Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures is an American animated comedy television series, broadcast from September 14, 1990 through December 6, 1992 as the first collaborative effort of Warner Bros. Animation and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment after being conceived in the late 1980s by Tom Ruegger; the show follows the adventures of a group of young cartoon characters who attend Acme Looniversity to become the next generation of characters from the Looney Tunes series. The pilot episode, "The Looney Beginning", aired as a prime-time special on CBS on September 14, 1990, while the series itself was featured in first-run syndication for the first two seasons; the final season was aired on Fox Kids. The series ended production in 1992 in favor of Animaniacs. Tiny Toon Adventures is a cartoon set in the fictional town of Acme Acres, where most of the Tiny Toons and Looney Tunes characters live; the characters attend Acme Looniversity, a school whose faculty consists of the mainstays of the classic Warner Bros. cartoons, such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Wile E. Coyote and Elmer Fudd.
In the series, the university is founded to teach cartoon characters how to become funny. The school is not featured in every episode, as not all of its storylines revolve around the school. Like the Looney Tunes, the series makes use of cartoon violence and slapstick; the series parodies and references the current events of the early 1990s and Hollywood culture. Episodes delve into veiled ethical and morality stories of ecology, self-esteem, crime; the series centers on a group of young cartoon characters who attend a school called Acme Looniversity to be the next generation of Looney Tunes characters. Most of the Tiny Toons characters were designed to resemble younger versions of Warner Bros.' Most popular Looney Tunes animal characters by exhibiting similar traits and looks. The two main characters are both rabbits: Buster Bunny, a blue male rabbit, Babs Bunny, a pink female rabbit not related to Buster, Plucky Duck, a green male duck, Hamton J. Pig, a pink male pig. Other major characters in the cast are nonhuman as well.
These include Fifi La Fume, a purple-and-white female skunk. Two human characters, Montana Max and Elmyra Duff, are regarded as the main villains of the series and are students of Acme Looniversity; as villains, Elmyra is seen as an extreme pet lover while Montana Max is a spoiled rich brat who either owns lots of toys or polluting factories. Supporting characters included Li'l Sneezer, a gray mouse with powerful sneezes. Feeding off the characters are the more traditional Looney Tunes such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig among others. Most of the adults teach classes at Acme Looniversity and serve as mentors to the Tiny Toons while others fill secondary positions as needed; the series and the show's characters were developed by series producer, head writer and cartoonist Tom Ruegger, division leader Jean MacCurdy, associate producer and artist Alfred Gimeno and story editor/writer Wayne Kaatz. Among the first writers on the series were Jim Reardon, Tom Minton, Eddie Fitzgerald; the character and scenery designers included Alfred Gimeno, Ken Boyer, Dan Haskett, Karen Haskett, many other artists and directors.
The series was planned to be a feature film. Once Steven Spielberg was attached, numerous things changed, including the idea of turning the movie into a television series. "Buster and Babs Go To Hawaii" was co-written by three then-teenage girls who were fans of the show. Voice director Andrea Romano auditioned over 1,200 voices for the series and chose more than a dozen main voice actors; the role of Buster Bunny was given to Charlie Adler, who gave the role, as producer Tom Ruegger said, "a great deal of energy". The role of Babs Bunny was given to Tress MacNeille. Writer Paul Dini said that MacNeille was good for the role because she could do both Babs' voice and the voices of her impressions. Voice actors Joe Alaskey and Don Messick were given the roles of Plucky Duck and Hamton J. Pig, respectively. Danny Cooksey played Montana Max and, according to Paul Dini, was good for the role because he could do a "tremendous mean voice." Cooksey was the only voice actor in the cast, not an adult. Cree Summer played the roles of Elmyra Duff and Mary Melody.
