Producer Bruce Timm Explains What Makes Him “Cringe” About “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” 30 Years Later
2023 marks the 30th anniversary of one of the best Batman movies in any medium — Mask of Phantasm. Unexpectedly released theatrically, the film achieved limited success but managed to win over critics as well as fans. The film practically spawned DC Animated Universe, which was to be made in the New Millennium.
Sal Valestra, Abe Vigoda in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Warner Bros. Animation
The DCAU continues today and Batman is naturally a highlight of it but that doesn’t mean there weren’t issues making such a benchmark. Bruce Timm, producer The Animated Series Co-director of the film, he recalls the shock it was to receive the release demand from Warner Bros. suddenly while he was attending a meeting in Japan.
“[Co-producer and co-director] Eric Radomski and I were in Japan, meeting with one of the animation studios that worked on the movie,” Timm stated in an Empire interview (via CBR). “We got the word that [the studio] officially wanted to make it a theatrical release while we were literally handing out the storyboards to the animators.”
The signal is seen by the Dark Knight in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Warner Bros. Animation
They had prepared the film for TV so that the aspect ratio would not be a problem. The film was formatted to the old TV ratio which was almost a square. It looked like this: ‘What the heck are we going to do?’” Timm added. They figured it out but to this day he isn’You are not pleased.
Timm watches Mask of PhantasmHe notices things that others don’t and admits to cringing. “When I see it, I just cringe,” he confessed although he believes the film’s quality is almost there. “It’s, like, 90 percent there. I just wish I had that last ten percent!” However, for most film fans, it is completely enjoyable. “there” As the greatest Batman movie ever made.
Bruce is comforted in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Warner Bros. Animation
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Arkham was originally intended to be a feature-set, but the ensemble episode was created. “Trial,” Timm, Radomski, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett decided instead to retell a phase of Batman’s origin and give him a love interest, which hadn’t been done before on the small screen. That love was Andrea Beaumont voiced by Dana Delany who has a past as tragic as Bruce’s.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm The film cost $6 million and took eight months for the team to finish and get it ready for release. Released on Christmas in 1993 and raking in just $5M, the film didn’t recoup its budget. The film did however become a popular home video favorite with numerous releases over the years, including a remastered Bluray edition in 2017.
Andrea loses weapon to Joker’s acid in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Warner Bros. Animation
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