when you realize you’ve been watching the cropped version this whole time

#batman #batmantheanimatedseries #videoessay
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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is widely considered to be the best animated Batman film ever made. By some, even the best Batman film of all time. It was a remarkable marriage of thematic maturity, potent dialogue, great action, and a gorgeous art style. But it also stands out as the only animated Batman movie to ever receive a theatrical run. Today I’ll talk about one of the interesting byproducts of that decision, despite the movie’s poor box office reception: Mask of the Phantasm is presented in two different aspect ratios. And unlike your typical pan and scan conversion, the creation of both versions were carefully considered by the creative team during the making of the movie.
Written & edited by Danny Boyd

[@CinemaStix]

You can support me directly on Patreon at patreon.com/CinemaStix

[@The_Blue_Otaku]

This reminds me of fans backlash towards the DVD releases of Dragon Ball Z mostly the Orange Boxes from 2007 it was release a version that cropped the original 4:3 aspect ratio to a 16:9 aspect ratio just for modern flat screen TV's

[@maazkalim]

Ahh.. So this was an "RIP" video only?.!

[@milosbatmanvideos]

Stop being greedy

[@prestoneric6705]

what's the outro song?

[@scalhotrod]

Hmmm... At Hanna-Barbera back in 1997, we were told that "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island" was being changed to a Direct-to-video release instead of Theatrical because they wanted it to jump start DVD sales for Warner Home Video, but I wonder if this is had anything to do with that decision.

[@Kieran_Rowles]

Kevin Conroy, for me personally, will forever be the true definitive Batman. He gave Batman and Bruce true meaning, all just with that voice.

[@Johnadams20760]

between his batman voice and Mark hammil's joker , you can't beat that

[@lulufortytwo3884]

Forever my batman

[@joekreissl4499]

@@Johnadams20760 shame about mark hamils politics

[@Johnadams20760]

@@joekreissl4499 not sure i remember exactly what his politics are

[@ScaryMason]

My friend was always hoping for Mr. Convoy to make a cameo in a live action Batman. I think it would’ve been a step down. The animated series was THE high-water-mark: not too adult for children, not too childish for adults, funny, dark, serious, and whatever it needed to be when it needed to be it.

[@RedheadDevito]

This is the “purest” Batman movie, if that makes sense. It wasn’t a “Nolan” or “Burton” film, we weren’t witnessing some particular actor’s take on the character. It was just a solid, well written Batman film.

[@Bloodstar-o7]

I mean, I actually really liked the Nolan movies, and even in these clips we can see the direct influence it had on future movies. Specifically where Bruce angrily says "they didn't fear me!" In the Nolan movies that was a major plot point and theme for the first two movies. In Batman Begins it was about Bruce taking his fears and using it as a symbol for his enemies to fear. The Dark Knight is about how his efforts to take down the mob and corruption may have caused fear among those criminals, but it opened the door for super villians like the Joker. In otherwords his Batman caused the badguys to up the ante and become scarier.

[@a.KniteOwl]

this removes the appreciation of the artistic team it took to make this in their vision. it's always an interpretation. and I think this one is ultimately the best, most quintessential. but Burton and Nolan, and kinda Reeves, are able to scratch itches this one couldn't. it's a 3 dimensional thing. even the new cartoon looks cool, but doesn't seem to hit home this way can. it's too cg-crisp.

[@axebomber2108]

@@a.KniteOwl Modern 2D animation looks so sterile.

[@IDHLEB]

@@a.KniteOwl Caped Crusaders feels like it was made by worst writers in California. Not just written, made. There is no visual storytelling or worldbuilding whatsoever.

[@a.KniteOwl]

@@IDHLEB yeah it's sad, even my Batman addiction has not gotten me past the scene where we first meet Harvey Dent. once when I was 11 or so I was REALLY hungry and made scrambled eggs using the rest of the eggs in the carton. and I poured the salt and it careened and DUMPED a massive pile all over the eggs, ruining them. not wanting to waste food, I decided not to throw them out. I washed the salt off with water. when I ate them, all the egg flavor was gone. just watery thick eggs. sadly it wasn't that filling either. it was just a mass of some eggs, squeaky clean of any flavor. that's what it feels like watching Caped Crusader

[@surgegamer]

Kevin's quotes at the end broke my heart. He is batman, THE batman. We grew up in the 90's and 00's hearing his voice be the definitive character. Mark Hamill's choice to not perform as Joker again due to Kevin being gone is a class act, and all of the animated works should be memorialized as some of the best animation for superhero movies in American history.

[@Abdul-Akeem_Akinloye]

No untruths detected.

[@IAm18PercentCarbon]

For real? I didn't know that about Mark Hamill. That dude continues to be based as hell.

[@RogueT-Rex8468]

Mark left?? Oh…. My goodness. The level of respect. Our Joker literally said, “without the Batman. Crime has no punchline.” I’m both profoundly sad and respectful of that. That’s amazing.

[@hazeydaze8396]

They joked about how that DC/WB would call them separately asking them about a new project & they suspected they'd just say yeah Mark said he's in to kevin or visa versa knowing that if they ever said the other one was in , then they'd say sure I'll do it too. But they never turned down working with each other apparently lol. I could see that telling both the others in just to get both to sign on lmao

[@bordomsdeadly]

@@RogueT-Rex8468 in an interview when they asked him if he'd reprise his role as Joker (after Kevin's death) he responded with "Is Kevin going to be Batman?" I don't know anything else about his personal life, but it's clear he's an incredibly respectful person from that quote alone.

[@justinecooper9575]

I've always said that "Mask of the Phantasm" is better than any other Batman movie. I still have my VHS copy that includes a mini comic adaptation of the film.

[@victorvondoom4882]

This is so true

[@YacolJ]

I still have it on DVD.

[@cdouglashall]

Mask of the Phantasm is probably the best Batman film ever made. I haven't seen it in over 20 years but I bet it is still the truth. When it was released, it was not even close. Phantasm was the best by a very wide margin.

[@chrismoore1372]

I remember seeing it on the big screen as a younger lad. I can put myself back in there right now!