Other actors for the series included Maurice LaMarche as the voice of Dizzy Devil. The legendary voice behind the Looney Tunes, Mel Blanc, was set to reprise his roles as the classic characters, but died in July 1989, his characters were recast by the likes of Jeff Bergman, Joe Alaskey, Greg Burson, Mel's son, Noel Blanc. During production of the series' third season, Charlie Adler left the show due to a conflict with the producers. Adler was upset that he had not landed a role in Animaniacs while
DC animated universe
The DC Animated Universe is the shared universe centered on a group of animated television series based on DC Comics, produced by Warner Bros. Animation from the early 1990s to mid-2000s; some parts of the associated media franchise including direct-to-video feature films and shorts, comic books, video games and other multimedia adaptations are included in the continuity. While there have been several animated projects based upon DC Comics characters over the decades, what is accepted as the DC animated universe consists of the stable of TV series and films that spin off from Batman: The Animated Series, the first TV show in this continuity. Two characters outside of the normal Batman canon and Jonah Hex, appeared on the show, but the first series to indicate a shared continuity with other well-known characters was the subsequent show, Superman: The Animated Series, in which the title character has encounters with heroes such as the Flash and the Green Lantern. Older shows such as Super Friends and newer shows such as The Batman, Legion of Super Heroes, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice and Justice League Action are not part of this continuity.
The direct-to-video DC Universe Animated Original Movies, such as Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman: Gotham Knight are not considered part of the DCAU, despite utilizing similar character designs and several of them featuring much of the same voice cast as previous DCAU series. The DC animated universe consists of these animated series: An animated series based on the Teen Titans comic books was planned for the DC animated universe during the mid-1990s, but was scrapped. Instead a Teen Titans series not related to the DC animated universe was released. After the success of Batman: The Animated Series in the early 1990s, Fox approached producer Bruce Timm to create a spin-off series focusing on Catwoman, but the project never materialized; the following animated feature films are part of the DCAU continuity: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman Batman and Harley Quinn Before the release of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, a third animated feature based on Batman: The Animated Series was planned, entitled Batman: Arkham.
The film was supposed to be a follow-up for Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, Boyd Kirkland was attached to write and direct. A second Batman Beyond movie was planned for release but was scrapped due to the dark tones and controversies of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker in 2001. Around 2003, during the production of Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, Warner Bros. approached Kirkland to write a Catwoman direct-to-video feature film as a tie-in with the 2004 live-action film. Although the script was written, the project was soon scrapped after the poor reception of the live-action film. A direct-to-video feature-length animated film entitled Justice League: Worlds Collide was planned to connect Justice League with its follow-up Justice League Unlimited, but the production was cancelled in 2004, the script was rewritten for the animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, not part of the DC animated universe; the Dark Knight's First Night – A short film which acted as the developmental pilot for Batman: The Animated Series.
Chase Me – A short film with no dialogue based on The New Batman Adventures. Batman Black & White: Two of a Kind - A motion comic adaptation of Bruce Timm's "Two-Face: Two of a Kind" Mad Love - A 3 part motion comic adaptation of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini's "Batman Adventures: Mad Love" Batman Beyond – A short film based on Batman Beyond created by Darwyn Cooke for Batman's 75th anniversary; the short features the original voice cast of the show, as well as cameos of robotic batmen from The New Batman Adventures, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Beware the Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, Michael Keaton's Batman, Adam West's Batman, the original comic book Batman from 1939. Gotham Girls – A Macromedia Flash web cartoon series, this was downloadable from the WB website, featured DCAU versions of characters voiced by their original actors. A DC Comics miniseries inspired by the web series was released in 2004. All three seasons of Gotham Girls were released on the Birds of Prey DVD box set in 2008.
Lobo – A Flash cartoon series starring Lobo, the galactic bounty hunter, the web-series is a spin-off of the Superman episode "The Main Man". A wax statue with the same character design as Lobo in this series appeared in an episode of Gotham Girls and he made a reappearance in the Justice League episode "Hereafter" becoming a member of the Justice League. Both of these examples somewhat support that the webseries is part of the official DCAU, although this is still disputed. Unlike the other cartoons set in the DCAU, it has graphic violence, sexual content and strong profanity. Many of the DCAU productions have had comic books created based on the characters of the various series, though their canonicity is disputable; the comics are: There have been a number of DCAU tie-in video games released to correspond with the various animated television series and films. Some of these games have original plots; the games are: Five of these games feature voice acting from the
Joker (character)
The Joker is a supervillain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson who first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book Batman, published by DC Comics. Credit for the Joker's creation is disputed. Although the Joker was planned to be killed off during his initial appearance, he was spared by editorial intervention, allowing the character to endure as the archenemy of the superhero Batman. In his comic book appearances, the Joker is portrayed as a criminal mastermind. Introduced as a psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor, the character became a goofy prankster in the late 1950s in response to regulation by the Comics Code Authority, before returning to his darker roots during the early 1970s; as Batman's nemesis, the Joker has been part of the superhero's defining stories, including the murder of Jason Todd—the second Robin and Batman's ward—and the paralysis of one of Batman's allies, Barbara Gordon. The Joker has had various possible origin stories during his decades of appearances.
