title: Perth

text: The result of this economic activity was the rapid growth of the population of Perth and a marked change in its urban design. Commencing in the 1950s, Perth began to expand along an extensive highway network laid out in the Stephenson-Hepburn Report, which noted that Perth was beginning to resemble a pattern of development less in line with the British experience and more in line with North America. This was encouraged by the opening of the Narrows Bridge and the gradual closure of the Perth-Fremantle Tramways. The mining-pastoral boom of the 1960s only accelerated the pace of urban growth in Perth.


title: Perth

text: In 1962, Perth received global media attention when city residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead while orbiting the earth on Friendship 7. This led to its being nicknamed the "City of Light". The city repeated the act as Glenn passed overhead on the Space Shuttle in 1998.


title: Perth

text: Perth's development and relative prosperity, especially since the mid-1960s, has resulted from its role as the main service centre for the state's resource industries, which extract gold, iron ore, nickel, alumina, diamonds, mineral sands, coal, oil, and natural gas. Whilst most mineral and petroleum production takes place elsewhere in the state, the non-base services provide most of the employment and income to the people of Perth.


title: Perth

text: The central business district of Perth is bounded by the Swan River to the south and east, with Kings Park on the western end and the railway reserve as the northern border. A state and federally funded project named Perth City Link sank a section of the railway line to allow easy pedestrian access between Northbridge and the CBD. The Perth Arena is an entertainment and sporting arena in the city link area that has received several architectural awards from institutions such as the Design Institute of Australia, the Australian Institute of Architects, and Colorbond. St Georges Terrace is the area's prominent street, with a large amount of office space in the CBD. Hay Street and Murray Street have most of the retail and entertainment facilities. The city's tallest building is Central Park, the twelfth tallest building in Australia. The CBD until 2012 was the centre of a mining-induced boom, with several commercial and residential projects being built, including Brookfield Place, a office building for Anglo-Australian mining company BHP.


title: Perth

text: Perth's metropolitan area extends along the coast to Two Rocks in the north and Singleton to the south, a distance of approximately . From the coast in the west to Mundaring in the east is a distance of approximately . The Perth metropolitan area covers .


title: Perth

text: The metropolitan region is defined by the "Planning and Development Act 2005" to include 30 local government areas, with the outer extent being the City of Wanneroo and the City of Swan to the north, the Shire of Mundaring, City of Kalamunda and the City of Armadale to the east, the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale to the southeast and the City of Rockingham to the southwest, and including Rottnest Island and Garden Island off the west coast. This extent correlates with the Metropolitan Region Scheme, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Perth (Major Statistical Division).


title: Perth

text: The metropolitan extent of Perth can be defined in other ways – the Australian Bureau of Statistics Greater Capital City Statistical Area, or Greater Perth in short, consists of that area, plus the City of Mandurah and the Pinjarra Level 2 Statistical Area of the Shire of Murray, while the "Regional Development Commissions Act 1993" includes the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale in the Peel region.


title: Perth

text: Perth is on the Swan River, named for the native black swans by Willem de Vlamingh, captain of a Dutch expedition and namer of WA's Rottnest Island, who discovered the birds while exploring the area in 1697. This water body was known by Aboriginal inhabitants as "Derbarl Yerrigan". The city centre and most of the suburbs are on the sandy and relatively flat Swan Coastal Plain, which lies between the Darling Scarp and the Indian Ocean. The soils of this area are quite infertile.


title: Perth

text: Much of Perth was built on the Perth Wetlands, a series of freshwater wetlands running from Herdsman Lake in the west through to Claisebrook Cove in the east.


title: Perth

text: To the east, the city is bordered by a low escarpment called the Darling Scarp. Perth is on generally flat, rolling land, largely due to the high amount of sandy soils and deep bedrock. The Perth metropolitan area has two major river systems, one made up of the Swan and Canning Rivers, and one of the Serpentine and Murray Rivers, which discharge into the Peel Inlet at Mandurah. The Perth-Gingin Shrublands and Woodlands and Banksia Woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain straddle the metropolitan area.


title: Perth

text: Perth receives moderate, though highly seasonal, winter-based rainfall. Summers are generally hot, sunny and dry, lasting from December to March, with February generally the hottest month. Winters are relatively cool and wet, giving Perth a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification "Csa"). Perth has an average of 8.8 hours of sunshine per day, which equates to around 3,200 hours of sunshine and 138.7 clear days annually, making it Australia's sunniest capital city.


title: Perth

text: Summers are dry but not completely devoid of rain, with sporadic rainfall in the form of short-lived thunderstorms, weak cold fronts and on occasions decaying tropical cyclones from Western Australia's northwest, which can bring heavy rain. Temperatures above are fairly common in the summer months. The highest temperature recorded in Perth was on 23 February 1991, although Perth Airport recorded on the same day. On most summer afternoons a sea breeze, known locally as the "Fremantle Doctor", blows from the southwest, providing relief from the hot northeasterly winds. Temperatures often fall below a few hours after the arrival of the wind change. In the summer, the 3 p.m. dewpoint averages at around .


title: Perth

text: Winters are cool and wet, with most of Perth's annual rainfall between May and September. Winters see significant rainfall as frontal systems move across the region, interspersed with clear and sunny days where minimum temperatures tend to drop below . The lowest temperature recorded in Perth was on 17 June 2006. The lowest temperature within the Perth metropolitan area was on the same day at Jandakot Airport, although temperatures at or below zero are rare occurrences. The lowest maximum temperature recorded in Perth is on 26 June 1956. It occasionally gets cold enough for frost to form. While snow has never been recorded in the Perth CBD, light snowfalls have been reported in outer suburbs of Perth in the Perth Hills around Kalamunda, Roleystone and Mundaring. The most recent snowfall was in 1968.


title: Perth

text: The rainfall pattern has changed in Perth and southwest Western Australia since the mid-1970s. A significant reduction in winter rainfall has been observed with a greater number of extreme rainfall events in the summer, such as the slow-moving storms on 8 February 1992 that brought of rain, heavy rainfall associated with a tropical low on 10 February 2017, which brought of rain, and the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Joyce on 15 January 2018 with . Perth was also hit by a severe thunderstorm on 22 March 2010, which brought of rain and large hail and caused significant damage in the metropolitan area.


title: Perth

text: With more than two million residents, Perth is one of the most isolated major cities in the world. The nearest city with a population of more than 100,000 is Adelaide, over away. Perth is geographically closer to both East Timor (), and Jakarta, Indonesia (), than to Sydney ().


title: Perth

text: Perth is Australia's fourth-most-populous city, having overtaken Adelaide's population in 1984. In June 2018 there were an estimated 2,059,484 residents in the Greater Perth area, representing an increase of approximately 1.1% from the 2017 estimate of 2,037,902.


title: Perth

text: Perth's population is notable for the high proportion of British- and Irish-born residents. At the 2021 Census, 169,938 England-born Perth residents were counted, ahead of even Sydney (151,614), despite the latter having well over twice the population.


title: Perth

text: The ethnic make-up of Perth changed in the second part of the 20th century when significant numbers of continental European immigrants arrived in the city. Prior to this, Perth's population had been almost completely Anglo-Celtic in ethnic origin. As Fremantle was the first landfall in Australia for many migrant ships coming from Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, Perth started to experience a diverse influx of people, including Italians, Greeks, Dutch, Germans, Turks, Croats, and Macedonians. The Italian influence in the Perth and Fremantle area has been substantial, evident in places like the "Cappuccino strip" in Fremantle featuring many Italian eateries and shops. In Fremantle, the traditional Italian blessing of the fleet festival is held every year at the start of the fishing season. In Northbridge every December is the San Nicola (Saint Nicholas) Festival, which involves a pageant followed by a concert, predominantly in Italian. Suburbs surrounding the Fremantle area, such as Spearwood and Hamilton Hill, also contain high concentrations of Italians, Croatians, and Portuguese. Perth has also been home to a small Jewish community since 1829  – numbering 5,082 in 2006 – who have emigrated primarily from Eastern Europe and more recently from South Africa.


title: Perth

text: A more recent wave of arrivals includes White South Africans. South Africans overtook those born in Italy as the fourth-largest foreign group in 2001. By 2016, there were 35,262 South Africans residing in Perth. Many Afrikaners and Anglo-Africans emigrated to Perth during the 1980s and 1990s, with the phrase "packing for Perth" becoming associated with South Africans who choose to emigrate abroad, sometimes regardless of the destination. As a result, the city has been described as "the Australian capital of South Africans in exile". The reason for Perth's popularity among white South Africans has often been attributed to the location, the vast amount of land, and the slightly warmer climate compared to other large Australian cities – Perth has a Mediterranean climate reminiscent of Cape Town.


title: Perth

text: Since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, Asia has become an increasingly important source of migrants, with communities from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and India all now well-established. There were 112,293 persons of Chinese descent in Perth in 2016 – 5.3% of the city's population. These are supported by the Australian Eurasian Association of Western Australia, which also serves a community of Portuguese-Malacca Eurasian or Kristang immigrants.


title: Perth

text: Middle Eastern immigrants have a presence in Perth. They come from a variety of countries, including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, The United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, and Afghanistan.


title: Perth

text: Perth also has one of the largest Latin American populations in Australia, with Brazilians and Chileans being the largest Latin American groups in Perth.