[@YacolJ]

@@chrismoore1372 I can imagine that it was amazing on the big screen.

[@AdamLeis]

I grew up watching this and didn't realize how spoiled I was until recently. What a masterpiece.

[@LordWyatt]

I didn’t truly appreciate the best films until I started watching terrible movies.

[@SMacCuUladh]

I got my 9 year old nephew to start watching the animated series recently and he loves it, and I love that he loves it.

[@AdamLeis]

@@SMacCuUladh I had my 4 and 6 yos watching it once upon a time. I think they need to cook a bit more before they really enjoy it. Glad you can share it with your nephew :)

[@joeblankenship377]

I love the retro-futuristic art deco world of the animated series. They need to do another run of it. Target it to an older audience. The audience that grew up on the show.

[@gian_m]

It wouldn’t be the same without Kevin, Mark, Or Arleen

[@Link0304]

Please, please no. Haven't we seen enough horrendous reboots?

[@jamesstewart5706]

I'd prefer an inspired by version with new techniques, lighting, voice actors. Something that takes advantage of modern tech but whose muse is this version of batman. Definitely would be good to be geared more towards a pg13 audience or older in order to tell some of the stories from the comics that just weren't good material for kids.

[@kylezo]

Actually no I'm good on the nostalgia porn and derivative artwork. Maybe instead we can look at new works instead of being obsessed with the past.

[@ShadowAngel606]

Would just become woke crap anyway like all "reboots". There's a reason why they all turn out to be shit and fail.

[@gilramos5767]

I've always thought that this film accurately depicted the tragedy behind Batman. The line "I didn't count on being happy" expresses his internal struggles when confronted with normalcy; for him, the day his parents died in the alley determined who he would become. When those around him begin to blur the lines between good and evil, he faces the consequences of his dedication. Consider his close friend Harvey Dent, who was mutilated and targeted in the animated series. Dent's personality and fight for justice consume him, eventually transforming him into the very thing he fought against, as he realizes the system and rules he follows are failing him. In the film, Andrea's father is murdered by criminals, fueling her desire for vengeance. Can anyone blame her for seeking vengeance for her father? Bruce struggles with this as his beliefs about good and evil are challenged. Is Bruce's fight for vengeance any different? He's still breaking the law to become the Batman. He's still doomed to suffer a great burden behind the mask.

[@redsoxu571]

To me, the definitive representations of Batman and Superman involve subversive realities. Batman, the most human (in terms of powers) hero of all, is the true persona, and Bruce Wayne is the mask he wears as necessary. Superman, on the other hand, is at the same time Clark Kent, as he grew up as Clark and understands what it means to be a normal person with a normal life (and love it). He is technically still Clark when he wears the tights, but it's like a first responder or soldier putting on his uniform, largely still him but by professional necessity hiding some aspects and forcing some artificial ones. By that thinking, it is the developing Batman who is so thrown off and confused by this love interest who threatens to divert him from his obsession. Fittingly, as the DC Animated Universe unfolded, Bruce in private more and more took on mannerisms and behaviors of Batman, until by the time of Batman Beyond he had essentially ceased to "wear" the Bruce mask and was Batman almost all of the time. Kevin Conroy's terrific work goes a long way in representing this transition!

[@geroshand8623]

I’ve literally never thought about this, but dang, this is actually true…

[@geroshand8623]

I’ve literally never thought about this, but dang, this is actually true…

[@RTU130]

Right

[@Unicron187]

it's about justice, not about vengance

[@austinsmith7731]

It makes me so happy that Siskle and Ebert were so good at what they did. Being able to say they were wrong for skipping out on an animated film and praise it is really cool

[@Original-Phantom]

Those clips felt like Old timey KZbinrs lol

[@MichaelPohoreski]

When Ebert said the lie _”Games can never be art”_ it proved he was a pretentious snob about the MEDIUMS of art. Even critics can be clueless at times.

[@KairuHakubi]

@@MichaelPohoreski Yeah but he said it in a humble way. He wanted to be proven wrong, and he admitted he simply didn't have the info or knowledge to judge them properly.

[@MichaelPohoreski]

@@KairuHakubi Incorrect. He said it a *pretentious, condescending way:* > But for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic. There is NO PROOF that ANY medium makes a person more “cultured” whatever the hell that means. EVERYONE has culture. This false dichotomy of “cultured” is just him sniffing his own farts IMHO.

[@JoshyHendoMan]

When Bruce Timm helped create this series he said the goal was that each episode would be a miniature movie that wouldn't shy from exploring the raw emotions of the characters. So it's no surprise that they would be able to turn it into a theatrical release. I still remember being able to borrow this movie from the library and loving every second of it.

[@jeremyborder6794]

I’ve watched all of DC’s animated features and still nothing compares to Mask of the Phantasm

[@AggieNC]

FYI, this was not going to be episode, just a TV movie. So Mask of the Phantasm was always going to have slightly more production money behind it than an episode. And probably saved some money because they already had an art design to work with so they couldn't stray far from it.

[@DJ_Macphisto]

​@@jeremyborder6794 Sub Zero comes pretty damned close.

[@mrkjeld]

Now imagined a world where we know these artists names and not just Hollywood directors and actors. I’m glad of you Mentioning Bruce Timm here.

[@obscurity3027]

Fun fact: this was the first animated series to be drawn on black media (paper) rather than white. The animators started with black backgrounds and added color to it for every illustrated frame of the animation.

[@monkeyff11]

That is so cool

[@RAFMnBgaming]

I think that's specifically talking about the backgrounds and title cards. Characters in animation would have been animated on transparent cels back before digital. Still it definitely does a good job of setting the tone in the bgs.

[@ahabduennschitz7670]

no shit Sherlock

[@mechadeka]

?????? Bro what Characters are animated on transparent cellophane sheets.

[@SunGodSe]

LIES!

