| Bruce Timm | |
|---|---|
 Timm at the 2019WonderCon | |
| Born | Bruce Walter Timm (1961-02-05)February 5, 1961 (age 64) Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Artist, animator, writer, producer, director, voice actor |
Notable works | Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000) Batman Beyond (1999–2001) Justice League (2001–2004) Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006) |
| Awards | Inkpot Award (2013)[1] |
| Children | 1 |
Bruce Walter Timm (born February 5, 1961) is an American artist, animator, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for contributing to building the modernDC Comics animated franchise, most notably as the head producer behindBatman: The Animated Series (1992–1995),Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000),The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999),Batman Beyond (1999–2001),Justice League (2001–2004), andJustice League Unlimited (2004–2006).
He also co-createdFreakazoid! (1995–1997) alongsidePaul Dini and developedGreen Lantern: The Animated Series (2012–2013). Following the conclusion of theDCAU, Timm went on to produce several DC animated films under theDC Universe Animated Original Movies line, such asWonder Woman (2009),Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010),Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010),Justice League Doom (2012),Superman vs The Elite (2012),The Dark Knight Returns (2013) andJustice League: Gods and Monsters (2015).
Outside of animation, Timm has also drawn and written severalcomic books. Timm and Dini collaborated onThe Batman Adventures: Mad Love, which told the origin story of Harley Quinn and won theEisner Award for Best Single Story in 1994.
Bruce Timm was born on February 5, 1961,[2] inOklahoma, the third of four brothers. His father was an engineer and his mother worked for the phone company. Timm's family first moved toOhio when Timm was two years old, and then toCalifornia when Timm was five or six.[3]
Timm began drawing from a young age and developed a serious interest incomics around age 12 or 13. His first exposure tosuperhero media was the 1960sBatman television series.[4] Timm went to college for only one year before dropping out due to bad grades. After dropping out, he began working full-time atKmart until he saw aFilmation ad inviting new artists to take a layout test. Timm applied in mid-1980, but wasn't offered the job and went back to working for Kmart. The next year, Filmation began hiring again. Timm passed the layout test on his second try and from that point on began working in animation.[5]
Timm's early career in animation started atFilmation, working on the layout ofBlackstar,Flash Gordon,He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, its spin-offShe-Ra: Princess of Power, andThe Lone Ranger. He also did background work onG.I. Joe.[6] He also worked for numerous other employers, includingRalph Bakshi andDon Bluth Productions, and attempted to find work atMarvel Comics and DC Comics, but was unsuccessful.[7] During an animators strike in 1982, Timm found himself out of work and went back to Kmart for about half a year, before being hired byDon Bluth to help work onThe Secret of NIMH. In 1987, he was hired byJohn Kricfalusi to do layouts forMighty Mouse: The New Adventures, which Timm called "artistically and creatively the most fulfilling job that I'd had in the animation business".[8] He worked atDIC Entertainment onThe Real Ghostbusters for one season in 1988, then joinedWarner Bros. in 1989. At Warner, Timm worked onTiny Toon Adventures.[9]
Timm was one of the creators and producers of the animated series based on various DC Comics superheroes, known as theDC Animated Universe. The DCAU has also named the "Timmverse" or "Diniverse", after both him andPaul Dini, a writer and producer.[10]
Along with hisTiny Toons partnerEric Radomski, Timm co-created and produced theEmmy Award-winningBatman: The Animated Series, which premiered on September 5, 1992, through which he and Dini co-created the character ofHarley Quinn. Timm created virtually all the original character designs forBatman: The Animated Series himself, with the exceptions ofMr. Freeze andthe Riddler, who were designed byMike Mignola, and the charactersMan-Bat and theMad Hatter, who were designed byKevin Nowlan.
