10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Batman: The Animated Series
3. The Series Was So Dark, It Was Boarded On Black Paper
Warner Bros
BTAS was dark. Like, not just tonally - I mean literally. Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski and the others behind the series took inspiration from both Tim Burton's '89 Batman film and the Fleischer Superman shorts of the 1930s to create their timeless, art-deco version of Gotham.
It was imposing - a character in and of itself - and part of that was down to a brainwave from Radomski.
Wanting BTAS' backgrounds to stand out from other shows, the producer decided that all of them should be painted on black paper. The effects were extraordinary, and no doubt contributed to the unique tone and feel the series boasted in its earlier seasons.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