[@chimeron260]

Big RIP Kevin Conroy, the only Batman I ever got the honor and pleasure to speak to in person, only for a brief minute at a convention, but he was so very kind. One of the few people I've met at a con that genuinely seemed to want to talk to every fan that came by, I've met others that just want to sign your thing, shake your hand or take a picture, and then move on to the next person. He signed my copy of The Killing Joke "I am Vengeance, I am the Night, I am Batman" - Kevin Conroy. He was and will always be my Batman

[@hhale]

Growing up during the era of Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning fare, and "Super Friends", the Batman we got in the Kevin Conroy era was far, far superior in just about every way imaginable.

[@timewarpdrive77]

Every 60 seonds in Africa, a minute passes

[@Ilyak1986]

Oh god--the difference in quality was *obscene*.

[@dreamingthelife]

Yeh I remember when I was 4 years old after watching so much Hanna-Barbera and lonely Toons I was dropped off at my friend Sam's house and saw Thunder Cats for the first time I was like what the hell have I been doing with my life!?!?!, it's like I was transported to a different planet Batman TAS was just on another level, I never had so many variants of the same character in my toy collection, I never dreamed of having his gadgets or doing what he could do, he was just a good dude and made me want to be a better person

[@mohinish2273]

'I didn't count on being happy.' Thanks,Kevin Conroy. You added something to the psyche of Bruce Wayne that is still unmatched even after 30 years.

[@92brunod]

Kevin Conroy didn't write that line or that scene. Are you confused about actors' and wirters' jobs?

[@KurogawaGray]

@@92brunod But he acted it. Are you confused about how much a good actor brings to a script? Kevin Conroy took a great script and made it even better with his performance. A bad actor will do a trash job regardless of how good a script is.

[@92brunod]

@@KurogawaGray Doesn't change the fact that is the line that "added something to the psyche of Bruce Wayne that is still unmatched even after 30 years." I'm certainly not confused, you seem to be, though... A lot. Your attempt to turn my words against me was cute. Sad, but cute.

[@chrisblake4198]

I got to see this in the theater. The Animated Series was required viewing for my dorm first year of college, to the point where some of us regularly missed classes or were late for work just to see the episode with everyone else when it aired instead of a few hours later on the tape someone surely recorded. I was a failed student back in my hometown when the movie came out, but I had converted all my hometown friends to the series by then and we all went. It is flat out my favorite Batman film, and very nearly the best of them all.

[@Jackappaarel]

6:48 "and also, it's tight ... every image counts"

[@CinemaStix]

:)

[@colinsoder]

Yes I've noticed this in other channels on KZbin that talk about movies. They just go on too long. There's too much extraneous or just not relevant, not focused, content.

[@hoilst265]

@@colinsoder "Hello, I'm here to talk about why the shade of brown chosen for Tony Soprano's shoes in this episode matters" (55:31).

[@koobs4549]

There was an issue for The Simpson’s on Disney+ as well. They didn’t want to add bars to the sides of the screen for those older 4:3 seasons, to fit modern TVs so they just cropped the top & bottom instead. Unfortunately, that eliminated a lot of sight gags & jokes no longer made sense without that extra context. Now they allow you to choose if you want to see those 4:3 seasons in their original format or not

[@jamesoblivion]

This also happened with the early widescreen DVD releases of The Evil Dead. When they matted the original 1.33:1 16mm image to 1.85:1, they ended up obscuring some sight gags, like the Band-Aid box floating on the surface of the blood flood. I believe they even had to tilt the image at one point, to get the shot as they wanted it in widescreen, leading to a variant on pan-n-scan dubbed tilt-n-scan.

[@mmitchellhouston]

It's easy to bemoan the "pan and scan" for its faults (and I will never chide anyone who hates it). BUT, as pointed out above, TVs were not all that big "back in the day," and that made watching Letterboxed movies a very unpleasant experience for many, many people. We also need to respect the members of the audience that are only there to passively follow a story, not savor all the nuances of a shot. Personally, I have always preferred the letterboxing, but I have to respect that not everyone feels that way.

[@LordWyatt]

Them editing movies however they feel is why I would rather invest in physical copies rather than hope and trust that streaming services won’t mess with the content I’d like to watch

[@SeekerGoldstone]

The android app doesn't offer that feature. It's cropped widescreen only for me.

[@AlexKoepke]

@@SeekerGoldstonetry changing the setting via the website. Sometimes there are account settings you can/have to change via the site as apposed to using a devices specific app.

[@BiblicalNerd]

Never thought CinemaStix would cover Animated Batman

[@CinemaStix]

Oh, one of my absolute favorites. All the DC series between BAS and JLU really.

[@robertbrown8802]

Best dc comics representation to date dude.

[@johntuel2375]

Yeah, if you haven't seen the animated series, you are missing out on the best Batman stories.

[@maazkalim]

​You meant comics tend to be that meaningful, Mr "​@@robertbrown8802"?

[@palasta]

Batman the animated series and other shows of that era are genuinely good and have their appeal. And i'm someone who's not into marvel, dc etc. to say the least. Neither comics nor life action.

[@TheMightyFlea-0]

My first time watching Ghostbusters was on TV as a kid. The scene where Venkman meets Dana outside the Concert Hall and after she walks off, he spins around. I always thought that was weird. Maybe he was just happy he got a date. It wasn't until decades later when I watched in widescreen on Sky that I saw the guy on the far left spinning around on Rollerblades, and Venkman was copying him. It was an eye-opening revelation.

[@jneilson7568]

Oh yeah, I know the commentary brought that up too, but the TV version cut a lot the best moments, like Peter popping up when he first sees Dana, and most of the swearing!.

[@st0rmforce]

@@jneilson7568 The first version I saw had the line "Yes it is true. This man has no Twinkie"

[@jneilson7568]

@@st0rmforce 😂 oh that's Robocop on ITV levels of dubbing. Think 'crumbhead' for 'asshole' but applied for the entire movie (still worked as a good story though).

