Batman: The Animated Series holds a treasured spot in the hearts of Batman fans. The show not only portrayed Batman and his cast of characters splendidly, but it also redefined how some of his villains were perceived, giving them more depth than they originally had. It was a cartoon that an adult could get into, and it holds the gold standard for what a Batman animated show should be. Seriously, all other animated Batman shows will forever be compared to Batman: The Animated Series. And odds are, they are going to fall short. Hey, I hate to be a downer, but The Animated Series set the bar that high.
The show began in the early 90s and went through several iterations. Its onscreen name changed to The Adventures of Batman and Robin toward the end of its run, and it was continued by another series titled The New Batman Adventures a couple years later. Whatever guise they wore, Batman's stories were expertly told by the show's creators and eagerly watched by kids everywhere.
Despite Batman being a kids' show, there were quite a few moments that verged on the adult. Dark elements that must have barely scraped by under scrutiny and unbelievably bawdy references flew over our heads when we were kids. I mean, we were kids. We watched the show to see Batman be Batman, and we didn't care that the show might have been "too adult" for us. In fact, if we had known, we would have relished it. If you have the opportunity, you should definitely try checking out the show again to see the adult humor and grim moments that you would never catch on a kids' show today. If you don't think you'll ever get the chance to revisit this beloved animated show, read on ahead to remember some of the most inappropriately adult moments in cartoon history.
25 Quite The Small Package
Making light of a man's parts is a run-of-the-mill joke. Go see any comedy movie and odds are that just such a joke will be made at some point. It is not, however, a joke you expect to hear while watching a kids' show. In order to bail out a criminal from jail, Harley Quinn disguises herself as his lawyer. A detective stops her, asking if he knows her from somewhere. (This is a probably a reference to when Harley disguised herself as a police officer in another episode.) Harley replies that she must have served him a subpoena once, and then she turns around to escort her "client" out. Before she leaves, she adds, "It was a very small subpoena." Wow, that was a non-subtle jab at the detective. I did not even know what a subpoena was back then.
24 Taken And Dolled Up
The creepiness factor of Batman's villains have always been at a high level. When the hero is grim and foreboding, it means that his gallery of rogues has to be even darker. In The Animated Series, the Mad Hatter, also known as Jervis Tetch, develops a crush over a girl named Alice (go figure). He brainwashes her, takes her, and then dresses her up. The show glosses over this, cutting from her being taken to when he has her brainwashed in an empty amusement park. As a kid, you don't think about the sequence of events that lead to Batman fighting the Mad Hatter at the amusement park. But looking back on it, you realize that it must have been the Hatter who undressed and dressed her while he had her under his control. And that's just downright gross.
23 Boing!
In cartoons, when a man becomes attracted to a woman, animators will usually make his eyes turn into hearts, have his jaw drop all the way to the ground, or if they're feeling particularly raunchy, have him let out a wolf whistle. That wasn't enough for Batman: The Animated Series. When the Riddler was at a swanky party (when he was trying to fool people that he had turned good), an attractive lady approached him in a very sultry fashion. As soon as Riddler caught sight of her, a Boing! noise sounded, and then he grinned lasciviously. Watching this episode now, I know what that sound is supposed to denote. I cannot believe that the show managed to get away with heavily implying excitement.
22 A Feeling Robot
Sentience is a heavy subject matter for children. Robots that display a human-level of feeling garner empathy from observers. In one episode of The Animated Series, a robot duplicant of Batman is made in order to assist an artificial intelligence named H.A.R.D.A.C. in taking over human life. The duplicant believes it is the real Batman, and it is heartbreaking witnessing its confusion. During a fight with the real Batman, the duplicant believes that it kills the real Batman, and it is wracked with guilt. Killing is something the real Batman would never do. The duplicant ends up killing H.A.R.D.A.C. and itself, in essence, in order to atone for what it has done. I felt saddened by the death of the duplicant after seeing it give its life. As a kid, I never saw the true tragedy of the situation. But I guess the theme was okay to show to kids if it was a robot doing it.
21 It Was All A Dream
Ending your own life is just one of those things that is a no-no in a children's show. It is an extremely dark theme that most parents do not want to expose their kids to. Batman: The Animated Series was not afraid to brush against this topic, even though it was somewhat indirectly. The Mad Hatter traps Batman in a dream world where he isn't Batman. He is just Bruce Wayne. His parents are alive, and he is happily married to Selina Kyle. Bruce quickly figures out that he is not in the real world. When he finds out that he's in a dream, in order to wake himself up, he jumps off of a very high building in order to "wake himself up." If you remember Inception, one of the ways to wake up from a dream was to kill yourself. Sure, it's just a dream, but the episode still showed Bruce Wayne jumping off of a roof.