The most common story involves him falling into a tank of chemical waste which bleaches his skin white and turns his hair green and lips bright red. The antithesis of Batman in personality and appearance, the Joker is considered by critics to be his perfect adversary; the Joker possesses no superhuman abilities, instead using his expertise in chemical engineering to develop poisonous or lethal concoctions, thematic weaponry, including razor-tipped playing cards, deadly joy buzzers, acid-spraying lapel flowers. The Joker sometimes works with other Gotham City supervillains such as the Penguin and Two-Face, groups like the Injustice Gang and Injustice League, but these relationships collapse due to the Joker's desire for unbridled chaos; the 1990s introduced a romantic interest for the Joker in his former psychiatrist, Harley Quinn, who becomes his villainous sidekick. Although his primary obsession is Batman, the Joker has fought other heroes including Superman and Wonder Woman. One of the most iconic characters in popular culture, the Joker has been listed among the greatest comic book villains and fictional characters created.
The character's popularity has seen him appear on a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectible items, inspire real-world structures, be referenced in a number of media. The Joker has been adapted to serve as Batman's adversary in live-action and video game incarnations, including the 1960s Batman television series and in films by Jack Nicholson in Batman. Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, others have provided the character's voice. Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson are credited with creating the Joker, but their accounts of the character's conception differ, each providing his own version of events. Finger's, Kane's, Robinson's versions acknowledge that Finger produced an image of actor Conrad Veidt in character as Gwynplaine in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs as an inspiration for the Joker's appearance, Robinson produced a sketch of a joker playing card. Robinson claimed that it was his 1940 card sketch that served as the character's concept, which Finger associated with Veidt's portrayal.
Kane hired the 17-year-old Robinson as an assistant in 1939, after he saw Robinson in a white jacket decorated with his own illustrations. Beginning as a letterer and background inker, Robinson became primary artist for the newly created Batman comic book series. In a 1975 interview in The Amazing World of DC Comics, Robinson said he wanted a supreme arch-villain who could test Batman, but not a typical crime lord or gangster designed to be disposed, he wanted an exotic, enduring character as an ongoing source of conflict for Batman, designing a diabolically sinister-but-clownish villain. Robinson was intrigued by villains, he said that the name came first, followed by an image of a playing card from a deck he had at hand: "I wanted somebody visually exciting. I wanted somebody that would make an indelible impression, would be bizarre, would be memorable like the Hunchback of Notre Dame or any other villains that had unique physical characters." He told Finger about his concept by telephone providing sketches of the character and images of what would become his iconic Joker playing-card design.
Finger thought the concept was incomplete, providing the image of Veidt with a ghastly, permanent rictus grin. Kane countered that the Robinson's sketch was produced only after Finger had shown the Gwynplaine image to Kane, that it was only used as a card design belonging to the Joker in his early appearances. Finger said that he was inspired by an image in Steeplechase Park at Coney Island that resembled a Joker's head, which he sketched and shared with future editorial director Carmine Infantino. In a 1994 interview with journalist Frank Lovece, Kane stated his position: Bill Finger and I created the Joker. Bill was the writer. Jerry Robinson came to me with a playing card of the Joker. That's the way. Looks like Conrad Veidt – you know, the actor in The Man Who Laughs, by Victor Hugo.... Bill Finger had a book with a photograph of Conrad Veidt and showed it to me and s
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and referred to as Washington or D. C. is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, first President of the United States and Founding Father; as the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, Washington is an important world political capital. The city is one of the most visited cities in the world, with more than 20 million tourists annually; the signing of the Residence Act on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of a capital district located along the Potomac River on the country's East Coast. The U. S. Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U. S. Congress, the District is therefore not a part of any state; the states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, which included the pre-existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria.
