Legit tho, the villain had a point at first. Like sure the animals were aggressive but if their meat was safe to eat and they required less food then his invention could seriously have helped with the world hunger issue
Thing is, we regularly create a food surplus. A LOT of perfectly edible food ends up going to waste every year, never reaching the market, because of one reason or another. There's a John Oliver Last Week Tonight segment on it. World hunger has a lot more reasons behind it rather than a lack of resources.
@@LizardClone2 Don't take advice from Oliver dude's gotten increasingly biased over the years. But back the original point, it'd less be for us here in the states and more for people in other countries. We'd effectively be able to supply countless other countries that have food shortages with plenty of ready to prepare food and it would also make food less expensive since it would be even more abundant.
You know how many good apples there are that grows better, taste better, can last longer in the fridge/storage, and doesn’t turn brown. Funny how a lot of them don’t sell well in the market because it’s mostly a new name out there and people don’t try it. Can understand price but people want the same cheap cheap garbage red delicious.
With the TNBA art style, the daughter, and the pitchfork, I can picture the writing team pitching it as "What If 'American Gothic' was a supervillain?"
5:58 That's part of Bruce's development in this season. The charming Bruce Wayne you're refering was who he was in BTAS, having a balance between his two identities. TNBA takes place TWO years after BTAS. By this point, Bruce Wayne already spend so much time as Batman fighting super villains that it's affecting mentally and emotionally, to the point his Batman persona is becoming more dominant, leading to Bruce eventually becoming the grumpy old man in Batman Beyond. This is the tragic aspect of Batman character arc: He went all this way to become a creature of the night and dedicate himself to protect his city, but at cost his relationships and friends he made in his journey. As Barbara Gordon said: "I don't hate him (Bruce Wayne) I hate what he become... such a great man...so alone!"
And what does he have left in the end of all that? His body finally gave out on him in a way no more suit enhancements could do and now all he has left are the bridges he's burned and trying to make sure the Wayne Foundation stays proper run. It's admirable to put so much for the safe of the city, but so tragic to be reminded he has nothing left once his body failed him and he can't even do that anymore.
This puts the "Batman Beyond" episode where Shriek tries to make Bruce look mentally ill in a whole new light. "The voice kept calling me Bruce. That's not what I call myself."
While I like that they progressed where his character went, I *don't* think the writing it TNBA supported it, that well. It's actually why I don't like either episode with the Scarecrow: Bruce isn't written well enough; *most* of this sequel series wasn't.
@@jaredsamples6969 It's still really depressing. Bruce lives alone in a mansion with no friends left, Barbara and Tim don't speak to him, Dick probably doesn't either, the Justice League including Superman and Diana don't seem to be close to him and he's too old to be Batman any more. At this point he was simply sitting around waiting to die. It's such a sucky fate for the man who gave his everything to help people.
A good crossover of Courage and Batman 2. I can c Courage doing his charade bit and Batman nailing it while Courage's owner looking at the dog like he's nuts😂
Oh please, even Courage had more dignity then this. And that's a show that literally had an episode where he defeats a bunch of his enemies by screaming so loud and long he causes a freaking earthquake.
Always felt that this was a script written for the Superman animated series that somehow wound up in the New Adventures of Batman and Robin pile via some delivery mix up by a new intern. Seriously though, I think that giant mutant farm animals is definitely a job for Superman.
I mean, if Superman was dealing with the Mutant animals, I think it wouldn't be an episode long issue. Considering he could easily beat them with his powers and being raised in Smallville, he might know how to calm down or deter farm animals.
@@DracoMagnius I think the larger number of them he created would take him some time to kill them all. Also could set it in Smallvillee and has him talk to his mom and dad. Also, has a joke thinking the farmer's daughter is Supergirl
Yeah this episode would definitely work out Superman TAS and Farmer Brown would have made a better antagonist for the Man of Steel given his mid western background. You can even make up the background where Farmer Brown was a former partner to Lex Luthor where he was cheated by him on a bad deal and he's seeking revenge on him and Superman has to protect Luthor from Brown's mutant farm animals.
Agreed, they look awesomely terrifying and twisted. And the fact that they’re farm animals adds another layer of humor/perversion. Though, I personally would have exchanged the Mantises for Locusts at least in the final attack.
I’ll give the character designers big credit on this episode, Batman fighting giant animals in a bright blue field could look ridiculous, but the animation still makes Batman look cool
I would have made Farmer Brown a more sympathetic character. Maybe he was still trying to make giant animals to help people but because of money trouble they have escaped or maybe one of the big villains was funding/ extorting him for personal gain.
The guy invested his life savings into research that could've ended world hunger, but it got shut down over an isolated incident, denying him any return on his money and leaving him financially ruined. All they'd really need was a bit more emphasis on his financial situation.
When I was a kid the giant animals and the talking goat actually scared me. I just watched this episode with my daughter and she was frightened as well :) it's not an all timer by any stretch, but it has to be appreciated in the right way.
@@owellafehr5191 Creepy shivers or that is so bad? The main reason I think you never saw it is because "think of the children" crowd had a fit about it or I think they did. Hard to recall exactly everything they flipped out about during the 90s.