20 A Frozen Exile
Villains in cartoons usually get their just desserts. As kids, we were used to seeing the heroes prevail and the bad guys fail. Sometimes, the punishments that the villains received were actually super terrifying. One example is the fate of Grant Walker. Walker wanted the immortality that Mr. Freeze's suit could provide, and in order to get it, he threatened Mr. Freeze's frozen wife, Nora, so that Freeze could make him one. Mr. Freeze complied, but then Batman reminded him that Walker's evil plans (the ones for which he needed to be immortal for) would not be approved by Nora. When Freeze recognizes this, he punishes Walker by trapping him at the bottom of the ocean. So Grant Walker was left, alive and immortal, in the depths of the ocean. Walker's agonized scream as he realized his situation still haunts me.
19 Oh, The Big Blast
Okay, so when I first met Roxy Rocket, I just thought she was one crazy chick. All she wanted to do was ride her rocket and look for "thrills." As a kid, I thought she was one of the most annoying villains on the show. After watching the first episode she came out in again, I was completely and utterly shocked. The climax of the episode was too much for children. Roxy, looking for yet more thrills on her rocket, plans to ride it down to the ground in a fiery explosion. Batman, on the rocket with her, manages to pull her off the rocket before it crashes. As the rocket tilted downwards at increasing speeds, Roxy started moaning "Oh, yes! Oh yes!" And she lets out a final, hearty moan just when the rocket bursts. Good golly, that was not even innuendo; it was just too blatant.
18 This Is What Your Brain Looks Like
Gotham City is a breeding ground of crime and villainy. So in an animated show set in Gotham, crimes are bound to happen. Batman: The Animated Series did not settle only for robberies. Following in the tradition of most major cities, Gotham has its crime bosses, and one of them, Arnold Stromwell, dealt heavily in the substance trade. That episode is deserving of a PG-13 rating (if there were such a thing for cartoons). Not only does he deal in substances, but his own son, Joey, got addicted to things from his dealers. Batman had to help Joey get into a clinic in order to deal with the addiction. While this might be an adult topic, the show handled it well, showing kids the negative effects of taking them. And Arnold Stromwell recognizes the error of his ways in the end and reforms himself, getting as happy an ending as a former crime boss can have.
17 Enjoy That Bath
I hate to cast aspersions, but Clayface is one of Batman's ugliest villains. He is a misshapen creature that looks like a blob of mud in human form. He has the ability to shape-shift into people, but his default body is basically a mud monster. In The Animated Series, a woman, Stella Bates, who had known Clayface back when he was known as Matt Hagen, loved him so much that she labored to help Clayface return to normal. She willingly went with Clayface even though he looked so freakish. Batman and Alfred pondered why this woman doctor would be helping Clayface (before they knew that she had met him earlier). Alfred, in classic Alfred style, remarks dryly that perhaps "she enjoys mud baths." As a kid, you just take that to mean that Stella likes mud. But given that Clayface's entire body is made of that stuff, a mud bath with him would actually be quite the intimate affair.
16 A Dark Child
Revenge is a strong motivator, but it can also lead our heroes to their destruction. Dick Grayson as Robin was the kid sidekick children could identify with in Batman: The Animated Series. Seeing him go down this dark path was troubling and bordered on the inappropriately dark, especially given how we were observing Robin consider killing. When Tony Zucco, the man who killed Grayson's family, appears in Gotham again, Robin goes after him with a vengeance. Batman tries to call him off, but Robin angrily pushes aside his mentor's words. Toward the end of the episode, Robin seems to come perilously close to enacting his vengeance upon Zucco, but he stops himself at the last second. It's a great moment that shows what makes a hero a hero and not just a thug. And what made it all the sweeter was when Batman told Robin the real reason he wanted Robin to stay away from Zucco was not because he thought Grayson would kill Zucco but because he did not want Robin to get hurt.
15 What Do These Do?
Riddler just can't seem to hold back the ladies when he starts traveling the straight path. After making the decision to create puzzle toys for a company instead of being a criminal, Riddler becomes the darling genius at a party celebrating the company's success. One lady from the get-together stands out in particular. In a soft, but high voice, a blonde beauty saunters up to Riddler and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, Mr. Riddler," she asks in a breathy voice, "can you tell me what these do?" Then she holds up a pair of balls. I'm not even joking. I'm sure these ornamental balls were some kind of puzzle that the chick wanted Riddler to help her solve, but the imagery was super suggestive. The Animated Series was not even trying to hide its hand.
14 That Seems Rather Illegal
Even though it had to do with animals, the episode of Batman: The Animated Series where Selina Kyle gets turned into an actual cat-woman is about relations. As kids, we were probably more concerned with the fact that Catwoman was a lot hairier than she was before, but what we should have focused on was the fact that she was turned into a lady cat-monster so that she could mate with a guy cat-monster. An evil scientist takes Selina, knowing she is Catwoman, so that she can be the partner to his other genetically created monster, Tygrus. He then injects Selina with some kind of liquid that makes her sprout fur and turn into a human cat. Luckily, Tygrus ends up being an okay cat-monster, and he defeats his creator and gives Selina the antidote.
