Though most people are of the opinion—and rightly so—that Batman: The Animated Series remains the best animated adaptation of the Dark Knight to date, there is a wealth of other cartoon series that have featured the Caped Crusader over the years. In fact, since Batman’s animated debut in 1968, there have been over a dozen different versions of Gotham’s vigilante in cartoon form; some you may be more familiar with than others. That’s where we come in.
We’ve put together a list of Batman’s greatest animated adaptations over the last 50 years along with a brief breakdown of each series’ strengths and weaknesses. Say you’re a fan of the 1960s live-action show Batman starring Adam West but you’re looking for a cartoon version of it, or that you love Batman but would be thrilled to see him team up with some of the other heroes from the DC Universe. Or maybe you just want something else that you haven’t figured out yet. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Take a look at the “Best Batman Cartoons Other Than Batman: The Animated Series” below:
The Batman/Superman Hour (1968)
The first animated series to feature Batman, this Filmation show on CBS also included the adventures of Robin and Batgirl, along with shorts from The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy. Of course, this also meant that the series featured Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter and other villains for the first time in animated form as well. Olan Soule and Casey Kasem voiced Batman and Robin, respectively, in the cartoon that started it all. That’s as good a reason to watch as any.
The 12-minute Batman segments were later repackaged along with the adventures of some of Filmation’s other superheroes as The Adventures of Batman, and again in 1969 as Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder, this time cutting out the Superman/Superboy segments.
Super Friends (1973-1986)
This ABC Saturday morning cartoon teamed Batman up with fellow Justice League of America members Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Yes, if you watched the above intro, you’ll notice that Aquaman somehow snuck in to join the DC Holy Trinity, along with a trio of weirdo sidekicks who had nothing to do with DC Comics: Wendy and Marvin, and their talking pal Wonder Dog. (The kids and their dog were detectives/superhero interns, and were pretty much a rip-off of Scooby-Doo. They only lasted one season and were replaced by the superheroic Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna, and their monkey Gleek, for better or worse.) Soule and Kasem reprised their roles as Batman and Robin.
While later seasons of this long-running cartoon dealt with the supervillains of the Legion of Doom, this first season kept the heroes busy with natural disasters, environmental issues, and the schemes of common crooks, mad scientists, and evil aliens. Most of those conflicts were squashed with the use of reason…which is sweet but boring. I’d recommend searching out the 1978-79 run dubbed “Challenge of the Super Friends” which introduced the Legion of Doom, and temporarily did away with the Wonder Twins and Gleek.
The New Adventures of Batman (1977)
This CBS series featured the Dynamic Duo—now voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward of the live-action series fame—alongside Batgirl and an irritating new addition: Bat-Mite. Created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff, this Imp from the fifth dimension of Ergo is self-appointed as Batman’s biggest fan. For some reason, Bat-Mite shows up in this iteration while Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred does not.
On the villainous side, while Joker, Mr. Freeze, Penguin and the like—including Clayface—get their share of screentime, Riddler and Scarecrow were apparently off-limits due to different rights ownership between this Filmation production and Hanna-Barbera’s concurrent Super Friends series. (A notable villain named Sweet Tooth—created just for this show—turned Gotham City’s water supply into chocolate syrup in one episode; this guy will definitely pop up later.) If you wanted to see West and Ward in animated form, this one’s for you.
The New Batman/Superman Adventures (1997)
You’ll notice quite the time jump between this series and the previous one. That’s in part because the various seasons of Super Friends ran until the mid 80s, and then Batman: The Animated Series picked up in 1992 and changed the whole game. What we have in Warner Bros.’ The New Batman/Superman Adventures is a 90-minute package that contained episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and new Batman stories drawn in the noticeably different animation style of Superman’s show. The influences of B:TAS are strong in this new version: the theme music, the tone of the storytelling, and, of course, Kevin Conroy’s voice work. And if you’re looking to see how Batman and Superman met up in this animated universe, look no further than the excellent Superman three-episode mini-movie, “World’s Finest.”
Batman Beyond (1999)
To be clear, Batman: The Animated Series was an absolute game-changer in the world of animation and forever altered the ways in which the title character could be brought to life. As much as that show changed the landscape for Batman fans, Batman Beyond changed my perceptions of everything I had come to know and love about Batman. Imagine a not-so-distant future in which an elderly Bruce Wayne must pass the torch of Batman on to a younger generation. Now set that story in a world in which all of the dark recesses of science fiction have been made flesh. That’s Batman Beyond.
Developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett as a Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics collaboration, Batman Beyond served to continue the Batman legacy while introducing teenager Terry McGinnis in the futuristic mega-city of Neo-Gotham in the year 2039. Wayne is far past his prime, his allies are all deceased, his partners have retired from costumed crime-fighting after a falling out with their mentor, and his antagonists are either imprisoned, retired, or dead. But crime didn’t die with them, so now McGinnis must take up the Bat-mantle. It’s an excellent and underappreciated series that shows Batman—both Wayne and McGinnis—in an all new light.