The City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia. Washington had an estimated population of 702,455 as of July 2018, making it the 20th most populous city in the United States. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek. Washington's metropolitan area, the country's sixth largest, had a 2017 estimated population of 6.2 million residents. All three branches of the U. S. federal government are centered in the District: Congress and the U. S. Supreme Court. Washington is home to many national monuments, museums situated on or around the National Mall; the city hosts 177 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many international organizations, trade unions, non-profit, lobbying groups, professional associations, including the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, AARP, the National Geographic Society, the Human Rights Campaign, the International Finance Corporation, the American Red Cross.
A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973. However, Congress may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, but the District has no representation in the Senate. The District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century. One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. In his Federalist No. 43, published January 23, 1788, James Madison argued that the new federal government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance and safety.
Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia. Known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. Article One, Section Eight, of the Constitution permits the establishment of a "District as may, by cession of particular states, the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States". However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital. In what is now known as the Compromise of 1790, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson came to an agreement that the federal government would pay each state's remaining Revolutionary War debts in exchange for establishing the new national capital in the southern United States. On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River; the exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who signed the bill into law on July 16.
Formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory: the port of Georgetown, founded in 1751, the city of Alexandria, founded in 1749. During 1791–92, Andrew Ellicott and several assistants, including a free African American astronomer named Benjamin Banneker, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point. Many of the stones are still standing. A new federal city was constructed on the north bank of the Potomac, to the east of Georgetown. On September 9, 1791, the three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington; the federal district was named Columbia, a poetic name for the United States in use at that time. Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800. Congress passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 that organized the District and placed the entire territory under the exclusive control of the federal
United States dollar
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its territories per the United States Constitution since 1792. In practice, the dollar is divided into 100 smaller cent units, but is divided into 1000 mills for accounting; the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. Since the suspension in 1971 of convertibility of paper U. S. currency into any precious metal, the U. S. dollar is, de facto, fiat money. As it is the most used in international transactions, the U. S. dollar is the world's primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their official currency, in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean: the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while still minting their own coins, or accept U. S. dollar coins. As of June 27, 2018, there are $1.67 trillion in circulation, of which $1.62 trillion is in Federal Reserve notes.
Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power "To coin money". Laws implementing this power are codified at 31 U. S. C. § 5112. Section 5112 prescribes the forms; these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as "legal tender" in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar; the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 provides for the minting and issuance of other coins, which have values ranging from one cent to 100 dollars; these other coins are more described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that "a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time"; that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the "Statements" are being expressed in U. S. dollars. The U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States.
The word "dollar" is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution. There, "dollars" is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act. Section 9 of that act authorized the production of various coins, including "DOLLARS OR UNITS—each to be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current, to contain three hundred and seventy-one grains and four sixteenth parts of a grain of pure, or four hundred and sixteen grains of standard silver". Section 20 of the act provided, "That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units... and that all accounts in the public offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation". In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States. Unlike the Spanish milled dollar, the U.
S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. In addition to the dollar the coinage act established monetary units of mill or one-thousandth of a dollar, cent or one-hundredth of a dollar, dime or one-tenth of a dollar, eagle or ten dollars, with prescribed weights and composition of gold, silver, or copper for each, it was proposed in the mid-1800s that one hundred dollars be known as a union, but no union coins were struck and only patterns for the $50 half union exist. However, only cents are in everyday use as divisions of the dollar. XX9 per gallon, e.g. $3.599, more written as $3.599⁄10. When issued in circulating form, denominations equal to or less than a dollar are emitted as U. S. coins while denominations equal to or greater than a dollar are emitted as Federal Reserve notes. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the note form is more common. In the past, "paper money" was issued in denominations less than a dollar and gold coins were issued for circulation up to the value of $20.
