Batman: The Animated Series
The Lion and the Unicorn
TV Flash files “The Lion and the Unicorn” as a desk essential hour — Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995) on Fox Kids, season 4, episode 5, aired 1995-09-15, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E05: listed hour 85 of 85 in the Batman: The Animated Series guide, last listed hour of season 4. It aired 1995-09-15 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “A Bullet for Bullock” (S04E04). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “The Lion and the Unicorn”. The Lion and the Unicorn: catalog closer — Harley already walking out of this show into the wider DC canon.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The Red Claw organization kidnaps Alfred, seeking a code they need to arm a weapon of mass destruction that Alfred knows from his days as a British secret agent.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Lion and the Unicorn sit in the Batman: The Animated Series guide?
S04E05 is listed hour 85 of 85 — last listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 5.
When did Batman: The Animated Series S04E05 air?
The Lion and the Unicorn aired 1995-09-15 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Did this series create Harley Quinn?
Yes — Harley Quinn was created here (voiced by Arleen Sorkin) and later entered comics, films, and the wider DC brand.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Art-deco Gotham with Kevin Conroy's growl and Mark Hamill's Joker — kids' TV that adults claimed without irony. Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski built black-sky noir, jazz menace, and villains as tragic theater. Harley Quinn walks out of this show into the wider DC canon. Still the gold standard for Western superhero animation.
The first useful thing *Batman: The Animated Series* does is treat Saturday morning like prestige genre. A noir-styled Batman stalks an art-deco Gotham where villains are tragic theatrical forces. Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski built a timeless design language — black sky, sharp shadows, jazz menace — for a 1992 Fox Kids premiere. Kevin Conroy's Batman and Mark Hamill's Joker became definitive voice performances for a generation. Arleen Sorkin's Harley Quinn spun out of this series into comics and films. Kids' TV…
Filed against
- Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne / Batman
Kevin Conroy's Bruce Wayne / Batman gave Batman: The Animated Series its growl — art-deco Gotham, black-sky noir, jazz menace, villains as tragic theater. Kids' TV that adults claimed without irony. TV Flash files him as 1990s voice…
- Mark Hamill as The Joker
Mark Hamill laughed the city sick as the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series — art-deco Gotham, Kevin Conroy’s growl, black-sky noir, jazz menace, villains as tragic theater. Kids’ TV that adults claimed without irony. Harley walks out…
- Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.’s Stuart Bailey made 77 Sunset Strip Hollywood-PI cool — jazz theme, parking-lot slang, 1960s catalog detective factory with Kookie in the margins. The F.B.I. and Batman: The Animated Series stretched the same…
- Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn
Arleen Sorkin’s Harley Quinn walked out of Batman: The Animated Series into the wider DC canon — art-deco Gotham, Kevin Conroy’s growl, Mark Hamill’s Joker, kids’ TV that adults claimed without irony. Bruce Timm black-sky noir, villains…
- Loren Lester as Dick Grayson / Robin
Loren Lester voiced the sidekick as Dick Grayson / Robin on Batman: The Animated Series — art-deco Gotham, Kevin Conroy’s growl, Mark Hamill’s Joker, and kids’ TV that adults claimed without irony. Black-sky noir, jazz menace. TV Flash…