DCAU Creator Bruce Timm Steps Down As WB Animation Producer

Bruce Timm, longtime animation supervising producer for Warner Bros., has decided to step down.

Though the name might not pop out at you, if you grew up in the 90s and early 2000s watching superhero cartoons, you’ve definitely seen Timm’s work. As a cartoonist, producer, and creator, he has had a crucial hand in almost every single DC animated series over the past two decades. Indeed, he could be considered to be the father of the DC Animated Universe, which started in 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series.

Timm has been replaced by James Tucker, himself a veteran of Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Batman: The Brace and the Bold.

“Bruce had done a lot since Justice League Unlimited ended, so it’s been quite a haul,” Tucker said in an interview about Timm’s departure. “I can’t speak for him, but I think going out on Dark Knight Returns was a special thing for him. If he was going to make the break, that seemed like a good time.”

The now-52-year-old Timm joined Warner Bros. back in 1989, cutting his teeth on Tiny Toon Adventures. A few years later, he partnered with Eric Radmoski to create Batman: The Animated Series in 1992, which gave birth to what we now know as the DCAU, or the DC Animated Universe.

All in all, the DCAU has been a huge success with critics and audiences. In addition to Batman, it includes Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, The Zeta Project, Static Shock, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.

More recently, Timm has produced DC Universe Animated Original Movie projects, set outside of the DCAU. These animated films adapt popular comic book story lines, most recently, Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

Timm is also almost singularly responsible for the art deco/retro style of the DCAU, started with Batman: The Animated Series, and used in a variety of media including comic books and video games.

Are you a fan of Bruce Timm?