title: Perth

text: The Indian community includes a substantial number of Parsees who emigrated from Bombay – Perth being the closest Australian city to India – in 2021 those with Indian ancestry accounted for 3.5% of Perth's population Perth is also home to the largest population of Anglo-Burmese in the world; many settled here following the independence of Burma in 1948 with immigration taking off after 1962. The city is now the cultural hub for Anglo-Burmese worldwide. There is also a substantial Anglo-Indian population in Perth, who also settled in the city following the independence of India.


title: Perth

text: At the 2021 census, 2% of Perth's population identified as being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.


title: Perth

text: At the 2016 census, 73.5% of inhabitants spoke only English at home, with the next most common languages being Mandarin (2.3%), Italian (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.0%), Cantonese (1.0%) and Arabic (0.7%).


title: Perth

text: 32.1% of the 2016 census respondents in Perth had no religion, as against 29.6% of national population. In 1911, the national figure was 0.4%.


title: Perth

text: Catholics are the largest single Christian denomination in the Greater Perth area at 22%. The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross claims over 2,000 members. Perth is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth. Anglicans are 13.8% of the population. Perth is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Perth.


title: Perth

text: Buddhism and Islam each claim more than 40,000 adherents. Over 39,000 members of the Uniting Church in Australia live in Perth. Perth has the third largest Jewish population in Australia, numbering approximately 20,000, with both Orthodox and Progressive synagogues and a Jewish Day School. The Baháʼí community in Perth numbers around 1,500. Hinduism has over 20,000 adherents in Perth; the Diwali (festival of lights) celebration in 2009 attracted over 20,000 visitors. There are Hindu temples in Canning Vale, Anketell and a Swaminarayan temple in Bennett Springs. Hinduism is the fastest growing religion in Australia. Perth is also home to 12,000 Latter-day Saints and the Perth Australia Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


title: Perth

text: Perth, like the rest of Australia, is governed by three levels of government: local, state, and federal.


title: Perth

text: The Perth metropolitan area is divided into thirty local government bodies, including the City of Perth which administers Perth's central business district. The outer extent of the administrative region of Perth comprises the City of Wanneroo and the City of Swan to the north, the Shire of Mundaring, City of Kalamunda and the City of Armadale to the east, the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale to the southeast and the City of Rockingham to the southwest, and including the islands of Rottnest Island and Garden Island off the west coast.


title: Perth

text: Perth houses the Parliament of Western Australia and the Governor of Western Australia. , 42 of the Legislative Assembly's 59 seats and 18 of the Legislative Council's 36 seats are based in Perth's metropolitan area.


title: Perth

text: The state's highest court, the Supreme Court, is located in Perth, along with the District and Family Courts. The Magistrates' Court has six metropolitan locations.


title: Perth

text: Perth is represented by 10 full seats and significant parts of three others in the Federal House of Representatives, with the seats of Canning, Pearce, and Brand including some areas outside the metropolitan area.


title: Perth

text: The Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia (previously the Federal Magistrates Court) occupy the Commonwealth Law Courts building on Victoria Avenue, which is also the location for annual Perth sittings of Australia's High Court.


title: Perth

text: By virtue of its population and role as the administrative centre for business and government, Perth dominates the Western Australian economy, despite the major mining, petroleum, and agricultural export industries being located elsewhere in the state. Perth's function as the state's capital city, its economic base and population size have also created development opportunities for many other businesses oriented to local or more diversified markets.


title: Perth

text: Perth's economy has been changing in favour of the service industries since the 1950s. Although one of the major sets of services it provides is related to the resources industry and, to a lesser extent, agriculture, most people in Perth are not connected to either; they have jobs that provide services to other people in Perth.


title: Perth

text: As a result of Perth's relative geographical isolation, it has never had the necessary conditions to develop significant manufacturing industries other than those serving the immediate needs of its residents, mining, agriculture and some specialised areas, such as, in recent times, niche shipbuilding and maintenance. It was simply cheaper to import all the needed manufactured goods from either the eastern states or overseas.


title: Perth

text: Industrial employment influenced the economic geography of Perth. After WWII, Perth experienced suburban expansion aided by high levels of car ownership. Workforce decentralisation and transport improvements made it possible for the establishment of small-scale manufacturing in the suburbs. Many firms took advantage of relatively cheap land to build spacious, single-storey plants in suburban locations with plentiful parking, easy access and minimal traffic congestion. "The former close ties of manufacturing with near-central and/or rail-side locations were loosened."


title: Perth

text: Industrial estates such as Kwinana, Welshpool and Kewdale were post-war additions contributing to the growth of manufacturing south of the river. The establishment of the Kwinana industrial area was supported by standardisation of the east–west rail gauge linking Perth with eastern Australia. Since the 1950s the area has been dominated by heavy industry, including an oil refinery, steel-rolling mill with a blast furnace, alumina refinery, power station, and a nickel refinery. Another development, also linked with rail standardisation, was in 1968 when the Kewdale Freight Terminal was developed adjacent to the Welshpool industrial area, replacing the former Perth railway yards.


title: Perth

text: With significant population growth post-WWII, employment growth occurred not in manufacturing but in retail and wholesale trade, business services, health, education, community and personal services, and in public administration. Increasingly it was these services sectors, concentrated around the Perth metropolitan area, that provided jobs.


title: Perth

text: Perth has also become a hub of technology-focused startups since the early 2000s that provide a pool of highly skilled jobs to the Perth community. Companies such as Appbot, Agworld, Touchgram, and Healthengine all hail from Perth and have made headlines internationally. Programs like StartupWA and incubators such as Spacecubed and Vocus Upstart are all focused on creating a thriving startup culture in Perth and growing the next generation of Perth-based employers.


title: Perth

text: Education is compulsory in Western Australia between the ages of six and seventeen, corresponding to primary and secondary school. Tertiary education is available through several universities and technical and further education (TAFE) colleges.


title: Perth

text: Students may attend either public schools, run by the state government's Department of Education, or private schools, usually associated with a religion.


title: Perth

text: The Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) is the credential given to students who have completed Years 11 and 12 of their secondary schooling.


title: Perth

text: Perth is home to four public universities: the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Murdoch University, and Edith Cowan University. There is also one private university, the University of Notre Dame Australia, and a local campus of the Melbourne-based University of Divinity.


title: Perth

text: The University of Western Australia, which was founded in 1911, is renowned as one of Australia's leading research institutions. The university's monumental neo-classical architecture, most of which is carved from white limestone, is a notable tourist destination in the city. It is the only university in the state to be a member of the Group of Eight, as well as the Sandstone universities. It is also the state's only university to have produced a Nobel Laureate: Barry Marshall, who graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1975 and was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2005 with Robin Warren.


title: Perth

text: Curtin University, previously known as Western Australian Institute of Technology (1966-1986) and Curtin University of Technology (1986-2010), is Western Australia's largest university by student population.


title: Perth

text: Murdoch University was founded in 1973 and incorporates Western Australia's only veterinary school and, until its controversial closure in 2020, Australia's only theology programme to be completely integrated into a secular university.


title: Perth

text: Edith Cowan University was established in 1991 from the existing Western Australian College of Advanced Education which itself was formed on 11 December 1981 from the existing Teachers Colleges at Claremont, Nedlands, Churchlands, and Mount Lawley after Graylands had merged into Claremont, Churchlands and Mount Lawley in 1979. It incorporates the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.


title: Perth

text: The University of Notre Dame Australia was established in 1990. Notre Dame was established as a Catholic university with its lead campus in Fremantle and a large campus in Sydney. Its campus is in the west end of Fremantle, using historic port buildings built in the 1890s, giving Notre Dame a distinct European university atmosphere.


title: Perth

text: The Melbourne-based University of Divinity established a campus in Perth in 2022 through its admission of Wollaston College, the theological college of the Anglican Diocese of Perth, as a collegiate college of the University.


title: Perth

text: Colleges of TAFE provide trade and vocational training, including certificate- and diploma-level courses. TAFE began as a system of technical colleges and schools under the Education Department, from which they were separated in the 1980s and ultimately formed into regional colleges. Two are in the Perth metropolitan area: North Metropolitan TAFE (formerly Central Institute of Technology and West Coast Institute of Training); and South Metropolitan TAFE (formerly Polytechnic West and Challenger Institute of Technology).


title: Perth

text: The main newspapers for Perth are "The West Australian" and "The Sunday Times". Localised free community papers cater to each local government area. The local business paper is "Western Australian Business News".


title: Perth

text: Radio stations are on AM, FM and DAB+ frequencies. ABC stations include ABC News (585AM), 720 ABC Perth, Radio National (810AM), Classic FM (97.7FM) and Triple J (99.3FM). The six local commercial stations are 882 6PR and 1080 6IX on AM; Triple M Perth (92.9FM), Nova 93.7, Mix94.5, and 96FM on FM. DAB+ has mostly the same as both AM and FM plus national stations from the ABC/SBS, Radar Radio and Novanation, along with local stations My Perth Digital, Hot Country Perth, and 98five Christian radio. Major community radio stations include RTRFM (92.1FM), Sonshine FM (98.5FM), SportFM (91.3FM) and Curtin FM (100.1FM).


title: Perth

text: ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine and 10 were also broadcast in an analogue format until 16 April 2013, when the analogue transmission was switched off. Community station Access 31 closed in August 2008. In April 2010 a new community station, West TV, began transmission (in digital format only). West TV ceased broadcasting in February 2020.