The term eagle was used in the Coinage Act of 1792 for the denomination of ten dollars, subsequently was used in naming gold coins. Paper currency less than one dollar in denomination, known as "fractional currency", was sometimes pejoratively referred to as "shinplasters". In 1854, James Guthrie Secretary of the Treasury, proposed creating $100, $50 and $25 gold coins, which were referred to as a "Union", "Half Union", "Quarter Union", thus implying a denomination of 1 Union = $100. Today, USD notes are made from cotton fiber paper, unlike most common paper, made of wood fiber. U. S. coins are produced by the United States Mint. U. S. dollar banknotes are printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and, since 1914, have been issued by t
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a 1993 American animated superhero film featuring the DC Comics character Batman. Directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm, it is a cinematic continuation of Batman: The Animated Series as well as the first original theatrical film produced by Warner Bros. Animation; the film was written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko and Michael Reaves and stars the vocal talents of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. in addition to Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Stacy Keach, Abe Vigoda. Its story follows Batman as he deals with his reconciliation with a former lover, Andrea Beaumont, pits him against a mysterious vigilante, murdering Gotham City's crime bosses; the film's plotline was inspired by Mike W. Barr's Batman: Year Two comic book story arc, but features an original antagonist, the titular Phantasm, in place of The Reaper. Planned for a direct-to-video release, Warner Bros. decided to give Mask of the Phantasm a theatrical release, condensing its production into a strenuous eight-month schedule.
The film was released through the studio's Family Entertainment division on December 25, 1993 to positive reviews from critics, who praised the voice performances and music. However, due to the decision to release it in theaters on short notice, Mask of the Phantasm failed at the box office. After its release on home video, the film became critically successful, its eventual success led to two direct-to-video standalone sequels, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero in 1998 and Mystery of the Batwoman in 2003; until the limited release of Batman: The Killing Joke in 2016, Mask of the Phantasm was the only animated Batman film to be given a theatrical release. A young Bruce Wayne meets Andrea Beaumont while visiting his parents' grave, they form a deep mutual attraction; that night, in one of his first crime-fighting attempts, Bruce foils an armored car robbery, but is discouraged because the criminals did not fear him. Bruce decides to abandon his plans to become a vigilante and proposes marriage to Andrea.
However, Andrea mysteriously leaves Gotham with her father, businessman Carl Beaumont, ending her engagement in a "Dear John" letter. Believing he has lost his last chance of having a normal life, Bruce becomes Batman. Ten years Batman confronts a group of Gotham City crime bosses led by Chuckie Sol, who are intending to launder millions of counterfeit dollars in a casino; as Sol escapes to his car, a cloaked figure attacks him. Batman arrives soon after, bystanders blame him for deliberately causing Sol's death. Councilman Arthur Reeves tells the media. Attending a party at Wayne Manor, Reeves teases Bruce for allowing Andrea to leave him; the cloaked figure murders another gangster, Buzz Bronski, in the same cemetery Bruce met Andrea. Batman investigates Bronski's death and wanders to his parents' tombstone, he finds Andrea talking at her mother's grave. She is startled by Batman's appearance and he flees. Batman finds evidence linking Carl Beaumont with Sol, Bronski and a third gangster: Salvatore Valestra.
He breaks into Valestra's home and discovers a photograph of Bronski, Valestra and Beaumont seated at a table. When he visits Andrea to try to get more answers she rebuffs him, intimating she now knows his identity. Meanwhile, believing Batman killed the others and will come for him, turns to the Joker for help; the figure finds the gangster dead by Joker's hands. Joker sees the murderer is not Batman; the figure escapes. Batman pursues and fights the killer, but is interrupted by the police and rescued from arrest by Andrea. Andrea explains she and her father had been hiding in Europe from Valestra's mob, from whom he had embezzled money. Bruce now believes. Bruce ponders giving up Batman, he notices a familiar-looking man in the background of the photo of Bronski, Valestra and Beaumont: the man who would become the Joker. Joker visits Reeves to press him for information about the killer. Reeves is taken to the hospital where Batman breaks in and interrogates him. Reeves confesses he had helped the Beaumonts escape, but told Valestra's mob Carl's location when Carl declined to help fund his first election campaign, leading Batman to realize who the killer is.
