Transmediating Tim Burton’s Gotham City: Brand Convergence, Child Audiences, and Batman: The Animated Series

Abstract

During the early 1990s, Batman, a highly valued media franchise, was an ever-expanding phenomenon, with franchise owner Warner Bros. having reinvigorated the property with Batman (Tim Burton, 1989). This article will examine the subsequent six-year period of its franchise production, using Batman as a case study for exploring the ways in which distinct versions of a fictional character – each constructed under different creative contexts with differing artistic sensibilities, aimed at varying groups of audiences across media – became the combined products of brand convergence across each media iteration, a concept that was crucial to the transmediality of Batman as both commercial brand and fictional storyworld.