@@daviddrake5991 I mean, I never watched this show at all as a kid. I was 4 years old when this episode aired; I was watching stuff like Blues Clues then, not Batman. I don't think it had anything to do with "think of the children" or parental overprotection; I just wasn't interested in superheroes, action, or 'darker' storylines at the time. Edit: plus, I'm not even sure if it aired in Canada, though it probably would have, I guess?
Same, and if you look at a lot of Superman villains, he usually fights enough giant things that when you think giant mutated animals, he's the first one that pops into your head. Plus it would have been really awesome to see Sups and the Enhanced daughter go toe to toe for a few rounds, since I know it was the same style and all, she looks a lot like Supergirl or Powergirl.
I don't care what anyone says. This episode is highly entertaining, especially Farmer Brown. "Always check the money first, honey. Check your shoes for what the cow left and check your money. Two solid rules." "I'll be takin' that snazzy belt o' your'n." 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
"Timon here..." Pumba was the pig. 😅 Yeah, this was one of the episodes I always skipped when it was on. I completely forgot it existed too but memories just came flooding back. I think my disgust of bugs also didn't help whenever I saw this episode on.
Okay; many things to talk about, so I'll just list them in no particular order: 1.) The entire commentary track is worth listening to, and I find it really neat that the creators decided to do a commentary on a "bad" episode to point out what went wrong with it and/or why people hate it. You don't get that too often. Included in said commentary is the story of how Farmer Brown's voice actor drove miles and miles, non-stop, to make it to the recording session on time. (I forget what the situation was, whether he missed a flight or the recording calls weren't working or something, but either way, that's true dedication to the job.) 2.) The idea of a farmer-themed villain mutating animals IS a really cool concept if handled properly. As other commenters have pointed out, he might've fared better on the Superman show, since Clark himself also grew up on a farm, so there could be really good parallels there. 3.) Farmer Brown's original goals came from a good place. He wanted to find a way to end world hunger. Honestly, the only reason the presentation went south was because the cow got spooked by the cameras. If he had just said, "Everyone, please turn off the flash on your cameras so we don't scare the animals", things would've went off without a hitch. I actually feel bad for him, as the idea wasn't all that bad. It was just an experiment gone wrong. 4.) Speaking of which, maybe it was just the introduction that needed reworking. Maybe they could've made him more dark and twisted if the animal experiments were a total secret, and/or the animals broke loose because of his own negligence and not just because a few cameras went off. 5.) I like the fight in Farmer Brown's headquarters, as that's one of the only times you see the Bat Family fighting in total, crystal clear daylight. 6.) Finally, I'm of the opinion that the worst thing a story can be is boring. And whether you think this episode is good, bad, or so-bad-it's-good, I think there's one thing we can all agree on----it's anything but boring. If nothing else, after you've watched it, you certainly won't forget it. Seriously, as I've watched each and every "Bat May" video, there's more than a handful of episodes I had completely forgotten about......but I've NEVER forgotten "Critters".
1:32 - The talking goat creeped me out then and still does today. It always reminded me of the sheep from the novel "Animal Farm". "Four legs good ..."
Can you imagine Farmer John and The Scarecrow teaming up together? You could've had the Scarecrow gas people to make them see hallucinations. And Farmer John legit creating monsters to go with the hallucinations. Having people wonder what's real and what's not.
The one thing I always appreciated about this episode was that I always thought it was really cool and fun when Batman fought or had to deal with genuine monsters or creatures. And that's what this one brought in spades. He has to tackle it differently, so I thought that was neat. But yeah, overall, not really up to par with the rest of what BTAS was known for.
To be honest with you... I like it because it feels like a love letter to the Adam West series, well a second one if you count the Gray Ghost, and it makes me happy.
It's bizarre, but I don't think that the idea is entirely unsalvageable. Like with more unusual episodes like "Tyger, Tyger" or "Cold Comfort", I feel like it wouldn't be as out of place if you retooled it for a Superman or Justice League story. With that being said, it's the small details that kill it: Farmer Brown is played entirely too straight for such an oddball concept, and even Burt Ward himself wouldn't have touched that "Holy Cow" joke with a ten-foot Batpole.
Seeing the bat family take on giant mutated creatures is actually pretty entertaining to me. Also has some brutal looking scenes involving the insects. Not the best, but also not the worst, still worth a watch in my opinion
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They could have done something with this but make it a poison Ivy story. If you wanted to keep farmer brown, have that he is working with Ivy to make giant animals. He wants to use them to solve world hunger, she wants to use them level Gotham and create an animal sanctuary free of humans. When he finds out that Ivy was using him to potentially kill people, he sets the animals against her and Batman has to intervene.
I could watch 4 of these kinds of episodes a standard season. I do enjoy a Batman vs non-standard villian absurdity episode. I just enjoy bizzarro episodes.
I think something that would have made this episode much more interesting would have been the inclusion of Animal Man as a guest appearance. Not only does he fit the theme of this episode, but his fourth wall jokes would have made the experience enjoyable to watch. I'm not saying he would have made the best episode of the series, but it certainly would have been made a HUGE improvement.
Or at the very least it could’ve been a good first introduction to B’wana Beast since he only had one major appearance in the DCAU which was the JLU episode This Little Piggy Also I think B’Wana Beast was kind of a pseudo version of Animal Man at the time
This was a fun episode and a decent change of pace. I would have loved to see more from Farmer Brown and his daughter with their serum. People writting this episode off are sleeping. EDIT: My initial opening sentence came out more rude and insulting than i intended so i removed it.
