Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker - Re-editing

Re-editing

The Joker's death in the edited version of the film (Not-Rated).

The movie was initially released amid the backlash against violence in movies and video games aimed at children that followed the Columbine High School massacre of 1999; as a result, the movie was substantially re-edited shortly before release to tone down the violence. Many of the changes were controversial, particularly those made to a key scene in which the Joker is killed. The original unedited version has been released as "The Original Uncut Version."

The following are scenes that were changed in the edited-for-content (Unrated) version:

• In general, references to death and killing are removed from character dialogue, leaving most of it implied instead of apparent.
• The opening fight sequence is trimmed, cutting, among other things, a second Dee-Dee kick and a taser attack which explains Batman's subsequent vision malfunction. There is a 360-degree fight sequence which is also removed, where Batman fends off the Jokerz one by one.
• White flashes have been added to the action sequences where previously there were none. Additionally, repeated punches have been mostly trimmed down to one punch.
• Bonk is not shot with Joker's flag-spear gun, but instead given a dose of Joker laughing gas, taking his implied death off-screen and adding a number of visual and audio edits to account for the fact. Because of this, the following loyalty oath sequence is cut.
• Blood was removed in the edited version.
• The scene where Joker cuts Batman with a knife and then stabs him in the leg was in the uncut version, which explains how Bruce got his limp and why he needed his cane for support, although he walks without the limp prior to retiring as Batman in the episode "Rebirth". In the edited version, Joker instead punches Batman, though the knife can still be seen in the Joker's hand.
• After the Joker attacked Bruce in the Batcave, when Terry returns to the cave, he found "Ha! Ha! Ha!" painted on the ground. In the uncut version, it had a blood red color. In the edited version, it had a dark purple color.
• In the uncut version, there is a scene where Batman throws a knife he used to cut himself free from the red strings at the Joker. In the edited version, the knife was removed, but the sound of the knife can still be heard and the hole it made in the curtain can still be seen.
• The Joker's death scene was heavily edited. In the original, Tim fired the Joker's 'BANG!' flag/spear gun at the Joker and the projectile pierced his heart, killing him almost instantly. In the edited version, the gun was full of Joker gas and Tim does not use it. Instead he pushes the Joker into a room with hanging electrical wires and two tanks of water. The Joker crashes into one, and the wires slip down. The Joker then runs forward to get him, but instead slips and turns on the wires, electrocuting himself. Not only that, but the setup lines were changed. In the original uncut version, Joker tells Tim to "make daddy proud, deliver the punch line". After the edit and the changing of the gun from a spear gun to a Joker gas gun, the line became "make him one of us".
• During the scene where Batman and Batgirl go searching for Robin, the uncut version shows Batgirl questioning two women as to Robin's whereabouts. In the edited version it was a man and a woman. This scene may have been edited because the women were implied to be prostitutes.
• When the Jokerz visit Pryce on the Wayne Enterprises Yacht, a suggestive scene in which one of the Dee Dee sisters lays on a bed was cut from the Unrated version.
• When Terry visits Ace (Bruce's dog) after the Joker's attack on Wayne Manor, Ace is watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon called Hare Ribbin'. A character in the cartoon repeatedly shouts "I wish I were dead!" This audio was cut from the censored version.
• In the "Our Family Memories" segment of the film, the uncut version depicts the Joker pulling out electrical cables to torture Robin. This brief sequence is cut from the censored version.
• In the Uncut version Joker's line "I'll begin with how I peeled back the layers of the boy's mind." is changed to "I'll begin with how I affected young Robin's makeover." in the edited version.