More than three decades ago, the world was introduced to a groundbreaking version of the caped crusader with Batman: The Animated Series. This new cartoon, geared towards viewers of all ages, effectively redefined what both Batman and cartoons, in general, could be. With its dark visuals, compelling stories, beloved characters, and iconic villains, the series captured the hearts of audiences worldwide.
Most importantly, it treated its viewers seriously, setting a new standard for superhero cartoons. In fact, Bruce Timm had a revolutionary idea for Batman: The Animated Series that sadly never saw the light of day.
Bruce Timm Had An Incredible Idea For Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series has been responsible for changing the superhero genre when it comes to animation and no one can dispute that fact. The show featured quite a few iconic episodes that have truly stood the test of time.
While speaking to Science Fiction, Bruce Timm mentioned that he once had the idea to create an episode where Batman temporarily became a vampire. The concept involved a character from the comics named Nocturna. However, the idea didn’t progress much beyond the initial phase because Fox Kids rejected it, stating they didn’t want any vampire-related content, regardless of whether Batman was portrayed as a true vampire or not.
The only thing that I can think of really, and it’s not a big thing, definitely not something I lose sleep over, but I had an idea to do an episode where Batman got turned into a vampire temporarily. There’s a character in the comics called Nocturna! And it didn’t get much past the idea phase, we floated it past Fox Kids and they said “Nope! No Vampires!” and I said ‘well what if he wasn’t really a Vampire?” and they said “No Vampires!”
It is most definitely a shame Batman never became a vampire as that would have made for a very surreal and mind-boggling episode and would have fully fit with the theme of the show.
Steven Spielberg Wanted To Work With Bruce Timm
During the 90s, Bruce Timm played a pivotal role in one of the most iconic Batman animated projects of all time, Batman: The Animated Series. This series garnered widespread acclaim from fans and critics alike for its accuracy and quality.
The admiration for the show extended so far that even Hollywood heavyweight Steven Spielberg was captivated by it. In fact, Spielberg was so impressed that he personally reached out to Timm to express his admiration for the series, as revealed by the animator to Comicology.
“Steven Spielberg, of all people, liked the Batman show, and said that he wanted to do something with us, but he didn’t know what; so we had a meeting with him, we talked about a bunch of different ideas for what we could do as an action-adventure show, and the one that he really liked was this one called Freakazoid.”
As their collaboration progressed, the duo agreed to create an animated superhero series together. Following numerous meetings and discussions, they settled on the concept of a show titled Freakazoid!, which revolved around a group of teenagers gaining access to the vast knowledge of the internet. However, it became apparent that the two creators held divergent visions for the direction of the series.
