What did everyone think of The Mechanic? Watch the NC review of Blade 3 here - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EFPddS0KPx4.html Watch more Bat-May here - bit.ly/BatMay Follow Walter on Twitter - twitter.com/Awesome_Walter
Well it was good, it’s a shame that they never Earl again and this episode also shows that Penguin can be a great threat if they kept going with it. Also Penguin took Martha and that should have been very personal for Batman 😂
I wish they’d have given The Mechanic the his comic origin. Not paying tribute to Harold Allnut is a missed opportunity to promote equal opportunities for everyone (specifically the mentally-abled community).
Didn't like it. The idea of a separate mechanic seemed to contrived. Batman was an idiot to forget his car had brakes until the last second (which resulted in his car getting damaged). The Penguin waited like four seconds, apparently forgetting he was going to shoot the girl.
I always wondered who did the repairs, who custom made the batmobile, bat shaped plane and batrangs ( Bruce might have gone overboard with the bat gimmick 😂). You can say lucious fox all you want but......he's just ONE guy, I always suspected he had workers associated with the bat family.
Reminds me of the Shadow and his network of Cabdrivers and other informants that he can activate when a case requires their specialised assistance or in general just some aid (or a rideshare ;)) Also flashbacks of the Bakerstreet Irregulars from Sherlock Holmes, after all Batman IS designed based on the general "Great Detective" Concept.
@@Ugly_German_Truths Exactly. That's immediately what I thought of too. That like the Shadow, Batman has a network of contacts, informants, and other allies that aid him. Not only Jim Gordon, Lucius Fox, and Harvey Dent before he became Two-Face, but lots of others. That's something I wish got more focus. I love the reference to the Baker Street Irregulars.
To a detail that surprised me in this chapter (I never knew what it was called until now): I think it is possibly the first moment in animation that we see that a superhero's vehicle is a vehicle, that is, it breaks down, requires repairs and requires specialized manpower in the field, it is not a perfect vehicle because there is no such.
I always had the idea, it was one of his prototypes. If Bruce was a fan of his design, may keep an eye on him before got fired. At least that was my explonation.
I vague remember this episode. I’m shocked we didn’t bring up the fun “twist” of how the mechanic tells Batman about “fixing the air conditioner,” (or something like that) in order to hint to Batman that if he turns it on, he can regain control of the batmobile. Goes to show just how loyal the mechanic is to someone who he has no idea who he is under the mask.
I'd like to think that somehow Earl knows that Batman = Bruce Wayne, but never lets on to Batman/Bruce that he knows. A sort of mutual respect from Earl.
I like how the Batmobile origin in Mask of the Phantasm could be seen as a nod to the Adam West Batmobile considering how it started as a Lincoln concept car.
Nope not Lincoln it was a Ford A Ford Futura, the futura never was considered to go into production and sat in fords backlot for a few years until Barris was looking for a platform for the brand new tv show. And bought the Futura from ford for only 1 dollar. The batmobile created was given a facelift, and a jet thruster on its rear made out of a 5 gallon paint can and I’m not even kidding
@@lemmythebulldog8812 It was a concept car for Ford's Lincoln brand. So it wasn't branded a "Ford Futura". It was branded a Lincoln Futura. So while you're technically right I'm also still right. Seriously, google "Lincoln Futura". You would''ve saved yourself some time.
Maybe Global Motors was hired by the Gotham World Fair to design their car of the future, and Earl was assigned to that project. Instead of it being a contradiction, it would just mean that Earl finally got his chance to make his futuristic car design into a reality, and that really fits well with how Bruce Wayne tended to help people.
Huh... I remember this one from my childhood... I always thought Earl was Lucius Fox. Also, you gotta love how the penguin blows up the wall, which he(or his goons rather) then has to painstakingly repair so batman doesn't get suspicious, instead of just like, waiting for them to go home and jumping them on the street XD
The Gotham City: The Dark Deco State. At least they own it. I think Penguin keeps being handed this plot due to being one of the most clever of the rogues with the largest stable of employees. It makes sense that his network would be the one most likely to catch some tidbit of information pointing to the Batmobile's creation and follow up on it, just like he's the only rogue with the clout/lack of obvious madness to run for mayor.