[@hightolerance8728]

@@jneilson7568😂😂😂 And coming to America. The edited version was always on tv. 😂😂 I remember the scene when SLJ character walked into rob the place “Who’s this Airhead!!!? Instead of ass 🕳️

[@ispeakmucho]

​@hightolerance8728 I miss those old WPIX type of curses

[@sl3102]

Aspect ratios and cropping is fascinating. A very recent interesting example for me is The X-files version available on Disney+. Obviously the show was intended for 4:3 viewing on television so every shot is composed with this aspect ratio in mind. Nevertheless it was filmed in widescreen because of technical circumstances and it is this version that is available for streaming. This means that what we see is "spill" image to the left and right that never actually was meant to be seen. In some shots you can actually see mistakes that originally were cropped out but now are left in.

[@foxmarkowski]

This is true I believe for Seasons 1-2 of X-Files. From Season 3 onwards they framed shots with both 4:3 and 16:9 screenings in mind (it was of course a long time before widescreen TVs became available but many shows began future proofing for them in the mid-90s)

[@sl3102]

@@foxmarkowski You may be right. It's an interesting situation though and a bit unfair to the show.

[@hughgo2]

Same thing with The Wire when it got remastered for Blu Ray, really changes the feeling of some parts of the show

[@kurtsnyder4752]

Same with Buffy TBS and Angel.

[@mytimetravellingdog]

We are at a point in time where frankly bizarre corporate decisions are being made on the assumption people won't watch a show in 4:3 means they are butchering shows. And often the only way you can see the as intended version is to pirate rips of the long out of print dvds etc. I just don't get it watching a 4:3 show on widescreen is fine, it's nothing like the black bar problem of academy ratio on 4:3 screens because it fills from top to bottom. You just ignore the sides. Thank god the incredible Star Trek TNG remaster wasn't done a few years later or else some brain dead corporate exec would be insisting they crop it for 16:9. There are shows, like X-Files that were really forward thinking and shot in 16:9 but most shows weren't and shouldn't be remasterd in widescreen. The Wire is one really notable one, so much of the really clever cinematography of that show is ruined by it. The Buffy one is a joke and I'm glad I watched the dvds when I watched it last year, still looks great in SD. David Simon even spoke out about it (then months later after people from HBO had clearly had words said it's currently the best way to watch it and you can feel the gritted teeth)/

[@0num4]

Kevin Conroy was, is, and will always be Batman for me. It's not even a competition.

[@RaptorJesus]

That's because Kevin Conroy didn't "play" Batman. He just *was* Batman. His voice *is* Batman's voice. It's like Christopher Reeves, he wasn't "playing" Superman. He became him.

[@psycomutt]

When I fired up the Arkham games, I was giddy when I heard his voice. Just wouldn't be the same without him.

[@devinfaux6987]

He was vengeance. He was the night. He was Batman. :(

[@mikhailabunidal9146]

I agree

[@ssl3546]

you are not aware of Adam West? Batman is available on Blu Ray now, season 2 is the finest Batman ever put to film.

[@NostalgicGamerRickOShay]

FINALLY, someone else who points out what I've been trying to tell people for the last 15 years; there are VHS era movies that are getting FAKE widescreen DVD releases, where the "widescreen" is nothing more than the fullscreen with black bars added, effectively removing HALF of the already halved picture!! 😩

[@NostalgicGamerRickOShay]

The Matrix and the original Karate Kid are excellent examples.

[@RoosterMontgomery]

Letterboxing 4:3 is indeed dumb. I recently bought the Blu-ray of Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker specifically for this reason.

[@41illusion]

"This is a story deserving of every inch of animation it can get." Well said.

[@Hylanvahr]

The classic bit where Bruce puts on the mask and becomes Batman for the very first time is one of the most rewatchable legendary scenes in the history of cinema. It is epic without being bombastic. Tragic without melodrama. A fall into darkness to battle the darkness. It's perfect.

[@michaelhorning6014]

I actually met people who complained about widescreen format because they thought the black bars at the top and bottom were cutting off part of the picture.

[@IndieFilmmaker82]

Which is not only true with Mask of the Phantasm, but with some others. What matters is the filmmaker's intended framing.

[@onbearfeet]

I remember checking out a VHS copy of Ben-Hur (the 1950s one) from the library and seeing a handwritten note taped to the case: "This movie is presented in 'letterbox' format to preserve its original wide-screen picture. The black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are SUPPOSED TO BE THERE." I like to imagine a frustrated librarian taping that note to the case after dealing with the umpteenth patron complaint. 😂

[@Boburto]

The worst were people who stretched 16:9 movies to fit the 4:3 screen so everyone was overly tall and thin.

[@thenightstar8312]

God people are so incredibly stupid.

[@Axolotl_Mischief]

Yeah I had to explain the aspect ratios to tons of people in the late 90s and early 2000s. They thought I was full of sh*t lol

[@douglaswolfen7820]

When I heard "with great staging", I found myself expecting the next words to be "comes great responsibility"

[@gbone2636]

One of the first VHS I remember my parents buying me. I think my Dad took me to see it and enjoyed it so much that he bought "me" a gift the following Christmas. I wasn't even that big of a Batman fan, but watching that movie was such a different experience than I had ever had with animated films. The music was amazing, I think they used a full orchestra for the score. The tone was dark and even scary at times, much more than anything else I was allowed to watch at that age. That movie stuck with me for so long, but it felt like I was the only one who had seen it. Crazy to see the recognition it's getting so many years later.

[@kobayashimaru8114]

I had the soundtrack on CD. Tia Carrere performed a song for the end credits and I had no idea she could sing.

[@00naenae]

I downloaded the soundtrack on my iPhone. I used to own the CD when I was in Jr high school. That Tia Carrere song set such a great beautiful heartbreak sound that fit the ending of that movie.

[@toybarons]

I still have my VHS copy of this movie. It's such a beautiful piece of animation. The story isn't dumbed down and it's one both kids and parents can watch. Kevin Conroy will always be my favorite voice for Batman.

[@voteDC]

I still have mine as well. It's kind of sad that it's getting harder to get a working VHS player. I have two that are working and it'll be a sad day if they stop.

