Music
| Batman: The Animated Series | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Shirley Walker, Lolita Ritmanis, Michael McCuistion, and Danny Elfman | |
| Released | December 16, 2008 |
| Length | 137 minutes |
| Label | La La Land Records |
Batman: The Animated Series featured a strong musical score written by several different composers throughout the course of the series. The main theme of the show, which was heard during the opening and ending credits of each episode, was composed by Danny Elfman. At first, Elfman turned down Bruce Timm's offer to compose the theme for the show and so Timm hired Shirley Walker to do so. However, Elfman later changed his mind and composed a variation of his 1989 Batman movie theme for the series. Walker's unused theme went on to become the main theme for the second season of the show, when the name was changed to The Adventures of Batman & Robin.
In 1996, Walker won her first Daytime Emmy Award for her music direction of the episode "A Bullet for Bullock" (scored by the late Harvey R. Cohen). She would then go on to win another Daytime Emmy Award in the category of music-composition for Batman Beyond in 2001.
Although at least twenty-four different composers worked on the series, Walker, Lolita Ritmanis, and Michael McCuistion are regarded as the main contributors. After the series finished up in 1995, the three then went on to score The New Batman Adventures in 1997 and Batman Beyond in 1999, as well as Superman: The Animated Series (which also featured a theme by Walker). Television composer Kristopher Carter scored alongside Walker, Ritmanis, and McCuistion throughout the many DCAU series and later filled in for Walker after her death in 2006.
On December 16, 2008, La La Land Records announced the release of a soundtrack companion to Batman: The Animated Series onto a two-disc CD set. The release was limited to a pressing of 3,000 copies, which sold quickly. About one month after its release, the soundtrack set had sold over 2,500 copies. According to a spokesperson of La-La Land Records, the sold out status of the soundtrack "can only help as the label hopes to convince Warner Bros. to release more Batman: The Animated Series soundtracks."
Upon its release, the soundtrack received outstanding reviews, and is now completely sold out. The soundtrack was re-released in July 2012.
In July 2012, La La Land Records released a four-disc CD set with further music cues from the series, titled Batman: The Animated Series – Original Soundtrack From The Warner Bros. Television Series, Volume Two.
Volume 3 is planned for 2013 from La La Land Records, which will be the final volume (and will not include every episode score of the initial 65) before moving to the later incarnations of the series, as well as Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League in following years.
Read more about this topic: Emile Dorian
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