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docgold13 · 5 months

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Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Mister Freeze

Victor Fries was a scientist working at GothCorp. When his beloved wife Nora was diagnosed with a terminal illness, he began experimenting with cryogenics. He found a means of sustaining Nora in cryogenic stasis where she could remain until a cure for her disease could be found. All of this work was done at GothCorp, using huge amounts of the company’s funds. When Ferris Boyle, the chief executive officer at GothCorp, discovered what Fries had been up to, he went to Fries’ laboratory with his men to shut the whole matter down.

Fries begged for his wife's life, but an irate Boyle had his men destroy the equipment. Fries himself was kicked into a batch of chemicals, causing a terrible explosion that consumed the entire lab.

Fries managed to survive this ordeal but the cryogenic chemicals had caused a dramatic and irreversible change to his physiology. His body could no longer survive in temperatures above zero degrees celsius. He created for himself a specialized cryo-suit that kept his body at low temperatures. This suit also tripled his normal strength. He additionally devised a freeze gun that could fire torrents of ice that flash-froze anything it came into contact with.

Devastated by the loss of his wife and now seeing himself as a cold and unfeeling entity, Fries re-dubbed himself ‘Mister Freeze’ and set about on gaining cold-blooded vengeance against Farris Boyle.

Freeze’s efforts to bring down GothCorp attracted the attention of The Batman and the Dark Knight barely survived his first encounter with the villain. After further investigation, Batman was able to determine Freeze’s true identity as well as Boyle’s culpability in the accident that had created him.

Batman was ultimately able to defeat Freeze while also exposing Boyle’s murderous actions. Boyle was sentenced to prison whereas Freeze was remanded to Arkham Asylum. It would prove the first of many battles between Batman and Mr. Freeze.

Actor Michael Ansara provided the voice for Mr. Freeze, with the cold-hearted villain first appearing in the third episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘Heart of Ice Part One.’

#batman the animated series #Batman #Mr. Freeze #Mister Freeze #Michael Ansara #cut-out #paper art #dc comics

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citizenscreen · 9 months

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Barbara Eden, Michael Ansara and their son Matthew

#barbara eden #michael ansara

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moorheadthanyoucanhandle · 1 year

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DOVE TALE

Again and again I find myself sheepishly admitting that Star Trek, as in the original series, is my all-time favorite TV show. It's a little embarrassing to acknowledge that, north of sixty years old, I keep going back for comfort and refreshment to the corny sci-fi show that I loved as a kid.

Worse yet, for all the show's sophomoric heavy-handedness and cultural chauvinism and ludicrous science and inconsistently applied social values, I keep finding relevance, even prescience in it.

For instance, this past weekend I watched the third-season episode, scripted by the redoubtable Jerome Bixby (also author of the story that became the Twilight Zone favorite "It's a Good Life"), called "Day of the Dove..."

You may remember it: Both the Enterprise and a crew of Klingons arrive at a planet, lured there under false pretenses by a powerful incorporeal alien Entity. Through a variety of mind tricks and matter transmutation, the Entity gets the Federation crew and the Klingons trapped together aboard the Enterprise, which is hurtling out of control on course to leave the galaxy.

Onboard, the factions are allowed their own turf, armed with swords--Scotty admires "a Claymore..."

...and psychically aroused to furious hatred toward their adversaries and even toward each other. They soon discover that the conflict between them is self-renewing; their wounds heal miraculously and the Entity allows neither side complete victory.

As a kid, I always thought it was a pretty cool episode. It had plenty of action, including swordfights, and the coolest and most badass of all the original series Klingons, Kang, played by the rumbly-voiced Michael Ansara...

...towering over Shatner...

It was also the only glimpse we ever got, in the original series, of Klingon women, notably Susan Howard as Kang's wife and science officer Mara...

In the course of the show Chekov, under the Entity's evil influence, attempts to violate Mara, although it looks like she could smack his little ass across the corridor with one hand.

Along with Chekov, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura all get to work themselves up into highly entertaining angry lathers in this one. Shatner's in particularly hilarious, wound-up form here: "Look at me...Look. At. Me." And there's the great moment when the hysterical Scotty, responding to Spock's attempt to calm him, says "Keep your Vulcan hands off me," but it sounds like he said "Keep your f**kin' hands off me."

But watching it the other night, it occurred to me that this episode seems unusually relevant these days. I noticed this a few years ago about the second-season episode "The Omega Glory" as well. The theme, about the dangers of fetishizing and theocratizing America's foundational documents and other objects of patriotic regard like the flag, seems like a pedestrian, basic civics lesson. But it turns out that our society needs to be reminded of it regularly.