Justice League (2001)
Continuing the theme of team-ups for the Batman, the modern Warner Bros. Animation update on Super Friends saw Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern The Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl forming the title team with the Dark Knight. Conroy once again reprised his role under executive producer Timm in a behind-the-scenes team-up that continued Warner Bros. and DC’s successful animated adventures. This time around, Batman traded in his sidekick Robin for a strongly hinted-at romantic relationship with fellow hero, Wonder Woman. If that piques your interest, or you just like seeing Batman as part of a team, check this series out if you haven’t already.
But if you’re looking for a super expanded universe for Batman to spread his wings, perhaps the next series on this list is more your style.
Justice League Unlimited (2004)
Much like the theme songs of the two shows, Justice League Unlimited is essentially an “extreme-ified” version of Justice League. The two seasons of JL relied on a two-part episode structure while the three seasons of JLU switched over to single-episode standalone stories that often combined into season-long arcs. The League itself also expanded enormously in this version: over 30 superheroes were featured in the season premiere alone, most notably Green Arrow.
You might be worried that Batman would get lost in the mix of having so many superheroes and villains to handle. While not every episode of Justice League Unlimited focuses on the character, when he does get a chance to show up, he absolutely steals the show. It’s worth a watch if only to see how Batman works alongside his allies—that is to say, not always that well—and for a familiarity with a series the future Justice League movies might draw their inspiration from.
The Batman (2004)
I'll be honest, when I first saw the animation style for The Batman and found out that Conroy wouldn’t be voicing the role, I quickly lost interest in this series. That turns out to have been a mistake. The characters, designed by Jackie Chan Adventures’ Jeff Matsuda, take on a completely fresh and unique appearance in this series, the most notable of which is the barefooted, straight-jacketed, long-haired version of the Joker (Kevin Michael Richardson). This shift in style is a little jarring at first, but it’s well worth the watch if only for the new versions of classic villains.
The Batman uses its relative freedom from the continuity of the animated series that came before it to explore some unexplored territory to go along with its newly designed characters. Thankfully, the series picks up with Batman (voiced by Rino Romano) having been on the job of protecting Gotham City for three years already, but it also introduces new allies and classic villains for the title hero. The six-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning series is certainly a worthy addition to the more recent animated catalog of the Batman.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008)
If you find yourself asking Batman, “Why so serious?” then this series is for you. It’s a fun idea that finds the title character (voiced by Diedrich Bader; trust me, it works) paired up with another DC superhero each episode. (There are also nifty little cold opens that act as a bonus segment that’s mostly unrelated to the episode that follows.) What’s even cooler is that, unlike Super Friends or Justice League/Unlimited, the focus is squarely on Batman and his relatively obscure Partner of the Week.
If you want to see Batman teaming up with Green Arrow, Wildcat, Plastic Man and *gasp* even the Joker on the regular, this is the show for you. And remember that obscure villain named Sweet Tooth that I mentioned earlier? Yeah, he makes a brief appearance in the episode “A Bat Divided.”
Unfortunately, this is where the best Batman animated adaptations come to a close (for now), but since there are other series out there, we thought they warranted some special consideration.
Young Justice (2010)
The first of our special mentions isn't technically a Batman series at all. This show features the Caped Crusader in a very different iteration: that of a mentor. Young Justice focuses on the teenage superheroes of “The Team”, composed of Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Speedy. Batman may not play a central role in each episode, but he’s pivotal in getting the team together in the first place. It’s a great watch on its own, but really only essential Batman watching if you want to see another facet of the oft-adapted character.
Beware the Batman (2013)
Our second series under special consideration wouldn't make my list for "Best" but would certainly top the list of "Weirdest." The most recent animated adaptation of Batman, and perhaps the most mysterious, Beware the Batman features a 3D, computer-animated version of the title hero and his unexpected partner, the superhero bodyguard and martial arts swordmaster, Tatsu Yamashiro, a.k.a. Katana. And that’s not the weirdest part of this series, not by far.
Though the creators of this show wanted to give it a darker and more serious tone than Batman: The Brave and the Bold, perhaps they took things a little too far. Promotional art, presumably not intended for public release, pictured Alfred blasting away with a pair of firearms alongside the Batman. This not only upset fans because of Batman’s long-standing “no guns” rule, but also because of Alfred’s normally detached role from Master Bruce’s more uncivilized duties. Couple that with the 2012 Aurora theater shooting during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, which prompted the showrunners to make the animated guns look less realistic. This move is glaringly obvious in the first episode "Hunted" where crooks use bright, pastel-colored guns that look like plastic toys.
Then, after all the hard work of 3D computer design and jumping through public relations hoops, Beware the Batman was pulled from Cartoon Network three months after its premiere, without any official explanation. Though the network eventually aired all of the episodes in a marathon run, the show was written off as a financial failure and then canceled. Kind of makes you want to see what kind of Uncanny Valley trainwreck this turned out to be, which will have to hold us over at least until the next animated version of Batman comes around.