title: Perth

text: Foxtel provides a subscription-based satellite and cable television service. Perth has its own local newsreaders on ABC (Pamela Medlen), Seven (Rick Ardon, Susannah Carr), Nine (Michael Thomson, Monika Kos) and Ten (Narelda Jacobs).


title: Perth

text: An annual telethon has been broadcast since 1968 to raise funds for charities including Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. The 24-hour Perth Telethon claims to be "the most successful fundraising event per capita in the world"


title: Perth

text: Online news media covering the Perth area include TheWest.com.au backed by "The West Australian", Perth Now from the newsroom of The Sunday Times, and WAToday from Nine Entertainment.


title: Perth

text: A number of annual cultural events are held in Perth. Held annually since 1953, Perth Festival is Australia's longest running annual cultural festival, and includes the Perth Writers Festival, the Winter Arts Festival and Fringe World. Perth also hosts annual music festivals including Listen Out, Origin and St Jerome's Laneway Festival. The Perth International Comedy Festival features a variety of local and international comedic talent, with performances held at the Astor Theatre and nearby venues in Mount Lawley, and regular night food markets throughout the summer months across Perth and its surrounding suburbs. Sculpture by the Sea showcases a range of local and international sculptors' creations along Cottesloe Beach. There is also a wide variety of public art and sculptures on display across the city, throughout the year.


title: Perth

text: The Perth Cultural Centre is home to many of the city's major arts, cultural and educational institutions, including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum, State Library of Western Australia, State Records Office, and Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA). The State Theatre Centre of Western Australia is also located there, and is the home of the Black Swan State Theatre Company and the Perth Theatre Company. Other performing arts companies based in Perth include the West Australian Ballet, the West Australian Opera and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, all of which present regular programmes. The Western Australian Youth Orchestras provide young musicians with performance opportunities in orchestral and other musical ensembles.


title: Perth

text: Perth is also home to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at Edith Cowan University, from which many actors and broadcasters have launched their careers. The city's main performance venues include the Riverside Theatre within the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, the Perth Concert Hall, the historic His Majesty's Theatre, the Regal Theatre in Subiaco and the Astor Theatre in Mount Lawley. Perth Arena can be configured as an entertainment or sporting arena, and concerts are also hosted at other sporting venues, including Optus Stadium, HBF Stadium, and nib Stadium. Outdoor concert venues include Quarry Amphitheatre, Supreme Court Gardens, Kings Park and Russell Square.


title: Perth

text: The largest performance area within the State Theatre Centre, the Heath Ledger Theatre, is named in honour of Perth-born film actor Heath Ledger. Other performers born and raised in Perth include


title: Perth

text: Judy Davis and Melissa George. Performers raised in Perth include Tim Minchin, Lisa McCune, Troye Sivan and Isla Fisher. Performers that studied in Perth at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts include Hugh Jackman and Lisa McCune.


title: Perth

text: Due to Perth's relative isolation from other Australian cities, overseas performing artists sometimes exclude it from their Australian tour schedules. This isolation, however, has helped foster a strong local music scene, with . Famous musical performers from Perth include the late AC/DC frontman Bon Scott, whose heritage-listed grave at Fremantle Cemetery is reportedly the most visited grave in Australia. Perth-born performer and artist Rolf Harris became known by the nickname "The Boy From Bassendean". Further notable music acts from Perth include The Triffids, The Scientists, The Drones, Tame Impala, and Karnivool.


title: Perth

text: Perth has inspired various artistic and cultural works. John Boyle O'Reilly, a Fenian convict transported to Western Australia, published "Moondyne" in 1879, the most famous early novel about the Swan River Colony. Perth is also the setting for various works by novelist Tim Winton, most notably "Cloudstreet" (1991). Songs that refer to the city include "I Love Perth" (1996) by Pavement, "Perth" (2011) by Bon Iver, and "Perth" (2015) by Beirut. Films shot or set in Perth include "Japanese Story" (2003), "These Final Hours" (2013), "Kill Me Three Times" (2014) and "Paper Planes" (2015).


title: Perth

text: Tourism is an important part of Perth's economy, with approximately 2.8 million domestic visitors and 0.7 million international visitors in the year ending March 2012. Tourist attractions are generally focused around the city centre, Fremantle, the coast, and the Swan River.


title: Perth

text: In addition to the Perth Cultural Centre, there are dozens of museums across the city. The Scitech Discovery Centre in is an interactive science museum, with regularly changing exhibitions on a large range of science and technology-based subjects. Scitech also conducts live science demonstration shows and operates the adjacent "Horizon" planetarium. The Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle displays maritime objects from all eras. It houses "Australia II", the yacht that won the 1983 America's Cup, as well as a former Royal Australian Navy submarine. Also in Fremantle is the Army Museum of Western Australia, situated within a historic artillery barracks. The museum consists of several galleries that reflect the Army's involvement in Western Australia and the military service of Western Australians. The museum holds numerous items of significance, including three Victoria Crosses. Aviation history is represented by the Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek, with its significant collection of aircraft, including a Lancaster bomber and a Catalina of the type operated from the Swan River during WWII.


title: Perth

text: There are many heritage sites in Perth's CBD, Fremantle, and other parts of the metropolitan areas. Some of the oldest remaining buildings, dating back to the 1830s, include the Round House in Fremantle, the Old Mill in South Perth, and the Old Court House in the city centre. Registers of important buildings are maintained by the Heritage Council of Western Australia and local governments. A late heritage building is the Perth Mint. Yagan Square connects Northbridge and the Perth CBD, with a 45-metre-high digital tower and the 9-metre statue "Wirin" designed by Noongar artist Tjyllyungoo. Elizabeth Quay is also a notable attraction in Perth, featuring Swan Bells, a panoramic view of Swan River, and the sculpture "Spanda" by artist Christian de Vietri.


title: Perth

text: Retail shopping in the Perth CBD is focused around Murray Street and Hay Street. Both these streets are pedestrian malls between William Street and Barrack Street. Forrest Place is another pedestrian mall, connecting the Murray Street mall to Wellington Street and the Perth railway station. A number of arcades run between Hay Street and Murray Street, including the Piccadilly Arcade, which housed the Piccadilly Cinema until it closed in late 2013. Other shopping precincts include Watertown in West Perth, featuring factory outlets for major brands, the historically significant Fremantle Markets, which date to 1897, and the Midland townsite on Great Eastern Highway, combining historic development around the Town Hall and Post Office buildings with the modern Midland Gate shopping centre further east. Joondalup's central business district is largely a shopping and retail area lined with townhouses and apartments, and also features Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City. Joondalup was granted the status of "tourism precinct" by the State Government in 2009, allowing for extended retail trading hours.


title: Perth

text: Restaurants, bars and nightclubs can be found in the entertainment hubs of Northbridge (just north of the Perth CBD), the west end of the CBD itself, Elizabeth Quay, Leederville, Scarborough and Fremantle. The Crown casino and resort is located at Burswood.


title: Perth

text: The Swan Valley, with fertile soil, uncommon in the Perth region, features numerous wineries, such as the large complex at Houghtons, the state's biggest producer, Sandalfords and many smaller operators, including microbreweries and rum distilleries. The Swan Valley also contains specialised food producers, many restaurants and cafes, and roadside local produce stalls that sell seasonal fruit throughout the year. Tourist Drive 203 is a circular route in the Swan Valley, passing by many attractions on West Swan Road and Great Northern Highway.


title: Perth

text: Kings Park, in central Perth between the CBD and the University of Western Australia, is one of the world's largest inner-city parks, at . It has many landmarks and attractions, including the State War Memorial Precinct on Mount Eliza, Western Australian Botanic Garden, and children's playgrounds. Other features include DNA Tower, a high double helix staircase that resembles the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule, and Jacob's Ladder, comprising 242 steps that lead down to Mounts Bay Road.


title: Perth

text: Hyde Park is another inner-city park north of the CBD. It was gazetted as a public park in 1897, created from of a chain of wetlands known as Third Swamp. Avon Valley, John Forrest and Yanchep national parks are areas of protected bushland at the northern and eastern edges of the metropolitan area. Within the city's northern suburbs is Whiteman Park, a bushland area, with bushwalking trails, bike paths, sports facilities, playgrounds, a vintage tramway, a light railway on a track, motor and tractor museums, and Caversham Wildlife Park.


title: Perth

text: Perth Zoo, in South Perth, houses a variety of Australian and exotic animals from around the globe. The zoo is home to highly successful breeding programs for orangutans and giraffes, and participates in captive breeding and reintroduction efforts for a number of Western Australian species, including the numbat, the dibbler, the chuditch, and the western swamp tortoise.


title: Perth

text: More wildlife can be observed at the Aquarium of Western Australia in Hillarys, Australia's largest aquarium, specialising in marine animals that inhabit the western coast of Australia. The northern Perth section of the coastline is known as Sunset Coast; it includes numerous beaches and the Marmion Marine Park, a protected area inhabited by tropical fish, Australian sea lions and bottlenose dolphins, and traversed by humpback whales. Tourist Drive 204, also known as Sunset Coast Tourist Drive, is a designated route from North Fremantle to Iluka along coastal roads.


