INSIDE LOOK: The Walk of Fame beckons the Boy Wonder… We broke the news last year that Burt Ward would be joining Adam West on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and now that date is almost upon us — Jan. 9. (Click here for the details.) Not just that, over the last couple of months you’ve gotten to see the erstwhile Boy Wonder reprise his Robin role (in a fashion) in The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. Aaand, Ward is also launching a new event — Batusi for World Peace — which ties in to the unveiling of his Walk of Fame star. Groovy, eh? Anyway, John S. Drew and I talked to Ward all about it on the latest episode of The Batcave Podcast. You can listen to it wherever you listen to your podcasts — notably iTunes and Stitcher — but you can also click here for a direct link. In the ep, Ward: — Reveals the secrets of filming his Crisis cameo — including whose idea it was to put him in that sweater. — Discusses plans for the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. — Lifts the veil on the genesis of the Batusi for World Peace event. — And, of course, his talks about continued work with rescue dogs. It’s a nice taste of Batman ’66 to start the year — especially when you consider that 2020 marks the 80th anniversary of Robin. Dig it. — MORE — BURT WARD’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony Set for January. Click here. — ROBIN’s TOP 13 “Holy!” Exclamations. Click...
And it’s not from the Batman: The Animated Series… — UPDATED 7/21/19: John S. Drew and I have wrapped up our episode-by-episode look at Filmation’s 1968 The Adventures of Batman cartoon series with a special overview on The Batcave Podcast. Click here to check it out. I think you’ll dig it. Meanwhile, it’s the perfect time to re-present some fave Filmation columns — including this li’l piece from 2017. Enjoy. — Dan — I’ve been having a great time reviewing all of the 1968 Filmation Batman cartoons with John S. Drew over at his awesome Batcave Podcast. In the most recent episode — which you can listen to here or here (or on iTunes or Stitcher) — we jumped into the full-length Partners in Peril, which works pretty dang well as a de facto sequel to the 1966 Batman movie. Now, the inherent appeal of the Filmation cartoons is that they are cheesy and hokey. It’s really why I love them as much as I do. But every once in a while there’s an episode that rises above the clunky production values and stands as entertainment in its own right. Partners in Peril is one of those episodes — 16 minutes of whiz-bang fun that manages to cram in just about every major Bat-character of the time: Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman, not to mention members of the supporting cast. The set-up is standard Silver Age goofiness: Joker, Penguin and Riddler have a contest to determine who should run Gotham. Because that’s what supercriminals do. But the ultimate mastermind proved to be (SPOILER ALERT) Catwoman. I don’t want to go into greater detail here because I really want you to hear what John and I say about it here. We had a great time and I think you will too. (We also talk about a separate short paired with it, The Underworld Underground Caper, featuring a rare Catwoman/Riddler team-up. That’s a kick too.) Fans rightly look at Batman: The Animated Series and its successor, The New Batman Adventures, as the be-all, end-all of Bat-animation. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other diamonds out there. So go dig out the cartoon on iTunes or pop in your DVD and dig it. And don’t forget to check out The Batcave Podcast here. — MORE — The FILMATION BATMAN...
INSIDE LOOK: The Walk of Fame beckons the Boy Wonder…
And it’s not from the Batman: The Animated Series…
A historical gem hidden in plain sight…
