Batman Beyond, Beyond its time
When I was younger, and I used to hear the phrase, that artist is ahead of its time, I never understood it until Batman Beyond ended after season 3.
Batman Beyond was certainly ahead of its time, in the united states when the series was released the year 1999, cartoons were synonymous with Kids Shows. South Park was already out on comedy central "cable" and was receiving much heat and redefining the idea that a cartoon can be for adults too. However the lengths South Park had to take in order to separate themselves from this stereotype was drastic, it really gets into crude subjects that parents could not tolerated for children.
Batman Beyond however were popped into time slots that were meant for children's eyes, we either woke up willingly on Saturdays while our parents slept tiredly from a long week, or we rushed home from school at 3:00pm to catch all the action. A show like other Batman Beyond was incredibly violent, with the fighting and heavy use of weapons, parents tolerated it for their children and wrote it off as entertainment for children. However this show tackled many subjects beyond violence, it also touched sorrow, drugs, death, regret, pity, anger, hate, love, responsibility, honor and a heavy use of reference that connects to previous batman series.
This show was amazing, and because of its amazement, it was doomed. I must say when I started watching this, I was upset they were taking the batman series to the future. I was blown away by the first few episodes I was ready for more. If we had more of a Japanese mentality, and I'm not a fan of Japanese animation, with the exception of a few Naruto episodes and some old movies, "street fighter" "Fatal Fury" this show would of lasted 10 seasons.
Maybe its a good thing it did not last as long as it did, before it got too stale, but I felt they could of done at least one more season to discuss the stories of all the past villains, give them all cameos in episodes, have terry graduate to collage, maybe a dark side of him or a new side kick to carry the torch.
What I do know is that if this show was released on 2009 instead of 1999 we would of had a broader audience that would push it forward. another shows that was an underdog that had a sophisticated theme was Mighty Max which did end, very happy it had a real ending. I would like to see more animated shows with American Themes created, I felt that we have somehow regressed, and the top animated shows for adults are clones of family guy and the Simpsons, I think found my reason on why My Little Pony has such a huge fan base, I think there is a huge gap missing in a well done animated series with strong character development, story and action that does take itself seriously.