Similarly, with "Day of the Dove," the message might seem, at a glance, like the usual honorable but ineffectual Star Trek platitudes about the horrors of war and the bondage of bigotry and the liberating virtue of tolerance. But now, in light of the revelations from the Dominion lawsuit, it has a strikingly specific subtext. Because, of course, the reason the invading Entity is attempting to create this hellish eternal conflict on the Enterprise is that it feeds on violent hatreds, turning from yellowish-white to a happy shade of red...

...when it sucks up some delicious fury.

It creates false narratives in people's minds to stir up their bloodlust--Chekov claims his brother was killed by the Klingons; Sulu later explains that the brother is imaginary, as Chekov is an only child--and feeds both sides with propaganda to gin up enmity. Essentially, the Entity is a farmer, planting outrage so that it can harvest rage.

In other words, the Entity is Fox News, and the "news" media machine of which Fox News is the most successful and egregious example. I mean, isn't it, kind of?

In this context, some of Bixby's lines take on an extra resonance, as when Kirk speculates "Has a war been staged for us, complete with weapons and ideology and patriotic drum beating? Even...Spock...even race hatred?"

Or, when Kirk says "It exists on the hate of others," and Spock replies "To put it simply. And it has acted as a catalyst, creating this situation in order to satisfy that need."

Or, again, Kirk's desperate appeal to Kang, in the climactic minutes: "...and it goes on, the good old game of war, pawn against pawn! Stopping the bad guys. While somewhere, something sits back, and laughs, and starts it all over again."

In the end, Kang is persuaded, a truce is ordered, and the weakened Entity is chased off the Enterprise to hearty laughter from both sides...

Kang slaps Kirk on the back and for a second it looks like Kirk is going to pass out. A lovely moment; I would highly recommend it for our nation right now. But as the Entity goes flittering off the ship into space, it's all too easy to imagine it scurrying down to some TV "News" Network on some unsuspecting planet.

#star trek #day of the dove #william shatner #deforest kelley #leonard nimoy #walter koenig #george takei #nichelle nichols #michael ansara #susan howard #jerome bixby #dominion lawsuit #james doohan #klingons

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abs0luteb4stard · 1 year

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W A T C H I N G

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twistedtummies2 · 3 months

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Year of the Bat - Number 6

Welcome to Year of the Bat! In honor of Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and Richard Moll, I’ve been counting down my Top 31 Favorite Episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series” throughout this January.

TODAY’S EPISODE QUOTE: “It would move me to tears, if I had tears to shed.” Number 6 is…Heart of Ice.

Many seem to consider “Heart of Ice” to be the single best episode of “Batman: The Animated Series.” If it isn’t number one, it’s usually VERY high up, typically in the Top 5 at least. So for me to rank it a mere number six is probably blasphemy, in some people’s minds. As usual, I have nothing against “Heart of Ice” – far, FAR from it – but I just have personal biases that cause me to like five other episodes more. Of course, we’ll get to those stories when we get to them…for now, let’s focus on this one. This episode marks the first appearance of Mr. Freeze, and is famous for its reimagining of the character’s origin story. In the comics before this point, Freeze was a pretty standard, honestly rather dull villain: as one version of Green Lantern described him, he was “a two-bit gimmick villain from Gotham City.” Back then, he was an unnamed mad scientist, whose experiments in creating a freeze ray led to him needing to wear a special suit to keep himself in a sub-zero environment at all times. He was honestly depicted as sort of a blundering sort, whose condition was self-inflicted by his own foolhardiness. He was also known by a different name, “Mr. Zero.”

It was actually the Adam West series that first reinvigorated the character: not only was that show the series that gave him the title of “Mr. Freeze,” since the series’ creators felt that was a catchier name (and they were so very right), but they added a surprisingly tragic element to the character’s backstory: Freeze was still a mad criminal scientist, but his condition was no longer self-imposed. It was revealed that, when he first met Batman, the Caped Crusader (accidentally) doused Freeze with some of the dangerous chemicals he was experimenting with, and Freeze’s cold-hearted attitude was largely a result of his bitter desire for vengeance against the Dark Knight, whom he felt had robbed him of a normal life. Of course, the Silly Sixties could only go so deep with this pathos, due to its focus on campy comedy. It was the Animated Series that brought Freeze to critical mass, taking some of these same elements and expanding on them in a way that has now become legendary.

