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The Fear was the fourth episode of Series 9's Hanna-Barbera's Super Friends franchise.
Synopsis[]
Batman must overcome his fear of Crime Alley, the place his parents were killed, when the Scarecrow uses it against him in his crimes. But things are more complicated when Robin and Wonder Woman are captured.
Plot Summary[]
| Plot Summary for 'The Fear' |
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One night in Gotham, the villain known as the Scarecrow and his Strawmen henchmen climb out of a truck and head inside a building. The Scarecrow releases a number of chameleons near the two security guards on duty and deploys a fear transmitter that makes the guards terrified of the chameleons and cringe in the corner. Batman and Robin, in the Batcopter and on patrol in the night sky, spot the Scarecrow's truck and descend to check the situation out. The heroes arrive and destroy the transmitter and set out to find Scarecrow, who is examining electronic components in the back. Batman and Robin arrive and the Scarecrow activates a transmitter that amplifies Robin's fear of heights. However, Batman knocks the transmitter out of Scarecrow's hand and with Robin, they defeat the Strawmen though Scarecrow runs off. Batman pursues Scarecrow into an alleyway where the supervillain trips on a black cat. And now Batman has the criminal cornered when Batman suddenly shows fear at seeing where he is. Scarecrow escapes just as Robin arrives and Robin's questions to Batman are met with silence. Later on, at his hideout, Scarecrow tells his lackeys he saw the Batman afraid of something in the alleyway and vows to use it against the hero. The next day, Super Powers Team note Batman is absent and Wonder Woman decides to visit the Wayne mansion as Diana Prince and see what could be wrong. At the Wayne mansion, a brooding Bruce Wayne is hosting a party for the police and meets Commissioner Gordon and Professor Jonathan Crane. Talk turns to Scarecrow's recent activities with Gordon expressing confidence in Batman though Crane has his doubts and says Scarecrow may find out Batman's true fear and end his crimefighting career for good. Inside the mansion's kitchen, Dick Grayson tells Alfred he is trying to avoid the commissioner's niece[1] and mentions to Alfred about being in Crime Alley. Alfred hesitates in telling Dick what he knows about that alley and Bruce enters and says he'll tell Dick everything after the party. Diana enters and says she wants to hear the story as well. Later, in the Bat-Cave, Bruce tells Diana and Dick that Crime Alley was once an upscale part of Gotham and as a child, Bruce went with his parents to see a movie in a theater nearby. After the movie, the three went through the alley as a shortcut but are stopped by a mugger, who killed Bruce's parents.[2] They are later buried in Gotham Cemetery. Orphaned, Bruce vowed to avenge his parent's deaths and worked on developing his physical abilities to their peak as he grew into manhood. Bruce relates that he also studied about criminals and with the knowledge that criminals are, by nature, a cowardly lot, Bruce was inspired by a passing bat to wear a disguise and became known as Batman, a man with no fear save for that alley. Batman says they're not going to avoid the alley and vows to conquer his fear once and for all. Batman goes with Wonder Woman and Robin in the heroine's plane and stops at Crime Alley with Robin. The Scarecrow and his cronies who were about to rob a jewelry store spot the two of them after Batman tosses his Bat-Rope around one of them and Scarecrow and the other Strawman run into Crime Alley followed by Batman and Robin. Scarecrow activates a fear transmitter and Batman is helpless before the images flooding his mind. Robin is captured by the Strawmen and tries to contact Wonder Woman for help but Scarecrow knocks the transmitter out of his hands. The Strawmen drag Robin away but before Scarecrow can capture Batman as well, Wonder Woman arrives. Wonder Woman drives off the Scarecrow, who escapes down a sewer man hole, and she destroys the device incapacitating Batman. Some time afterward, at police headquarters, Batman interrogates a captured Strawman looking for information on Robin's whereabouts but Professor Crane says the Strawmen probably have been given post-hypnotic commands to prevent them betraying him. Wonder Woman offers to use her magic lasso to get the criminal to reveal what they want but Crane says he can't allow that as an officer of the court as it might cause the man brain damage. Batman says they should contact the Hall of Justice for help and leaves vowing to search every inch of Gotham for any trace of Robin. After that, Crane asks Wonder Woman to accompany him to a file room as he says he may have information there that may be useful. In the cramped file room, Crane rifles through a file cabinet and pulls out a fear transmitter that renders Wonder Woman claustrophobic and the heroine passes out from the fear moments later. Later, at Scarecrow's hideout, Scarecrow brags to his henchmen that the two captives will make the perfect bait and his new transmitter will magnify Batman's fear wherever they meet again. In Gotham, at the police station, Batman says there's no sign of Scarecrow's hideout and Crane notes there is no sign of Batman's team mates. Moments later, a large crow flies in the open window and lands on the commissioner's desk with a message in its beak. Batman reads the message and says Scarecrow wants him to follow the crow if he wants to see Wonder Woman and Robin again. The crow flies out the window and Batman follows him in the Batmobile.  