If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?
- Episode aired Nov 18, 1992
- Unrated
- 22m
When Edward Nygma's greedy boss unjustly fires genius him, Nygma seeks revenge in a new guise - as the Riddler.When Edward Nygma's greedy boss unjustly fires genius him, Nygma seeks revenge in a new guise - as the Riddler.When Edward Nygma's greedy boss unjustly fires genius him, Nygma seeks revenge in a new guise - as the Riddler.
- Batman
- (voice)
- …
- Robin
- (voice)
- …
- Lucius Fox
- (voice)
- …
- The Riddler
- (voice)
- …
- Daniel Mockridge
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe character of Daniel Mockridge would later make a cameo appearance in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993).
- GoofsWhen Batman turns the first key in the Riddler's labyrinth, the keyhole doesn't turn.
- Quotes
The Riddler: You may not believe in Minotaurs, either, but you'll still have to answer the riddle.
Minotaur: I have millions of eyes, yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes. I have no muscles, yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?
Batman: That's simple: the human brain.
[the Minotaur robot shuts down]
Batman: It has millions of visual and auditory nerves, four lobes, two hemispheres, and it's the only thing Edward Nygma respects.
The Riddler: A lucky guess, that's all, but it won't save you, Batman!
- ConnectionsEdited into Bat-May: If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? (2021)
But the vibe of this episode was off, the animation is strangely noodly, and Batman's voice performance and overall personality is oddly cheeky and hammy compared to his usual behavior. It feels like this may have been an early episode before they had a mood nailed down for the show.
In terms of animation you can see it's oddly expressive when Lucius looks up at the riddle on the ticker tape outside the window. There are a lot of other moments where you'll see the animation "dances" in an off-putting manner. At least relative to the show's usual art deco, minimal-necessary-gesturing for the sake of maintaining that classic Animated Batman regality. The intro that plays before every episode exemplifies what I'm talking about. Characters in this show just don't move that much, the animation is very reserved.
And when it comes to mood, the tone is kind of inconsistent and the ending especially leaves with a weird message. Mockridge fired a guy for selfish reasons and the ending is saying that all is right with the world because now he lives every night unable to sleep, in fear of his life. I don't see how that's reasonable justice for something like that, seems very heavy handed, and Bruce delivers the point like it's the end of A Christmas Carol.
- iizjfkt
- Mar 15, 2022