Adam West and Burt Ward will return for animated ’60s Batman movie

[Reefa]

This weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina there was a convention called Mad Monster Party that pulled in Adam West and Burt Ward to discuss their days as Batman and Robin during the ultra-campy 1960s Batman television series. During the panel discussion, Burt and Adam (America is on a first name basis with these two) decided to drop the news that they’ll both return to the tights (in animated form) for a full-length movie in celebration of the show’s fiftieth anniversary next year.

This is the first we’ve heard of the movie, because Adam West tells his representation what to do, not the other way around:

This is all great news for the beloved TV show. After a slew of rights disputes between 20th Century Fox (owners of the old Batman show), DC Comics (owners of Batman), and Warner Bros. (owners of DC Comics), the series finally got a home video release in late 2014, as well as a spat of DC Comics called Batman ’66 in 2013 and 2014.

The Batman ’66 comics were popular enough to be given a Kevin Smith-penned Green Hornet crossover and may survive the upcoming Convergence event and New 52 continuity. Sure, “who needs an old TV-spun version of Batman?” you might ask, but next year is the fiftieth anniversary of the show, and more ’60s Batman equals more sales of ’60s Batman stuff.

This is far from the first time the duo have reprised their roles as Batman and Robin for movies or animation that didn’t make it to theaters. The less I remind you about the 2003 CBS TV movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (outside of reminding you James Marsden is in it), the better.

The two have also appeared together in the Matt Groening world, in both The Simpsons and Futurama versions:

Simpsons Season 14 Episode 4 “Large Marge”

Futurama, Season 7 Episode 10 “Leela and the Genestalk”

And, of course, Adam West’s animated voice work has been all over the place, notably on Family Guy as the Mayor:

It may not be surprising these two were game for an animated 1960s Batman cartoon movie, but you’ve got to wonder who else they can get to fill out the voice cast. The fan of the original series that lives deep within me is cursing death for taking Frank Gorshin almost exactly ten years ago. He played the Riddler on the series, and I’d love to see a new 1960s Riddler plot so I could hear Adam West and Burt Ward puzzle over stupid puns and third grade joke book riddles.

Since that’s not happening, I’m hoping for a Batuzi joke, because Batman should dance as often as possible. It’s really something we’ve lost in modern interpretations of the character.

http://www.geek.com/news/adam-west-and-burt-ward-will-return-for-animated-60s-batman-movie-1619160/