The cloaked figure tracks Joker to his hideout, where Joker reveals that he has deduced that the killer is Andrea, intent on avenging her father's death by killing every last surviving member of Valestra's mob. With all the others dead, Joker is the last one alive, is the one who carried out the hit on her father. Joker fights her, but just before he can kill Andrea, Batman arrives and begs Andrea to give up her quest, she disappears. Batman and the Joker battle to a stalemate. Moments Andrea returns and seizes Joker, bidding Batman goodbye before vanishing with the maniacally laughing clown; the amusement park erupts in a series of explosions and Batman escapes. Alfred consoles Bruce, telling him that no one could have helped Andrea. Bruce finds her locket, containing Andrea, in the Batcave. Meanwhile, Andrea d
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 2009 action-adventure video game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini, Arkham Asylum is inspired by the long-running comic book mythos. In the game's main storyline, Batman's archenemy, the Joker, instigates an elaborate plot to seize control of Arkham Asylum and trap Batman inside with many of his incarcerated foes. With Joker threatening to detonate hidden bombs around fictional Gotham City, Batman is forced to fight his way through the asylum's inmates and put an end to the Joker's plans. Most of the game's leading characters are voiced by actors who have appeared in other media based on the DC Animated Universe; the game is presented from the third-person perspective with a primary focus on Batman's combat and stealth abilities, detective skills, gadgets that can be used in combat and exploration.
Batman can move around the Arkham Asylum facility, interacting with characters and undertaking missions, unlocking new areas by progressing through the main story or obtaining new equipment. The player is able to complete side missions away from the main story to unlock additional content and collectible items. Combat focuses on chaining attacks together against numerous foes while avoiding damage, while stealth allows Batman to conceal himself around an area, using gadgets and the environment to silently eliminate enemies. Development began at Rocksteady Studios in May 2007, with a 40-person team that expanded to 60 people by the project's conclusion after 21 months. Among others, the game design was inspired by Batman-penned works of Neal Adams and Frank Miller, Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth graphic novel. Built on Unreal Engine 3, Arkham Asylum's production underwent several variations, refining both gameplay such as the combat system, the central story, resulting in the removal of plot elements and some of Batman's main enemies, who did not fit the tone of the rest of the game.
Rocksteady began developing ideas for a sequel months before Arkham Asylum's completion, hiding hints to the sequel within the game. Arkham Asylum was released worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles on August 25, 2009, followed by a Microsoft Windows version on September 15; the game received critical acclaim -- for its combat. Reviewers called it the "greatest comic book game of all time," and the "best superhero game of modern times." It won several awards, including Best Action Adventure game, Best Game, Game of the Year from different media outlets and held the Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever" and has been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. The game received several re-releases, including a Game of the Year edition in March 2010, a Mac OS X version in November 2011, a remastered version for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in October 2016. Arkham Asylum's success launched the Batman: Arkham series, containing video game sequels and spin-offs, comic books and movies, beginning in October 2011 with its direct sequel Arkham City.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure game viewed from the third-person perspective. The playable character is visible on the screen and the camera can be rotated around him; the player controls Batman as he traverses Arkham Asylum, a secure facility for the criminally insane located off the coast of Gotham City. The opening areas of the game are linear, serving as a tutorial for the moves and approaches available to the player. Once the player emerges onto the island he can explore the game world, although some areas remain inaccessible until certain milestones in the main story. Batman can run, climb, glide from heights using his cape, use his grapple gun to climb low structures or escape to higher ledges; the player can use "Detective Vision"—a visual mode which provides contextual information, tinting the game world blue and highlighting interactive objects like destructible walls and removable grates, the number of enemies in an area and their status—such as their awareness of Batman's presence—and shows civilians and corpses.
The mode is used to follow footprints, investigate odors, solve puzzles. Batman has access to several gadgets which he can use to fight; the batarang is a throwing weapon that can temporarily trigger remote devices. A remotely controlled version can be steered once thrown, the sonic batarang can be used to attract the attention of specific enemies wearing monitoring collars, or detonated to knock a nearby enemy unconscious. Explosive gel can be used on weak walls and floors, can be remotely detonated—sending rubble crashing onto an enemy; the line launcher can be used to traverse horizontal spans. The Batclaw—a grappling device—can be used to interact with remote objects such as vent covers or to grab enemies; the Cryptographic Sequencer is used to override security panels, open new paths, or disable various asylum functions. Some areas are inaccessible; the player is encouraged to explore the game world away from the main game to find and solve riddles left by the Riddler—who hacks into Batman's communication system to challenge him with riddles.
Objects can be collected, some of the Riddler's puzzles require the player to find areas related to the answer to a riddle and scan it with "Detective Vision". The game world has 240 collectable items, such as Riddler trophies, chatteri