title: Perth

text: The climate of Perth allows for extensive outdoor sporting activity, and this is reflected in the wide variety of sports available to residents of the city. Perth was host to the 1962 Commonwealth Games and the 1987 America's Cup defence (based at Fremantle). Australian rules football is the most popular spectator sport in Perth – nearly 23% of Western Australians attended a match at least once in 2009–2010. The two Australian Football League teams located in Perth, the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Football Club, have two of the largest fan bases in the country. The Eagles, the older club, is one of the most successful teams in the league, and one of the largest sporting clubs in Australia. The next level of football is the Western Australian Football League, comprising nine clubs each having a League, Reserves, and Colts team. Each of these clubs has a junior football system for ages 7 to 17. The next level of Australian rules football is the Perth Football League, comprising 68 clubs servicing senior footballers within the metropolitan area. Other popular sports include cricket, basketball, soccer, and rugby union.


title: Perth

text: Perth has hosted numerous state and international sporting events. Ongoing international events include the ATP Cup (replacing the Hopman Cup in 2020) during the first week of January at the Perth Arena, and the Perth International golf tournament at Lake Karrinyup Country Club. In addition to these Perth has hosted the Rally Australia of the World Rally Championships from 1989 to 2006, international Rugby Union games, including qualifying and pool stage matches for the 2003 Rugby World Cup and the Bledisloe Cup in 2019. The 1991 and 1998 FINA World Championships were held in Perth.


title: Perth

text: Four races (2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010) in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship have been held on a stretch of the Swan River called Perth Water, using Langley Park as a temporary airfield. Several motorsport facilities exist in Perth including Perth Motorplex, catering to drag racing and speedway, and Wanneroo Raceway for circuit racing and drifting, which hosts a V8 Supercars round. Perth also has two thoroughbred racing facilities: Ascot, home of the Railway Stakes and Perth Cup; and Belmont Park. Daniel Ricciardo is a Perth-born Formula 1 driver who is currently driving for the McLaren Formula 1 team.


title: Perth

text: The WACA Ground opened in the 1890s and has hosted Test cricket since 1970. The Western Australian Athletics Stadium opened in 2009.


title: Perth

text: Perth has ten large hospitals with emergency departments. , Royal Perth Hospital in the city centre is the largest, with others spread around the metropolitan area: Armadale Kelmscott District Memorial Hospital, Joondalup Health Campus, King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in Subiaco, Rockingham General Hospital, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, St John of God Murdoch and Subiaco Hospitals, Midland Health Campus in Midland, and Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch. Perth Children's Hospital is the state's only specialist children's hospital, and Graylands Hospital is the only public stand-alone psychiatric teaching hospital. Most of these are public hospitals, with some operating under public-private partnerships. St John of God Murdoch and Subiaco Hospitals, and Hollywood Hospital are large privately owned and operated hospitals.


title: Perth

text: Perth is served by Perth Airport in the city's east for regional, domestic and international flights and Jandakot Airport in the city's southern suburbs for general aviation and charter flights.


title: Perth

text: Perth has a road network with three freeways and nine metropolitan highways. The Northbridge tunnel, part of the Graham Farmer Freeway, is the only significant road tunnel in Perth.


title: Perth

text: Perth metropolitan public transport, including trains, buses and ferries, are provided by Transperth, with links to rural areas provided by Transwa. There are 70 railway stations and 15 bus stations in the metropolitan area.


title: Perth

text: Perth provides zero-fare bus and train trips around the city centre (the "Free Transit Zone"), including four high-frequency CAT bus routes.


title: Perth

text: The "Indian Pacific" passenger rail service connects Perth with Adelaide and Sydney once per week in each direction. The "Prospector" passenger rail service connects Perth with Kalgoorlie via several Wheatbelt towns, while the "Australind" connects to Bunbury, and the "AvonLink" connects to Northam.


title: Perth

text: Perth's main container and passenger port is at Fremantle, south west at the mouth of the Swan River. The Fremantle Outer Harbour at Cockburn Sound is one of Australia's major bulk cargo ports.


title: Perth

text: Perth's electricity is predominantly generated, supplied, and retailed by three Western Australian Government corporations. Verve Energy operates coal and gas power generation stations, as well as wind farms and other power sources. The physical network is maintained by Western Power, while Synergy, the state's largest energy retailer, sells electricity to residential and business customers.


title: Perth

text: Alinta Energy, which was previously a government owned company, had a monopoly in the domestic gas market since the 1990s. However, in 2013 Kleenheat Gas began operating in the market, allowing consumers to choose their gas retailer.


title: Perth

text: The Water Corporation is the dominant supplier of water, as well as wastewater and drainage services, in Perth and throughout Western Australia. It is also owned by the state government.


title: Perth

text: Perth's water supply has traditionally relied on both groundwater and rain-fed dams. Reduced rainfall in the region over recent decades had greatly lowered inflow to reservoirs and affected groundwater levels. Coupled with the city's relatively high growth rate, this led to concerns that Perth could run out of water in the near future. The Western Australian Government responded by building desalination plants, and introducing mandatory household sprinkler restrictions. The Kwinana Desalination Plant was opened in 2006, and Southern Seawater Desalination Plant at Binningup (on the coast between Mandurah and Bunbury) began operating in 2011. A trial winter (1 June – 31 August) sprinkler ban was introduced in 2009 by the State Government, a move which the Government later announced would be made permanent.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award nominee.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan began her professional stage career in 1987 and made her Broadway debut in 1993 as a replacement in the original production of "The Sisters Rosensweig". She was featured in season 1 episode 22 of Home Improvement as Jill’s sister going through a relationship spat during Tim’s poker game. She went on to receive Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the 2000 revival of "Uncle Vanya" and the 2005 revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire". She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Helene McCready in the 2007 film "Gone Baby Gone". The role also earned her a Golden Globe nomination and won her a Critics' Choice Award. Her other films include "Changeling" (2008), "Win Win" (2011) and "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" (2014). On television, she played Beadie Russell in HBO's "The Wire" (2002–2008), Holly Flax in NBC's "The Office" (2008–2011) and Adele Brousse in HBO's "In Treatment" (2010). In 2021, she had a main role in the Hulu comedy series "Only Murders in the Building".


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan was born Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski in Flushing, Queens in New York City, the daughter of Pamela (née Ryan), a nurse, and John Dziewiontkowski, a trucking business owner. She is of Polish, Irish, and English descent. Growing up in the 1970s, Ryan and her sister Laura delivered the "Daily News" by bike. At a young age, Ryan attended the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Center in upstate New York. At 17, she graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts. Hired for the national tour of "Biloxi Blues" right out of high school, Ryan worked steadily off-Broadway for the next decade. She chose her mother's maiden name as her stage name.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan made her off-Broadway debut in the Westside Theatre's 1987 production of "A Shayna Maidel", playing the role of Hanna. The following year she was seen in the Second Stage Theatre Company's revival of "The Rimers of Eldritch". Additional off-Broadway credits include "As Bees In Honey Drown", "Crimes of the Heart" and "Saved". She also worked in regional theater, where she originated roles in new plays by Neil LaBute, Arthur Miller and Neil Simon. On Broadway she has appeared as Tess in "The Sisters Rosensweig", Natasha in the 1997 revival of "The Three Sisters", and Peggy in the 2001–2002 revival of "The Women."


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play twice: in 2000, for her portrayal of Sonya Alexandrovna in "Uncle Vanya", and in 2005, for her performance as Stella Kowalski opposite John C. Reilly in "A Streetcar Named Desire."


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan received some of the best reviews of her career for her leading role in the Roundabout Theater Company's 2016 production of "Love, Love, Love". Ben Brantley of "The New York Times" praised her "smashing comic performance," "The Hollywood Reporter" called her work "emotionally vital," and "The Associated Press" raved that "Ryan is absolutely magnetic ... nailing her charming, unpredictable character with perfect comedic timing." In an article exploring various famous actresses working on the stage, "The Washington Post" theater critic Peter Marks highlighted Ryan's work in the play:


title: Amy Ryan

text: The revelation is not that Amy Ryan is good. It's that she's "this" good ... Ryan, whose range has been apparent for years, in dramatic performances nominated for Tonys ("Uncle Vanya") and Oscars ("Gone Baby Gone"), as well as in nuanced comic turns on television shows like "The Office", manages a feat in "Love, Love, Love" that she's never accomplished so fluidly before: taking charge. She delivers a front-and-center performance of such beguiling dynamism (in a thoroughly convincing English accent) that you feel this Roundabout Theatre Company production has done for her precisely what was intended. It exposes a new facet of her talent — and leaves us with that uplifting itch, to be there the next time she's on a stage.


title: Amy Ryan

text: For her performance in "Love, Love, Love", Ryan won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play and the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Following a brief stint playing a runaway on "As the World Turns", Ryan was cast in television series such as "I'll Fly Away", After roles on "ER" and "Chicago Hope", Ryan became a series regular on "The Naked Truth" as Téa Leoni's spoiled stepdaughter. In 1993, she made her first appearance on NBC's "Law & Order", appearing in several episodes over the years.


title: Amy Ryan

text: By 2001, director Sidney Lumet cast her in "100 Centre Street" playing three different roles (Ellen, Paris and Rebecca). Ryan went on to feature prominently in the second season of HBO's "The Wire", playing Port Authority Officer Beadie Russell. She appeared for a six-episode arc on "The Office" as dorky HR rep Holly Flax. She reprised her role on "The Office" in seasons 5 and 7.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan joined the cast of HBO's "In Treatment" for its third season, playing the therapist of Dr. Paul Weston.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Because of the deletion of the scene where she played Eric Stoltz's wife in Allison Anders's "Grace of My Heart," Ryan made her 1999 film debut in "Roberta". She then briefly appeared in "You Can Count on Me", which starred Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo, and the mystery/thriller "Keane". Albert Brooks chose her to play his wife in "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" in 2005, and 2007 brought both "Dan in Real Life" and "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead". Her role as a star-struck sheriff's wife in "Capote" earned her positive reviews, but it was playing a hardened welfare mom in Ben Affleck's "Gone Baby Gone" that finally brought her national attention.


