Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Directors:

Eric Radomski
Bruce W. Timm
(more)

Writers:

Alan Burnett (screenplay) &
Paul Dini (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 December 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Crime | Family | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The Dark Knight fights to save Gotham City from its deadliest enemy.

Plot:

Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.

Plot Keywords:

Vigilante | Gotham | Murder | Hero | Playboy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Conroy	...	Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Dana Delany	...	Andrea Beaumont (voice)
Hart Bochner	...	Arthur Reeves (voice)
Stacy Keach	...	Phantasm / Carl Beaumont (voice) (as Stacy Keach Jr.)
Abe Vigoda	...	Salvatore Valestra (voice)
Dick Miller	...	Chuckie Sol (voice)
John P. Ryan	...	Buzz Bronski (voice)
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	...	Alfred (voice)
Bob Hastings	...	Commissioner Gordon (voice)
Robert Costanzo	...	Detective Bullock (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	The Joker (voice)
Jane Downs	...	(voice)
Pat Musick	...	(voice)
Vernee Watson-Johnson	...	(voice)
Ed Gilbert	...	(voice)
Peter Renaday	...	(voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	(voice)
Charles Howerton	...	(voice)
Thom Pinto	...	(voice)
Marilu Henner	...	(voice)
Neil Ross	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arleen Sorkin	...	Ms. Bambi (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Eric Radomski
Bruce W. Timm
Kevin Altieri		(sequence director)
Boyd Kirkland		(sequence director)
Frank Paur		(sequence director)
Dan Riba		(sequence director)

Writing credits
Alan Burnett		(screenplay) &
Paul Dini		(screenplay) &
Martin Pasko		(screenplay) &
Michael Reaves		(screenplay)
Alan Burnett		(story)
Bob Kane		comic book & characters
Jerry Robinson		character: The Joker (uncredited)

Produced by
Alan Burnett	....	co-producer
Norio Fukuda	....	animation producer: Spectrum Animation Studio
Myung-Ok Jeun	....	animation producer: Dong Yang Animation
Benjamin Melniker	....	producer
Eric Radomski	....	co-producer
Tom Ruegger	....	executive producer
Ki-Soo Seo	....	animation producer: Dong Yang Animation
Bruce W. Timm	....	co-producer
Michael E. Uslan	....	executive producer (as Michael Uslan)
Jung-Bum Youn	....	assistant producer: Dong Yang Animation

Original Music by
Shirley Walker

Film Editing by
Al Breitenbach

Casting by
Andrea Romano

Production Management
Haven Alexander	....	production manager
Joey Franks	....	production supervisor

Art Department
Troy Adomitis	....	storyboard designer
Kevin Altieri	....	storyboard designer
Trish Burgio	....	vehicle and prop designer
Gregg Davidson	....	storyboard designer
Ronaldo Del Carmen	....	storyboard designer
Joe Denton	....	storyboard designer
Jonathan Fisher	....	vehicle and prop designer
Curt Geda	....	storyboard designer
Michael Goguen	....	storyboard designer
Boyd Kirkland	....	storyboard designer
Butch Lukic	....	storyboard designer
Doug Murphy	....	storyboard designer
Frank Paur	....	storyboard designer
Shayne Poindexter	....	vehicle and prop designer
Brad Rader	....	storyboard designer
Dan Riba	....	storyboard designer
Jeff Snow	....	storyboard designer
Bruce W. Timm	....	storyboard designer
Mark Wallace	....	storyboard designer

