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The recording was from 1994. Remember those years? That was the decade of the comic book bubble. Comic books were so popular that they started to publish multiple covers of "1st issues", to boost sales. Personally, I got into collecting comics because of the comic book-based cartoons on TV. FOX was showing X-men, Batman, The Tick, and had this whole "Action Theater" block. I guess the other channels were trying to compete with things like WildCATs and Skeleton Warriors. I liked all those shows. I was an action/fantasy junkie. #^_^# Even the shows that seemed like just cheap promotion for a lines of toys were actually fun. Like Biker Mice from Mars and Exo Squad was good on weekday mornings.
Watching almost a full episode of WildCATs, followed immediately by a 1st season episode of Batman the Animated Series, really made me aware of how outstanding the production quality on Batman was. Everyone always talks about it. And there's this memory, more of a vague feeling, of how great the Batman series was (especially during the 1st 2 seasons). But seeing it back to back with another cartoon, even based on a Jim Lee comic, really accentuated the contrast. The WildCATs and X-men cartoons had a very typical rhythm and the characters looked like action figures against a backdrop. But Batman really used composition, lighting, and especially mood. Not the repeated guitar of the WildCATs background music, punching in whenever there needed to be a triumphant emphasis (Although, I do love guitar and listening to it was VERY cool). But Batman's music gave its scenes a whole depth and realism---not necessarily in aesthetic rendering, but more a realistic emotion. Something the audience could feel, and not just watch happen. And it was so refreshing to see the characters in an array of close-ups, mid shots, and angles, that were not as static as the company who was more used to producing Eek the Cat (another show I love ^.^!). Batman really had great direction. The stories were feelings and experiences; not just presentations told to kids.
That said, I look forward to finding more recordings of cartoons from the 1990's. WildCATs, X-men, Eek the Cat, The Terrible Thunder Lizards, Animaniacs, The Tick, Taz Mania, and whatever juicy tid bits are lying around. ^-^ Although, it may just be easier to find it all on YouTube. ^^;;; But first, I'm going to dig out my Batman the Animated Series DVDs and finish that episode that got cut off on my VHS.
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