[@ApothercyCold]

I can't believe Kevin Conroy is gone. I'm 35 now and it's weird how the characters I grew up with are dying. Getting older is a fucking curse.

[@Gottaculat]

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the Batman Adventures. So much so, that I wanted to learn animation. CGI technically existed, as seen in some shots of Jurassic Park - which I saw in theaters when I was in 2nd grade (I had nightmares for weeks, lol), but most animation was still hand-drawn on cells. Like with The Simpsons, if the lines ever look strangely thick, that's because they're about to zoom out to the full scene. Anyway, my love for animation was strong enough, and my natural skill of illustrating good enough, my parents agreed to send me to an animation school. It was odd, because I was maybe 12 at the time, and it was the first time I'd been in a class with people both younger than me and way, way older than me. Age didn't matter, because if you can draw, you can animate. This is when I learned why this series looks so unique. The Batman Adventures has a truly dark look to it, because of a neat trick they did. When doing cell animation, you have a table with pegs and a back lit surface that you place the background on (secured by the pegs at the corners), then the cells go on top of that (also secured), then a mounted camera takes a single photo, which effectively renders the layers into a single layer/image (Photoshop people will understand this real quick). The thing that makes the show (and the movie, afaik) so uniquely lit is that they started with a black background. Most backgrounds are drawn/painted on a blank white sheet, or even a clear cell, depending what you're doing. This lets a lot of light through. What the animators at WB figured out is if you start with black, then paint over that, you get unusually rich, deep blacks, and highlights appear more muted, giving a very somber aesthetic to the scene. Truly genius. CGI animation, even 2D, just doesn't capture this look. It's really something special.

[@warrmalaski8570]

"Batman. The animated series" Was drawn on black paper and had color added in instead of on white paper with darkness added on. To reflect the dark and gritty tone of Batman himself.

[@ToomanyFrancis]

A few nitpicky corrections. The backgrounds were airbrushed on black paper, the actual animations were drawn on transparent animation paper. This was also only done for the first few episodes, the background artists did not like doing it so they proved to the showrunners that they could use traditional techniques to recreate the aesthetic then switched to that method. The opening theme sequence did have backgrounds airbrushed on black paper, so every episode does include this technique.

[@nitsua5278]

1:18 speaks Martian

[@ry7hym]

😂

[@amunrarebirth5511]

😂😂

[@amunrarebirth5511]

😂😂

[@kstefon]

😂😂

[@Uro_Boros]

🤣

[@g.e.o.r.g.e...]

I download the Open Matte of every movie I can find, even when it's worse lol. Spider-Man for example has a lens hood or boom mic showing up very often, but it sort of adds to the charm.

[@_Tizoc_]

Hand drawn animation should never have been abandoned

[@Paulafan5]

The Simpsons wanted to stay with physical paint on cels but no one did that anymore and had to go to digital (which has it's advantages and disadvantages).

[@k62627]

I really need to rewatch this movie. Used to be a staple of my childhood, never understood why it wasn't bigger when it first came out

[@sunsetman22]

two words: Warner Brothers

[@willa8498]

BMTAS is my comfort show. The color pallet is astounding, rust browns acool blues are to die for!! Im particularly attached to the square ratio and the bold compositions. Iv used stills to inspired a few paintings. Glad to see someone giving it the praise it deserves

[@mr.smithgnrsmith7808]

Seeing this on Christmas when I was 10 was the greatest thing ever. My older cousin who’d just gotten his license took me and I sat in that theater with my Kenner Batman figure in hand loving every second of it. Absolute MASTERPIECE

[@fredstercooney5497]

Man those exampeles of cropped screens hurt so bad. That Lawrence of Arabia one is literally two different shots. they feel completely different. I can't imagine seeing it one way just to go back years later and watch it another way and be completely opened up to the movie in a way you never could've gotten the first time.

[@SAPProd]

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the film that destroyed the illusion of "Widescreen puts bars on the screen and is inferior to full screen." I had the Duel of the Fates showdown burned into my brain over how amazing it was to see three fighters go at each other, and when I got the full screen version on VHS and the scene was BUTCHERED, I vowed never to go back to full screen when a film wasn't made for it.

[@LordWyatt]

Well said.

[@dudujencarelli]

Thankfully, it also had a special widescreen VHS release, complete with a strip of original film negative in the box.

[@Fact-fiend_1000ASMR.]

Duel of the Fates is astounding. Lucas, Gillard and Williams knew how to tell a story.

[@noneknowstheswagger]

every time one of my favorite video essayists post something batman-related im ecstatic

[@michaellee8815]

I remember my aunt bringing me and my cousin to see this when we were maybe 8-9, we were SO. EXCITED. Then when we got to the theater and she realized it was a cartoon she goes “oh no, absolutely not I’m not watching a cartoon”, and proceeded to take us to see sister act 2: back in the habit. Disappointment abounded, lol

[@LivermoreFilm]

thank you for doing this. well done!

[@tomtim9764]

Would not have expected a video to animated Batman but highly appreciated because it‘s a timeless classic

[@robertvantine2810]

Every time I get asked what was rhe best Batman movie, I always tell them Mask of the Phantasm. Then they try to say they meant Batman mivie released in theaters. I again reply, Mask of the Phantasm. When they say ir was never released in theaters, I ask them, "Then why do I have a ticket stub for Mask of the Phantasm?" It's literally the best Batman movie. Period.

[@deltics735]

You could have mentioned (and perhaps should do a video to cover) examples such as Jason and the Argonauts, originally shot 4:3 and matted for theatrical widescreen presentation and THEN panned and scanned BACK to 4:3 for (some) home video formats. I learned this only when I got my (gorgeous) laserdisc copy of the film, which was presented in the original open-matte 4:3 version.

[@jamesoblivion]

Same with most Kubrick films that were made after the advent of regular television screenings and home video. Kubrick shot open-matte 35, and matted the films to the appropriate ratio, keeping the framing in mind for both as he shot. He did this because he disliked letterboxed presentations and how they diminished picture resolution. So for many years, prior to the proliferation of widescreen TVs, his films were available on home video only in 4:3.