After the success ofBatman: The Animated Series, Timm went on to co-create and produceSuperman: The Animated Series (premiered in September 1996),The New Batman Adventures (premiered in September 1997), andBatman Beyond (premiered in January 1999), through which he and Dini co-createdTerry McGinnis, the teenage Batman of the future, and his supporting cast.[11] He also served as producer on the feature-lengthBatman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)[12] before taking the helm as creator and producer of the animated version ofJustice League, which debuted in November 2001; the series continued in the form ofJustice League Unlimited in July 2004.[13] Timm was also the producer and creator ofGreen Lantern: The Animated Series (premiered in November 2011).[14] Along with Dini he created the animated seriesFreakazoid! (premiered in September 1995).[15]
He shared character designer duties onSuperman: The Animated Series andJustice League with James Tucker.[16]
The 2008 projectBatman: Gotham Knight is a departure from the "Timmverse" style, with Timm in a producer role collaborating with Japanese animators on adirect-to-DVD anthology that takes place between the live-actionBatman Begins (2005) andThe Dark Knight (2008) films.[17]In 2013, following the release ofThe Dark Knight Returns animated feature, Timm stepped down as DC animation supervising producer; James Tucker was named as his replacement.[18] Timm still works at Warner Brothers, and executive produced theDC Universe Original Animated Movies[19]Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)[20] andBatman: The Killing Joke (2016),[21] and seriesJustice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles (2015).[22] He was a writer and executive producer forBatman and Harley Quinn (2017).[23]
Timm worked withMan of Steel directorZack Snyder in creating a 75th anniversary short of Superman in 2013.[24] In 2014, he releasedBatman: Strange Days, an animated short celebrating the 75th anniversary of Batman and an homage to one ofHugo Strange's first appearances in the comic books.[25]
DuringDC FanDome 2021, Timm was announced to be executive producing a new Batman animated series titledBatman: Caped Crusader alongsideJ. J. Abrams andMatt Reeves. Comparing the new series toBatman: The Animated Series, Timm stated, "There were certain limitations on what we could do in terms of adult content; in terms of violence and adult themes. My idea is basically to say, 'OK, it's 1990 again, I get to do what I want to do this time, and I got JJ and Matt backing me up.'"[26]
Timm has played several characters in the animated series he has been involved in. His cameos include the 1992 episode ofBatman: The Animated Series, "Beware the Gray Ghost", playing the toy shop owner,[27] as himself in the 1997 episode ofThe New Batman Adventures, "Holiday Knights", and as the leader of theJokerz gang inBatman Beyond, which he joked he did under duress and was "Emmy Award-winning material".[28] He subsequently appeared in an animated form in the 2009 episode ofBatman: The Brave and the Bold, "Legends of the Dark Mite", in a comic book convention parody scene, in which he wore Joker's costume, alongside Paul Dini in Harley Quinn's costume.[28] He played a guard in the 2000direct-to-videoanimated filmBatman Beyond: Return of the Joker.[29]
Timm made a cameo appearance in the 2009 filmGreen Lantern: First Flight as Bug Boy. He played TheRiddler in the 2010 filmBatman: Under the Red Hood and appeared asGalius Zed in the 2011 filmGreen Lantern: Emerald Knights.[30]
Outside of his work in animation, Timm's first ambition was to become a comic-book artist and has thus produced several one-shots and miniseries, mostly for DC Comics.[31] His earliest comic book work was drawingHe-Man and otherMasters of the Universe mini-comics that would be packaged withMattel toys in the 1980s.[32][33]
In 1994, Timm and writer Paul Dini won both theEisner Award for Best Single Story and theHarvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story forBatman Adventures:Mad Love.[34][35] Timm won the same Eisner prize the next year as well, forBatman Adventures Holiday Special, (a one-shot with several Christmas-themed stories) with Dini,Ronnie del Carmen, and others.[36] Later, Timm was involved withBatman Adventures and has also worked onAvengers andVampirella.[37][38]
In 2000, he did the art for an issue of DC'sVertigo imprint horror title,Flinch.[39]
Timm co-createdHarley Quinn (with Dini), working from Dini's original design.[40] Harley's popularity on television led to her inclusion in the mainstream DC Universe. In 2004, Timm and Dini (assisted by Shane Glines as inker) released a three-issueHarley and Ivy miniseries, which was in the works for years.[41]