title: Amy Ryan

text: After being voted Best Supporting Actress for "Gone Baby Gone" by the National Board of Review, as well as the critics circles in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., Ryan's performance was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting role at the 80th Academy Awards.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan appeared in "Changeling" (2008), directed by Clint Eastwood, and opposite Matt Damon in Paul Greengrass's "Green Zone" (2010). In September 2010, she completed filming a role in Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial film debut, "Jack Goes Boating", taking over the role of Connie originally played by Beth Cole in the stage version. Ryan received strong notices for her performance in Tom McCarthy's "Win Win" the next year, winning Best Supporting Actress awards from multiple regional critics groups.


title: Amy Ryan

text: Ryan was a part of the core ensemble of the 2014 Best Picture Academy Award winning film "Birdman", sharing in the cast's Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture victory. In 2015, she starred as Mary Donovan opposite Tom Hanks in the film "Bridge of Spies", and reunited with her "In Treatment" co-star Gabriel Byrne in "Louder Than Bombs", the English-language debut of Joachim Trier. Early the next year, Ryan was cast as Tracy, her first on-screen leading role, in "Abundant Acreage Available", a rural family drama from "Junebug" screenwriter Angus MacLachlan. Upon the film's premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, Ryan drew universal acclaim for her performance, with "The Wrap" noting that she "holds the screen no matter what she's doing and who she's with" and "Flavorwire" raving that Ryan "sounds notes that are quietly dazzling in their complexity." "Variety" chief film critic Peter Debruge dubbed the performance a career highlight:


title: Amy Ryan

text: It's a pleasure to see such a fine actress navigate the nuances of her role ... Only on the big screen are we able to fully appreciate the minutely detailed nature of Ryan's performance, revealing Tracy's soul via the slightest narrowing of the eyes or the almost-subliminal tensing of her cheekbones. As we know, "Junebug" earned Amy Adams an Oscar nomination, and if the world were fair, this role would bring another Amy similar attention.


title: Amy Ryan

text: In 2018, Ryan co-starred in "Beautiful Boy" for Amazon Studios, a dark family drama, with her "The Office" co-star Steve Carell, and Timothée Chalamet. She was then among the ensemble cast of 2019's "Late Night", the Mindy Kaling-penned comedy about a female late-night talk show host (Emma Thompson); and "Strange but True", a noir-thriller based on the novel by John Searles. In 2020, Ryan starred as Mari Gilbert, a real life woman searching for her missing daughter, in Netflix's mystery thriller "Lost Girls".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Batman: The Animated Series (often shortened as Batman TAS or BTAS) is an American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. Developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Mitch Brian, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, it originally aired on Fox Kids from September 5, 1992, to September 15, 1995, with a total of 85 episodes. In 1994, the series began airing under the on-screen title The Adventures of Batman & Robin, which was also used for Fox Kids' re-runs of earlier episodes. In 1997, "The New Batman Adventures" began airing on Kids' WB as a continuation of the series, lasting 24 episodes. It featured a drastically different animation style and character redesigns, as well as a few voice cast changes. Despite these differences, it has often been included in the same syndicated re-run packages, home video releases, and (more recently) streaming service releases under the original title.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: "Batman: The Animated Series" was praised for its darker tone, mature writing, and thematic complexity compared to previous superhero cartoon shows, in addition to its artistic presentation, film noir aesthetics, voice acting, orchestrated soundtrack, and modernization of its title character. IGN.com listed the series as the best adaptation of Batman anywhere outside of comics, the best comic book television show of all time and the second-best animated series of all time (after "The Simpsons"). "Wizard" magazine also ranked it No. 2 of the greatest animated television shows of all time (again after "The Simpsons"). "TV Guide" ranked it the seventh-greatest cartoon of all time. The widespread acclaim led the series to win four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series became the first in the continuity of the shared DC Animated Universe, spawning further animated TV series, feature films, comic books and video games with most of the same creative talent. These include "" (1996–2000), "Batman Beyond" (1999–2001), "Static Shock" (2000–2004), "Justice League" (2001–2004), "Justice League Unlimited" (2004–2006), the theatrical film "" (1993), and the direct-to-video films "" (1998), "" (2000) and "" (2003). Another continuation of the series is in development in the form of an audio podcast drama, with most of the cast returning along with writer Alan Burnett.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series took influence from Tim Burton's live-action films, "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992), and the acclaimed "Superman" theatrical cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios in the early 1940s. In designing the series, Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski emulated the Burton films' "otherworldly timelessness", incorporating period features such as black-and-white title cards, police airships and a "vintage" color scheme with film noir flourishes.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The visual style of the series was based on the artwork of Radomski, and the gothic look of Gotham City was derived from his initial designs. In addition, Radomski issued a standing order to the animation department that all backgrounds be painted using light colors on black paper (as opposed to the industry standard of dark colors on white paper). The distinctive visual combination of "noir" imagery and Art Deco design was dubbed "Dark Deco" by the producers.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series initially took a variation of music written by Danny Elfman for the Burton films as its theme; later episodes of the series used a new theme with a similar style by Shirley Walker, an occasional collaborator of Elfman. The score of the series was influenced by Elfman's work on the Burton films, as well as music of 1940s film noir.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series is more adult-oriented than many previous superhero cartoons, though still considered appropriate for younger viewers. It depicts outright physical violence against antagonists, including realistic firearms (though only one character, Commissioner Gordon, was ever depicted as having been shot, in the episode "I Am the Night"). First-time producers Timm and Radomski reportedly encountered resistance from studio executives, but the success of Burton's first film allowed the embryonic series to survive long enough to produce a pilot episode, "On Leather Wings", which, according to Timm, "got a lot of people off our backs". During the series' production, producer Alan Burnett wrote an episode without dialogue entitled "Silent Night" to explore more of Batman's sexual life, but this was never produced. Burnett also intended to make an episode featuring a female vampire that would bite Batman to suck his blood, but plans never materialized.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series is also notable for its supporting cast. Numerous known actors provided voices for a variety of recognizable villains. Most notable was Mark Hamill, previously famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, whose prominence as a voice actor was heightened through his "cheerfully deranged" portrayal of the Joker. The role was originally given to Tim Curry, but he developed bronchitis during the initial recording sessions. John Glover, who later voiced the Riddler, also auditioned for the Joker role. Hamill, who found himself to be the biggest fan of the Batman comics among the cast, credited the laughs he had honed on stage in "Amadeus" with landing him the role. The recording sessions, under the supervision of voice director Andrea Romano, were recorded with the actors together in one studio instead of taking separate recordings, as is typical. This method would later be employed for all subsequent series in the DC Animated Universe. Al Pacino was considered to voice Two-Face in the series, but he declined the offer; Richard Moll was instead cast in the role. Other actors included Ron Perlman as Clayface, Roddy McDowall as the Mad Hatter, David Warner as Ra's al Ghul, Michael York as Count Vertigo, Kate Mulgrew as Red Claw, George Murdock as , Ed Asner as Roland Daggett and George Dzundza as the Ventriloquist.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: One of the series' best-known inventions is the Joker's assistant, Harley Quinn, who became so popular that DC Comics later added her to mainstream comic book continuity. The Penguin underwent change for the series; his appearance was remodeled after the version seen in "Batman Returns", which was in production simultaneously with the series' first season. New life was also given to lesser-known characters for the series, such as the Clock King. In addition, dramatic changes were made to other villains such as Clayface and Mr. Freeze, the latter of whom was changed from a gimmicky mad scientist to a tragic figure whose "frigid exterior [hid] a doomed love and vindictive fury".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The Joker's accomplice Harley Quinn, Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya, the vigilante Lock-Up, former actor Simon Trent, brainwashed comedian-turned-supervillain Condiment King, and ninja Kyodai Ken are original creations who became characters in the comics. Older villains that were lesser known from the comics, such as Count Vertigo, the Mirror Man and the Clock King, were modified for the series in both appearance and personality. Other original antagonists were created, such as Roland Daggett, Red Claw, Lloyd Ventrix, the Sewer King, Boss Biggis, Grant Walker, H.A.R.D.A.C., and Emile Dorian, but to little acclaim, and did not make any appearances outside the series, though Daggett was re-imagined as businessman John Daggett for "The Dark Knight Rises".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Aside from creating characters that crossed over into the main line of DC Comics, several of the series' reinterpretations were carried over as well. Mr. Freeze was revised in the comics to emulate the series' tragic story, the success of which actually compelled DC to bring the character back after "killing" him off some years earlier. Clayface was revised to be much more similar in appearance to his animated counterpart; and Two-Face's double-sided, black-and-white suit has become a common appearance for the character.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: At the age of eight, Bruce Wayne, the son of billionaire philanthropists, witnessed the murder of his parents, Thomas and Martha, during a mugging on the street. The event left him traumatized and mentally scarred for the rest of his life. This left Bruce to be cared for by his family's butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Over the years, Bruce slowly turned the pain and trauma he sustained into a burning fuel for a lifelong obsession, as he underwent rigorous training in mental and physical conditioning, the martial arts, criminology, sciences, manhunting, forensics, detective work, interrogation methods and intimidation, for the next years of his life. Having observed the rampant crime and corruption across Gotham City, he chose to deal with the crime-wave in Gotham in his own way, by using his years of training and swore an oath to dedicate his entire life to fighting crime, in a bid to avenge the murder of his parents and to use his pain and suffering to drive him to do good, while being guided by his self-enforced moral code to never kill and to refrain from using firearms. Inspired by the presence of bats, his childhood fear, which used to be present around his home, Bruce chose to undertake the alias of The Batman, a feared, near-mythical and bat-masked vigilante.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Kevin Conroy used different voices to distinguish between his portrayal of Bruce Wayne and Batman, a tactic used previously by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's live-action films. Conroy based his dual-voice performance on the 1934 film adaptation of "The Scarlet Pimpernel".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Dick Grayson's history in the show mirrors that in the comics: The episode "Robin's Reckoning" reveals that Grayson and his parents were acrobats in Haly's Circus. Following the tragic deaths of Grayson's parents at the hands of mobster Tony Zucco, Bruce Wayne adopts Dick and eventually takes him on as a protégé.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series also redefined the original Robin/Dick Grayson. While much of Dick's past remains the same, his Robin costume is modernized with short sleeves and long tights, exactly like Tim Drake's original Robin outfit but with a non-italicized "R" symbol. In addition, Dick is given a more serious and mature personality to match the tone of the series (although he does have comedic moments occasionally). The episode "Batgirl Returns" establishes that Dick and Barbara Gordon attend the same college and that they are friends, but neither one knows the secret identity of the other. Their relationship is one of the plot elements of the film "".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: His changing relationship with Batman into a more tenser one is also highlighted in the show, with the two-parter episode "Robin's Reckoning" and the episode "Night of the Ninja" examining this. This would eventually come to a head as depicted in "The New Batman Adventures" episode "Old Wounds", where Dick abandons the Robin persona in response to Batman's growing coldness and leaves Gotham.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Barbara Gordon is first seen in the two-parter "Heart of Steel", where she becomes convinced that her father is an impostor. She makes her first appearance as her alter ego Batgirl in "Shadow of the Bat", after her father Commissioner Gordon is arrested under charges of corruption. Her Batgirl costume is exactly the same from "The Adventures of Batman" and the Bronze Age of Comics, sporting the same gray bodysuit, blue cape and cowl and yellow bat-symbol and utility belt, but with blue gloves and boots to mirror that of Batman's costume instead of yellow ones (except in the first part of "Shadow of the Bat", where she sported a black cape, cowl, gloves, boots and undergarment similar to the ones in Batman's costume). She makes several appearances throughout the series, and attends the same university as Dick Grayson, though neither of them is aware of each other's crimefighting alter ego. In "Batgirl Returns", Barbara actually makes a cease fire deal with Catwoman, and they work together in solving the case of missing valuable cat statues while Batman is away. All of Barbara's/Batgirl's appearances are in episodes written by Brynne Stephens.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Though the Joker's origin is never shown in the series (one of only two villains in the series who never got an origin episode, the other one being The Penguin), some of his past is seen in the feature film "". In flashbacks, he is shown before his accident but does not speak or is referred to by name. His potential real name, Jack Napier (the same name of Jack Nicholson's version of the character from Tim Burton's 1989 film), is established in the episodes "Dreams in Darkness" when it is spoken by Dr. Bartholomew and in "Joker's Wild" where it is written in a dossier. The use of this origin was due to the show being heavily patterned after the success and influential tone of Tim Burton's film. However, when "The New Batman Adventures" began, during the era of Joel Schumacher's films, Joker's origin was retained but his identity was retconned as being merely one of many aliases as seen in the episode "Beware the Creeper", meaning his true identity is still unknown. This reflected the efforts of the writers to put the character back in line with his conflicting multiple origins from the comics.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In "Mask of the Phantasm", the man who would become the Joker started out as a chauffeur and hitman for mobsters Salvatore Valestra, Buzz Bronski and Chuckie Sol. On two occasions, he saw Bruce Wayne and the two exchanged glances years before they would clash as the Joker and Batman later. It is hinted in the rest of the series, presumably after the Valestra Mob had gone their separate ways, the man struck out on his own and formed a small gang. The man broke into the ACE Chemical Plant that marked the first time he encountered Batman, a fight which ended with him falling off a catwalk and into a drainage vat of chemicals. He was washed out into the bay and discovered the chemicals bleached his skin chalk white, dyed his hair green, stained his lips red, leaving them in a permanent rictus smile, and dyed his suit purple. This new, clown-like appearance snapped his already sadistic mind and drove him to eternal insanity. He reinvented himself as the Joker, Batman's greatest enemy and Gotham City's most dangerous costumed criminal.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: While the use of this origin was based on the Jack Nicholson version, Mark Hamill was given the note "Don't do Nicholson" before his audition. During production, Hamill asked the production team (consisting of Timm, Radomski, and Romano) if he could play one of the villains after a small appearance as Ferris Boyle in “”. Even though Tim Curry had already recorded a few episodes, Hamill was given the part after Curry developed bronchitis and departed the series. Hamill, who found himself to be the biggest fan of the Batman comics among the cast, credited the laughs he had honed on stage in "Amadeus" with landing him the role. He worked to craft a multifaceted laugh for the Joker that could change to reflect the Joker's current mood, likening it to a musical instrument. When recording his lines with the other actors, Hamill would stand while the other actors would remain seated to invest himself in the role. Hamill's take on the Joker's laugh (and the role in general) is considered to be groundbreaking for the voice-acting industry, and led to Hamill having an enormously successful voice-acting career. Of the many influences for his performance, including Jay Leno and Howard Cosell, Hamill cited Claude Rains' performance in the 1933 film "The Invisible Man".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Other antagonists that appeared in the series included classic villains such as Poison Ivy, Catwoman, the Riddler, Two-Face, the Mad Hatter, Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, Man-Bat, the Penguin, the Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Bane, the Ventriloquist and his dummy Scarface, Hugo Strange and Tony Zucco. Friends and allies of Batman featured in the show not previously mentioned include Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Bullock, the Gray Ghost (an original character created by the series to portray Bruce Wayne's childhood hero and crimefighting inspiration, voiced by Adam West, the actor who had played Batman in the 1960s "Batman" series), Lucius Fox, and Leslie Thompkins.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In order to complete the first season's 65 episodes, Warner Bros. Animation outsourced the series to several different overseas animation houses: Spectrum Animation, Sunrise, Studio Junio and Tokyo Movie Shinsha in Japan, Dong Yang Animation, Koko Enterprises Ltd. and AKOM in South Korea, Jade Animation in Hong Kong, Blue Pencil in Spain and Network of Animation (NOA) in Canada. TMS also animated the first season's opening theme sequence. AKOM was eventually fired due to its inconsistent animation in many episodes such as "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Moon of the Wolf".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The 20 episodes of the second season were animated largely by Dong Yang, with the exception of three done by Studio Junio ("A Bullet for Bullock", "Avatar" and "Baby-Doll") and one done by Jade Animation ("The Terrible Trio").


