TV Review: ‘Batman: Brave and the Bold: Mayhem of the Music Meister!’

Fans of Dr. Horrible rejoice! If you have been laying in bed at night, unable to sleep at the prospect of one day hoping to hear Neil Patrick Harris belt out some more power chords as a devious super villain, then look no further than last week’s episode of Batman Brave and the Bold.

For those who don’t watch the show regularly, Brave and the Bold is a different, younger take on the DC animated universe. The show’s creators have managed to take elements from the Silver Age of comics, such as a young Green Arrow, and the Modern Age, such as the new Blue Beetle. The animation also borrows and references styles from the Bruce Timm animation to the undertone of the Adam West Batman series.

In the episode, Mayhem of the Music Meister, NPH guest stars as the villain Music Meister, who has the power of hypnosis through the sound of his voice. Much like in the musical episode of Buffy, the characters all succumb to song and dance due to the villain, which makes for an easy one-shot story.

Though there are some fun comic lore nods throughout the series, the show is most definitely aimed for a younger audience, in both writing and tone. This is the first episode that allowed itself to act as mature as the fans are, especially with the Dr. Horrible parallels.

There are 5 original songs in the show, with two reprises. Each of the pieces are unique to themselves and allow the musical to be completely rounded as a whole in story and theme. There’s even a love song and reprise that fits in perfectly with the story.

One thing that this series is fortunate enough to have is an extraordinary voice cast working every week. Actors like John DiMaggio (Futurama), Tom Kenny (Spongebob Squarepants), and Dee Bradley Baker (Ben 10) have recurring roles on the show, and even lend their musical chops to this episode.

The show’s casting department was lucky (or smart) enough to have actress Grey Delisle already cast as Black Canary before the episode, which is important because of how much of a role she has in the musical episode. Delisle has an amazing singing voice and was able to match Neil Patrick Harris’ style and tune perfectly.

Everyone in the episode has a piece in a musical number except for Diedrich Bader, who plays Batman. The actor has to alter his voice so much in order to fit the role of the dark knight, so it makes sense why he wasn’t able to lend his voice for a song.

Overall, the episode was quite impressive, as was the soundtrack, which is currently available at Amazon and iTunes. Who knows how long it will be before we get another Batman musical (especially one where Gorilla Grodd has a solo), so you should try to get your hands on an airing of Mayhem of the Music Meister while you still can.