Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (also known as Batman: The Animated Movie) is a 1993 animated superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm directed the film, which stars Kevin Conroy as Batman, as well as Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Mark Hamill, Abe Vigoda, and Stacy Keach. The film’s storyline introduces Andrea Beaumont, an old love interest of Bruce Wayne’s who returns to Gotham City, restarting their romance as well. At the same time, a mysterious murderer begins systematically eliminating Gotham’s crime bosses, and due to the person’s dark appearance, he is mistaken for Batman. Now on the run, Batman must solve the mystery (which involves The Joker) and deal with the romance between himself and Andrea.
Development for the film started after the success of Batman: The Animated Series. Warner Bros. assigned Alan Burnett to write the story, and Burnett collaborated with writers Paul Dini, Michael Reaves, and Martin Pasko. The original idea was to release the film as direct-to-video, but the studio decided for a theatrical release, giving the filmmakers a strenuous eight-month schedule. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was released with positive critical success, but resulted into a dismal box office due to Warner Brothers’ decision to release the film in theatres on such short notice. Mask of the Phantasm has since found success with home video and DVD releases.
Plot
During a conference of crime bosses held in a Gotham City skyscraper, gangster Chuckie Sol is killed when a mysterious cloaked figure bursts in on the meeting. Batman is blamed for the death. Councilman Arthur Reeves tells the media that Batman is an irresponsible menace, then attends a party at the mansion of millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, Batman’s alter ego. Reeves jokingly taunts Bruce for having allowed an old girlfriend, Andrea Beaumont, to get away.
In a flashback to Bruce’s college days, we see him meet Andrea in a cemetery while visiting his parents’ grave. Bruce has vowed to avenge his parents’ murder by dedicating his life to fighting crime. He dons a mask and black ninja-styled outfit and foils an armored car robbery, then begins a romance with Andrea.
Back in the present, another mobster murder by the cloaked figure is pinned on Batman, moving sickly mob boss Salvatore Valestra to hire the Joker to kill the superhero. After inspecting the crime scene, Batman visits the Wayne family grave and is seen by Andrea, who realizes his secret identity. This prompts another flashback, in which Bruce and Andrea are enjoying themselves at the Gotham World’s Fair. Bruce meets her father, Carl Beaumont, a businessman with ties to Valestra. Later, deciding that crime fighting and relationships don’t mix, Bruce asks his parents for a sign that they’ll forgive him for forsaking his vow. As if in answer, Andrea arrives at the site. Their relationship continues to grow, and when Bruce proposes to her in the backyard of the Wayne Manor, bats fly up out of a crack in the ground and momentarily surround them. The next day, Bruce is investigating the underground bat cave when Alfred arrives with a note from Andrea breaking off their engagement and bidding him farewell forever. Bruce makes the cave his crime-fighting headquarters and adopts the fearsome persona of Batman.
In the present, Batman has discovered evidence linking Beaumont with a number of organized crime figures. The mysterious cloaked figure targets Valestra, but is beaten to the punch by the unstable Joker; Batman is blamed again and has a close call with the police. Rescuing Batman in her car, Andrea explains that she and her father had been hiding in Europe, from the mob, to whom he owed a lot of money. Beaumont eventually repaid them, but that did not satisfy them. Batman believes that Andrea’s father may be the Phantasm, until he learns that Beaumont was murdered some time before.
In a tussle with the Joker, the cloaked figure is revealed to be Andrea, intent on avenging her father’s death by killing the mobsters to whom he owed money. During the course of a protracted struggle, Batman arrives and battles with the Joker in a miniaturized replica of Gotham City. After a protracted battle, both the Joker and Andrea disappear in the confusion of fire and smoke, with Batman barely escaping into a waterway before a series of rigged explosions.
Back in the Batcave, he grieves for his lost love. In the penultimate scene of the film, Andrea stands on the deck of an ocean liner, alone. The ending scene changes to show Batman standing alone as well on top of a building. The Bat-Signal emerges in the distance and Batman flies into action.
Production
Impressed by the success of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, Warner Bros. assigned Alan Burnett to write a story for a full-length animated film. Although The Joker does play a pivotal role in the film, it was Burnett’s intention to tell a story far removed from the television show’s regular rogues gallery. Burnett also cited he “wanted to do a love story with Bruce because no one hadn’t really done it on the TV show. I wanted a story that got into his head.” The writers were highly cautious of placing The Joker in the film as they didn’t want any connection to Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), however, writer Michael Reaves quoted, “We then realized that we could make his appearance serve the story in a way that we never could in live-action.”Aiding Burnett in writing the script were, Martin Pasko, who handled most of the flashback segments, Michael Reaves, who wrote the climax, and Paul Dini, who claims he “filled in holes here and there”. Citizen Kane (1941) served as an influence for the flashbacks, a story about loss and the passage of time.
Early in production, Warner Brothers decided to release Phantasm with a theatrical release, rather than straight to video. That left less than a year for production time (most animated features take well over two years from finished story to final release). Due to this decision, the animators went over the scenes once more in order to accommodate widescreen theatrical aspect ratio.In addition to the creative control, the studio increased the production budget to $6 million, which gave the filmmakers opportunities for more elaborate set pieces. The opening title sequence featured a flight through an entirely computer-generated Gotham City. As a visual joke, sequence director Kevin Altieri set the climax of the film inside a miniature automated model of Gotham City, where Batman and The Joker were giants. This was a homage to a mainstay of Batman comic books of the Dick Sprang era, often featuring the hero fighting against a backdrop of gigantic props. From start to finish, the film was completed within eight months. Composer Shirley Walker cited the score of Mask of the Phantasm to be the most favorable of her compositions However, the studio did cooperate well, granting the filmmakers an excessive amount of creative control.
