The New Adventures of Batman
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Our Review
Before Batman: The Animated Series reinvented the character, Filmation put Adam West and Burt Ward back in the cape, eleven years after the live action series ended, in 16 animated adventures that are pure 1960s camp with the volume turned up. Batman, Robin, and Batgirl fight the usual rogues gallery with the accidental help of Bat-Mite, a fifth dimensional imp who grants nobody’s wishes correctly.
West and Ward read their lines like they are still laughing at the joke, which is the point and the charm. Lennie Weinrib’s Joker is a wheezing laugh fit for a Saturday morning slot, and the episodes run twelve minutes each with commercial breaks written into the script. It is unambiguously for small children, and unambiguously a curio: the bridge between the 1966 show and 1992, hosted by the two men who made the first one a cultural event.
Watch it once, laughing, then go watch the Timm era and marvel at how far the character traveled in twelve years. Prime Video carries the complete series.
Our score: 6/10. A camp artifact, best in small doses.
