The decade of BTAS

[Tim Drake]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. A couple people in the Batman RPG are under the impression that the characters in BTAS existed in the early 1990s. I was always under the impression that BTAS was set somewhere between the 40's and 60's. Am I way off base?? I rewatched some episodes. Broadcast TV is in black and white. All the guys are wearing 50's style suits. The woman have the hair perfectly piled up. Selina and Summer Gleeson look very much like 40's 50's women. Also, all the cars and planes are from the 40's 50s. And some of the villains like Vertigo are undoubtedly German Nazi style bad guys. I just can't imagine this being 1990. TNBA was in a different era no question. TV was in color in that series. Anyhow, bout BTAS am I right??

[The Mad Hatter]

That's the magic of stylization for you. Things have a retro look, yet there's all sorts of high technology. I just try to think of it as an "alternate universe" version of the present.

[Tim Drake]

You see I understand in TNBA that there was still homage to the 40's style with modern technology. But in BTAS technology wasn't modern. Black and white TV. Look at Bat's computer. Its in monochrome. They didn't have modern airplanes. When Bruce Wayne goes to the Televison and Film Guild for Actors looking for Simon Trent, all teh information is in record books rather than computers. Nothing technology wise suggests that it took place in the 90s or that people in BTAS had email as suggested in the Batman RPG.

[Trent Lane]

well, i don't know. i think the retro style is really cool. that and the overall darkness of the series made it visually stimulating. i thinkB:TAS could be set in any time, but i'm willing to bet it was probably supposed to be close to modern day. that's my veiw on it, anyway....

[Supermon]

the combination of the different looks was intended to make the series seem "timeless"

[Calhoun07]

I think my favorite use of this kind of stylizing was in the movie Brazil. It was Terry Gilliams desire to create a world in which you didn't know what decade it was. I think that movie worked great at that.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

And Gotham City is where...?

If Gotham City were really on Earth, I'd still say 40s. It resembles the look of the oldest Batman comics. Even today's Batman comics feature a relatively modern setting.

On the other hand, didn't they have home computers in the show?

[Clayface]

Originally posted by Tim Drake
You see I understand in TNBA that there was still homage to the 40's style with modern technology. But in BTAS technology wasn't modern.

Ahhhh, but it was! That's one of my favorite things about the show!! As was stated, it was meant to have a timeless feel - they mix modern with historical. For example, if you go back and watch, you can find episodes where Gordon uses a VCR - something they didn't have in 40's and 50's. If I remember correctly, we also see the use of a tele-conferencing phone - where the people talking can see each other - something again that wasn't around in the 40's and 50's. A lot of Bat's gadgets are also modern tech that wouldn't have existed back then.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by calhoun07
I think my favorite use of this kind of stylizing was in the movie Brazil. It was Terry Gilliams desire to create a world in which you didn't know what decade it was. I think that movie worked great at that.

Or Kiki's Delivery Service.

[Firefly]

Originally posted by Leap Larry Jojo
And Gotham City is where...?

I know I always thought it was DC version of New York City because New York is sometimes called the "Gotham", but in STAS episode "Speed Demons" on the map we can see that Metropolis is in the vicinity of New York. SO to ansewer that question...I don't Know:D



FF-

[Toddman]

The New York thing is easy. In several stories, there are scenes where a character's address is displayed on a video screen (eg "Pretty Poison" and "Sub-Zero") and if you look close, the addresses were always listed as "Gotham City, NY". The zip codes were also a New York area zip. Placing Gotham in a specific U.S. state is something the comics NEVER did.

As for the question "What era did B:TAS take palce?" I think you have to go with modern era. Sure the clothes and cars are styled like the 40' and 50's, but that's all it is---style. As was stated here, the producers of the show wanted the series to look unique and timeless. Retro stylings for the characters and the props in the show (including b&w TV and photos) were one of the many ways they successfully achieved that look.

While there were never any real historical references or specific dates mentioned in the show, the fact that VCRs, desk top computers and laser anti-theft systems were regularly used in the series, places it squarely in the 1990's. (Or at the very earliest the 80's, but what would be the point in that?)

And I think if you look back, the whole black&white vs. color video suffered from inconsistantly from time to time in B:TAS. There were a few episodes here and there that showed colored TV.The black and white is just a lot more noticable (and cooler). B&W TV and photography was also used in TNBA, but it too suffeered from some inconsistancy.

Toddman

[Pyro]

And I think if you look back, the whole black&white vs. color video suffered from inconsistantly from time to time in B:TAS. There were a few episodes here and there that showed colored TV.The black and white is just a lot more noticable (and cooler). B&W TV and photography was also used in TNBA, but it too suffeered from some inconsistancy.Sorry to resurrect old threads, but I was just watching "Two-Face" pt 1, and noticed this inconsistency. Rupert Thorne was watching a color tv with a remote and mute button. Now, there was that time period in America where not everyone had a color tv, but if anyone should, Bruce Wayne should. So I'm inclined to believe it was just an inconsistent stylistic choice, rather than a time period indicator.

[dark knight 90]

Sorry to resurrect old threads, but I was just watching "Two-Face" pt 1, and noticed this inconsistency. Rupert Thorne was watching a color tv with a remote and mute button. Now, there was that time period in America where not everyone had a color tv, but if anyone should, Bruce Wayne should. So I'm inclined to believe it was just an inconsistent stylistic choice, rather than a time period indicator.


It was just to reflect an old-world feel. Plus I think the inconsistencies could be pointed to the animation studios... who sometimes got it wrong.

The Black and white screens, I believe, was a very deliberate stylistic choice on the part of the producers, despite the slip-ups.

[AlwaysOAR]

If I remember correctly, at the end of the episode "Beware the Grey Ghost" when Simon Trent is signing autographs, there's that huge blowup of a People magazine with him as the Grey Ghost on the cover. The date on that is September something, 1992. Just thought I'd mention it, and please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Wolf Boy2]

If I remember correctly, at the end of the episode "Beware the Grey Ghost" when Simon Trent is signing autographs, there's that huge blowup of a People magazine with him as the Grey Ghost on the cover. The date on that is September something, 1992. Just thought I'd mention it, and please correct me if I'm wrong.
You are VERY correct. I was about to post that, as a matter of fact.

http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/episodes/bewarethegrayghost/Pan16.jpg

BTAS is a very stylish future/past, with leanings towards the past. Not unlike anime shows which feature feudal Samurai and giant robots in the same era. STAS was also a future/past, but with leanings towards the future. With JLU, the producers decided to ground the series in a more objective reality. A gain for realism was a loss for style.

BTW, in one episode of the old BTAS actually had a DVD, 10 years before they were popular!