[@travcollier]

@@jamesoblivion Some TV shows did a similar thing when everyone knew HDTV was going to happen but it wasn't quite here yet. Babylon 5 is the one I most clearly remember... directors (at least the good ones) framed the shots so the key stuff would be in the 4:3 frame, but the extra space was also used (a good place to put in-jokes and side action).

[@kennyvelez]

Since my parents didn't know english, they often thought that message in the beginning was a parental advisory announcement.

[@TheRandomAustralian]

8:20 that's my Batman, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking that. RIP

[@twenty-eightrock]

Kevin Conroy was my first Batman. And ironically even though I knew Mark Hammil through Star Wars later he was my first Joker without my realizing it at the time.

[@rightwired]

Siskel and Ebert came to my movie theater all the time. They lived nearby. Met both over and over and over and over and over and over...lol Roger: LARGE POPCORN, xxx butter ("in the middle too please"), large coke. Gene: "Small popcorn, small diet"

[@sanketvaria9734]

I don't hate black bars, I hate the most is when the things get's lost in crop. Cropping and changing aspect ratios should be banned.

[@lelanddyer9461]

This movie single-handedly made me subconsciously fall in love with Art Deco and I didn't know it till I was like 22.

[@lostnumbr]

the dragonball z orange bricks are probably the worst case of zoom I've ever seen. setting aside that most dvd players can zoom the aspect ratio manually, they actually abandoned a true perfectly uncut version after releasing the first season of the ultimate uncut edition (metal boxes). possibly because funimation uses dragonball z as a bank account it can just release another flawed home version every few years when they need some more cash...

[@bobbyjonkey13]

you did a great job on this!!!!!!! I Love the Batman , after watching this 30yrs ago..I told my Son ..you gotta' watch Mask of the Phantasm..it is the best Batman I've ever watched ,,that is besides The Dark knight .. something I was reflectiing on ..before his death in 2021.. He watched it in 2017 and agreed it was great... just one great memory of him and me..together..

[@trewhite7903]

One of my favourite recent film discoveries are original 35mm film scans of movies shot for ratios like 1.85. It completely transforms the film and I think (even if you notice things like set edges or boom mics) teaches a lot about 4:3 filmmaking.

[@sonic_genesis]

always love the VHS of batman mask of phantasm. Joker was incredible funny and ruthless.

[@elichilton7031]

Outstanding. The inter-cutting between your essay and the archival footage of Siskel & Ebert & Kevin Conroy, is excellent. And your nod to possibly producing an essay on Pan and Scan is exciting, I know I would like to you see what you produce on that very subject. Kevin Conroy was the man. The Batman.

[@kevinsawyer2854]

I didn’t think I was going to sit through it all and when it was done I was left wanting more. Great job!

[@thedarkknight1971]

00:58 - THAT hilarious scene in 'Family Guy' where Peter is watching 'Lawrence Of Arabia' in 'Original Widescreen' on his TV & it's a THIN SLIVER view! 🤣🤣🤣 😎🇬🇧

[@cheqers_]

"People are realising animation isn't just for children's movies" Outside of anime, boy I wish that came true. We get glimpses with Arcane and LDR but those are far and away niche projects from places with the means and tonnes of money to throw around

[@Heritage367]

Arguably the best Batman movie ever made. And I mean that in the true meaning of the phrase; you can make an argument that this is the best Batman movie. It doesn't mean it *is*, just that it's worthy of debate. Great video!

[@rustybarrel516]

I don’t think a debate was even warranted until Christopher Nolan’s trilogy came along. It was far better than any Batman film before then.

[@Icemario87]

Arguably the most well-rounded comment on this video. And I mean that in the true meaning of the phrase; you can make an argument that this is the most well-rounded comment. It doesn't mean it *is*, just that it's worthy of debate. Great comment!

[@jeremyborder6794]

Honestly, it probably is the best Batman movie ever made because of how deeply it dives into the character

[@robertwolfgan]

Yep, growing up from the VRC TVs and the VHS era to this day made me realize of this very obviously while growing up. It is quite obvious too haha

[@trueFleGMan]

I know it's not the point of the video, but jfc do I love Siskel and Ebert: two of the most famous movie critics (one of them claiming that Citizen Kane is his favorite movie), hundreds reviews of all the artsy-fartsy movies in the world between the two of them and they just sit there gushing about a Batman cartoon in 1993

[@thenightstar8312]

I actually have no respect for them and I think they were both plagues on society and stand for everything that's WRONG with modern critique.

[@Dev_712]

​@@thenightstar8312elaborate, please.

[@brownhues]

​@@thenightstar8312You have an anime pfp. Your opinion can automatically be discarded. Weeb.

[@Welverin]

I liked and respect expressly because they reviewed movies for what they were and trying to be, and holding everything up to some mythical standard. e.g. An action movie was judge for how it stood up for an action movie, and now how it compared to Citizen Kane or Casablanca.

[@EhFrank]

@@Welverin I loved Ebert, until he broke his own "no spoilers in reviews" rule and spoiled the climax to "Kick-Ass" just because he didn't like the movie. Still, he was a great writer with some awesome insight into films. But he was also an asshole at times. (I don't have much of an opinion on Siskel, I was young when he was around and don't remember him too much and haven't really gone back and watched/read many of his reviews)

[@williamforbes7156]

top marks on the video edit, and bringing in content from that era outside of what you were themeing the video on really was over the top.

[@ProximitySound]

There are interesting cases with Super 35 as well. James Cameron shot Titanic on it to allow for both widescreen and full frame compositions. So the TV version had no cropping, instead adding information on the top and bottom of the frame.

[@stpat7614]

I believe the VHS crops left and right, but uncrops the top and bottom. In theatres, the top and bottom are cropped, but this is the intended ratio.

[@btm380]

Neighbor of mine thought widescreen was "ripping him off". He wanted every inch of the screen filled. Smdh

[@lucasgagliardi433]

Mask of the Phantasm is Batman at its cinematic peak. It had to be said.