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On the commentary track for "" on the "Batman: The Animated Series, Volume One" DVD, producer Bruce Timm stated that Spectrum was responsible for airbrushing Mr. Freeze's helmet in every frame that featured him. Such attention to detail ultimately drove the studio to bankruptcy; most of their staff members are now working for Production I.G.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The show also featured numerous adaptations of various Batman comics stories. The following episodes were adaptations:


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Sixteen minutes of animated segments in the video game "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" for the Sega CD are sometimes referred to as a "lost episode" of the series. These segments are intended to be interspersed between gameplay elements of an early-1990s video game and as such, the sound, color and story are not quite of the same quality of the actual television program. And because Sega did not have to follow the censorship rules of the show, the fights are also a little more violent. Many of the shows voice actors reprised their roles for the game, and are thus in the lost episode as well. Similar cutscenes appear throughout the video games "" and "".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: "The Animated Series" was accompanied by a tie-in comic book, "The Batman Adventures", which followed the art style and continuity of "The Animated Series" instead of other Batman comic books. "The Batman Adventures", through several format changes to reflect the changing world of the series and its spin-offs, outlasted the series itself by nearly a decade, finally being cancelled in 2004 to make way for the tie-in comic of the then-new, unrelated Batman animated series; "The Batman". The character of Harley Quinn's first official comic appearance occurred in issue No. 12 of the series. It has become highly sought after by collectors and fans of the character.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: It is a tie-in for "Batman: The Animated Series" and "The Batman Adventures", with 8 issues published between 1993 and 1995. The stories feature the appearances of Superman and other DC characters before their appearances in the base series and spinoff television series, but otherwise unrelated to the stories in the subsequent television series.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: DC announced in February 2020 that Paul Dini, Alan Burnett and artist Ty Templeton would be leading a new miniseries, "", to be first published in April 2020, based on the animated series and following shortly after its conclusion, with Tim Drake still adjusting as the new Robin to Batman.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: There was also a short-lived series of tie-in novels, adapted from episodes of the series by science fiction author Geary Gravel. To achieve novel-length, Gravel combined several related episodes into a single storyline in each novel. The novels included:


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: "Batman: The Animated Series" premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company's children's block Fox Kids on September 5, 1992, and aired in that block during weekday afternoons at 4:30 pm. In December, just three months after its debut, Fox also began airing episodes of the series on prime-time Sunday evenings (followed by the live-action sitcom "Shaky Ground"); however, the TV ratings fell short (as the show aired opposite the perennial favorite "60 Minutes"), and the series was removed from this time slot in March 1993.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: After the series produced its 65th episode (the minimum number necessary for a TV series to be successfully syndicated), Fox Network executives ordered a second season of 20 more episodes that was later reduced to airing weekly on Saturday mornings. The second season featured Robin more prominently and, as a result, was retitled "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" in the title credits; this run of episodes had two new opening sequences and ending credits. In total, the series reached 85 episodes before finishing its original run on September 15, 1995.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In 1997, following the end of Fox Kids' five-year exclusive broadcast contract, the series began airing in reruns on The WB Network's children's block Kids' WB. Later that year, "The New Batman Adventures" premiered on Kids' WB, airing alongside "" as part of an hour-long program titled "The New Batman/Superman Adventures".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Cartoon Network aired reruns of "Batman: The Animated Series" from March 2, 1998, to August 18, 2004. On July 3, 2000, the series was added to Cartoon Network's Toonami line-up. In 2005, reruns of the series were aired on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series later began airing on Toon Disney's Jetix line-up on September 30, 2007, again alongside "Superman: The Animated Series" (despite Warner Bros. being one of Disney's biggest competitors).


