Batman: The Animated Series
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Shirley WalkerComposer: Lolita Ritmanis
Composer: Michael McCuistion
Edition: Music CD
Format: Limited Edition, Soundtrack
Free Music Notes for Batman: The Animated Series
Free Music Review: Shirley Walker's most famous work...a gem
Hit: 5 Stars
The third DVD volume of Batman: The Animated Series, released on May 24, 2005, features, as with the previous and following volumes, audio commentary by producer Bruce Timm and his crew of animators, writers and others who helped make the show. The difference with 2 episode commentaries on the third volume is that they are joined by the late Shirley Walker. Ms Walker adds much to the mix in discussing how the series in general and the relevant episodes in particular were created. On one of these commentaries, while discussing with the other creators the fact that none of her score music for the show had ever seen any sort of CD release, Ms Walker predicts that such a release would be likely to happen in the near future.
Shirley Walker passed away on November 29, 2006 following complications from a stroke. It is a tragic irony that the CD release of some of her work on Batman: The Animated Series, this 2 disc sampling, that she had predicted, would come to pass after she had left us. It is only slightly less tragic that this long-awaited release would see only a limited run of 3000 units from LaLaLand Records and that in the time since its release, it has become so difficult to find any copies for anything resembling a price that doesn't involve the donation of a vital organ.
Fortunately, I wasn't forced to part with a lung or a kidney to obtain my copy. But that in no way diminished my reaction when I finally held it in my hands.
With 85 episodes, approximately 22 minutes each, and roughly 10-15 minutes of score music for each episode, in no way can this 2-disc set be regarded as 'comprehensive.' But over the course of almost 2 and a half hours (if you should listen to both discs back-to-back, which I recommend), you gain an overview. All the major themes are here, which any fan of the show will recognize. To play these discs is to take a trip through the Gotham as imagined by Bruce Timm and his brilliant team, via the vehicle of Shirley Walker's brilliance.
Finally, at the conclusion of the 2nd disc, there is a brief audio track in which Shirley Walker herself can be heard discussing the construction of the Batman theme, demonstrating her thought processes on the piano, giving us this final little glimpse into what made the music of this show so wonderful to listen to. When I arrived at the end of the disc and there was nothing else, I felt a little like any Gothamite who might catch a glimpse of Batman passing between shadows...that Shirley Walker had, over the course of 2+ hours, shown her brilliance one last time, let us peek behind the curtain; only for it to end, as mysteriously as Batman disappearing into the night.
It is one of the great overlooked tragedies, for those of us who love score music in general and this music in particular, that this hard-to-find collection is the only official release of Shirley Walker's work on Batman: The Animated Series. The nice folks at Warner's who control such things need to get more of her work out here for us to hear and appreciate. Her legacy deserves no less.
Batman: The Animated Series Poster
Two-CD set. Limited edition of 3000 copies. Track listing: Disc 1: 1. Gotham City Overture (14:01) 2. Batman: The Animated Series - Main Title (01:02) Composed by Danny Elfman 3. Sub-Main Title/Batwing/Bat Attack (01:51) 4. Batman Drives To Gotham (01:00) 5. Batman Investigates/Batman Uses Infrared/Police Rush Building (01:48) 6. Batman Escapes/Batman Flies (01:48) 7. Bats/Evidence Goes Up In Smoke/The Formula/Dr Jekyll And Mr. Bat (03:01) 8. Gotham From the Air/Ride'Em Batman/Epilogue (02:16) Tracks 3-8: Score From Episode "On Leather Wings" (Shirley Walker) 9. Sub-Main Title (01:35) 10. The Submarine/Joker Loots Gotham (02:35) 11. Alfred Loses It (00:58) 12. Bat Boat/Batman Catches The Big Fish/Batman Fights The Bad Guys (02:18) 13. Cliff-Hanger Under Water/Batman A.K.A Houdini (01:56) 14. Batman The Terminator (02:01) 15. Batman Vs. Joker/Batman Vs Joker Part 2 (03:47) Plus 20 more tracks. Disc 2: 1. Batman: The Animated Series - Main Title [Alternate Version] (01:09) 2. Harvey's Nightmare/Dent's Soap Box (02:24) 3. Batman Tracks Dent (02:07) 4. Split Personality/Harvey/Harv (04:21) Tracks 2-4: Score From "Two Face, Part 1" (Shirley Walker) 5. Part One Recap (00:33) 6. Sub-Main Title/The Heist (01:49) 7. Bruce Wayne's Nightmare/Two-Face Remembers (02:47) 8. Batcycle/What About Grace (01:58) 9. My Name Is Two-Face (01:52) 10. The Great Equalizer/Where There's Love (04:03) Tracks 5-10: Score From Episode "Two Face, Part 2" (Shirley Walker) 11. Sub-Main Title/Cussing Out The Joker/I Had A Bad Day (03:18) Plus 24 more tracks. Total Duration: 02:30:03Styles Music CDs
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