10 Reasons Batman Animated Is The Definitive Dark Knight

2. The Composition Is Iconic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC9mFPki0BY Has any composer ever really matched up to Danny Elfman's work on The Bat? Those opening, increasingly iconic notes are instantly identifiable as being synonymous with Batman, and Elfman brought his charm and flare for the character to the animated series as well with an equally famous intro. The unsung hero of the show's composition is not Elfman however, but a fantastic composer named Shirley Walker. Walker - one of the very few women composers to be working in Hollywood at the time - brought tremendous life to Batman's adventures, and brought something incredibly special to the show that no one else would be able to accomplish. Since BTAS concluded Walker went onto compose themes for STAS, Batman Beyond, and of course the beloved Mask of The Phantasm. Sadly passing away in 2006, Walker's achievements have been left largely unrecognised by the wider music community, and was even sadly omitted from the 'in memoriam' segment of the 2007 Academy Awards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GufAHzhNcS8 For those who continue to enjoy BTAS to this day, the late composer's contributions to the film industry won't be soon forgotten.
Content Producer/Presenter

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.