Plot summary: A desperate Mr. Freeze kidnaps Barbara Gordon in hopes of saving his wife Nora’s rapidly-fading life.

(Originally published on The Reel World May 22nd, 2021)

Notes

Original Release Date: March 17^th, 1998

Directed: Boyd Kirkland (22)

Written: Randy Rogel (10) and Boyd Kirkland (1)

Animation: Koko Enterprise Co., LTD (1) & Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD. (43)

Music: Michael McCuistion (11)

Intended as a straight-to-video tie-in to Batman & Robin, the critical evisceration of said movie meant that despite completing production in 1997, Warner Bros. sat on this until halfway through The New Batman Adventures.

The delays also meant that Freeze’s appearance in upcoming episode ‘Cold Comfort’ spoiled some parts of the film’s plot.

Bruce Timm became too busy with Superman the Animated Series to oversee the film, so Randy Rogel & Boyd Kirkland were mostly left to their own devices. Timm was later shocked to learn they’d brought Nora Fries ‘back to life’, as he not only felt it undermined Freeze’s character, but ruined plans he had to adapt part of the tie-in Holiday Special comic.

Veronica Vreeland’s hair colour was temporarily changed from red to blonde, likely because of Barbara Gordon. A similar thing happened in the comics with Summer Gleeson (remember her?), and some have speculated Timm has a bit of a thing for redheads, hence there being so many of them in the show.

First outing for Korean animation studio, Koko, owned by BTAS alumni Tokyo Movie Shinsha. They frequently collaborated with Dong Yang as they do here. I lamented how much I missed the likes of TMS (and Sunrise and Spectrum), so I guess this is the next best thing.

Recap

Mr. Freeze is living happily in the Arctic Circle (following the events of ‘Deep Freeze’) with two pet polar bears and an Inuit boy named Koonak for company. Oh, and Nora on ice too, of course!

Unfortunately a military submarine smashes into their cavern home, damaging Nora’s tube! Freeze takes immediate revenge on the submarine crew.

Two weeks later in Gotham, Batman & Robin take out a pair of thieves before attending a fancy party in their civilian identities. They talk with Jim Gordon about what a lovely young woman Barbara is, spliced together with Batgirl kicking ass across town. Very cool.

Bruce ducks out early to escape Veronica Vreeland and her gal pals, leaving Dick and Barbara to continue their recent courtship (lots of teasing from Jim on that front.)

Unfortunately, after consulting with a former colleague Mr. Freeze has determined Barbara is a match for Nora’s rare blood type, and kidnaps her. Dick tries to fight the villain off, but two polar bears turn out to be quite the advantage. Weird, right?

Jim Gordon flips the eff out, ordering the GCPD conduct an enormous search. He and Bullock visit Dick in hospital (he almost died in a pretty cool chase scene), providing Bruce with the exposition he needs to start piecing the mystery together.

Meanwhile, Barbara makes a plucky escape attempt, but discovers they’re on an abandoned oil rig out at sea, leaving her nowhere to run.

Bruce and Dick continue their investigation, learning of Dr. Belson, a missing cryogenicist who worked with Fries years ago. They eventually get to his stockbroker, who receives a message from Belson that they’re able to use to locate him.

Talk of the devil, Belson and Freeze prep Barbara for surgery, distressing Koonak enough to set her free. Belson and the bears chase after her, with the bad doctor shooting wildly, despite the risks of harming the patient and blowing them all to hell due to all the oil.

Batman & Robin arrive via Batwing and trick the bears into leaping into the sea. A huge fire spreads through the rig, with the trio of heroes rescuing Nora and Koonak from the flames while Belson ostensibly perishes in a cowardly escape attempt.

Bruce attempts to go back for Victor, but the combination of a broken leg and the effects of the extreme heat on his body render him immobile, and he ultimately falls into a fiery abyss with Batman unable to save him.