13 Ride Her Like a Motorcycle
In Harley's efforts to get her "Mistah J" to pay attention to her, Harley delivers one of her grossest lines yet. Joker, ever focused on his plans to disturb Gotham's equilibrium and gain the Batman's notice, is busy with his work when Harley decides she wants some personal time with him. Dressed in fancy, red clothes, she crawls onto the table where the Joker is trying to get his work done. She greets him and then begs for his attentions by asking him if he wants to "Rev up his Harley." She's making a reference to riding a motorcycle, but I think it's clear that the Harley she wants Joker to ride is another. This is quite the dirty joke to make to poor, defenseless children. Not that I knew what she was talking about. I seriously thought she just wanted to spend time with him.
12 A Family Wipe-out
A lot of kids' movies seem to have a similar motif of parents dying, leaving their children to fend for themselves. Disney princesses' parents drop like flies. The death of Robin's parents, however, is pretty extreme when you think how they died right in front of him. Criminal Tony Zucco, angry that the owner of the circus where Robin and his family performed would not pay him protection money, sabotaged the ropes that the acrobats used. The Flying Graysons began their performance without knowing the damage done to the ropes. Dick had to watch as both his mother and his father plummeted to their deaths. It was traumatizing for him to watch, and it was traumatizing for us to see as well.
11 A Leggy Dame
I feel like there is almost no such thing as a female hero who is not beautiful. Zatanna Zatara is no exception. When she made her appearance on The Animated Series, she did not hesitate to call Batman's attention to her looks. Zatanna gets into a spot of trouble when a trick of hers implicates her in the theft of some bank money. Batman comes to her rescue, and Zatanna is curious as to why he would help her. "What do you care about some leggy dame in nylons?" she asks, before saying, "Or did I just answer my own question?" First of all, why would she introduce herself as the leggy dame in nylons? It's like she was demanding Batman pay close attention to her nylon-covered legs. And secondly, does she not know who Batman is? He helps people. That's his job.
10 Father Figure Down
Jim Gordon is one of Batman's surrogate father figures (there's also Alfred). He aids Batman as much as he can within the Gotham City Police Department, and he's one of Batman's few friends. So when Gordon gets shot, it is soul-wrenching, for Batman and for us kids watching. Batman becomes riddled with grief and guilt, and we watch him deal with the responsibilities that come with being a hero. He debates with himself on whether he has done any good, made any difference, with his battle against crime. When he fails to protect Gordon and Gordon's life hangs on by a thread as a result, it serves to confirm Batman's worst fears. We as viewers know the good that Batman accomplishes, but it is harrowing to see our favorite hero doubt himself. And it was pretty traumatic to see a cop shot on a kids' show.
9 Is That Cream?
Trust Harley to always say the dirtiest things to please her Joker man. In celebration of the anniversary of Joker's transformation into the Joker, Harley made a huge pie and immersed herself in the center of it. When the Joker arrives at their hideout, she glops her way out of the pie enticingly. She sings a song to the tune of "Happy Birthday," and then invites Joker to try some of her pie. The gloopy pie stuff is all over her. By inviting the Joker to give it a try is basically an invitation. As per usual, the Joker rejects Harley's offer, hurting her feelings but sparing child audiences from having to witness that particular scene.
8 Taxation Fears
Some things are too much to include in a kids' show. Some things are too gross to include in a kids' show. Other things are a bit too mundane. The boring association to reality can make the inclusion of some jokes inappropriate in that kids just won't get the hilarity behind it. One of these jokes occurs when the Joker inherits $250 million. He is ecstatic at first; who wouldn't be? But when he learns that he owes the Internal Revenue Service an inheritance tax, he pays it without question. To a kid, this is odd behavior coming from a criminal like the Joker. Why would he pay a tax in his life? The Joker's explanation that even he is not crazy enough to take on the IRS goes over our heads because we don't know the power that is the IRS yet.
7 Not Just A Squeeze
We are used to Bruce Wayne being a dashing billionaire playboy. It's part of his cover for Batman. But it's one thing to be charming around women; it's another thing to throw out innuendos like they're party favors. While planning out his next move in an investigation, Lucius Fox, Wayne's most trusted businessman at Wayne Enterprises, asks Bruce if he's going to squeeze some information out of an assistant. With the cartoon version of a wink and a nod, Bruce replies that "squeeze" may not be the best word. Okay, gross, Batman, just gross. Go back to being the grim vigilante we all know and want you to be instead of the smarmy flirt you're pretending to be.
6 Childhood Annihilated
The moral of the story in the episode of The New Batman Adventures with Clayface and little Annie is that there are no happy endings. Does that sound dark to you? That's okay. It was a very depressing episode, especially for a kid. Robin comes across this little girl named Annie on the streets of Gotham. She's lost and can't remember who she is, but she seems like a very sweet kid. It turns out that she is a part of Clayface, a sentient scout that he separated from his body to recon the area. She just forgot about it, and in the process, formed her own personality. That's all well and good, except that when she saves Robin from Clayface by trying to push Clayface away, she ends up getting reabsorbed back into Clayface's body. And she's just gone. That's it. The sentience that was her just disappeared. Robin was traumatized. Heck, I was traumatized.