I know it's fiction but it's crazy to me how many villains are A. Somehow rich enough to afford their villainous sceme BEFORE robbing any banks And B. Heroic in their desires until someone tells them no, in which case they decide to become Satan
@potsdam28 but that's the thing, he said if he'd stopped he'd be ruined. So where did he suddenly pull funding from to continue? Cause he apparently had enough to continue costly genetic experiments for a year with no profits on them before the big heist
Adam West and Superfriends were my introduction to Batman. I honestly never noticed the camp until years later. I prefer the dark version of Batman but I still appreciate what he was then. That said, I'd avoid The Forgotten, The Underdwellers or anything with Red Claw before this one. It was okay.
"We actually like this episode, but fans hate it" Bruce Timm's comments on this episode. While it's clear that everyone involved did a great job as always, it's a shame they decided to spend an episode's entire budget on a story like this, especially considering the interesting alternate plots that were left out. For example, Paul Dini said that they were thinking of making an episode starring Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, aka the General. For those who don't know, Ulysses is a villain basically unknown to most of the fandom, but one who really deserves a lot more attention. He is a sociopathic kid obsessed with military history who was Tim Drake's nemesis, even becoming the new Anarchy shortly before the New 52. He was basically a kid version of The Comedian. It's too bad they ruled out dedicating an episode of TNBA to him, which would also have fleshed out Tim more, as an appearance in the DCAU would have given the General a chance to be much more popular with fans and also appear in other TV/Movie Products
"Are you talking to me?" "Uh oh they called him a pig." "Are you talking to ME?" "Shouldn'ta done that." "ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?" "NOW they're in for it!" "They call me 'MR. PIG!"
There's a few Pros with these characters: 1st: Farmer Brown's first name is Enoch; shows he's not your average hillbilly. 2nd: Given his background on growth hormones, steroids, and electrical engineering he could be tied to Poison Ivy plant growth, Bane's Venom Recipe, and Maxie Zeus's Lightning Staff (or Poseiden/Farmer Brown Trident/Pitchfork ... or stole from him. 3rd: Emmalou was a unique henchwoman, kinda like Babydoll's Miriam and not like Penguin's Birds or Mr. Freeze's Ice Maidens. A bad@$$ barefoot beauty with the strength and agility of an Olympic Athelete that could be molded closer to Bane with Training and no need for 'feeding tubes.' If her daddy ever got too old she'd have to take the reigns... as the 'Mother Hen.' Sidenote - she made a cameo in the Batman and Harley Quinn Movie at the dive bar where all the henchmen hang out.
For some reason, the name "Critters" feels like a reference to "Tremors" and I was kinda expecting at least one extra large worm in tribute as a result.
This is my guilty pleasure episode. I find it one of the funniest batman animated series episodes even if the story is a little ridiculous and the jokes may not hit for everyone
Okay, this is by no means a good episode. But I kinda love that Bruce Timm, Paul Dini& Co. go against the grain a bit and acknowledge affection for it, despite all the obvious flaws. I remember getting the DVD, and being surprised there was an audio commentary for it. For them, it’s like watching a “Fast & Furious” movie: they know it’s stupid… but they still like it lol
I liked it. I always thought of Farmer Brown as the animal themed version of Poison Ivy. It would have been better I think to have them as adversaries to one another with Batman & Gotham caught in the Middle.
Thinking about it, I'm wondering what would've happened if instead of Farmer Brown being the only villain, Poison Ivy was involved. Best scenarios that I can think of is that either A.) Brown and Ivy are partners or B.) They are rivals and are fighting each other with Gotham becoming their battle field. Wouldn't put all my money saying that it would've made it better, but might have made it more interesting.
I had never seen this episode - but now that I've gotten a look at it, I like it! I was a huge fan of the 1960s series, and it always disappointed me that the show had too low of a budget to really deliver on its science fiction concepts, such as the hatching dinosaur egg from the episode "How to Hatch a Dinosaur." This episode almost seems like Batman and friends making it up to me many years later. Seriously, I think the wackier villains work in small doses, as long as Batman himself remains completely serious. I was in stitches at that talking goat, and the idea of Farmer Brown's daughter also being a genetic experiment was a neat twist. Not every Batman adventure has to be dark, although I HAVE come to prefer that type as I've gotten older.
I remember when I'd watch this on my dad's computer, the audio was out of sync so it was irritating for my ten year old brain to handle it. I only managed to watch it fully once
I don't now what to tell ya, I don't dislike this episode but I don't hate it either. For 1 of things I do like about this episode is how the Bat family fend off mutated animal monsters that are attacking Gotham, we haven't seen a monstrous threat of an army that's either attacking/invading the city up till this point in the new series and I do enjoy that.
People always have to get sticks up their asses when it comes to this episode. Come on, "Critters" is hilarious, twisted fun, and it's not anywhere near as out of place as it's often made out to be. Underrated as hell.
Comic book logic : If you’re scientist with a ground breaking solution to earth problem and people reject it or called insane then change career to supervillain with a gimmick, seem like go to direction for some people.
Imagine if farmer brown had been set up like harvey dent before, farmer has new tech to save the city from a food shortage, the city, wayne and companies push him to invest all he has to further improve food situations, then this episode and he now has a greater motivation and reason for his rage.