The heroes fly away with seconds to spare and two weeks later Summer Gleeson (remember her?) reports on Nora’s life being saved thanks to a combination of Bruce’s fortune and Victor’s research… and the very much alive Freeze witnesses the report and sheds of tear of joy before hobbling away with his bears.

Best Performance

Michael Ansara gives by far his best acting performance in the role of Mr. Freeze here, even if he has seemingly changed the voice from his iconic debut for the second time. His brief warmth towards Koonak and melancholy as he presents Nora with a flower juxtapose nicely with his all-business mission. He manages to sound aggressive and forceful without getting too emotional as it was Timm & Dini’s mandate that he should be devoid of feeling as much as possible. I particularly enjoyed his work during the fire, as it’s clear to everyone else that they can’t stay there any longer, but he calmly insists Belson remain and perform the surgery.

Mary Kay Bergman replaced sentimental favourite Melissa Gilbert as Batgirl, and would in turn be replaced by Tara Strong. I have to admit, she’s pretty great, from her teasy flirtations with Dick, to her heroic determinism during the escape and bonding with Koonak.

Bob Hastings puts in his best shift as Jim Gordon to date, especially when reacting to Barbara’s kidnapping. Everybody else is aggressively fine, from Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester, to George ‘The Ventriloquist’ Dzundza as Dr. Belson.

Episode Ranking

This film is most famous for widely being declared superior to the live-action film it was tying into, which isn’t hard given Batman & Robin is one of the most reviled major releases of all time. But it is good in its own right! A step below Mask of the Phantasm, but with a greater sense of grandeur than the series. I would have loved to have seen them produce two or three more films of this kind, but alas.

The intro featuring a fancy pants logo treatment and partially-3D underwater sequence demonstrated how much animation leapt forwards in the 90s. Indeed, the visuals are greatly improved over the series and it’s a shame it wasn’t an option to achieve this look going forward instead of the (mostly) inferior design overhauls of The New Batman Adventures.

This is never more apparent than the exceptionally fun action scenes, including Dick’s motorcycle chase and Barbara’s two escapes. I really liked the oil rig as a setting for the final showdown, particularly the brief shot of the multi-levelled game of Cat and Mouse Bat and Polar Bears as the heroes approach by air, but also how it leads to the shockingly dramatic fire rescue.

Where it falls down compared to Phantasm is the lack of a big emotional plotline beyond Freeze’s quest to save Nora. There is an effort made to pull off a compelling investigation (including a cool scene where the heroes break into the stockbroker’s bedroom), but it’s a bit too contrived. Kirkland & Rogel made a conscious decision to give Robin & Batgirl a turn in the spotlight, hence getting them together romantically, but it just doesn’t really come together in a compelling way. They’re cute, don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t hit that higher level where we use it to delve into their characters like with Bruce and Andrea.