[@TheApplesauce1992]

If "BATMAN" comes up in conversation, this is what I think of first. I still remember the smiling fish.

[@SuperLocrian]

First, let me say thank you. Love your essays! I saw that message at the beginning of a movie on KZbin the other night... Hadn't thought about that in years or the old pan and scan😀

[@CinemaStix]

Oh yeah? Even on a KZbin movie? That’s so interesting! Couldn’t ask what movie? And thank ya :)

[@macmac_]

Yup they still do this to movies on planes too!

[@SuperLocrian]

@@macmac_slightly unrelated, but I was in hospital once and watched the TV edit of Pulp Fiction... (As well as some scenes just being removed), the curse words were not bleeped, instead they were dubbed over with TV safe words like dang, damn, and the like... It was very strange and unintentionally hilarious!

[@SuperLocrian]

@@CinemaStix Yes, it's 2014 Predestination.. my best friend gave me one of his KZbin premium accounts... Apparently it comes with 10. Btw, a different friend has got me back in the animation and I am half way thru season 1 of Batman TAS. I watched Akira last night... Last time I saw that was on VHS 😁

[@macmac_]

@@SuperLocrian interesting! The rhythm of the dialogue must've had some awkward disruptions then, especially with a film like pulp fiction. Sounds like an unideal bad first watch, but a hilarious rewatch 😂

[@Maxim.ID4HO]

OMG! I didn't know Kevin had died. I was really expecting more from him to come out and was wondering why I was seeing all these lesser people voicing the part. Kevin Conroy was Batman, more than any of the live actors. RIP Kevin. Thank you for all you contributed to this world.

[@lucess169]

damn "lesser people" sonds bad ngl

[@jakearmitage7811]

I remember seeing this in the theater on Christmas Day 1993, seeing the TAS Batman on a movie screen was too damn cool. I will never forget it.

[@RadishDoctor]

Christ I cried hearing Kevin's voice again at the end. Saw him a few years back locally. Bless yeah Mask of Phantasm is fantastic and glad you featured this type of editing.

[@jelly434]

Surprised you didn't mention the particularly stunning version of the theme. Goosebumps.

[@tehprimelime1063]

Rest in peace Kevin, you ARE the inspiration so many voice actors. No, Artists in general strive for. Loving, extremely gifted but above all else care for the story and characters you create that is beyond just the paycheck. You'll NEVER be gone, you're always here and watching over the next generation that we hope inherit your lovely words of wisdom. Thank you and rest well sir!

[@vulcanmario]

Reframing movies for home video is one of my biggest cinematic pet peeves. I thought we were mostly past it, but now it's happening more and more with remasters of older TV shows. While I'm on the subject, there are actually quite a lot of movies that are shot full-frame 35 with the intention of cropping it down. Really depends on the type of film, the lenses in use and how much leeway the director/cinematographer wants in post. While many of the movies released fullscreen back in the day were cropped pan and scan, there were also quite a lot that were open matte, meaning they took scans of the original film without the intended crop. One example that comes to mind is Titanic. The theatrical version was 2.39:1 but the fullscreen home video version was opened up to 3:4 with extra picture on top and bottom. Then, when James Cameron re-released it in 3D, he opened the matte up partially to 1.85:1. There's also increasingly a trend for big budget movies to release multiple aspect ratios to different theaters depending on their particular screens.

[@maneater3795]

Yeah, I remember watching some of the older Malcolm in the Middle episodes on Hulu and a lot of the early episodes had stand-in actors, camera wires, etc just sitting there on the parts where there would have been black bars.

[@Axolotl_Mischief]

Yeah I hate video formated for old tvs. Looks like garbage.

[@variousthings6470]

Yes, I remember when I first got The Matrix on DVD, and I noticed that there were some shots that seemed to show less of the picture on the top and bottom than on the 4:3 video that I'd been used to watching. (Specifically, I remember comparing the bird's eye view shot when Morpheus is beaten up on the tiled floor by the SWAT police.) I worried about it because it seemed to go against everything I'd been taught about the advantages of widescreen over pan-and-scan! Then I asked about it online and someone linked to a page about Super 35 and open matte. Incidentally, I've noticed that there are some movie clip KZbin channels that upload open-matte versions of clips from these Super 35 films. But as far as I know, those versions have never been commercially released in HD; by the time of Blu-ray and HD-DVD, only the widescreen versions were being released - so does anyone know where those channels source the open-matte versions from?

[@phirenz]

Buffy had issues with this. The NTSC DVD release was all 4:3 (as had originally been shown on TV) but the PAL region DVD release got an open matte 16:9 version of seasons 4-7. There were often goofs in the uncropped areas like bad lighting, crew members, equipment, bad VFX and lens artefacts.

[@vulcanmario]

@phirenz The new HD masters have a lot of those same issues, plus bad DNR and incorrect color timing, etc. It's a real shame.

[@nathanlovin]

dang I remember watching this as a kid on VHS. It's so cool to learn background production details like this. Thanks for the video!

[@aksharaghav9657]

Rest In Peace Kevin Conroy. We will always cherish your wonderful work in the animation industry.

[@oneoranota]

In his youth, my father went to the USA. He bare witness to the habit the locals had to crop movies, and cut them with thousands of advertising, and not even let them run full length. Overall, he told me that watching a movie on American TV was as bad as a movie watching experience can get. I wonder how it has become nowadays.

[@AgTheFreeborn]

there's more advertising.

[@beaudanner]

I remember renting this as a kid and being truly astonished at how good it was. It felt way grander in scale and more adult than I had ever imagined a straight to video cartoon to be. So this breakdown makes sense

[@brendo189]

For anyone curious the song at 8:15 is called “Give it all up” by Pastis

[@scottrgarland]

Batman Mask of the Phantasm is literally TOP NOTCH film making and easily the best animated movie of all time. Thank you for bringing this to light and what a wonderful insight into all of this.

[@bradrich2000]

you know spiderverse exists, right?

[@DaveM86]

@@bradrich2000yes, and?

[@mantis_toboggan_md]

​@@bradrich2000🤣

[@AvengingEnder]

I hope you’re trolling…or haven’t seen many animated movies.

