The Adventures of Batman and Robin: Fire and Ice, 1995. Directed by Bruce Timm. Voices: Kevin Conroy, Loren Lester, Michael Ansara, Dan O'Herlihy.

Two episodes of the animated television series:
In "Deep Freeze," Mr. Freeze is busted out of prison by an insane theme park mogul. The mogul desires Mr. Freeze's condition in order to make himself "practically immortal," so he can oversee his new project: a city of the future that will be proof against the icy apocalypse he plans for the rest of the world. Freeze balks, but is swayed when he is offered his cryogenically suspended wife as an incentive. Batman and Robin must stop things before it is too late.

In "The Fire from Olympus," the head of Maximillian Shipping has gone insane. He has stolen a new energy weapon from a military contractor and set himself up as Zeus, hurling thunderbolts from his penthouse, his self-styled Olympus. Maxi-Zeus mistakes Batman for his brother Hades and attempts to cast him down from the heights, while Maxi's girlfriend attempts to talk him back to sanity. Unfortunately, there is an electrical accident in store for Maxi before Batman can cart him off to Arkham Asylum....

It seems a shame that some of Batman's other villains have been given their own showcases on video while Mr. Freeze has to share time with Maxi-Zeus. Oh, Maxi's episode is entertaining, but he's a second tier villain at best. Mr. Freeze, on the other hand, has been reborn in the hands of the Batman animators, transformed into one of Batman's front rank nemeses. One wishes that "Hearts of Ice," which recounts Freeze's tragic origins, were included on this tape. Before the animated series got a hold of Freeze, his origin had never been recounted and he never had a personality that was convincing--in any medium. Here, the animated series outshines even its printed progeniturs. Michael Ansara's voice is dead on perfect for Freeze. In the episode on this tape, the satire of Walt Disney is absolutely savage--more savage than one would expect from kid-vid (but then, The Batman Animated Series has only ever paid lip service to its status as kid-vid). As for "The Fire from Olympus:" it's entertaining (few episodes of this series are actually bad) and offers the literate viewer much to enjoy (Maxi's girlfriend is named Clio, his "Muse of History"), but juxtaposed against "Deep Freeze," it doesn't hold a candle...
 



Home

Back to Index