Batman And The New Robin (partially found unproduced animated TV series; 1988): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:32, 25 October 2021

Promotional poster.

Status: Partially Found

Batman And The New Robin is an unproduced animated television series by Nelvana. Pitched in the late 1980s, the proposed show would've starred Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd. In the decades since, pieces of the pitch have surfaced online. It remains unclear how much work went into the project before it was abandoned.

History

As an unproduced series, Batman And The New Robin was never formally announced. It first came to light in the late 1980s as a series bible for a Nelvana-produced Batman series written by Babylon 5's J. Michael Straczynski was uploaded onto a Bulletin Board System called ExecuNet. The document, dated March 8th, 1988, was preserved and shared in 2016 by Critical Blast's RJ Carter.^[1] Inside, it contains the pilot's script alongside outlines for four additional episodes. Straczynski also created character profiles for series-specific roles and those from other Batman media.

Canadian artist Michael Thorner shared three pieces of concept art of the titular heroes on his Flickr account in 2012.^[2] He stated that Nelvana lost the rights to Batman and instead focused efforts on their Beetlejuice series, which premiered on ABC in September 1989. Later that year, prolific DC Comics animation contributor Bruce Timm revealed that Bob Camp had worked on the project.^[3]

In 2015, then DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio shared a promotional image for the series, remarking that it was pitched when he was working for ABC's Children's Programming department.^[4] The collage showcases Batman, Robin, Joker, The Riddler, The Penguin and a character assumed to be Frederica Miles.

Gallery

Collage shared by Dan DiDio.
Concept art by Michael Thorner.
The second piece by Michael Thorner.
The last piece by Michael Thorner.

References

↑ The Animated Batman That Almost Was. Retrieved 08 May '20
↑ Batman and Robin 1988 Concept Drawing by Michael Thorner. Retrieved 08 May '20
↑ Modern Masters Volume 3: Bruce Timm. Retrieved 08 May '20
↑ Dan DiDio on Facebook: "Another relic from my days in ABC Children's Programming. A pitch cell from Nelvana when they had, for a brief moment, the rights(or at least I think they did) to pitch a Batman animated series". Retrieved 08 May '20

[1] The Animated Batman That Almost Was. Retrieved 08 May '20

[2] Batman and Robin 1988 Concept Drawing by Michael Thorner. Retrieved 08 May '20

[3] Modern Masters Volume 3: Bruce Timm. Retrieved 08 May '20

[4] Dan DiDio on Facebook: "Another relic from my days in ABC Children's Programming. A pitch cell from Nelvana when they had, for a brief moment, the rights(or at least I think they did) to pitch a Batman animated series". Retrieved 08 May '20

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 Michael thorner batman 1.jpg|The last piece by Michael Thorner.
 </gallery>
+==See also==
+*[[Batman Fights Dracula (lost unofficial Filipino comedy parody film; 1967)]]
+*[[Batman Dracula (partially found Andy Warhol film; 1964)]]
+*[[Gotham High (lost cancelled Batman animated series; 2009)]]
+*[[Batman Forever (partially lost deleted scenes of DC superhero film sequel; 1995)]]
+*[[The Dark Knight (lost build of cancelled multi-platform action game based on Batman film; 2008)]]
+*[[Batman: The Animated Series - Tim Curry performance as the Joker (lost audio recordings from animated series; 1992)]]
+*[[Mike Henry's Batman publicity stills (lost photographs advertising CBS "Batman" TV series; 1964)]]
+*[[Batman: A Death in the Family - "Jason Todd lives" (partially lost alternate version of comic; 1988)]]
+*[[Batman: Clean and Dirty (found "Sesame Street" animated segment; 1970)]]
+*[[Batman Meets Godzilla (lost Japanese film treatment of unproduced crossover film; 1960s)]]
+*[[Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight Trilogy" (lost deleted scenes of DC superhero film trilogy; 2005-2012)]]
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}