[@4ll4nb31l]

great video thanks for making it. this batman show was stunning

[@edgarpeddy6736]

My mother refused to take me to see this movie because she thought it was just an episode of the TV show. I think that was the biggest reason why it bombed.

[@FFFFPPPP]

The movie didnt really bomb. This is misinfo that has persisted for 30 years and it drives me crazy. It cost $6 million to make and had barely any marketing budget. It made almost all of that back in the USA alone with $5.8 million and it would have surpassed the budget with the rest of the world. The studio splits the box office with theaters but the movie did well on home video which is part of what a movie makes, so it made a profit in the end. Then there’s all the merchandising and games. This movie was ultimately a huge success at the end of the day and has the legacy to match. There was also a sequel of sorts. The last episode of Justice League Unlimited called Epilogue features a brief Phantasm tie-in. The episode was a proper ending to Batman Beyond which took place 40-50 years after Phantasm and the character has a part to play. It’s brief but it’s there. A proper sequel took place in the comics.

[@christopherortiz9330]

When you see "formatted" spelled "formated", you know they f***ed up the formadding.

[@YodaBSith]

yeah they flubed that one

[@EchelonBlueAlt]

hold up, at 1:38 is that Stan Lee yelling "Freeze!" at the Batman?

[@oblivian1308]

Good ear 👂

[@marshallmykietyshyn4973]

The more of your videos I watch, the more I enjoy them. Thanks for the good work Danny.

[@Nathanatos22]

5:20 That is a very incorrect use of “indiscriminately.” I think you meant to say “indisputably”?

[@MarvinPowell1]

This is random, but watching Batman The Animated Series again made me realize how much cleaner and livable Gotham City was in this series than it is in any iteration since then. Gotham here seems like a mostly normal city with a few bad guys in it, where as in the Arkham games and everywhere else, it seems like an unlivable hellhole most people couldn't survive a week in. Anyway, great surprise video.

[@FaydOgolon]

One of the things that often gets overlooked about the theatrical release of "Mask of the Phantasm" is that there was not a single theatre where I lived (San Diego) that had any evening showtimes. 5pm was the latest show you could find. It was almost like the marketing was saying it wasn't a film for adults.

[@Ironcabbit]

The cropped version of Ghostbusters obscures an entire visual joke.

[@SAClassHunterZero]

Holy shit, I had no idea that this film was meant to be watched in Zack Snyder's original vision format! Jokes aside, this is a very interesting case of a movie where we can't actually see ALL of the frame in either format. Makes you wonder if they'll ever give us the full picture in a re-release.

[@dominiclapinta8537]

I have a feature on my TV where you push a button and it takes anything showing on the screen and makes it 16:9. Basically, it widescreen anything. I recently bought the Vision of Escaflowne, that they had released in 2016 and it was animated in pan and scan, and when I gave it the 16:19 treatment, i realized that I hadn't seen anything missing.

[@denalinorsen6180]

when i was 16 i made my own black and white edit of Mask of the phantasm. i should remake it again now that i have the bluray copy and davinci resolve. if people want to see it please let me know id love to find a way to release it

[@thanhavictus]

Cropping shouldn't have been done period on any conversion. Ill never understand why people care about the black bars when the later result is having information cropped away.

[@XoeDanger]

By zooming in for the widescreen, it changes the perspective, making the lenses/camera appear closer to the subjects. I think 4:3 is really important in this case since the distance of the characters from the viewer’s eyes being more distant is important for the narrative.

[@Axolotl_Mischief]

I have and always will loathe 4:3. I do not miss old TV sets at all.

[@krane15]

The 4:3 goes hand in hand with the viewing distance of television. Big difference between home viewing and the theater

[@Rifkinn]

I've seen this on many older tv shows trying to get rid of the side black bars and they always feel like you are unnaturally zoomed in on the characters.

[@URBONED]

This is actually more common than you might think, since the early days of TV until the early 2000s. Some 35mm films were shot 'full frame/open matte' which has a 4:3 frame, so that when it went to video/TV it filled your screen, and in the cinema the projectionist puts up the matte's top and bottom to make it 1.85:1. Many of Kubricks films from The Shining onwards I believe were like this. Sam Raimi's original spiderman is another that comes to mind. Priority was usually put on the widescreen framing with many cases where the boom mic is visible in the frame on video, or when a projectionist didn't properly matte the image. If you search 'open matte' you will see heaps of examples. I think it was common practice for most made for TV movies to shoot with both options in mind on the off chance they would get picked up for theatrical release. A lot of 80s/90s made for TV movies that are getting bluray releases have both options available and you can see that in most cases neither suffer for it - it just means they're sort of limited in how they can shoot a scene.

[@IndieFilmmaker82]

But the difference with Phantasm is that it wasn't conceived with both in mind. The movie was written and boarded and being animated for 4:3 only, when the call was made to make it work for theatrical. So, Timm and company scrambled to see if they could make it watchable in 1.85:1. It was not part of the movie's conception.

[@joshuab1046]

Thumbnail had me thinking this video was going somewhere totally different 😳

[@maxzett]

make it 3 and you've got wes anderson :D

[@Patrious_WoW]

i dont know how old i was when i saw this movie, i think 4, but it was one of the best movies i have ever seen my family have been HUGE batman fans, but my nephew told me with a straight face telling me "I don't like batman." I INSTANTLY TEXTED M Y SISTER DEMANDING A DNA TEST DONE ON THE BOY making sure we are related, nobody in my family dosnt like batman

[@frasiercranejr]

have you see the 4:3 version of Full Metal Jacket? Kubrick would shoot for home video and crop for theatrical.

[@rsine100]

I believe he did the same thing with "The Shining."

[@oranmccann2476]

I own both films in the 4.3 aspect ratio

[@look4lec]

I saw this when I was 10 in the theatre and it was awesome. The marketing was all like "they made it more cinematic, bigger faces etc." lol @10 year old me understanding marketing campaigns without knowing the reason they had that campaign.