Knightsong 4 - The Chilling Melodies of Batman (Mr. Freeze & Batgirl)

Batman: The Animated Series was a very popular American cartoon produced by Warner Brothers which originally aired from 1992 to 1995. It's dark atmosphere, adult themes and dramatic voice acting helped make the show groundbreaking; Another very important factor that gave the series it's edge was the stunning soundtrack composed by Shirley Walker (1945 - 2006).

Batman: The Animated Series was unlike anything children had ever been presented. Instead of the cartoony and comedic Batman that had been featured in every Dark Knight television adaptation up to that point (like the famous Adam West and Burt Ward live action TV show, and the Filmation toons), this series took place in a world far more similar to Tim Burton's re-imagining of the franchise.

Not only were some ideas from the Tim Burton films directly taken into the show (like the Penguin's plan to take over the Batmobile, and the Joker's origin), the theme music composed by Danny Elfman was also present in the opening animation and heavily influenced the rest of Shirley Walker's work on the series.

The show had a very intense and dark atmosphere, not only because of the art work by producer Bruce Timm, but many of the backgrounds were painted on black paper. This created a film noir like ambient which contrasted heavily with other children animation at the time which were far more colorful and bright.
The characters and their endeavors felt real, as they dealt with legitimate and adult issues like paranoia, death of loved ones, mental illness, politics, unemployment, emotional rejection and complex fears. The fantastic voice acting reflected this, with notable performances by Kevin Conroy (Batman/Bruce Wayne) and Star Wars' Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill (The Joker).

Although there were other contributors to the music in Batman: The Animated Series, Shirley Walker is regarded as the main source of composition for the show. Walker's work featured complex orchestrations with rich melodies, and her musical creation was so perfect with themes so appropriate to each character that if we didn't know any better, we'd say the characters were created for the music, and not the other way around.


Two Face, the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and many other characters were given the honor of exceptional musical themes. In this video, I explore Mr. Freeze and Batgirl's themes.


Shirley Walker died on November 30, 2006 at Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, due to complications from a stroke that she had experienced two weeks before. She passed away only eight months after the death of her husband, Don. At the time of her death, Walker had scored more major-studio motion pictures than any other American woman. A memorial service was held at the Warner Bros. Eastwood Scoring Stage, and a plaque was placed in her honor. She is survived by her two sons, Colin Walker and Ian Walker.

In 1996, Shirley Walker won her first Daytime Emmy Award as music director for Batman: The Animated Series. She won another Daytime Emmy in music-composition for Batman Beyond in 2001.

Batman: The Animated series received 3 Emmy Awards.

Batman is intellectual propriety of DC Comics and Batman: The Animated Series belongs to Warner Brothers.

Get all your Batman: The Animated Series and other DC Animated Universe stuff at

http://www.wbshop.com/

For all things WB visit the official Warner Brothers website

http://www.warnerbros.com/

For all things DC Comics, including tons of Batman stuff, go to

http://www.dccomics.com/dccomics/

For awesome Batman stuff, go to

http://www.Batman.com

Don't forget to buy Christopher Nolan's Batman: Dark Knight on Blu-Ray and DVD!

Don't forget to get Batman: Arkham Asylum on PS3 and XBOX360! Game of the Year!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• barbara
• gordon
• victor
• fries
• arnold
• cold
• snap
• shoulder
• comfort
• deep
• freeze
• heart
• of
• ice
• robin
• nightwing
• tim
• drake
• dick
• grayson
• jason
• todd
• comissioner
• christian
• bale
• frozen

[iceorb]

Who the fuck gave this a thumb down??

[Sener]

@iceorb Well unfortunately there are only 2 tracks in this whole video that are enjoyable, the rest of the music is ruined. It sucks, I'll have to remake this video someday, so I understand that people will give it a thumbs down.

[TheAdmirableAdmiral]

that first image is really cool

[Sener]

Thanks! I did try to get the coolest shots possible from the show.

[ltsargex]

thanks for ur work u think yoiu can upload clayface

[Sener]

I have a few bad quality rips of Clayface's theme. It's not much but I'll see what I can do.

[TheRealCodeBlack]

"This is how I will always remember you. Forever young... forever beautiful. Rest well my love, the monster who took you from me will soon learn that revenge is a dish... best served cold!"

And later:

"I've failed you... I wish there was some other way for me to say it. I cannot. I can only beg your forgiveness, and hope that you're waiting somewhere... someplace, where a warm hand waits for mine."

Mr. Freeze was one of the best villains in the show.

[kashchei2003]

damnit i love the brass in Batgirls theme!!!!!

[MademoiselleAnna]

Mr. Freezes theme is so sad

[PsychosisFiction]

Even though some of the audio is bad, the theme from Deep Freeze is so good it doesn't matter. Despite the slightly-weird plot, that's one of my favorite episodes. The animation was also excellent in that episode.

[Tycho86]

I love when Robin rips off the back of Batgirl's cowl and all of her red hair flops out. Using his keen intuition, Robin immediately deduces that she must be a girl... Uh, the front of her didn't give it away for ya?

[mdchoc13]

@dslmarvel I'm sure Nolan's not going to do it but that are great casting call. He already has the voice!

[robota833]

@TheRealCodeBlack its not fair that he is mainly known in in live action movies for one that was ruined by a horrible script

[GreatGarloo]

@2:28 Imagine how stirring it would be to have Batgirls theme pumped through a theaters sound system.

[zelkart]

@TheRealCodeBlack But of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger had to ruin it, along with Joel Schumacher.

[zelkart]

Mr. Freeze's theme is one of the best things I've ever heard.

[Nower]

@Sener

Man ! Don't be hard on yourself. You gave me the music i search for years !