Bruce Timm Initially Wanted BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES to Be Set in the 1930s
Batman: The Animated Series had such a cool visual style which was an absolute game-changer for the world of animation.
The show's dark, brooding atmosphere was perfectly captured by its art deco-inspired visuals, which brought Gotham City to life like never before. Every shadow, every line, every detail was meticulously crafted to create a world that was both gritty and glamorous, a city where crime was rampant, but justice always prevailed.
The style drew inspiration from the art deco and film noir aesthetics of the 1940s. The city's architecture was heavily influenced by the art deco movement, which emphasized clean lines, geometric shapes, and stylized motifs. The show's creators, Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, were also heavily influenced by the visual style of classic Hollywood films from that era, as well as the iconic Batman comic book art of the 1940s and 1950s.
The result was a unique blend of old and new, a world that felt simultaneously timeless and modern. The show's Gotham City was a sprawling metropolis with towering skyscrapers, ornate bridges, and a complex network of streets and alleys.
I love that the series has a timeless feel to it and that it doesn’t necessarily fit into a certain time period, but when developing the series, the initial idea that Timm had was to set the show in the 1930s, specifically 1939. So, why didn’t that quite work? Technology! Batman needed modern computer technology to play with and it needed TV screens, which are things that didn’t exist in the ‘30s. Timm explained in an interview with Les Daniels' 1999 book Batman: The Complete History:
"If it had been up to me I would have set it literally in 1939. [...] But writers find it really hard to write stories without falling back on computer screens and things like that."
So, the show features technology inspired by ‘90s tech, with computers, disc drives, and analyzers, but it was wrapped up in that classic art deco style, so it made it feel like a different time in some kind of alternate universe, which we loved about it! It was very fun and unique seeing all this high-tech technology operating in an old-fashioned-looking world.
The result was a show that looked like nothing else on television at the time, with a level of detail and sophistication that was unheard of in animated programming. The show's visual style was a key part of its success, helping to draw in viewers of all ages and establish Batman as one of the most iconic and enduring characters in popular culture.
Batman: The Animated Series was a true masterpiece of animation, and its unique blend of classic and contemporary visuals helped to make it one of the most beloved and influential shows of its time.
Via: /Film