Studio: Warner Bros. Animation
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Short Synopsis
A mysterious, hooded figure, the Phantasm, is murdering Gotham City's mob bosses one by one, and because the killer looks like a dark avenger, the police and the corrupt councilman Arthur Reeves blame Batman. As Bruce Wayne investigates, the past returns. In flashbacks, a young Bruce, on the verge of putting on a costume for the first time, meets Andrea Beaumont and falls in love; he is ready to give up his vow of vengeance to marry her. But Andrea's father, Carl Beaumont, is in debt to the mob, and they flee Gotham, Andrea leaving Bruce with a farewell letter. Heartbroken, Bruce becomes Batman. Now Andrea is back in Gotham, and the murdered gangsters turn out to be the men who once worked with her father, and who had him killed. Batman discovers that Andrea is the Phantasm, avenging her father, and that the last target is a former mob hitman who became the Joker. In a final battle at the ruins of a futuristic world's fair, Andrea attacks the Joker and vanishes with him in an explosion. Later Bruce finds her locket in the Batcave, and Andrea is seen alone on a cruise ship.
Why It Matters
- The film gave the creators of Batman: The Animated Series a cinema canvas for their "dark deco" Gotham, with black paper backgrounds, art-deco architecture and noir lighting, and Shirley Walker's choral score. It made Batman's origin a love story, and the young Bruce's graveside plea to his dead parents is one of the series' most affecting scenes.
- It was rushed into cinemas after being planned as a direct-to-video film and was a box-office failure, but it became a cult favourite and is widely regarded as one of the best Batman films in any medium. Kevin Conroy's Batman and Mark Hamill's Joker made it the definitive version for a generation.
Notes and Trivia
- Dana Delany voices Andrea Beaumont; she later voiced Lois Lane in Superman: The Animated Series.
- Abe Vigoda voices the mob boss Salvatore Valestra.
- See also: Superman (The Mad Scientist) (1941).