Fun fact about the film, its a partial sound film. It has its own music and has periodically voices talking in the background in crowd scenes. Its a good film, highly recommend watching it. Conrad Veidt does such a good job.
Clay face's greatest performance a scene worthy of an Oscar was at the end of his debut story where he fooled everyone including Batman and got away!! They don't make cartoons like this anymore!!
As a kid the Mudslide episode scared me especially when Clayface melts back into his clay form on the train after disgusing himself as a woman to steal the MP-40 drug.
Mudslide is one of my favourite episodes - it’s another episode stuffed full with references to Classic Hollywood (Dr Bates’ family Motel from Psycho, Clayface’s suit making him look like an Oscar, the “Stellllaaaaa” reference to A Streetcar Named Desire) Feat of Clay part 1 scarred me as a child, I still flinch every time I see the scene where Matt Hagen is force fed the Renuyu!
Fun fact about Montgomery Clift, he was also at one point believed to be in a relationship with Roddy McDowall, who voiced the Mad Hatter on this series - everything really is connected.
Roddy McDowall is also the only actor who played a villain on both the 1960s Batman show and BTAS in the 1990s. He played the Bookworm opposite Adam West and the Mad Hatter opposite Kevin Conroy.
Another aspect of preston payne(clayface 3) was tas clayface eventually needed to periodically use a machine to strengthen his form. This procedure would give him a similar shape to preston payne's suit without the cape.
This is super cool! As much as I love a lot of the other takes on Clayface, I feel like BTAS has the fewest low points of any Clayface story and interpretation, and knowing where some of that came from is great. Also, it's wild to hear the director talk about his boyfriend because that's exactly how I would describe that character but I didn't expect it to be true.
@@SerumLake 👀👀👀 oh I would love that. Between BTAS, Steph in the Harley Quinn show, the comics having Basil work on coming to terms with himself by talking to a trans woman, and a ton of other things, there's a *lot* of interesting subtext across Clayface interpretations. A deeper look at BTAS' take would be great.
Wow, this may be your best work I've seen, absolutely amazing research. And I freaking loved the Hollywood history connection & context. And so happy to see the Kevin McCarthy mention! I freaking love that guy, ever since I saw him in Twilight Zone as a kid, and he's been in so much important genre material, so cool he was in BTAS and that you mentioned it.
Pretty funny that this was my first video essay 😂 A lot of BTAS characters were visually inspired by Hollywood stars - Rupert Thorne was Marlon Brando, Daggett’s henchman Crocker looks just like Robert Mitchum, the Driller guy from POV was based on a silent movie star (whose name evades me right now…)
@@SerumLake - love your respect for film history; I minored in film when BTAS came out and took a class on adaptations that inspired my study of comic adaptations, but I'm still a film history nerd at heart. Speaking of Rupert, I'm sure you know (and prob already covered) that he was voiced by classic actor John Vernon. But not everyone knows he has a unique place in action cartoon history too; Marvel Super Heroes (1966) recorded voices in NY, and had an amazing amount of NY theater actors looking for a quick check voicing roles, and Vernon played Iron Man, Namor, and Glenn Talbot. Of course like the others, as his career took off he left cartoons behind, but came back to it w/the 90s, notably BTAS, but also as Dr. Strange in Spider Man TAS, and as Thunderbolt Ross in Hulk (funny since he previously played Talbot in the 66 Hulk). His MSH work was great, I think it's so cool we got some nerdy superhero performances out of him. And Those quality actors are just one reason why I think it's a historically underrated cartoon.
Rupert Thorne was in the 1981 animated classic Heavy Metal and he was also in 70’s and 80’s classics like Dirty Harry, killer Klowns, animal house and more
@@Johnlindsey289 - yeah, he's prob best known as Dean Wormer in Animal House, but did you know he was the first person to voice Iron Man in the 1960s? Coincidentally, I went to high school w/the new actor voicing him in Caped Crusader
Beside the Joker, Clayface is one of my favorite villains... EDIT - Metamorpho (created by Simon Stagg) was based on Clayface; Clayface once tried to absorb Wonder Woman (who is made of magic clay); Parasite (Superman's leechlike enemy) would be used to augment Dr. Payne's mutation, and you have to admit, "Batman: The Animated Series", "Superman: The Animated Series", "Justice League", "Justice League Unlimited", and the anime influenced "Teen Titans" from 2003 were mined by "Man of Action" for ideas for the original "Ben 10", ""Ben 10: Alien Force", "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien" and "Ben 10: Omniverse". In "Ultimate Alien Force", Albedo built a machine allowing himself to gain access to the omnitrix forms without an omnitrix. The Chaos Lords cured Albedo from being stuck as "Negative Ben" and he helped them create the "Final Clayface", based on what I said; they had to use magic on clayface to replicate Wonder Woman's abilities, but other than that, it's as is. This way, Clayface uses the alien access device, and can mix and match parts of different aliens...
Catwoman was inspired by classic Hollywood as well! Austrian actress Hedy Lamarr married a wealthy man as a teen, failed to secure an entry level contract as an actress with MGM studio head Louis B Mayer, escaped her marriage after discovering her husband was one of Hitlers’ foremost Arms Suppliers, snuck her way onboard Mayer’s sailing back to America by impersonating the Governess for another wealthy family, and walked right into Mayer’s suite to tell him all about it. He was so impressed he offered her, not an entry level contract, but a STAR contract. She was always an intellect. During the War, she dedicated her spare time to inventing, eventually co-creating what is called Frequency Hopping - an offering that was promptly rejected by the military, with a healthy dose of “stick to movies.” Frequency hopping is important though. It is the skeleton of modern Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology.
