dini_timmIt is Batman’s 75th anniversary, which means that DC and Warner Bros. are gonna spend the next several months dumping out a bunch of promotional stuff that nobody really cares about – expect a collection of “essential” Batman stories that are all one-shots that nobody needs when affordable trade paperback editions of Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are available in every place in the world where the printed word is sold.

But the one division that gets these kind of things right is Warner Bros. Animation. For Superman’s 75th anniversary last year, they put together a killer montage showing the character as he progressed through the decades. For Batman, however, they did no such thing. They did something better.

When it comes to Batman and animation, all any discerning geek really cares about is Batman: The Animated Series and the work of animator / producer Bruce Timm. That cartoon kept Batman as The Dark Knight even as directors who will remain unnamed and unloved were facing Batman off with a punny Schwarzenegger with nothing but hard plastic molded nipples.

So it was kinda heartbreaking when word came out last year that Timm was leaving his supervisory position at Warner Bros. Animation… but he is back to supervise Batman’s animation one last time with a new short.

This one feature’s Timm’s style from the cartoon, only with a distinct feel and look of Batman from the 1930s, including short gloves, big ears, prop planes, and machine guns… and you can check out out after the jump

dini_timmWell, this is a bummer, even though it was probably possible to see it coming based on the recent cancellations of Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice: Invasion by Cartoon Network and Warner Bros., but Bruce Timm, the guy who has been driving DC’s animated movie and TV efforts pretty much since Batman: The Animated Series started in 1992, is leaving the Supervising Producer job at Warner Bros. Animation. He’s going to be replaced by James Tucker, the guy who produced Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and he directed the upcoming Superman: Unbound movie coming from DC Animated Originals.

There’s no particular word as to why Timm is leaving beyond the wish “to develop some of his own projects,” but this news was kind of a bummer for Amanda and me, personally. The art centerpiece of the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office Theater Room is a framed collection of two of Timm’s sketches, of Batman and Batman Beyond, respectively, with pictures of Timm drawing them for us… and with a bonus, a picture of Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series co-producer Paul Dini and his autograph, to boot. So to say that we are fans of Timm’s work with DC’s animated work would be a gross understatement. Just look up and to your left as proof.

But the important thing is whether or not Tucker is the right choice to continue Timm’s work on the generally excellent DC animated properties… and the answer seems to be: probably, yeah. Tucker seems to have a solid vision of what he wants to produce in the future beyond Superman: Unbound, and fans of DC characters who aren’t Superman or Batman are probably going to be especially excited.