Timm also drew the 1999Avengers 1½ special for Marvel Comics, written byRoger Stern.[39] In 2005, he contributed artwork for two comics. One was a short story inConan #18, titled "Conan's Favorite Joke". The other was aBlack Canary short story inBirds of Prey #86.[41] Timm provided the art work for a short two-page Harley Quinn origin story for Dini'sCountdown in 2008.[41]
Timm was featured in "Conan Gets Animated", a skit in the December 9, 2010, episode of theTBS late night talk showConan, in which hostConan O'Brien enlisted his help in designing a new superhero, based on O'Brien's specifications. The superhero, who was designed to resemble O'Brien, included a typically muscular superhero body and costume with chest insignia, as well as idiosyncrasies such as an oven mitt, ajai alai glove, golf shoes, sock garters, and fishnet stockings.[42] One month later, O'Brien aired a clip on his show in which the character, named "The Flaming C", appears inYoung Justice.[43]
In 2013, Timm provided the cover artwork forAdventures of Superman #4.[44]
In 2012, Timm released a book of erotic art, "Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm," showcasing more than 300 pencil, line, and full color erotic drawings of women.[45] In 2020, he released another book of erotic art, "The Big Tease: A Naughty and Nice Collection," showcasing more than 208 pencil, line, and full color erotic drawings of women.[46]
Timm's minimalist, аngular style is heavily based in his love of 1950s- and 1960s-era comics andArt Deco architecture style.[47] He is also self-taught, having never received any formal art schooling.[5] Timm lists his artistic influences asJack Kirby,Harvey Kurtzman,Jim Steranko,John Buscema,Wally Wood,Frank Frazetta,Dan DeCarlo, andAlex Toth.[48][49]
Timm is married to his wife, Marta.[50] They have one daughter.[49]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Network | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Producer | Developer | Showrunner | |||
1992–1995 | Batman: The Animated Series |  | Fox Kids | |||
1995–1997 | Freakazoid! |  | | |||
1996–2000 | Superman: The Animated Series | | | Kids' WB | ||
1997–1999 | The New Batman Adventures | | | |||
1999–2001 | Batman Beyond | | | |||
2001–2004 | Justice League | | Cartoon Network | |||
2004–2006 | Justice League Unlimited | | ||||
2011–2013 | Green Lantern: The Animated Series | | | |||
2024–present | Batman: Caped Crusader | | Amazon Prime Video | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker | Guard | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2009 | Wonder Woman | Attacker | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2009 | Green Lantern: First Flight | Bug Boy | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2009 | Superman/Batman: Public Enemies | Mongul | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2010 | Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths | Uncle Super (credited) /Captain Super Jr. (uncredited) | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2010 | Batman: Under the Red Hood | The Riddler | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2011 | Green Lantern: Emerald Knights | Galius Zed | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2012 | Justice League: Doom | Ace | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2012 | Superman vs. The Elite | MI-5 Agent | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 | Thomas Wayne | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2016 | Batman: The Killing Joke | Patrolman | Theatrical release | [29] |
| 2017 | Batman and Harley Quinn | Michael J. Carter / Booster Gold | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2018 | Batman: Gotham by Gaslight | Arkham Radio Man | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| 2019 | Justice League vs. the Fatal Five | Two-Face | Direct-to-video | [29] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–1993 | Batman: The Animated Series | Red / The Mad Bomber / Ted Dymer | 2 episodes | [29] |
| 1999–2001 | Batman Beyond | J-Man / Jokerz Leader / Top Hat Joker | 5 episodes | [29] |
| 2003 | Justice League | Soldier | Episode: "The Terror Beyond" | |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited | Solomon Grundy / Stew / Husband (uncredited) | 2 episodes | [29] |
Dark Horse Comics
DC Comics
Art of Fiction
Eternity Comics
Flesk Publications
Image Comics
Pied Paper
Dynamite Entertainment
Marvel Comics
TwoMorrows Publishing
First Comics
H. H. Windsor
Source:[41]
"And then Bruce Timm's wife Marta said...
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata