Batman: Year One (2011) (V)

Directors:

Sam Liu
Lauren Montgomery

Writers:

Bob Kane (creator: Batman)
Tab Murphy (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

18 October 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Crime

Tagline:

A merciless crime - turns a man into an outlaw.

Plot:

A wealthy playboy and a Chicago cop both return to Gotham City where their lives will intersect in unexpected ways.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Fear | Obsession | Bribery | Flawed Hero

Cast

Bryan Cranston	...	Jim Gordon (voice)
Ben McKenzie	...	Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Eliza Dushku	...	Selina Kyle / Catwoman (voice)
Jon Polito	...	Commissioner Loeb (voice)
Alex Rocco	...	Carmine Falcone (voice)
Katee Sackhoff	...	Detective Sarah Essen (voice)
Sara Ballantine	...	Skeevers' Attorney (voice) (as Saratoga Ballantine)
Jeff Bennett	...	Alfred Pennyworth / Falcone Guest (voice)
Steve Blum	...	Stan / News Anchor (voice)
Roark Critchlow	...	Hare Krishna (voice)
Grey DeLisle	...	Barbara Gordon / Vicki Vale (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Harvey Dent (voice)
Keith Ferguson	...	Jefferson Skeevers (voice)
Michael Gough	...	Driver (voice)
Danny Jacobs	...	Flass' Attorney (voice)
Nick Jameson	...	Merkel (voice)
Liliana Mumy	...	Holly Robinson (voice)
Pat Musick	...	Falcone's Wife (voice)
Andrea Romano	...	Obstetrician (voice)
Stephen Root	...	Brendon (voice)
James Patrick Stuart	...	Henchman (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	Detective Flass / Johnny Vitti (voice)
Bruce W. Timm	...	Thug #1 (voice) (as Bruce Timm)
Bruce Wingert	...	Guard (voice)

Directed by
Sam Liu
Lauren Montgomery

Writing credits
Bob Kane		(creator: Batman)
Tab Murphy		(written by)
Frank Miller		(graphic novel) and
David Mazzucchelli		(graphic novel)

Produced by
Alan Burnett	....	co-producer
Michael Macasero	....	associate producer
Benjamin Melniker	....	executive producer
Lauren Montgomery	....	producer
Sam Register	....	executive producer
Bruce W. Timm	....	executive producer (as Bruce Timm)
Michael E. Uslan	....	executive producer (as Michael Uslan)

Original Music by
Christopher Drake

Film Editing by
Margaret Hou

Casting by
Meredith Layne

Production Management
Jeff Adams	....	assistant production manager
Mike Carlin	....	executive in charge of production: DC Comics
Cory Gustke	....	production manager
Ok Kil Lee	....	production manager (as Ok-Ki Lee)
Matthew Mahoney	....	assistant production manager
Bobbie Page	....	production supervisor
Min-Sung Park	....	production manager
Scott Shinick	....	post-production manager
Young-Soo Yu	....	production manager

Art Department
Christopher Berkeley	....	storyboard artist
Eric Canete	....	storyboard artist
Andy Chiang	....	prop designer
Brendan Clogher	....	character clean up
Brendan Clogher	....	storyboard cleanup
Christine Juhl Delk	....	storyboard artist
Kalvin Lee	....	storyboard artist
Sam Liu	....	storyboard artist
Rick Morales	....	storyboard artist
Jay Oliva	....	storyboard artist
Ki Hyun Ryu	....	storyboard artist (as Ki-Hyun Ryu)
Sean Song	....	storyboard artist
Coran Stone	....	storyboard artist
Owen Sullivan	....	storyboard artist
Jon Suzuki	....	character designer
Junpei Takayama	....	character designer
Adam Van Wyk	....	storyboard artist
Alan Wan	....	storyboard artist
Melchior Zwyer	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Sarah Baluch	....	recording machine operator
Jeff O. Collins	....	recording machine operator
Kelly Ann Foley	....	dialogue/adr editor (as Kelly Foley Downs)
Patrick J. Foley	....	dialogue/adr editor
Mike Garcia	....	dialogue/adr editor
Robert Hargreaves	....	sound designer
Robert Hargreaves	....	sound effects editor
Robert Hargreaves	....	sound re-recording engineer
John Hegedes	....	sound re-recording engineer (as John K. Hegedes)
Mark Keatts	....	supervising dialogue & adr editor (as Mark A. Keatts)
Wilson Martinez	....	track reader
Gary Marullo	....	foley artist
Fred Salinas	....	track reader
Bill Devine	....	original dialogue recording engineer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Hyo-Yoon Baek	....	compositor
Kyong Hee Kang	....	compositor (as Kyoung-Hee Kang)
Byoung Ryul Kim	....	compositing director
Byoung Ryul Kim	....	compositor
Gu-Hahn Yoo	....	cgi

Animation Department
Kyung-Ho Choi	....	animation director
Richard Collado	....	animation timer (as Richard Allen Collado)
Annamarie Costa	....	animation checker
Chuck Gefre	....	animation checker
Matthew Girardi	....	effects animator
Jeff Hall	....	animation timer
Sandi Hathcock	....	animation checker
Jay Hong	....	background key designer
Kyung-Po Hong	....	key animator
Margaret Hou	....	animatic
Tae-Sun In	....	key animator
Yang Ho Ji	....	key animator
Hyun Chul Jung	....	layout artist
Hyun-Ho Jung	....	animation director
Sun-Ki Kang	....	key animator
Gordon Kent	....	animation timer
Dong Nam Kim	....	key animator
Hyung-Ki Kim	....	animation director
Jong-keun Kim	....	key animator
Ki-June Kim	....	layout artist
Min-Yi Kim	....	color supervisor
Yang Sook Kim	....	model checker
Yun-Jae Ko	....	key animator
Jung-Kil Lee	....	key animator
Nam-Gyu Lee	....	final checker
Chun Liu	....	background painter
Fred Miller	....	animation timer
Herb Moore	....	animation timer
Ron Myrick	....	animation timer
Bob Nesler	....	animation timer (as Robert Nesler)
Jong-ho Park	....	background director
Ki-Duck Park	....	model checker
James Peters	....	color stylist
Justin Schultz	....	animation checker
Robert Shellhorn	....	animation timer (as Bob Shellhorn)
Jonard Soriano	....	background key designer
James T. Walker	....	animation timer (as James Tim Walker)
James T. Walker	....	animation timing director (as James Tim Walker)
Jung Hee Yang	....	key animator
Wei M. Zhao	....	background painter (as Wei Zhao)

Casting Department
Liz Carroll	....	casting administrator
Susan Chieco	....	casting administrator

Editorial Department
Christopher D. Lozinski	....	assistant editor
Christopher D. Lozinski	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Francisco Rodriguez	....	music editor
Niki Sherrod	....	executive in charge of music

Other crew
Ed Adams	....	production management
John Michael Beach	....	business and legal affairs
Lori Blackstone	....	business and legal affairs
Luisa Guzman	....	production accountant
Vivian Hernandez	....	production support
Audrey Kim	....	production support
Sharmalee Lall	....	business and legal affairs
Debbie Lindquist	....	production accountant
Nicole Martin	....	production administrator
Tamara Miles	....	production support
Bonnie Negrete	....	business and legal affairs
Seong-mi Park	....	production coordinator
Jenny Pharis	....	production support
Andrea Romano	....	voice director
Hyo-Sun Ryu	....	production coordinator
Maral Simonian	....	production accountant
Joulene St. Catherine	....	business and legal affairs
Kira Tirimacco	....	production support
Renee Toporzysek	....	production support
Athena Wingate	....	production accountant
Janet Yi	....	production support

Production Companies

• Warner Premiere
• DC Entertainment
• Warner Bros. Animation

Distributors

• Home Box Office (HBO) (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• DigiPost.TV  re-recording facility
• DigiPost.TV  sound effects design and editing
• Moi Animation Studio  animation services

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sexual material

Runtime:

USA:64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG13 | Spain:7 | Germany:16

Company:

Warner Premiere

Trivia:

Bryan Cranston originally turned down the part of Jim Gordon because he thought this project was based on "Batman" (1966). He accepted after he read the script.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Propane tanks do not explode instantaneously upon being hit by bullets. In the open air, they do not explode at all unless they first cook for some time in a fire before they rupture. This is called a BLEVE which stands for boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bruce Wayne:Gotham City. Clean shafts of concrete and snowy rooftops. The work of men who died generations ago. From here, it looks like an achievement. From here, you can't see the enemy.

Movie Connections:

References The Godfather (1972)

A Mature Batman for a Matured Audience

A few things off the bat... I'm a fan of DC comics Animation since TAS and Mask of The Phantasm. For the most part they have done a great job delivering exciting stories. Also, I have NOT read the Frank Miller 'Batman: Year One' 4 issue comic from which this was adapted from.

So here's my 2 cents... Animation: Sharp. Minimal use of soft focus than in previous features which is an improvement. Very little 'shakey cam' shots as used in previous films to create the illusion of action. Action and scenes are set up as you would expect in a well done live action film.

Voice Work: Kudos to the casting team. All voices sound top notch without sounding as if they're actors reading off a script in a sound booth. They genuinely sound invested in the scene and it shows. Minor complaints on Bruce's voice but you get used to it.

Music/Sound: Fantastic. Dark and atmospheric. Slowly plays tension through out the film. Until now, I had yet to hear a composition on one of these films that matches the talent of Shirley Walker who composed for Batman TAS in the 90's. The surround sound in this feature is put to full use more so than other animated DC films. Again, your getting feature film effort/quality here.

Story: Here's where I've read many complaints. This was definitely dark and different. Bear in mind I have never read the comic but from what I hear this is a faithful adaptation of those 4 issues. The story chronicles both Batman and Gordon's first year fighting in Gotham. How their relationship evolves and the decadence of Gotham is explored in detail. Don't expect a rosy colored Batman cartoon. This is a mature and dark story that happens to be told in animation.

Conclusion: Those of us that grew up as children watching Batman: TAS who are now adults. Many of us have admired how lately Batman's character has been presented in such mature forms as in Nolan's Dark Knight or Rock Steady's Arkham Asylum/City. This is why 'Batman: Year One' stands out above the rest in terms of animated films. In part, due to the excellent source material but equally in it's presentation in this particular medium. Batman: Year One is the wonderful product of more than 20 years of animated excellence. Definitely, a must have.