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The show aired on Teletoon Retro (a Canadian broadcasting channel), debuting on January 8, 2010. The first 65 episodes were confirmed, with the first being "The Cat and Claw, Part 1". The show was scheduled to air on a weekly basis, airing at 7:00 am, 6:00 pm, and midnight. All times are Eastern.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The Hub started broadcasting the series on September 6, 2011. The channel aired a 10-episode marathon of the series on July 20, 2012, to coincide with the theatrical release of "The Dark Knight Rises" and even created an animated version of one of the film's trailers, featuring Kevin Conroy and Adrienne Barbeau re-dubbing Batman and Catwoman's dialogue from the trailer.<ref name="BTAS/TDKR trailer">BTAS/TDKR trailer on The Hub, Web Video.</ref>


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: "Batman: The Animated Series" has been consistently ranked as one of the greatest animated television shows ever made. It has been critically acclaimed for its sophistication, mature tone, complex story, voice acting, orchestrated soundtrack, artistic ambition, and faithfulness to the source material. In 1992, "Entertainment Weekly" ranked the series as one of the top television series of the year.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In his reference book, "Batman: The Complete History", Les Daniels described "The Animated Series" as coming "as close as any artistic statement has to defining the look of Batman for the 1990s." Animation historian Charles Solomon gave the series a somewhat mixed assessment, commenting that "the dark, Art Deco-influenced backgrounds tended to eclipse the stiff animation and pedestrian storytelling" and concluding that the series "looked better in stills than it did on the screen."


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: IGN listed "The Animated Series" as the best adaptation of Batman anywhere outside of comics, the best comic book cartoon of all time, and the second-best animated series of all time (after "The Simpsons"). "Wizard" magazine also ranked it No. 2 of the greatest animated television shows of all time (again after "The Simpsons"). TV Guide ranked "Batman: The Animated Series" the seventh-greatest cartoon of all time (out of 60).


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Due to the success of "Batman: The Animated Series", many crew members went on to design and produce "" for The WB. During this time they created "The New Batman Adventures", which featured the same streamlined animation style as "Superman: The Animated Series", as well as numerous character re-designs from the original series despite taking place in the same continuity.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In 1999, a futuristic spin-off series titled "Batman Beyond" premiered on The WB, featuring a teenager named Terry McGinnis taking on the duties of Batman under the guidance of an elderly Bruce Wayne. Then in 2001, the "Justice League" animated series premiered on Cartoon Network, featuring Batman as one of the founding members of the League. This was continued in 2004 by "Justice League Unlimited", featuring a greatly expanded League. Many DC cartoons unrelated to the larger DC animated universe, such as "Teen Titans" and "The Batman", also featured character designs strongly influenced by those of Bruce Timm.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The dramatic writing and stylized art of "Batman: The Animated Series" separates it from many traditional comic book-based cartoons. It can be considered the dramatic equivalent of more adult-oriented cartoon shows like "The Simpsons". For this reason the show's popularity (along with that of its various spin-offs) endures among older audiences and comic book fans.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The Lego minifigures of various Batman characters are more strongly based on the designs from "Batman: The Animated Series" than any other form of Batman media. More precisely, the Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze and Harley Quinn's minifigures seem to have identical costumes and faces to the characters from the series.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The dark atmosphere, mature themes, and even some of the voice cast from the series are employed in the "" video game series. Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, Robert Costanzo reprising their roles, while actors like Adrienne Barbeau and Loren Lester lent their voice to other characters. Furthermore, the first two games are co-written by series veteran Paul Dini. Also, Batman's design and costume in "The Animated Series" are featured as an alternate skin in "". These skins are available as downloadable content; they were also available in pre-orders at GameStop and a valid membership to Power-Up Rewards. There are also "Animated"-inspired alternate skins for Catwoman, Nightwing and Robin.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Actor Robert Pattinson, who portrays Batman in "The Batman" (2022), has cited "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" as an example of Batman media that effectively captured the character's psyche in a fashion he hoped his interpretation would emulate.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: "Batman: The Animated Series" featured a strong musical score written by several different composers throughout the course of the series. The main theme of the show, which was heard during the opening and ending credits of each episode, was composed by Danny Elfman. At first, Elfman turned down Bruce Timm's offer to compose the theme for the show and so Timm hired Shirley Walker to do so. However, Elfman later changed his mind and composed a variation of his 1989 "Batman" film theme for the series. Walker's unused theme went on to become the main theme for the second season of the show, when the name was changed to "The Adventures of Batman & Robin".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In 1996, Walker won her first Daytime Emmy Award for her music direction of the episode "A Bullet for Bullock" (scored by Harvey R. Cohen). She would then go on to win another Daytime Emmy Award in the category of music-composition for "Batman Beyond" in 2001.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Although at least twenty-four different composers worked on the series, Walker, Lolita Ritmanis, and Michael McCuistion are regarded as the main contributors. After the series finished up in 1995, the three then went on to score "" (which also featured a theme by Walker) in 1996, "The New Batman Adventures" in 1997 and "Batman Beyond" in 1999. Television composer Kristopher Carter scored alongside Walker, Ritmanis, and McCuistion throughout the many DCAU series and later filled in for Walker after her death in 2006.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On December 16, 2008, La La Land Records announced the release of a soundtrack companion to "Batman: The Animated Series" on a two-disc CD set, which featured 11 episode scores (including those of "On Leather Wings", the "Two-Face" two-parter, "Joker's Favor" and "Perchance to Dream"). The release was limited to a pressing of 3,000 copies, which sold quickly. About one month after its release, the soundtrack set had sold over 2,500 copies. According to a spokesperson of La La Land Records, the sold out status of the soundtrack "can only help as the label hopes to convince Warner Bros. to release more "Batman: The Animated Series" soundtracks." The soundtrack received largely positive reviews.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On March 24, 2009, La La Land Records released the complete score for the animated film "". It was a limited edition of 3,000 units and has since sold out.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The 2008 soundtrack was re-released in July 2012, minus "Gotham City Overture" (a suite featuring Walker's themes from the series, some of which do not appear elsewhere on the album) and "Music of the Bat 101" (a bonus track with Walker herself demonstrating the show's main music). The re-release is a limited edition of 5,000 units by La La Land Records.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On July 19, 2012, La La Land Records also released a four-disc CD set with a further 21 episode scores (including those of "Heart of Ice", the "Feat of Clay" two-parter, "Almost Got 'Im" and "The Laughing Fish"), titled "Batman: The Animated Series – Original Soundtrack from the Warner Bros. Television Series, Volume Two". Volume 2 is a limited-edition release of 3,500 units by La La Land Records.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On October 7, 2014, La La Land Records released a four-disc set with another 24 episode scores (including those of the "Robin's Reckoning" two-parter, "Mudslide", "I Am the Night" and "The Man Who Killed Batman"), titled "Batman: The Animated Series – Original Soundtrack from the Warner Bros. Television Series, Volume Three". Volume 3 is a limited-edition release of 3,000 units by La La Land Records.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On March 29, 2016, La La Land Records released the complete soundtrack for the animated film "". It was a limited edition of 2,000 units.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On July 26, 2016, La La Land Records released "Batman: The Animated Series – Original Soundtrack from the Warner Bros. Television Series, Volume Four", which contains the remaining material from the first 65 episodes. The final nine episode scores from the first season are featured (including those of "Fear of Victory", "His Silicon Soul" and "Joker's Wild"), as well as never-before-released cues from scores featured on earlier volumes. Volume 4 is a limited-edition release of 3,000 units by La La Land Records.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: La La Land Records is also planning to cover the later incarnations of the series ("The Adventures of Batman & Robin" and "The New Batman Adventures") in the future, provided that sales of existing volumes are strong enough and that there is strong fan encouragement. A "" soundtrack has also been released as of January 2014, and a "Justice League" volume was released on July 26, 2016. "Justice League Unlimited" and a second volume of "" will only be released if "Justice League" and the first "" volume sell well.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: On July 22, 2014, WaterTower Music released six digital albums on download and streaming platforms (covering La La Land's first and second volumes, including "Gotham City Overture" and "Music of the Bat 101") for the series in honor of the 75th anniversary of Batman.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Asterisked tracks contain thematic material by Shirley Walker; double-asterisked tracks contain Danny Elfman's "Batman" theme.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Warner Home Video (via DC Comics Entertainment and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) has released "Batman: The Animated Series" on DVD in Region 1 in three volume box sets. A fourth volume containing all 24 episodes of "The New Batman Adventures" was also released and these episodes now also begin with the original Season 1 opening sequence, and also end with the standard final credits. Warner Home Video later released "Batman: The Complete Animated Series", which features all episodes from both the original series and "The New Batman Adventures", on DVD in Region 1. The set includes all features from the four individual volumes, plus a bonus 17th disc with a new special feature and a 40-page collector's book containing artwork. The DVD was originally on sale for a limited time only and went out of print in January 2009. Warner Home Video released a second printing of the DVD in May 2009, but then withdrew it three months later.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Volumes 1 and 2 were released on DVD in the UK on October 10, 2005 (Volume 1), and August 21, 2006 (Volume 2). These DVD volumes were exclusive to the retail chain HMV in the United Kingdom, a complete series 25th-anniversary collection was released in the UK on October 30, 2017, containing all four volumes. Volumes 3 and 4 were previously unreleased in the UK before the 25th-anniversary box set release.On June 14, 2008, Volume 1 was re-released in the UK as a non-HMV exclusive, though both the artwork and the extras remain the same as the original HMV exclusive release. Volume 2 was released in the same way on March 3, 2009.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In Hong Kong, the show was packaged into four different DVD volume sets just as it was done in Region 1. Volumes 1 and 2 were both released on February 28, 2005, while Volume 3 was released July 7, 2005, and Volume 4 was released February 17, 2006.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In Australia, Volume 1 was released on October 19, 2005. Volumes and the box set are available at websites like eBay.com, Amazon.com and Quicksales.com. All four volumes are available on the Australian iTunes Store, and were released individually on DVD on November 9, 2016, by Village Roadshow.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: During the series's 25th anniversary panel at the New York Comic Con on October 8, 2017, it was announced that the complete series and all 24 episodes of "The New Batman Adventures" would be released on Blu-ray later in 2018 (due to the financial success of the "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" Blu-ray release in 2017). The Blu-ray release came out in fall 2018.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The numbered, limited-edition box sets also included a code for a free digital SD and HD copy of the complete series, three collectible Funko Pocket Pops of Batman, the Joker and Harley Quinn, seven exclusive lenticular cards of original animation artwork, as well as Blu-ray copies of both spin-off animated films "Mask of the Phantasm" and "SubZero".