Sound Department
Wayne Artman	....	Phantasm voice design (as Wayne L. Artman)
Wayne Artman	....	re-recording mixer (as Wayne L. Artman)
Kevin Bartnof	....	foley artist
Fred Burke	....	foley editor
Tom E. Dahl	....	re-recording mixer
Julia Evershade	....	supervising sound editor
Robert Fernandez	....	re-recording mixer
Howell Gibbens	....	sound editor
Aaron Glascock	....	assistant sound editor
Eric Gotthelf	....	foley mixer
Warren Hamilton Jr.	....	sound editor
Ellen Heuer	....	foley artist
James Likowski	....	foley editor (as Jim Likowski)
Tom Maydeck	....	dialogue editor
Oscar Mitt	....	assistant sound editor
Sonny Pettijohn	....	assistant sound editor
George Simpson	....	sound editor
Richard Partlow	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Alan G. Brown	....	digital animator (as Alan Brown)
Bo Ferger	....	digital animator
Hiroki Itokazu	....	digital animator
Vicki Latham	....	digital animator
Eric Radomski	....	digital animator
Eugene Jeong	....	visual effects artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sung-Il Choi	....	camera director: Dong Yang Animation

Animation Department
Troy Adomitis	....	key background designer
Chel Woo Ahn	....	clean-up artist: Dong Yang Animation
Hyun Ju Ahn	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Tae Kun Ahn	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Eun Soo An	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Young Yoo An	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Hee Jeong Back	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Ok Ra Ban	....	clean-up artist: Dong Yang Animation
Jung Ah Bang	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Maxwell Becraft	....	timing director
Ted Blackman	....	background design supervisor
Jan Browning	....	animation checker
Brenda Brummet	....	animation checker
Steve Butz	....	background painter
John Calmette	....	background painter
Chen-Yi Chang	....	character designer
Hay Youn Chang	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Yoshio Chatani	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Yoshio Chatani	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Geum Nam Cho	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Wook Cho	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Eun Young Choe	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Jeong Jin Choi	....	inbetween animation checker: Dong Yang Animation
Russell G. Chong	....	background painter
Woo Yong Chung	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Richard Collado	....	timing director
Jennifer Damiani	....	animation checker
Michael Diederich	....	character designer
Bunty Dranko	....	animation checker
Geno DuBois	....	mark-up (as Jean DuBois)
Ana Durand	....	animation checker
Kathryn Gilmore	....	color key stylist (as Kathy Gilmore)
Carolyn Guske	....	background color correction
Hae Ran Ha	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Byoung In Han	....	clean-up artist: Dong Yang Animation
Yae Roo Han	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Robert Haverland	....	key background designer
Jong Hwa Im	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Karl Jacobs	....	animation checker
Kyoung Koo Jang	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Sung Hi Jang	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Young Yoon Jang	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Hea Kyung Jeong	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Min Yong Jeong	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Aee Lyoung Jun	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Hang Sook Jung	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Hye Young Jung	....	clean-up artist: Dong Yang Animation
Robin D. Kane	....	painter (as Robin Kane)
Shingo Kaneko	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Shingo Kaneko	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Sun Mi Kang	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
David S. Karoll	....	key background designer (as David Karoll)
Craig Kellman	....	character designer
Chung Ho Kim	....	animation director: Dong Yang Animation
Dae Ryoung Kim	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Hi Whan Kim	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Hye Soo Kim	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Hyea Ju Kim	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Hyun Soo Kim	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Jong Tae Kim	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Jun Hee Kim	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Kyoung Ae Kim	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Lawrence Kim	....	key background designer
Mi Sung Kim	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Mi-kyung Kim	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation (as Mi Kyoung Kim)
Se-won Kim	....	animation director: Dong Yang Animation
Song Hee Kim	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Tae Hyoung Kim	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Tae Jun Kim	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Yong Sung Kim	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Shigeru Kimiya	....	assistant animation director: Spectrum Animation Studio
Masahito Kimura	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Masahito Kimura	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Chung Wook Koh	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Yoshishige Kosako	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Yoshishige Kosako	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Joung Ran Ku	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Hidemi Kubo	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Hidemi Kubo	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Hiroshi Kuzuoka	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Hiroshi Kuzuoka	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Chui Woo Lee	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Eun Kyoung Lee	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Eun Mi Lee	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Gun Sig Lee	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Gwan Woo Lee	....	clean-up artist: Dong Yang Animation