Scarecrow as he appears in "The Fear". A short time later, Batman arrives at a cornfield and sees Robin and Wonder Woman secured to scarecrow posts and Wonder Woman's strength drained with her bracelets fused. A crow reveals a fear transmitter on a nearby scarecrow and it activates. Batman's mind sees Robin and Wonder Woman as his dead parents in Crime Alley and is powerless. Seeing this, Scarecrow orders one of his henchman to drive a combine in the direction of the heroes.  Batman breaks free from Scarecrow's Fear transmitter. Before the heroes meet their demise, Batman fights off the imagery and destroys the transmitter. Batman uses a batarang to stop the reaper in its tracks and another batarang to subdue the driver. Moments later, Superman, Green Lantern and Samurai arrive and quickly capture the rest of Scarecrow's henchman. Scarecrow runs into a nearby barn and Batman pursues him and captures the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow tries a fear transmitter but Batman shows he has conquered his fear of Crime Alley for good. Batman also reveals that he knows Scarecrow is really Professor Crane and says he was tipped off when the crow that arrived earlier never took its' eyes off Crane and this indicated it took its orders from Crane. With that, the criminals are taken to jail and Batman says Gotham is now safe for all. |
Cast[]
| V o i c e A c t o r | R o l e |
| Adam West | Batman / Bruce Wayne |
| Casey Kasem | Robin / Dick Grayson |
| B.J. Ward | Wonder Woman / Diana Prince |
| Danny Dark | Superman |
| Michael Rye | Green Lantern |
| Samurai (cameo) | |
| Firestorm (cameo) | |
| Hawkman (cameo) | |
| Aquaman (cameo) |
Guest cast[]
| V o i c e A c t o r | R o l e |
| André Stojka | Scarecrow / Jonathan Crane |
| Bob DoQui Sidney Miller Michael Rye André Stojka |
Strawmen |
| André Stojka | Alfred |
| Sidney Miller | Commissioner Gordon |
| Paul Kirby | Thomas Wayne |
| Lucy Lee | Martha Wayne |
| B.J. Ward | Preteen Bruce Wayne |
| Paul Kirby | Teenager Bruce Wayne |
| Michael Rye | Joe Chill |
| Bob DoQui | Security officer # 1 |
| Sidney Miller | Security officer # 2 |
Locations[]
Items[]
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Other[]
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Episode Title[]
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Continuity[]
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Continuity in Other Media[]
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Quotes[]
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Notes[]
- This is the first time Batman's origin has been told on television.
- This was originally written as a pilot for a planned Batman spin-off, but according to Alan Burnett, who had wrote the episode; the powers-that-be deemed the series far too dark, and not suitable for children. The series was scrapped, but the episode was recycled into an episode of The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. Alan Burnett admitted that he didn't know how they got away with doing it, saying "it's just one of those things..." implying that he was lucky. It might have been due to the fact that the Superfriends was already on the air and therefore there was no need for him to pitch it to ABC. Still, it is surprising that this episode went unnoticed by Broadcast Standards and Practices.
- During the early development of this episode, when it was still planned to be a Batman pilot, Vicki Vale was supposed to appear in the show as Batman's girlfriend. But by the time the Batman series was scrapped, and it was decided to try and make this into an episode of Superfriends, Wonder Woman was used as the female lead instead.
- The first and last time we see Robin out of costume as Dick Grayson in the series.
- This was quite possibly the darkest and most controversial episodes of the entire series, as it featured a scene in which Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered in front of him.[3]
- In the flashback of Batman's origin, a movie poster of Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood is seen in Crime Alley. Holmes likely is an allusion to the fact that Bruce Wayne would one day become a Master Detective, while Robin Hood signified his eventual transformation into a costumed superhero.
- Although Robin Hood was used in this episode, in the comic books it was Zorro that was used instead.
- Ironically, Batman states that Robin has a fear of heights, despite him being a former circus acrobat.
- References: Alley; Bat-Belt; Batcopter; Batmobile; batrope; batarang; binoculars; combine harvester; crow; farm truck; fear; fear transmitter; handshake; Huile!; Martha Wayne's Pearl Necklace; Sherlock Holmes; Sherlock Holmes Movie; Skull and Crossbones; strategy session; RoBIN HooD; Robin Hood; scarecrows;
Production and animation errors[]
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External links[]
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References[]
- ↑ The Commissioner's niece Dick Grayson is referring to could possibly be Barbara Gordon.
- ↑ This event was referred to as the Park Row tragedy, although it was never called as such in the episode.
- ↑ Despite the fact that the scene was pretty intense for a Saturday morning cartoon, it was still heavily censored, Joe Chill's gun is never shown, neither are they seen getting shot. In fact the gunshots are unheard due to thunder striking. But nevertheless, the scene is still very scary for a kid's show. And also the scene in which Scarecrow uses his fear transmitter to torture Batman is also pretty scary.
| Previous Episode: The Darkseid Deception |
Next Episode: The Wild Cards |
| Season 9: The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985) | |