Rundel: “Excuuuse meeee! Where is this thing taking meee? Penguin: “On a sea cruise” Yup it was strange, and I remember wondering what became of him...but yeah no surviving that..
Kind of funny when you consider the Penguin's previous episode tried to convince us he wasn't such a bad guy. Guess he just decide to give up and dive into totally to being a villain
The one part that really bugs me about this one is the Penguin kills a guy who freely brought him information, for literally no reason. It seems like much more of a Joker move than the guy we're supposed to believe could freely want to reform himself in Birds of a Feather.
then again its a good way of ensuring noone else other than him uses this information, and this WAS after his reform failed so it could be seen as him doubling down and sinking lower into the darkness after seeing himself fail to escape it. That or continuity wasn't always great.
Why does penguin like the batmobile so much? In the the 60's batman he steals it at least twice and then there are these two examples. Joker had his own mobile sometimes just buy one dude.
i beleive it ties into his aristocratic leanings, as a fancy car is one of the big ways someone shows off their wealth, so having him attack the batmobile could be seen as a nod to that, with him trying to claim the most expsensive, unique car in the world. That or its just a huge coincidence XP
I would expect the Joker's car to fart, but the Penguin's? Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHEN did DC announce BATMAN 89? A new comic series spinning off from the movie?!
I had those too!! My parents actually sneakily changed them out for me one Christmas Eve (I was 5, I think?) and one of my earliest memories was the happy surprise of waking up in them.
The Batmobile Episode! I find this another great episode of the showcasing the lives inside of Gotham getting heavily involved those of the Dark Knight.
This is no question one of my most favourite iterations of the Batmobile. I love that sleek, long atomic age look that it has with the giant hood and the high grill. It reminds me of a car from Fallout.
You need to have guts and creativity and be allowed to take risks. Even then there were people saying this show is too scary and adult for the kiddos, don't make it. There was a lot of censorship and active witch-hunting. In those days, for instance, Tipper Gore went after the likes of Eminem because of his music in a typical "Won't somebody think of the children?!" fashion. But the higher-ups at Warner Brothers ignored it and we are left with this gem of a show that can be discussed 30 years down the line. When my nephew turned on the current 2020 version of Cartoon Network, I wept because it was so terrible.
My favorite part was the warnings Earl tried to give Batman and Robin when handing over the car after it had been rigged. The sad look in his eyes was more than enough to let you know something was very wrong.
I remember that at the same time this episode aired, the Batmobile also had a mechanic in the comics: a deaf-mute hunchback named Harold, who coincidentally(?) had also been forced to work for the Penguin, although, unlike here, he was a blond white man. Aside from Alfred, Harold was the only person employed at Wayne Manor that I can recall. One thing that has always bothered me about BATMAN RETURNS is how exactly the Penguin was able to sabotage the Batmobile. An earlier draft of the script had offered an explanation (not a good explanation, but an explanation nonetheless) as to where the Red Triangle Gang had obtained the blueprints, but I prefer movie adaptation novelist Craig Shaw Gardner's theory that an ex-employee at Wayne Enterprises stole the blueprints before approaching the gang. Even then, the idea that any of those carnies would be able to hotwire a futuristic machine that only one man in the entire world knew how to operate is pretty far-fetched to me. You could argue that the Penguin himself, with his brilliant intellect, was able to figure out the details for them, but...COME ON! Danny DeVito's Penguin was a mutated homeless man who had never been to school and had spent his whole life kidnapping children and possibly doing other disgusting things. Yet one more regret I have about the Burton sequel: great to look at, but lousy script.
I love these episodes where the Bat Family isn't the focus of the story: "almost got him," the one where a bunch of kids have to care for an injured batman and the one where Bullock and Montoya recount an event for GPD IA. It really fleshes out the world of TAS. In this episode, I love how it shows how Bruce will help out people he's run into as Batman by hiring them into his company/service.
I want to bring to attention the actress who played Marva. Candy Brown, a dancer who worked a lot with Bob Fosse in Pippin and Liza with a Z. She also was one of the people responsible for A Chorus line, the character Rich's story is based off of her own life. But she chose not to be in chorus line in favor of working with Fosse again in Chicago (she was the original June "squish" in Cell Block Tango). She also took lots of footage of her productions including to a cut finale of Chicago that would otgerwise be lost. Didn't want to tangent, but it is cool to see her here, I am a big fan.