Je Dong Lee	....	assistant animation director: Dong Yang Animation
Joung Min Lee	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Jun Ho Lee	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Kang Ro Lee	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Ki Sup Lee	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Sang Wan Lee	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Sun Hee Lee	....	animation director: Dong Yang Animation
Sung Sook Lee	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Lisa Leonardi-Knight	....	mark-up (as Lisa Leonardi)
Joung Sook Lim	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Pamela Long	....	color key stylist
Jung Won Ma	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Richard Machin	....	overseas animation supervisor (as Ric Machin)
Akihiko Mamashita	....	inbetween animation checker: Spectrum Animation Studio
Rae McCarson	....	key background designer
Tom McLaughlin	....	timing director
Hye Kyoung Min	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Kôji Miura	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Kôji Miura	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Felipe Morell	....	key background designer
Bunny Munns	....	ink and paint supervisor
Glen Murakami	....	character designer
Young-Cho Myung	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation (as Yung Jo Myung)
Eric Nordberg	....	painter
Ung-Hwan Oh	....	background art director: Dong Yang Animation (as Eung Whan O)
Yutaka Oka	....	animation director: Spectrum Animation Studio
Yutaka Oka	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Yutaka Oka	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Bong-Il Park	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation (as Bong Il Park)
Eun Ah Park	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Hae Sung Park	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
He Joung Park	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Kyeong Sook Park	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation (as Kyong Sook Park)
Kyoung Sun Park	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Min Ho Park	....	assistant animation director: Dong Yang Animation
Sung Sook Park	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Charles Pickens	....	background painter
Eric Radomski	....	background stylist
Young-Hwan Sang	....	animation director: Dong Yang Animation
Howard Schwartz	....	animation checker
Don Schweikert	....	overseas background supervisor
Chung Hwa Se	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Hyun Kyoung Seo	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Masahiro Shigemoto	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Masahiro Shigemoto	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Mi Jin Shin	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Sang Kyoun Shin	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Nobumasa Shinkawa	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Nobumasa Shinkawa	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Jee Joung Sim	....	background artist: Dong Yang Animation
Dexter Smith	....	character designer
Jeff Snow	....	character designer
Hyoung Lim Son	....	clean-up artist: Dong Yang Animation
Jae Yong Son	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Sook Young Song	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Jeff Starling	....	key background designer
Gil Suk Sun	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Yukio Suzuki	....	animation director: Spectrum Animation Studio
Noboru Takahashi	....	animation director: Spectrum Animation Studio (as Noburu Takahashi)
Noboru Takahashi	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Noboru Takahashi	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Masaki Tamakoshi	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Masaki Tamakoshi	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Bruce W. Timm	....	character designer
James T. Walker	....	supervising timing director
Valerie Walker	....	mark-up
Keith Weesner	....	key background designer
Todd Winter	....	key background designer
Jae Myeung Woo	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Jin Sung Woo	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Takeru Yamazaki	....	key animator: Spectrum Animation Studio
Takeru Yamazaki	....	layout artist: Spectrum Animation Studio
Ri Eui Yang	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Hong Suk Yeou	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation
Hea Young Yoo	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Sung Yul Yoo	....	key animator: Dong Yang Animation
Byng Ryong Yu	....	animation production: Dong Yang Animation
Jong Seng Yu	....	inbetween animator: Dong Yang Animation

Casting Department
Leslie Lamers	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Dale E. Grahn	....	color timer

Music Department
Harvey Cohen	....	orchestrations (as Harvey R. Cohen)
Robert Fernandez	....	music scoring mixer
Michael McCuistion	....	orchestrations
Thomas Milano	....	supervising music editor
Larry Rench	....	orchestrations
Lolita Ritmanis	....	orchestrations
Andrea Romano	....	voice supervision
Peter Tomashek	....	orchestrations
Ian Walker	....	orchestrations
Hans Zimmer	....	synthesist
Richard Bronskill	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Stanley B. Gill	....	music recordist (uncredited)

