John Semper was not a big fan of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES' film-noir look
For those who don't know who John Semper is, he was the show runner/story editor for Spider-Man: The Animated Series from back in the '90s (when it was airing alongside Batman: TAS on Fox Kids):
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Semper is not a big fan of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES' film-noir look, and is quick to point out that SPIDER-MAN will be much different in tone. "We're not going for a distinctive look that can be labeled. We wanted a much brighter, much more colorful New York. Spider-Man himself is a very colorful character. He'd look silly in a noirish kind of background. Bob Richardson, who is the animation supervising producer, has chosen a design style that is very clear, uncluttered, and cinematically effective, without the show getting lost in its own style."
Q: BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES wasn't allowed to put a vampire episode on the air.
JS: We've already done it. I am in the middle of expanding it, because it was so successful that we decided to stretch it for two more episodes. I have a good relationship with Broadcast Standards and Practices, in that I recognize that what they're trying to do is important, and philosophically I am not opposed to what they're trying to do. I think there were writers on BATMAN who decided that they were going to wage war against Broadcast Standards and Practices. I think that's an unproductive attitude.
Q: Let's talk about competition. BATMAN is considered one of the best of the new shows.
JS: I love BATMAN, but you can't watch a lot of it. I mean, there are only so many episodes you can watch before they all start to look alike, and part of it is that it's so completely drowned in that noir style. It's a little too much for me, a triumph of style over substance. If I have to compare them, the most important thing that we bring to animation -- that BATMAN does not bring -- is that our mouths are further down on the chins of all our characters. And I think that gives us all -- a good night's sleep. (Laughs)