1. The Laughing Fish
2. Mask of the Phantasm
3. Almost Got ‘im
4. Heart of Ice
5. Harlequinade
6. The Trial
7. Riddler’s Reform
8. Shadow of the Bat Part I
9. I Am the Night
10. Robin’s Reckoning Part I
11. Baby-Doll
12. Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero (NEW ENTRY)
13. The Man Who Killed Batman
14. Perchance to Dream
15. Two-Face Part I
16. Bane
17. Batgirl Returns
18. A Bullet For Bullock
19. Joker’s Favor
20. Read My Lips
21. Feat of Clay Part II
22. Harley’s Holiday
23. Catwalk
24. The Demon’s Quest Part II
25. Harley and Ivy
26. Robin’s Reckoning Part II
27. House & Garden
28. Beware the Gray Ghost
29. Second Chance
30. Mad as a Hatter
31. Heart of Steel Part II
32. Appointment In Crime Alley
33. Two-Face Part II
34. Pretty Poison
35. Deep Freeze
36. Lock-Up
37. Shadow of the Bat Part II
38. Feat of Clay Part I
39. His Silicon Soul
40. Off Balance
41. Vendetta
42. Birds of a Feather
43. Heart of Steel Part I
44. On Leather Wings
45. See No Evil
46. The Clock King
47. It’s Never Too Late
48. Make ‘Em Laugh
49. Joker’s Wild
50. Eternal Youth
51. The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
52. The Cat and the Claw Part I
53. Zatanna
54. Day of the Samurai
55. The Lion and the Unicorn
56. Avatar
57. The Demon’s Quest Part I
58. The Mechanic
59. The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
60. Terror in the Sky
61. P.O.V.
62. Christmas with the Joker
63. Fear of Victory
64. Be a Clown
65. The Worry Men
66. What is Reality?
67. Fire From Olympus
68. Night of the Ninja
69. Mudslide
70. The Cat and the Claw Part II
71. Nothing to Fear
72. Prophecy of Doom
73. Tyger, Tyger
74. Blind as a Bat
75. If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
76. Dreams In Darkness
77. The Last Laugh
78. Cat Scratch Fever
79. Moon of the Wolf
80. Paging the Crime Doctor
81. Time Out of Joint
82. Sideshow
83. The Under-Dwellers
84. The Forgotten
85. Showdown
86. The Terrible Trio
87. I’ve Got Batman in My Basement

Rogues Roundup

Mr. Freeze (Michael Ansara) (third appearance)

Listen, I know Bruce Timm is 50% responsible for Mr. Freeze becoming the character we all love, but I respectfully disagree with his assessment about Nora. Isn’t the entire deal that he devotes every waking moment to trying to cure her? The series established that he has no interest in petty crime or world domination, so without that goal to work towards, wouldn’t he just… sit still forever? Perhaps he meant that in his opinion she was essentially a vegetable, but the film concludes with her fully restored, and to me that opens doors.

Anyway, Victor’s willingness to kill Barbara without a second thought in order to save his wife is simultaneously stone cold (lolol) and completely human. The whole ‘how far would you go to save the person you love?’ thing. Likewise, his happy little life caring for two bears and a boy, transitioning to swift and brutal vengeance against the submarine crew who accidentally ruined everything is a nice demonstration of his two extremes. There’s definitely a bi-POLAR joke here somewhere…

Speaking of which, the polar bears were a stroke of genius, because we’ve already seen that he doesn’t play well with generic henchmen, but everybody needs muscle, and it gives him a little extra something compared to the other villains while still fitting his design theme.

With a suspicion that his treatment in New Batman Adventures is likely going to push him right back down again, I’m going to move Freeze back into the top three.

1. The Joker
2. Harley Quinn
3. Mr. Freeze (↑)
4. Poison Ivy
5. Two-Face
6. The Ventriloquist
7. Catwoman
8. The Riddler
9. The Phantasm
10. Baby-Doll
11. Bane
12. Mad Hatter
13. Penguin
14. HARDAC (and Randa Duane)
15. Clayface
16. Ra’s al Ghul
17. Lock-Up
18. Lloyd Ventrix
19. Killer Croc
20. Rupert Thorne
21. Count Vertigo
22. Clock King
23. Nivens
24. Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
25. Josiah Wormwood
26. Scarecrow
27. Talia al Ghul
28. Sid the Squid
29. Queen Thoth Khepera
30. Maxie Zeus
31. Jimmy ‘Jazzman’ Peake
32. Tony Zucco
33. Man-Bat
34. Hugo Strange
35. Red Claw
36. Arnold Stromwell
37. Mad Bomber
38. Tygrus
39. Rhino, Mugsy and Ratso
40. Kyodai Ken
41. Condiment King/Pack Rat/Mighty Mom
42. Grant Walker
43. Gil Mason
44. Nostromos (and Lucas!)
45. Cameron Kaiser
46. Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
47. Mad Dog
48. Ubu
49. Professor Milo
50. Romulus
51. Arkady Duvall
52. Sewer King
53. Boss Biggis
54. Montague Kane
55. The Terrible Trio