In “Heart of Ice,” we find out that Mr. Freeze was once a good man: a cryogenics expert by the name of Victor Fries, who was trying to save his wife, Nora, from a terminal illness. Unfortunately, Fries ran afoul of his employer: an entrepreneur named Ferris Boyle, who tried to shut down his experiments, not caring about Nora’s wellbeing at all. Victor tried to fight back, and was tricked by Boyle, who knocked him into a collection of unstable chemicals. This is what has led to him becoming Mr. Freeze: an ice-themed supervillain who can no longer exist outside of arctic-level temperatures, seeking vengeance against the one he blames for destroying his life and trying to murder his poor, beloved bride. When Batman is put on the villain’s trail, he ends up in Freeze’s crosshairs. Honestly, there is so much I could talk about on what makes this episode so magnificent. For starters, it’s one of the best animated episodes of the show, in my opinion. (The only one that might top it is “Feat of Clay.”) The music is spellbinding, with Freeze’s haunting, music-box-like theme repeated throughout the score, in stark contrast to Batman’s grandiose, orchestral power. It’s also notable for featuring Mark Hamill as a character OTHER than the Joker, as he plays the role of Ferris Boyle in the story. (Apparently, he actually recorded the voice of Boyle before ever landing the role of the Ace of Knaves, even though several Joker episodes all predate this story’s release. Weird.) And of course, the themes present in the story – the difference between vengeance and justice, and of what it means to be truly human – are powerful and nuanced in their presentation. One could write a whole book about what makes this episode so great, and still not have said enough. So…again, probably heresy leaving it out of the Top 5. For those of who are (unfairly) upset with me, I feel there’s no better apology I can give than Mr. Freeze’s own final lines: “I can only beg your forgiveness, and pray that you hear me somehow, someplace. Someplace where a warm hand waits for mine.”

Tomorrow we move into the Top 5 of the countdown! Hint: “My fault…I didn’t get the joke…”

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defconprime · 4 months

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Susan Howard and Michael Ansara as Mara and Kang

#star trek tos #star trek cards #michael ansara #kang

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fourorfivemovements · 7 months

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Films Watched in 2023: 95. The Manitou (1978) - Dir. William Girdler

#The Manitou #William Girdler #Tony Curtis #Michael Ansara #Susan Strasberg #Stella Stevens #Jon Cedar #Burgess Meredith #Ann Sothern #Paul Mantee #Films Watched in 2023 #My Post

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cultfaction · 8 months

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Land of the Giants

Land of the Giants was a science fiction television series that captivated audiences during its original run from 1968 to 1970. Created by Irwin Allen, the mastermind behind other iconic sci-fi series like Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the show takes viewers on an imaginative journey into a world where a group of people find themselves stranded on an…

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academyoftheheartandmind · 7 months

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Premature Spring and Other Poems

By Michael Ansara Premature Spring Inexcusable, given the lush conditions of my life, joy has too often been a stranger. Now the sun seems stronger. Mud sucks at my shoes. My body still moving is a blessing. This year, winter was two days when the earth Cracked from the cold. That our bodies still move Together is a rare blessing. Love Poem #40 I wanted to swim in the river of wonder. To…

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#academy of the heart and mind #academyoftheheartandmind #Annual Report #Love Poem 40 #Michael Ansara #Poem #poems #poet #Poetry #Premature Spring

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hellooldsmelly · 8 months

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#barbara eden #michael ansara

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oskarlevant · 1 year

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ABC-TV 25th Anniversary special, 1978

#john wayne #chuck connors #clint walker #michael ansara #jack kelly #hugh o'brien #david carradine #clayton moore

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citizenscreen · 9 months

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Michael Ansara (April 15, 1922 – July 31, 2013)

#michael ansara

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movie--posters · 2 years

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abs0luteb4stard · 1 year

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W A T C H I N G

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pygartheangel · 1 year

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#dear dead delilah #agnes moorehead #will geer #michael ansara #horror movies #movie poster

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raurquiz · 4 days

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#remembering #michaelansara #actor #kang #klingon #startrek #dayofthedove #deepspacenine #voyager #themessage #BuckRogersinthe25thCentury #LawofthePlainsman #themanitou #idreamofjeannie #gunsofthemagnificentseven #chips #fantasyisland #missionimpossible #ds930 #startrek57

#remembering #michael ansara #actor #kang #klingon #startrek #day of the dove #the message #buck rogers in the 25th century #lawoftheplainsman #themanitou #i dream of jeannie #gunsofthemagnificentseven #chips #fantasy island #mission impossible

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