@@SerumLake You could discuss her evolution in the comics over the years, her history in the show, development as a character. How obscure Ivy was until BTAS came along. Diane Pershing wasn't the first choice to play her. So much interesting material to work with onscreen and off.
Preston Payne was the best Clayface. Basil Karol rules, too. I DON’T like him being a good guy in the comics, though ! Thanks for doing this. Clayface is underrated .
I like the way they explained Clayface’s poor behaviour - it’s a result of his mind being too elastic. James Tynion definitely took inspiration from Clayface in Batman the Animated Series when writing those comics. He even introduced Roland Daggett.
I found a script online for a Clayface episode that never got made called The Golem. An amnesiac Clayface befriends a young Jewish girl and her family, protecting them from a skinhead biker gang. It had some cool stuff in it, but if they had made it then they never would've made Growing Pains, which is one of the best TNBA epsiodes.
Great video! Yeah, I wish I could've asked Marty about the possible Montgomery Clift connection before he passed. I didn't know enough about Clift's career to make the connection back in 2017 when I was working on BACK ISSUE #99, but maybe I can still confirm it with Bruce Timm or Alan Burnett.
Thanks, John! Since making this video, I have asked around and was told that it was likely Bruce’s intention, given that he’s a big movie buff, but the only person that would know for sure is Bruce. It wouldn’t surprise me if it wasn’t a deliberate choice, but more of a subconscious thing. If you do find out let me know!
Clayface would be an ideal villain for batman 2, given that queerness, gender identity, and sexuality are prevalent issues today. It could look at batmans attitude towards these things, his own view of masculinity as well in relation to revenge and vengeance. Batman hasnt really done body horror significantly so it would be a different view on batman.
It’s kinda sad that Dc never used Preston and Sondra as a opportunity for Bruce to help the couple in living a normal life. Maybe instead of sending them to Arkham or STAR Labs, Bruce could use some technical help in the League to develop a way to end their maladies for good.
What makes it worse depending on if anyone remembers 90’s DC, Azrael ended up arresting the two and essentially giving their newly born son, Cassius into foster care. This was right after he helped defeat a kidnapper that was manipulating them and later, led to Cassius becoming a guinea pig for private experimentation. And what happens in his next to last appearances are best left rather unmentioned for how tragic they are.
Im so glad found your channel while smoking after my closing shift. You're really so interesting to listen to and really make me want to give Batman more love. Hearing about queerness in this? Cherry on top. I adore this, happy to sub and watch more.
Not just Clayface. The rest of B: TAS and thus the DCAU were given form as well because of the old Hollywood that now seems long past. 0:49: "Write what one knows, and what one sees or has seen." Words to live by when wanting to make fiction and even true journalism. Ah, wish Martin Pasko's words were heeded by the makers of the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons. Their premises don't age well simply because they had to stay true to the comics at most. Thankfully, shows like The Tick and Witchblade made their own takes away from the comics and thrived because of it. If only Mr. Freeze isn't a victim of declining returns. People always praise the character because of "Heart of Ice", but just how many would keep said praises the same from "Deep Freeze" all the way to Batman Beyond's "Meltdown", hmm? For all intents and purposes, no matter the Clayface iteration, Basil Karlo is the most definitive name of them all when it comes to household terms of sorts. Why does the original Matt Hagen remind me of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3's Sandman origin? I wonder, did Terry McGinnis end up battling a Clayface Beyond take on Sondra Fuller between that show's end and "Epilogue"? Would make sense, considering KOBRA might need to avenge themselves from their crippling defeats in "Unmasked", "Curse of the Kobra", Static Shock's "Future Shock", and a BB tie-in comic or two. 7:54: That fourth reply though. Either die a James Dean, or live long enough as Montgomery Clift... hmm, I guess both outcomes beat Alan Turing, the poor soul. I'd rather write about positive romances and relationships more, even to some villains. I've seen enough Turins and Nienors, Aldarions and Erendises, and those darned Maclays as it is in fiction and especially real life.
It's interesting, and I like the ideas in the video, but I always thought clayface was Bi, not gay, since in mudslide he was with a woman, but that's just what I think
Totally get why you think that, and you could very well be right. I have some doubts, I got the impression he was using Stella and just stringing her along until he got what he wanted. Note that after he was resurrected in Growing Pains he never reunited with her. I think that, more than anything, indicates that he’s a user.
That's right, the magazine cover from Beware The Gray Ghost clearly states that it was published on October 19th 1992. I was talking about the style of the world looking as if it was always the 1940s.
Not very fond of their stories anymore (yes, X-Men '97 hasn't reached its moment of peak praise for me), but still, would love to see this channel to expand upon Marvel's animations, regardless of how they're far from great compared to their fleshed out DC counterparts.
In the comics? Before the New 52 they were teasing that he was going to return, but I don’t think he technically exists in the current universe. Basil Karlo used the name Matt Hagen as an alter ego briefly, if that counts?
@@SerumLake you are right, Shirley was the heart of BTAS and the music describes the characters very well, Elfman is a good composer, but Shirley was far consistent and did a variety of styles for the show without being the shadow of Elfman, actually she helped create the score for the 89 movie alongside Elfman.
@@SerumLake I don't think its overrated at all. Almost any TV show from that time period with that number of episodes will have some bad ones. I can only think of "I've Got Batman in my Basement" and that one with the three rich burglars with animal masks. And that "Farmer Brown" episode from The New Batman/Superman Adventures.
@@KasumiKenshirou I’d also include The Forgotten, The Underdwellers, The Last Laugh and Be A Clown on that list, but that’s mostly because they had poor animation and uninspiring scripts
@@SerumLake But "The Forgotten" had Bruce's dream sequence, that explains why he just simply donate all of his fortune to the poor. I think the episode was important because of that.