Other crew
Christopher Keenan	....	production assistant
Shinichi Kota	....	production: Spectrum Animation Studio
Clive Nakayashiki	....	overseas coordinator
Yukimi Umeda	....	production: Spectrum Animation Studio
Steve Walby	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Animation
• Warner Bros. Family Entertainment (presents) (as Warner Bros.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1993) (USA) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1994) (Greece) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (Finland) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Dong Yang Animation  animation services
• Reprise Records  soundtrack
• Spectrum Animation Studio  animation services

Also Known As:

"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: The Animated Movie" - USA (promotional title)
"Batman: The Animated Movie - Mask of the Phantasm" - USA (promotional title)
"Mask of the Phantasm: Batman - The Animated Movie" - USA (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for animated violence

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG (No. 32763) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:Livre | Singapore:NC-16 (Violence) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Germany:12 | Germany:6 | Finland:S | Greece:K | South Korea:All | Sweden:11 | New Zealand:PG | Spain:7

Company:

Warner Bros. Animation

Trivia:

Late in production, Warner Bros. decided to make the movie a theatrical release instead of the originally intended direct-to-video feature. This left the show's creators with less than a year of production time and scrambling to convert the aspect ratio to wide-screen.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Andrea first encounters Batman in her apartment and he asks her about her father, he hands her a photograph with his bare hand. In the very next shot his glove is back on.

Quotes:

Police Commissioner James Gordon:He didn't do it! It's garbage, Councilman! The Batman does not kill. You want him, you get him! I'll have no part in it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "MarzGurl Reviews: MarzGurl Loves Don Bluth - Thumbelina (#3.27)" (2011)

Soundtrack:

I Never Even Told You

like a brilliant four-part episode from the series; lots of personal wounds revealed, and the Joker to boot!

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm stands on its own feet extremely well, when at least compared to some of the lessor Batman animated movies (Batman vs Dracula anyone?), and packs a good punch for fans so many years later. The original series was in its own other region- taking what more stories from the comics (if not overall style and atmosphere like Burton or Nolan)- and was able to cover some fine ground with our troubled hero the Dark Knight. This story tells of a character, not ever quite named but called here as 'Phantasm', who is killing off some of the high-rolling gangsters in town. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne meets an old love of his, Andrea, and old wounds are opened over a brief and untimely ended engagement. And then there's also Andrea's father, who... OK, not much to try and spoil here, lets just say at some point the Joker gets involved, and everything jets into a 'laughing matter'.

Even as it was meant originally for TV, the directors Radomski and Timm, through their writer collaborators, have applied a drawing style that is distinctive amongst other cartoons of its ilk from the period: very direct lines and sharp, jagged edges, lots of smoke at (specific) times, the right blend of noir when it comes to revealing the caped crusader when he enters a room in the dead of night. In a sense they're stylists as are the (good) directors of the franchise live-action films. Only here there's a catch: the running time is short (originally the filmmakers thought it would be meant for TV before WB changed their minds), so there's only so much time to dig into the dilemma Wayne is caught in in the movie, where his identity is being cross-checked all over as the killer of the gangsters, and then the personal connection with Andrea and her father. Its some fairly significant probing into the character, if not the deepest there's ever been.

But also, aside from the slightly darker impulses, Mask of the Phantasm is a lot of fun, even up to a point if you didn't watch the series much. Just seeing Hammil ham it up as the Joker is a blast, even though he doesn't appear (almost, one might think, as a lark) until halfway through the movie! But he (via the filmmakers trying their best to give fans the best of the animated basics) supplies a hugely entertaining climax, one which involves a big fight among an immense diorama of Gotham City, rigged with explosives!