Okay, I really wanna hear the ideas that "Critters" beat out, because either they were really bad, or the producers were on something when they chose it.
We'll just call this a tribute to Batman '66 and some of the post-Code stories from the Fifties. I've never seen this episode on TV, so I guess even the syndicated broadcasters weren't impressed.
For my money, the reason I like it is precisely because it's different than everything. Like, I'll grant you that they aren't always good to do something different, but this one was wild.
wait, this WASN'T an adaptation of a Golden Age story? I would have bet money that it was...maybe it was their attempt to make a golden age style story
If Farmer Brown had been in the 60s Batman show, he would've had a completely different gimmick - exploding "pop"-corn grenades, a tractor-themed getaway vehicle, farmhand/scarecrow-themed henchmen, maybe the electrified pitchfork. Come to think of it, I want to see that version!
The part of this episode I remember best is batgirl trying to fight Mary Lou. Batgirl delivers a high kick, bounces off her, and mary lou just says “beef steroids” before clobbering Barbara. Mary lou was a freakin wall man.
Cant say I recall this episode from back in the day, but the set-up of a geneticist villain making mutated animals feels like a pretty decent fit for this universe. Maybe the farmer aspect of it went a little too hard, but even that could have worked focusing on a character whom as a child lived on a farm and spend time training and caring for animals before getting into the field of science. This episode reminds me of a similar mutant animal outbreak episode from SwatKats which I always enjoyed and this feels like the Batman version of that.
When I was a kid I thought the animals in this episode were robots. I think it was a combination of the art style, the size of the giant cows from the beginning, the red eyes (was I drawing a parallel to H.A.R.D.A.C?) and the odd voice of the talking goat.
I love this episode. Farmer brown is a very fun villain for me. I like how this is one of the few stories where Batman gets to fight actual monsters. I also love the talking goat! Definitely not the worst episode! I would take this episode over the Terrible trio, any time!
@6:57 Shoutout to Zazu here. He’s my favorite hyena from The Jungle Book.
What?
😂😂😂😂😂
@@jlev1028 He was having a joke at the fact that in the video he uses the wrong name (Timone) when referencing Pumba from the Lion King.
@@jlev1028 He said, "@6:57 Shoutout to Zazu here. He's my favorite hyena from The Jungle Book."
@@jp3813yes, exactly
Robin: "Holy cow!"
Batgirl: "You had to say it"
Could have been "I would hate to see it go the bathroom" or something to that effect.
That's a lot of bull 😂
@@MrBird2007 I posted that
Legit tho, the villain had a point at first. Like sure the animals were aggressive but if their meat was safe to eat and they required less food then his invention could seriously have helped with the world hunger issue
one minor incident and he is banned from doing, in a town where you have seen FAR worse. please.
Thing is, we regularly create a food surplus. A LOT of perfectly edible food ends up going to waste every year, never reaching the market, because of one reason or another. There's a John Oliver Last Week Tonight segment on it. World hunger has a lot more reasons behind it rather than a lack of resources.
@@LizardClone2 Don't take advice from Oliver dude's gotten increasingly biased over the years. But back the original point, it'd less be for us here in the states and more for people in other countries. We'd effectively be able to supply countless other countries that have food shortages with plenty of ready to prepare food and it would also make food less expensive since it would be even more abundant.
You know how many good apples there are that grows better, taste better, can last longer in the fridge/storage, and doesn’t turn brown. Funny how a lot of them don’t sell well in the market because it’s mostly a new name out there and people don’t try it. Can understand price but people want the same cheap cheap garbage red delicious.
Fair point.
With the TNBA art style, the daughter, and the pitchfork, I can picture the writing team pitching it as "What If 'American Gothic' was a supervillain?"
I thought the same
5:58 That's part of Bruce's development in this season. The charming Bruce Wayne you're refering was who he was in BTAS, having a balance between his two identities. TNBA takes place TWO years after BTAS. By this point, Bruce Wayne already spend so much time as Batman fighting super villains that it's affecting mentally and emotionally, to the point his Batman persona is becoming more dominant, leading to Bruce eventually becoming the grumpy old man in Batman Beyond. This is the tragic aspect of Batman character arc: He went all this way to become a creature of the night and dedicate himself to protect his city, but at cost his relationships and friends he made in his journey. As Barbara Gordon said: "I don't hate him (Bruce Wayne) I hate what he become... such a great man...so alone!"
And what does he have left in the end of all that? His body finally gave out on him in a way no more suit enhancements could do and now all he has left are the bridges he's burned and trying to make sure the Wayne Foundation stays proper run. It's admirable to put so much for the safe of the city, but so tragic to be reminded he has nothing left once his body failed him and he can't even do that anymore.
This puts the "Batman Beyond" episode where Shriek tries to make Bruce look mentally ill in a whole new light.
"The voice kept calling me Bruce. That's not what I call myself."
Thankfully, Terry McGinnis appeared in his life.
While I like that they progressed where his character went, I *don't* think the writing it TNBA supported it, that well. It's actually why I don't like either episode with the Scarecrow: Bruce isn't written well enough; *most* of this sequel series wasn't.
@@jaredsamples6969 It's still really depressing. Bruce lives alone in a mansion with no friends left, Barbara and Tim don't speak to him, Dick probably doesn't either, the Justice League including Superman and Diana don't seem to be close to him and he's too old to be Batman any more.
At this point he was simply sitting around waiting to die. It's such a sucky fate for the man who gave his everything to help people.
🐐: one person brings money..NO TRICKS NO SURPRISES...NO BAAAAAAAATMAN 😂😂😂😂
My favorite line in this episode
I was a big fan of Harvey's line that followed soon after. Something like " that goat stole my donut!"
@@philliptivis3082 😂😂😂😂😂😂
To me this felt more like a Courage The Cowardly Dog story than a Batman one
Reminds me of the Dome of Doom episode
A good crossover of Courage and Batman 2. I can c Courage doing his charade bit and Batman nailing it while Courage's owner looking at the dog like he's nuts😂
This actually came out before courage.
Oh please, even Courage had more dignity then this. And that's a show that literally had an episode where he defeats a bunch of his enemies by screaming so loud and long he causes a freaking earthquake.
😂
Always felt that this was a script written for the Superman animated series that somehow wound up in the New Adventures of Batman and Robin pile via some delivery mix up by a new intern. Seriously though, I think that giant mutant farm animals is definitely a job for Superman.
I mean, if Superman was dealing with the Mutant animals, I think it wouldn't be an episode long issue. Considering he could easily beat them with his powers and being raised in Smallville, he might know how to calm down or deter farm animals.
The farmer ahem daughter has rule
34.😂
But it's only one.
@@DracoMagnius I think the larger number of them he created would take him some time to kill them all. Also could set it in Smallvillee and has him talk to his mom and dad. Also, has a joke thinking the farmer's daughter is Supergirl
I can agree that this episode would fit perfectly as a superman story then a batman one but they made fun to watch anyway.
Yeah this episode would definitely work out Superman TAS and Farmer Brown would have made a better antagonist for the Man of Steel given his mid western background. You can even make up the background where Farmer Brown was a former partner to Lex Luthor where he was cheated by him on a bad deal and he's seeking revenge on him and Superman has to protect Luthor from Brown's mutant farm animals.
No matter where you land on this episode, a huge shout out should go to Keo Thongham and his incredibly wild creature designs.
Agreed, they look awesomely terrifying and twisted. And the fact that they’re farm animals adds another layer of humor/perversion.
Though, I personally would have exchanged the Mantises for Locusts at least in the final attack.
Yes the designs are great and creepy. There’s just a hint of jack Kirby too, especially in the eyes.
@@garethspotfur1 Them jagged teeth
I’ll give the character designers big credit on this episode, Batman fighting giant animals in a bright blue field could look ridiculous, but the animation still makes Batman look cool
Emy lou had rule 34 sadly it's only
one.
Yawl guy's really slept on this girl 😂
She needs more.
I would have made Farmer Brown a more sympathetic character. Maybe he was still trying to make giant animals to help people but because of money trouble they have escaped or maybe one of the big villains was funding/ extorting him for personal gain.
The guy invested his life savings into research that could've ended world hunger, but it got shut down over an isolated incident, denying him any return on his money and leaving him financially ruined. All they'd really need was a bit more emphasis on his financial situation.
@@spongeintheshoe I'd have also had it start with Brown getting revenge on the Judge specific for screwing him over.
When I was a kid the giant animals and the talking goat actually scared me. I just watched this episode with my daughter and she was frightened as well :) it's not an all timer by any stretch, but it has to be appreciated in the right way.
That talking goat is still creepy.
Yeah, I've never seen this episode at all, but that brief clip of the talking goat gave me the shivers.
The daughter has rule 34 too.
Just one sadly.
It's shows her doing ahem stuff to
Batman while Harvey bullock is
Looking like WTF.😂
@@owellafehr5191 Creepy shivers or that is so bad?
The main reason I think you never saw it is because "think of the children" crowd had a fit about it or I think they did. Hard to recall exactly everything they flipped out about during the 90s.
@@daviddrake5991 I mean, I never watched this show at all as a kid. I was 4 years old when this episode aired; I was watching stuff like Blues Clues then, not Batman. I don't think it had anything to do with "think of the children" or parental overprotection; I just wasn't interested in superheroes, action, or 'darker' storylines at the time.
Edit: plus, I'm not even sure if it aired in Canada, though it probably would have, I guess?
Robin: "That's a lot of bull"
That ain’t even bull crap that horse crap
Bull.....SSSSSHHH!
6:56 Um, Pumbaa is the warthog, not Timon.
This honestly feels to me like more of a Superman story, but that might just be because Farmer Brown's design reminds me of a villain from that show
Same, and if you look at a lot of Superman villains, he usually fights enough giant things that when you think giant mutated animals, he's the first one that pops into your head. Plus it would have been really awesome to see Sups and the Enhanced daughter go toe to toe for a few rounds, since I know it was the same style and all, she looks a lot like Supergirl or Powergirl.
@@TheBoboTheIceMan specifically, Farmer Brown's look reminds me of the reverend from the Unity episode of Superman:the Animated Series
The preacher dude from the one with Unity?
@@mitchfletcher2386 the very same
I don't care what anyone says. This episode is highly entertaining, especially Farmer Brown.
"Always check the money first, honey. Check your shoes for what the cow left and check your money. Two solid rules."
"I'll be takin' that snazzy belt o' your'n."
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Saw this also years ago.
Farmer brown could have actually
Worked.
His daughter has rule 34 sadly it's only
one enjoy 😂
If this really is "The worst installment" of the animated series, then I know why I loved all of it.
"Timon here..."
Pumba was the pig. 😅
Yeah, this was one of the episodes I always skipped when it was on. I completely forgot it existed too but memories just came flooding back. I think my disgust of bugs also didn't help whenever I saw this episode on.
Batgirl: "Oh boy"
Emmylou: "Beef steroids"
Okay; many things to talk about, so I'll just list them in no particular order:
1.) The entire commentary track is worth listening to, and I find it really neat that the creators decided to do a commentary on a "bad" episode to point out what went wrong with it and/or why people hate it. You don't get that too often. Included in said commentary is the story of how Farmer Brown's voice actor drove miles and miles, non-stop, to make it to the recording session on time. (I forget what the situation was, whether he missed a flight or the recording calls weren't working or something, but either way, that's true dedication to the job.)
2.) The idea of a farmer-themed villain mutating animals IS a really cool concept if handled properly. As other commenters have pointed out, he might've fared better on the Superman show, since Clark himself also grew up on a farm, so there could be really good parallels there.
3.) Farmer Brown's original goals came from a good place. He wanted to find a way to end world hunger. Honestly, the only reason the presentation went south was because the cow got spooked by the cameras. If he had just said, "Everyone, please turn off the flash on your cameras so we don't scare the animals", things would've went off without a hitch. I actually feel bad for him, as the idea wasn't all that bad. It was just an experiment gone wrong.
4.) Speaking of which, maybe it was just the introduction that needed reworking. Maybe they could've made him more dark and twisted if the animal experiments were a total secret, and/or the animals broke loose because of his own negligence and not just because a few cameras went off.
5.) I like the fight in Farmer Brown's headquarters, as that's one of the only times you see the Bat Family fighting in total, crystal clear daylight.
6.) Finally, I'm of the opinion that the worst thing a story can be is boring. And whether you think this episode is good, bad, or so-bad-it's-good, I think there's one thing we can all agree on----it's anything but boring. If nothing else, after you've watched it, you certainly won't forget it. Seriously, as I've watched each and every "Bat May" video, there's more than a handful of episodes I had completely forgotten about......but I've NEVER forgotten "Critters".
1:32 - The talking goat creeped me out then and still does today. It always reminded me of the sheep from the novel "Animal Farm".
"Four legs good ..."
Can you imagine Farmer John and The Scarecrow teaming up together? You could've had the Scarecrow gas people to make them see hallucinations. And Farmer John legit creating monsters to go with the hallucinations. Having people wonder what's real and what's not.
I think this episode is a tribute to the campy science tales of the Silver Age.
Farmer Brown: "Check your shoes for what the cow left and check your money. Two solid rules"
The one thing I always appreciated about this episode was that I always thought it was really cool and fun when Batman fought or had to deal with genuine monsters or creatures. And that's what this one brought in spades. He has to tackle it differently, so I thought that was neat. But yeah, overall, not really up to par with the rest of what BTAS was known for.
To be honest with you... I like it because it feels like a love letter to the Adam West series, well a second one if you count the Gray Ghost, and it makes me happy.
It's bizarre, but I don't think that the idea is entirely unsalvageable. Like with more unusual episodes like "Tyger, Tyger" or "Cold Comfort", I feel like it wouldn't be as out of place if you retooled it for a Superman or Justice League story. With that being said, it's the small details that kill it: Farmer Brown is played entirely too straight for such an oddball concept, and even Burt Ward himself wouldn't have touched that "Holy Cow" joke with a ten-foot Batpole.
Holy Crispy Critters Batman! A Controversial episode!
Timon was the meerkat, Pumbaa was the warthog. Great review :)
6:57 Pumbaa is the warthog.
Come on man, you're embarrassing yourself.
Seeing the bat family take on giant mutated creatures is actually pretty entertaining to me. Also has some brutal looking scenes involving the insects. Not the best, but also not the worst, still worth a watch in my opinion
"Hey! He ate my doughnut!"
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Did you like the goofiness of Critters?
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They could have done something with this but make it a poison Ivy story. If you wanted to keep farmer brown, have that he is working with Ivy to make giant animals. He wants to use them to solve world hunger, she wants to use them level Gotham and create an animal sanctuary free of humans. When he finds out that Ivy was using him to potentially kill people, he sets the animals against her and Batman has to intervene.
This video is great like dynamite🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🔥🔥🔥🔥🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🔥🔥🔥🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨
Farmer brown daughter has rule 34
As well only one.😂
I think this could work for Superman if was set in Smallville lot of things for Superman to fight with. His daughter was strong as Supergirl lol.
I could watch 4 of these kinds of episodes a standard season.
I do enjoy a Batman vs non-standard villian absurdity episode.
I just enjoy bizzarro episodes.
I think something that would have made this episode much more interesting would have been the inclusion of Animal Man as a guest appearance. Not only does he fit the theme of this episode, but his fourth wall jokes would have made the experience enjoyable to watch. I'm not saying he would have made the best episode of the series, but it certainly would have been made a HUGE improvement.
Or at the very least it could’ve been a good first introduction to B’wana Beast since he only had one major appearance in the DCAU which was the JLU episode This Little Piggy
Also I think B’Wana Beast was kind of a pseudo version of Animal Man at the time
This was a fun episode and a decent change of pace. I would have loved to see more from Farmer Brown and his daughter with their serum. People writting this episode off are sleeping.
EDIT: My initial opening sentence came out more rude and insulting than i intended so i removed it.
*“No animals or insects were harmed in the making of this episode.”*
I know it's fiction but it's crazy to me how many villains are A. Somehow rich enough to afford their villainous sceme BEFORE robbing any banks
And B. Heroic in their desires until someone tells them no, in which case they decide to become Satan
I just put it up to necessary secondary powers; being financially smart enough to do these things on an extreme budget
At least Farmer Brown was trying to make money legitimately until the law made him stop
@potsdam28 but that's the thing, he said if he'd stopped he'd be ruined. So where did he suddenly pull funding from to continue? Cause he apparently had enough to continue costly genetic experiments for a year with no profits on them before the big heist
Went to the trouble of creating a mutant talking goat that looked like it was in constant pain, when a simple tape recorder would of worked.
Adam West and Superfriends were my introduction to Batman. I honestly never noticed the camp until years later. I prefer the dark version of Batman but I still appreciate what he was then. That said, I'd avoid The Forgotten, The Underdwellers or anything with Red Claw before this one. It was okay.
If nothing else, I always remember this episode for the farmer's daughter. Emmy Lou pushes so many buttons. >_>
Robin: Holy Cow!
Batgirl: You had to say it
"We actually like this episode, but fans hate it"
Bruce Timm's comments on this episode. While it's clear that everyone involved did a great job as always, it's a shame they decided to spend an episode's entire budget on a story like this, especially considering the interesting alternate plots that were left out. For example, Paul Dini said that they were thinking of making an episode starring Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, aka the General. For those who don't know, Ulysses is a villain basically unknown to most of the fandom, but one who really deserves a lot more attention. He is a sociopathic kid obsessed with military history who was Tim Drake's nemesis, even becoming the new Anarchy shortly before the New 52. He was basically a kid version of The Comedian. It's too bad they ruled out dedicating an episode of TNBA to him, which would also have fleshed out Tim more, as an appearance in the DCAU would have given the General a chance to be much more popular with fans and also appear in other TV/Movie Products
With how dry and bleak Batman had been portraited lately, I appreciate this kind of silliness.
00:42, its actually a giant sheep, not a cow. It was confirmed by the TNBA Wiki page
Calling a warthog timon? Surprised more people didn't catch that.
"I'll be takin' that snazzy belt o' your'n."
This is more of a superman story then a batman story.
Okay, but I actually really like that goat. Creepy and unsettling. I think it worked.
6:57 Bruh, what? Pumbaa was "the pig".
"Are you talking to me?"
"Uh oh they called him a pig."
"Are you talking to ME?"
"Shouldn'ta done that."
"ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?"
"NOW they're in for it!"
"They call me 'MR. PIG!"
This episode feels similar to the Giant Alligator episode from Thunderbirds. Although that episode is a fan favourite.
If you didn’t know, a lot of chickens can fly, only clipped ones cant
There's a few Pros with these characters:
1st: Farmer Brown's first name is Enoch; shows he's not your average hillbilly.
2nd: Given his background on growth hormones, steroids, and electrical engineering he could be tied to Poison Ivy plant growth, Bane's Venom Recipe, and Maxie Zeus's Lightning Staff (or Poseiden/Farmer Brown Trident/Pitchfork ... or stole from him.
3rd: Emmalou was a unique henchwoman, kinda like Babydoll's Miriam and not like Penguin's Birds or Mr. Freeze's Ice Maidens. A bad@$$ barefoot beauty with the strength and agility of an Olympic Athelete that could be molded closer to Bane with Training and no need for 'feeding tubes.' If her daddy ever got too old she'd have to take the reigns... as the 'Mother Hen.' Sidenote - she made a cameo in the Batman and Harley Quinn Movie at the dive bar where all the henchmen hang out.
2:07,
That a risky move...if he used the sharp fork side instead unsharp end....☠️
I’m surprised he didn’t mention that Farmer Brown had the voice of Hank Hill!
🍺
For some reason, the name "Critters" feels like a reference to "Tremors" and I was kinda expecting at least one extra large worm in tribute as a result.
This is my guilty pleasure episode. I find it one of the funniest batman animated series episodes even if the story is a little ridiculous and the jokes may not hit for everyone
Okay, this is by no means a good episode. But I kinda love that Bruce Timm, Paul Dini& Co. go against the grain a bit and acknowledge affection for it, despite all the obvious flaws. I remember getting the DVD, and being surprised there was an audio commentary for it. For them, it’s like watching a “Fast & Furious” movie: they know it’s stupid… but they still like it lol
I liked it. I always thought of Farmer Brown as the animal themed version of Poison Ivy. It would have been better I think to have them as adversaries to one another with Batman & Gotham caught in the Middle.
This episode i haven't seen but what i can say this is what happens when studios take control. But farmer brown reminds me of doctor animo
Thinking about it, I'm wondering what would've happened if instead of Farmer Brown being the only villain, Poison Ivy was involved.
Best scenarios that I can think of is that either A.) Brown and Ivy are partners or B.) They are rivals and are fighting each other with Gotham becoming their battle field.
Wouldn't put all my money saying that it would've made it better, but might have made it more interesting.