One of my favorite non-joker episodes. I didn't know Paul Winfield voiced Earl Cooper. Man they went all out on the casting. I'm also now curious about the new Batman 89 comic
The mechanic actually was written, and I think premiered before Batman Returns, so the idea of penguin taking control of the bat mobile wasn’t necessarily repeated, it was just a coincidence
Earl was a very interesting character I really wish he was kept around in the comics as someone who handles all of the Batman’s vehicles while Lucius handled the tech
Wayons as Robin would have been interesting to see. Definitely would've been less whiny than the alternative they ended up casting and funnier for sure since those were his best years imo.
Earl's character reminds me of a another character from the comics named Harold Allnut. Pre-Flashpoint, he was the one who built some of Batman's gadgets and fixed up the Batmobile. A redesign for the character was made for a fan project called Earth 27. Check it out if you haven't seen it.
To be fair lots of the episodes lifted Concepts from movies, comics and various other sources. but what made the show great was they weren't afraid to put their own spin on it when needed. so I'm fine with them taking a concept from a movie and doing this universe's version of that story.
It's been awhile, but I feel like Earl showed up again or was referenced in Bane's debut after he crumpled the front end of the Batmobile with his bare hands.
Earl is still my favorite. Forced by Batman's enemies to try to kill Batman through the Batmobile, but right underneath their eyes fixes the Batmobile to save them. That's thinking and creativity worthy of someone to take care of the Batmobile and keep Batman's secrets.
The penguin and his goons may have been watching him like a hawk but they probably don't have a clue what he was doing with this technological showpiece l, he could easily have wired the ejector seats to the A,C without them being any the wiser
I'd like to think that somehow Earl knows that Batman = Bruce Wayne, but never lets on to Batman/Bruce that he knows. A sort of mutual respect from Earl.
Gosh... this show was the highlight of my childhood. Being born in 92 meant I had great 80s reruns and fantastic 90s shows to watch. From Tmnt, thundercats, masters of the universe and transformers to batman, superman, power rangers, Dexter's lab, cow and chicken (love the red devil guy), freakizoid, xmen (the good series. Not the one where they had wolverine with an aussie accent), grim and evil, digimon, pokemon, donkey kong country (weird cgi show I still loved), the sonic the hedgehog show where they had instruments and sonic had a green brother and pink sister, batman beyond, and so on. Shout out to the roughnecks: starship troopers chronicles (a surprisingly good starship troopers CGI show. Had many elements from the movie, like the love triangle and dizzy being female... but also had bits of the novel, like the campaign on other planets and most importantly, the Skinnies, an alien race from the novels) When I finished transformers, I got to watch the wonderful continuation that was "beast wars" and it's interesting but less good sequel series, beast machines.) Love it. To this day, I still love it all. Great anime back then, like trigun, cowboy bebop, db and dbz, outlaw star, yu yu hakasho, etc. Just a bunch of great shows with actual depth, story arcs, and sometimes permanent death of good characters (like in roughnecks.) Not like many shows today, which often dont have ongoing story arcs. There ARE good shows today. Not saying there isnt. Only saying that i had access to a plethora of iconic shows as I watched during the end of the 90s and the early millennium.
the story itself was nothing new, Batman returns and this episode pick the idea from a Neal Adams era Batman story, with indeed the Mechanic... Plot is almost the same, but more complex in the comics. The character of the Mechanic, called Harlold was a blond hunchback, mute and with a childish mind as character, pretty good in repairs and creator of tons of things in the batcave and Batmobile as tech, under Batman's protection. What i said is very spoiler free of course if you wanna read the comics arc.. is called "the Penguin affair" and was published around 1988/1989.., Sadly the character found his death thanks to Hush, a lot of decades after this story, in the "Hush" storyline indeed. Batman himself buried him in the Manor, as part of his family.
