LogFAQs > #942140739

This one is probably going to surprise some people.

4. Batman: The Animated Series - Xeybozn
https://youtu.be/-XJ3HJXxDwc

Unique: 6.5
Story: 9
Music: 10
Animation: 8.5
Personal: 10
Average: 8.8

Sometimes less is more, which is something the creators of this intro understood completely. We dont see any of Batmans rogues gallery. We dont see a retelling for the millionth time of Batmans origin. We dont see any clips from episodes. What we do see is Batman stripped down to the bare essentials. The iconic Batmobile, the way Batman fills the criminals with fear, how effectively he dispatches the bad guys, and at the end, Batman looking out over his city from the darkness, visibly only for the fleeting moment a lightning bolt strikes. That may not seem like much, but really it tells us everything we need to know about Batman. And despite its brevity, this intro functions as a complete story, not solely in the literal sense of Batman catching the crooks, but also in the grander scale of Batman as an iconic legend (which I believe someone could take away from this sequence even if they had somehow never heard of Batman before).

The animation is consistently fantastic, with such a high focus on quality that they even seamlessly transitioned the Warner Brothers logo at the start into a blimp. But its not just the attention to detail that comes through in everything down to the shards of glass in the explosion. Its also the little things like the way Batmans personality comes across in that eye squint. The animation also makes excellent use of lighting and shadows to enhance the sense of story, such as that beautiful moment when you see the dark silhouettes of the characters fighting with the moon as a backdrop. This intro looked amazing when this series first premiered, and it still looks amazing to this day.

But my favorite aspect of the intro has to be the theme song. In fact, I would go so far as to say if there is such a thing as a perfect theme song, this is it. Its iconic, it captures the essence of Batman, and its timed flawlessly to coincide with every moment of the intro and bring out the maximum impact. Just listen to the way the mood of the song changes dramatically from the scene with the crooks in front of the bank to the explosion, and then how it changes again when you see the Batmobile racing to the scene, to say nothing of the music when Batman first appears. And although its easy to miss how subtly the music affects your perception, something like a cymbal hit is even critically timed at moments to coincide with a punch. The intro would still look great regardless, but the score gives it that added magic that makes it all come together.

I could go on and on praising this intro, but honestly this one is so amazing it speaks for itself.