Spectrum Animation was an
animation studio
An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...
in Japan, made up of former
TMS Entertainment
, formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946.
TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as '' Lupin the Third' ...
employees. Spectrum animated several episodes of ''
Batman: The Animated Series''.
On the commentary track for "
Heart of Ice" on the ''Batman: The Animated Series, Volume One'' DVD, producer
Bruce Timm
Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, and producer. He has contributed to building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–1995) and the subseque ...
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
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
.
Frank Paur (director, "Vendetta", ''Batman: The Animated Series'') praised Spectrum's animation. "We wanted to keep the show heavy on the mist, the rain. I wanted reflections, mist, gentle rain to play up the whole motif. I was really worried at first that it would go to a bad studio."
Moreover, Spectrum was credited for providing overseas animation work for a few
DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...
productions such as ''
Captain N: The Game Master'' (2nd season), ''
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures'', and ''
Madeline
''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series ...
''.
Episode list
The episodes of ''Batman: The Animated Series'' that were animated by Spectrum Animation Studio are:
* "
On Leather Wings"
* "P.O.V"
* "It's Never Too Late"
* "Vendetta"
* "
Heart of Ice"
* "
Beware the Gray Ghost"
* "
Robin's Reckoning, Part 1"
Awards
Layout services
Spectrum Animation provided layout services for the following episodes of ''
Batman: The Animated Series''. However, Dong Yang did the animation for these episodes.
* "Almost Got 'I'm"
* "See No Evil"
* "The Laughing Fish"
* "Robin's Reckoning, Part 2"
* "Tyger Tyger"
* "Zatanna"
* "Shadow of the Bat, Part 1"
* "Shadow of the Bat, Part 2"
* "His Silicon Soul"
* "Fire from Olympus"
* "The Worry Men"
* "Sideshow"
Spectrum and Dong Yang both worked on the animation for the feature film ''
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm''. Dong Yang did the animation for ''Mask of the Phantasm'', and Spectrum did the layout services.
References
Japanese animation studios
Mass media companies established in 1988
Mass media companies disestablished in 1998
{{animation-studio-stub