I remember in Batman Beyond the car Bruce drives looks like an upside down version of the Batmobile and in the episode where Terry meets the future Justice League,when he`s talking to Bruce on the phone,we see Bruce working on the BTAS Batmobile in the garage
Why are we interested in how Batman makes repairs to his car? Oh, that's right - we ain´t! The Mechanic is "that kind" of episode, like "I've got Batman in my Basement", where it gets a bit 60s campy and where Penguin is not a complex character, but chosen as a villain because he is an established character (and since he did some manipulation of the batmobile in Batman Returns). Speaking of Batman Returns - this is one of the few times that the Penguin reminds me of Danny Devito's role - but strangely, he isn't particularly interesting here. He is just acting like a stock villain who kills in a creative way with the familiar rubber duck (are we supposed to believe that this is the same character from Birds of a Feather? Because it doesn´t seem to be). And again, I would argue that the Penguin works best as a corrupt businessman or a mob moss with refined manners - not as a character who tries to take Batman on in a fist or cane fight. Back to the Batmobile - like many others I just assumed that Batman and Alfred were capable of fixing the car themselves (with some help from Lucius Fox - a far, far better character for its purpose) but here we have a completely forgettable character in the form of Earl Cooper, who almost comes off as a black folksy stereotype. The Penguin´s plan is also weird - why not simply plant a bomb and blow it up so they die, instead of letting Batman and Robin do a remote car ride (which we know they will survive and it is the same idea as in Batman Returns. Couldn´t they have done at least some variation?). Not that the heroes are any smarter - Earl's warning couldn´t be clearer ("world's greatest detective" my ass!), but no one picks up on it and then we have Batman explaining it, but everyone in the audience has already understood the hint. The episode tries to take inspiration from both Batman Returns and the 60s show, but falls flat completely. We have already seen this before and I don't think this 20 mins episode really improves the scene from the movie. Also, the animation is clearly not at its best here - even if the flashback scene is interesting. In short, the episode doesn't do anything wrong really, but it certainly doesn't do anything right either and the change of pace is a change backwards. My grade here is honestly quite generous. Verdict: 2 out of 5 bats (very close to 1 bat).
I think it would be great for (The Mechanic) character to make a brief appearance in (THE BATMAN) movie. If the character of (The Mechanic) might have a chance at appearing in (THE BATMAN) movie; Than I wonder who might get picked to play the character role in it?
Personally, I like any Batmobile that's not shaped and fitted like a tank. I always felt that Batman's rides should be slick, lightweight, and somewhat friendly looking. Batman's not the Punisher and I hate that The Dark Knight Returns sparked another negative trend where he's obsessed with military grade vehicles and weapons.
I actually thought Lucius Fox WAS the same character. I’ve never really read the comics, but I definitely remembered this episode (just not well enough to remember Cooper’s name).
Honestly I really like this episode it may not be one of my top favorites, but I do like it a lot, mainly for three reasons 1: I feel like it’s a smart idea for somebody else besides the dark knight to be the repair man of the Batmobile, 2: to me, it shows that penguin can be a dangerous threat, besides blind as a bat that is, I just feel like it does it a lot better than that episode, and 3: this episode feels like it was some thing out of a 70s batman comic which I think is a nice touch since I do view some of the more underrated episodes as something out of the 70s comic run.
I remember reading a list that had this as one of the worst episodes of the show. I highly disagree. While it may not be top ten best episode material, it's still a fun watch and to learn more about Batman's origins a little bit also
A wonderful episode but it would have been good to point out that Earl is actually the one to save Batman and Robin by ;fixing the air conditioner' in case things got 'too hot'.
Was it jason todd who was able to remove one whole wheel before batman should up as todd was working or half way done with the 2ed wheel i just like thats how one of the robins met batman just stealing his wheels off a hi-tech car.
Anybody else fell in love with the first screen shown bat mobile, this version of the bat mobile,the tumbler of the Batman dark trilogy, and the bat mobile version used by terry in the animated Batman beyond show/movie
I don't think it's a contradiction. Bruce is a car guy. I think it's probably one of the few things that's pure Bruce Wayne and not Batman. Seeing a prototype at the fair would get him excited. Even though he could have built a flying vehicle years ago. He still wants the ultimate supercar.
Agreed. He does seem to take it rather personally when a rogue messes with the Batmobile (Harley Quinn hitting buttons at random, Bane tearing it up with his sheer strength).
My favorite scene is when the guy who gave Penguin the parts bought list is on the duck cause the way Penguin answers his question on where it’s taking him is hilarious to me.
Well that wouldn’t be the first and it would be the last after all they did take an element for unused movie that never was a waste for Arkham nights game