This plot seemed more like an episode of superman the animated series than batman
Love the channel and all the work you're doing! Keep it up!
Always loved the sound track 😂
Speaking of the Gray Ghost, he had a small cameo the third episode of Batman Beyond.
Whatever the writers were smoking while making this episode...I want some of that!
This was one of the more 50’s movie monster episodes
I had never seen this episode - but now that I've gotten a look at it, I like it! I was a huge fan of the 1960s series, and it always disappointed me that the show had too low of a budget to really deliver on its science fiction concepts, such as the hatching dinosaur egg from the episode "How to Hatch a Dinosaur." This episode almost seems like Batman and friends making it up to me many years later.
Seriously, I think the wackier villains work in small doses, as long as Batman himself remains completely serious. I was in stitches at that talking goat, and the idea of Farmer Brown's daughter also being a genetic experiment was a neat twist. Not every Batman adventure has to be dark, although I HAVE come to prefer that type as I've gotten older.
Another good episode 😀
I remember when I'd watch this on my dad's computer, the audio was out of sync so it was irritating for my ten year old brain to handle it. I only managed to watch it fully once
I don't now what to tell ya, I don't dislike this episode but I don't hate it either. For 1 of things I do like about this episode is how the Bat family fend off mutated animal monsters that are attacking Gotham, we haven't seen a monstrous threat of an army that's either attacking/invading the city up till this point in the new series and I do enjoy that.
I feel this is the inspiration for Ben10’s Dr. Animo
Would actually work as a Batman Brave and the Bold episode in my opinion
Who would you have Batman work with, Animal man or bwana beast?
@@changvasejarik62 Bwana Beast, or if copyrights are okay Beast Boy
I loved this episode when I first saw it and I still do to this day.
People always have to get sticks up their asses when it comes to this episode. Come on, "Critters" is hilarious, twisted fun, and it's not anywhere near as out of place as it's often made out to be. Underrated as hell.
I actually really like this episode.
It's so weird, i love it.
Normally I'd say "Thank you Farmer Brown". But I'd watch Baki if I wanted to have a giant praying mantis...
The talking goat demanding for money is unusually silly even for season 4.
This could tied back to manbat or the one with the werewolf with the genetic testing
I'm old so the reruns of adam west batman was my first batman.
Comic book logic : If you’re scientist with a ground breaking solution to earth problem and people reject it or called insane then change career to supervillain with a gimmick, seem like go to direction for some people.
He was legally barred from doing it.
Imagine if farmer brown had been set up like harvey dent before, farmer has new tech to save the city from a food shortage, the city, wayne and companies push him to invest all he has to further improve food situations, then this episode and he now has a greater motivation and reason for his rage.
Walter: _’Leave them CRITTERS alone.’_
Me: _’You had to say it.’_
These videos are the perfect length for me to finish eating my dinner with it
6:57 Pumbaa
Pumba is the pig, Timone was the meerkat 😂 6:57
Since you mentioned brave and the bold maybe you can cover that next bat-may
Okay, I really wanna hear the ideas that "Critters" beat out, because either they were really bad, or the producers were on something when they chose it.
Pretty sure you meant Pumbaa when you were talking about the boar unless there's a joke I missed.
We'll just call this a tribute to Batman '66 and some of the post-Code stories from the Fifties. I've never seen this episode on TV, so I guess even the syndicated broadcasters weren't impressed.
For my money, the reason I like it is precisely because it's different than everything.
Like, I'll grant you that they aren't always good to do something different, but this one was wild.
I think Farmer Brown is the prototype for Dr Animo from Ben 10
wait, this WASN'T an adaptation of a Golden Age story? I would have bet money that it was...maybe it was their attempt to make a golden age style story
Trust me. The Golden Age was far less ridiculous. You must be thinking of the Silver Age.
This episode is so outlandish and mad scientist experimental.
If Farmer Brown had been in the 60s Batman show, he would've had a completely different gimmick - exploding "pop"-corn grenades, a tractor-themed getaway vehicle, farmhand/scarecrow-themed henchmen, maybe the electrified pitchfork. Come to think of it, I want to see that version!
The part of this episode I remember best is batgirl trying to fight Mary Lou. Batgirl delivers a high kick, bounces off her, and mary lou just says “beef steroids” before clobbering Barbara.
Mary lou was a freakin wall man.
Cant say I recall this episode from back in the day, but the set-up of a geneticist villain making mutated animals feels like a pretty decent fit for this universe. Maybe the farmer aspect of it went a little too hard, but even that could have worked focusing on a character whom as a child lived on a farm and spend time training and caring for animals before getting into the field of science. This episode reminds me of a similar mutant animal outbreak episode from SwatKats which I always enjoyed and this feels like the Batman version of that.
Feels more like a Superman episode
Yeah, a little bit
When I was a kid I thought the animals in this episode were robots. I think it was a combination of the art style, the size of the giant cows from the beginning, the red eyes (was I drawing a parallel to H.A.R.D.A.C?) and the odd voice of the talking goat.
I am convinced that this episode is involved in some kind of elaborate bet or dare or inside joke.....
I love this episode. Farmer brown is a very fun villain for me. I like how this is one of the few stories where Batman gets to fight actual monsters. I also love the talking goat! Definitely not the worst episode! I would take this episode over the Terrible trio, any time!
This episode was really.....something else.