea asks, 'Is your afternoon free?' I told her that it was and she said, 'Ok good, there's another actor coming in to re-record the guy's part.' Andrea didn't want to embarrass him in front of everyone in the recording session. It was really professional."
Hamill calls Romano his "dance partner" when it came to figuring out the Joker.
We developed a shorthand for laughs and line deliveries," he says. "On Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, part of the element of the script was that the audience has to doubt that this is the real Joker because it’s set so far in the future. So Andrea’s note was to play it slightly off with the voice, so people wouldn’t be sure if it he was a clone, or an android, or someone impersonating the Joker. She wanted to keep people in doubt."
Photofest
The series tackled feminist issues —something unheard of for a kids' series of the era.
The creation of the Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn, remains the series' biggest contribution to the Batman mythos. The character soon moved to comic books, and with Margot Robbie's version in Suicide Squad and its planned spin-offs, she's a bona fide big screen star. In her early days, she grew from being a henchman to being a complex character who questioned her relationship with the Joker.
"I knew when Harley totally hit was when I started seeing Halloween characters. I said, 'It's a Halloween costume?' " recalls Sorkin. "I said, 'Oh my God it did make an impression.'"
Adds Hamill: "It was so wonderful to see how Harley Quinn emerged, because originally she didn’t have a name. She was called 'Joker’s Hench-wench' or something like that. Arleen opened her mouth with this Judy Holiday, hair-brained voice and we fell off our chairs."
The series explored the psychological abuse Harley faced at the hands of the Joker, culminating in the 1993 episode "Harley and Ivy," which sees Harley break free of the Joker's control and go on a crime spree with Poison Ivy.
"It was groundbreaking back then. Now they have more strong female characters on cartoons," says Pershing.
Episodes like that helped Harley and Ivy become icons for young girls who watched the show. Today at comic conventions, Pershing has met a number of women who were inspired by Ivy's strength.
"One girl came up and said she was sexually abused — and when Poison Ivy spoke up and told Harley she couldn't let any man do that to her again, it turned something in her head and she was crying when she told me," says Pershing. "I'm listening to this and I'm overwhelmed to think something I did 25 years ago had such a strong impact and I unwittingly was able to help people."
That inspiration extended to many others in the audience as well. Lester recently met a man who has been in a wheelchair his whole life, and used to play Batman and Robin with his brother every day after school.
"He said, 'It was because of that show I could fly.'"
***
Haven't had enough from Gotham City? We have oral histories on Batman Forever as well as Harley Quinn. Here's an in-depth look back at Batman Returns as well as Batman & Robin. And here's what it took to rehab the Dark Knightfor a post-Schumacher world.
One of the best animated series turns 25 years old
- Thread starter Trill McClay
- Start date
Can u beieve it
Batman TAS is 25yrs old todayyyyyy
Miss that show soooo muchhhh....
Maybe Spiderman TAS the most but the bat 2nd fo sho
Batman TAS is 25yrs old todayyyyyy
Miss that show soooo muchhhh....
Maybe Spiderman TAS the most but the bat 2nd fo sho
If you have Amazon Prime, it's on there. I've been slowly working my way through the series again over the last few months.
Mortal1
Superstar
ICONIC.
I used to watch this religiously as young one twenty-five years..... time flys brehs
I used to watch this religiously as young one twenty-five years..... time flys brehs
porque
Boricua Guerrero
for all the 
Norrin Radd
To me, my board!
One of the greatest animated television shows of all time 
never knew this all this time i've been having prime
for all the
That'd be me... I turned 37 today. I share my birthday with the GOAT cartoon with the GOAT fictional character.
It's also MIchael Keaton's birthday.
My stannery was ordained from the begining
HipHopStan
Top 113 Poster
Behind Looney Tunes and (Prime era) Simpsons, this is the greatest animated series of all time and began the awesome DCAU. 
MenacingMonk
Tranquilo
MenacingMonk
Tranquilo
About to pop in a DVD from my set in honor of this day. 
KravenMorehead™
Barrel Brothers.®
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
One of yall.... gots to go!
or
One of the best animated series turns 25 years old
Just doing GODS work
Martha
or
One of the best animated series turns 25 years old
Just doing GODS work
Martha
Similar threads