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: The series debuted on DC Universe in September 2018 in high definition. It moved to HBO Max on January 1, 2021.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Several video games based on the animated continuity were released during the 16-bit game-machine era, using "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" second season branding. Konami developed a game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), while Sega released versions of the game for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Mega-CD and Game Gear. The SNES, Genesis/Mega Drive and Game Gear versions were side-scrolling action games, while the Mega-CD version featured a 3-D driving adventure. All of the games had art true to the series, while Sega's versions featured art elements directly from the show's creators. The CD version has over 20 minutes of original animated footage comparable to the most well-crafted episodes, with the principal voice actors reprising their roles.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: There was also a game made for the Game Boy based on the series and created around the same time. Developed and published by Konami, this game was distinctive upon the fact that it still used the earlier "" moniker instead of "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" second season title given to the other games.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Though not directly related, the "" video game series features some of the voice cast from "The Animated Series" returning to their roles, including Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker, along with Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn in "" and Robert Costanzo as Harvey Bullock in "", while actors like Loren Lester lent their voice to other characters. Additionally, the first two games were written by "Animated Series" writer Paul Dini. Many of the characters' costumes from the series also appear as downloadable skins in the games.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: In "Lego DC Super-Villains", a downloadable content level was released, based on the "" film, and contained some characters from the show, including the "Batman: The Animated Series" version of Batman, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Andrea Beaumont as The Phantasm, Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, and Captain Clown.


title: Batman: The Animated Series

text: Due to the success of the show, Fox approached Bruce Timm to make a spin-off centered on Catwoman, but the project was abandoned shortly thereafter.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $ billion today), far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war. The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 as the "Washington" until 1954.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, and trainers. For example, the re-engined B-50 Superfortress "Lucky Lady II" became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter airlifter, which was first flown in 1944, was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser. This bomber-to-airliner derivation was similar to the B-17/Model 307 evolution. In 1948, Boeing introduced the KB-29 tanker, followed in 1950 by the Model 377-derivative KC-97. A line of outsized-cargo variants of the Stratocruiser is the GuppyMini GuppySuper Guppy, which remain in service with NASA and other operators. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s, an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy of the B-29. Twenty B-29s remain as static displays, but only two, "FIFI" and "Doc", still fly.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: Before World War II, the United States Army Air Corps concluded that the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which would be the Americans' primary strategic bomber during the war, would be inadequate for the Pacific Theater, which required a bomber that could carry a larger payload more than 3,000 miles.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: In response, Boeing began work on pressurized long-range bombers in 1938. Boeing's design study for the Model 334 was a pressurized derivative of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress with nosewheel undercarriage. Although the Air Corps lacked funds to pursue the design, Boeing continued development with its own funds as a private venture. In April 1939, Charles Lindbergh convinced General Henry H. Arnold to produce a new bomber in large numbers to counter the Germans' bomber production. In December 1939, the Air Corps issued a formal specification for a so-called "superbomber" that could deliver of bombs to a target away, and at a speed of . Boeing's previous private venture studies formed the starting point for its response to the Air Corps formal specification.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: Boeing submitted its Model 345 on 11 May 1940, in competition with designs from Consolidated Aircraft (the Model 33, which later became the B-32), Lockheed (the Lockheed XB-30), and Douglas (the Douglas XB-31). Douglas and Lockheed soon abandoned work on their projects, but Boeing received an order for two flying prototypes, which were given the designation XB-29, and an airframe for static testing on 24 August 1940, with the order being revised to add a third flying aircraft on 14 December. Consolidated continued to work on its Model 33, as it was seen by the Air Corps as a backup if there were problems with Boeing's design. Boeing received an initial production order for 14 service test aircraft and 250 production bombers in May 1941, this being increased to 500 aircraft in January 1942. The B-29 featured a fuselage design with circular cross-section for strength. The need for pressurization in the cockpit area also led to the B-29 being one of very few American combat aircraft of World War II to have a stepless cockpit design, without a separate windscreen for the pilots.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: Manufacturing the B-29 was a complex task that involved four main-assembly factories. There were two Boeing operated plants at Renton, Washington (Boeing Renton Factory), and one in Wichita, Kansas (now Spirit AeroSystems), a Bell plant at Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta ("Bell-Atlanta"), and a Martin plant at Omaha, Nebraska ("Martin-Omaha" – Offutt Field). Thousands of subcontractors were also involved in the project. The first prototype made its maiden flight from Boeing Field, Seattle, on 21 September 1942. The combined effects of the aircraft's highly advanced design, challenging requirements, immense pressure for production, and hurried development caused setbacks. Unlike the unarmed first prototype, the second was fitted with a Sperry defensive armament system using remote-controlled gun turrets sighted by periscopes and first flew on 30 December 1942, although the flight was terminated due to a serious engine fire.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: On 18 February 1943, the second prototype, flying out of Boeing Field in Seattle, experienced an engine fire and crashed. The crash killed Boeing test pilot Edmund T. Allen and his 10-man crew, 20 workers at the Frye Meat Packing Plant and a Seattle firefighter. Changes to the production craft came so often and so fast that, in early 1944, B-29s flew from the production lines directly to modification depots for extensive rebuilds to incorporate the latest changes. AAF-contracted modification centers and its own air depot system struggled to handle the scope of the requirements. Some facilities lacked hangars capable of housing the giant B-29, requiring outdoor work in freezing weather, further delaying necessary modification. By the end of 1943, although almost 100 aircraft had been delivered, only 15 were airworthy. This prompted an intervention by General Hap Arnold to resolve the problem, with production personnel being sent from the factories to the modification centers to speed availability of sufficient aircraft to equip the first bomb groups in what became known as the "Battle of Kansas". This resulted in 150 aircraft being modified in the five weeks, between 10 March and 15 April 1944.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures was the engines. Although the Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engines later became a trustworthy workhorse in large piston-engined aircraft, early models were beset with dangerous reliability problems. This problem was not fully cured until the aircraft was fitted with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" in the B-29D/B-50 program, which arrived too late for World War II. Interim measures included cuffs placed on propeller blades to divert a greater flow of cooling air into the intakes, which had baffles installed to direct a stream of air onto the exhaust valves. Oil flow to the valves was also increased, asbestos baffles were installed around rubber push rod fittings to prevent oil loss, thorough pre-flight inspections were made to detect unseated valves, and mechanics frequently replaced the uppermost five cylinders (every 25 hours of engine time) and the entire engines (every 75 hours).


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: Pilots, including the present-day pilots of the Commemorative Air Force's "Fifi", one of the last two remaining flying B-29s, describe flight after takeoff as being an urgent struggle for airspeed (generally, flight after takeoff should consist of striving for altitude). Radial engines need airflow to keep them cool, and failure to get up to speed as soon as possible could result in an engine failure and risk of fire. One useful technique was to check the magnetos while already on takeoff roll rather than during a conventional static engine-runup before takeoff.


title: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

text: In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight at altitudes up to , at speeds of up to (true airspeed). This was its best defense because Japanese fighters could barely reach that altitude, and few could catch the B-29 even if they did attain that altitude.