Batman: The Animated Series (often shortened as Batman TAS or BTAS) is an American animated superhero television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. Developed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, it originally aired on Fox Kids from September 5, 1992, to September 15, 1995, with a total of 85 episodes. Mid-way through the series' run, it was re-titled The Adventures of Batman & Robin.

Batman: The Animated Series has received widespread acclaim since its release and was hailed as a groundbreaking superhero show, receiving praise for its writing, art design, voice acting, orchestrated soundtrack, and modernization of its title character's source material. Its critical success led to the show winning multiple Daytime Emmy Awards, as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Programming.

After the series ended its original run, a follow-up titled The New Batman Adventures began airing on Kids' WB in 1997 as a continuation of the series, featuring a revamped animation style. Airing for 24 episodes, it has often been included in the same syndicated re-run packages and home media releases as the final season. Batman: The Animated Series also became the first in the continuity of the shared DC Animated Universe, which spawned further animated TV series, feature films, comic books, and video games helmed by much of the same creative talent, including the 1993 theatrical film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Batman: The Animated Series follows Bruce Wayne and his superhero alter ego Batman, fighting crime in Gotham City while also exploring the lives of city residents impacted by crime and corruption. Although the series centers on Batman's battles with various villains, it delves into their complex backgrounds, revealing the personal struggles and thus making them more "relatable." For instance, a scientist attempts to force someone to love him, while a former star tries to relive her lost fame. While action is a major part of the show, it also addresses themes and social issues such as mental illness, loss, divorce, patent law, insurance fraud, homelessness, class prejudice, age discrimination, typecasting, prison abuse, and animal testing.

The series adapts classic Batman comic book stories into episodes. Notable examples include "The Laughing Fish", which brought Joker's antics from Detective Comics #475-476 to animation as he attempts to copyright Jokerized fish. In "The Cape & Cowl Conspiracy," Batman faced deadly traps inspired by Detective Comics #450. "Moon of the Wolf" sees Batman investigating werewolf attacks based on Batman #255. "The Demon's Quest" introduced Ra's Al Ghul from Batman #232 and #244. "Two-Face" delved into Harvey Dent's backstory, while "A Bullet for Bullock" had detective Harvey Bullock teaming up with Batman to solve a dangerous case.

Sixteen minutes of animated segments in the video game The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD are sometimes referred to as a "lost episode" of the series. These segments are intended to be interspersed between gameplay elements of an early-1990s video game, so the sound, color and story are not the same quality as the actual television program. Additionally, because Sega did not have to follow the censorship rules of the show, the fights were somewhat more violent than those in the animated series. Many of the show's voice actors reprised their roles for the game, and are thus in the lost episode. Similar cutscenes appear throughout the video games Batman: Vengeance and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.

In 1990, following the success of the Tiny Toons series, Warner Bros. Animation president Jean MacCurdy announced to the animation team that Warner wanted to develop several of its licenses, including Batman. Following this news, Bruce Timm was tasked with designing Batman, and Eric Radomski was assigned to design the sets. Radomski, who knew Batman primarily from the 1966 series and the 1989 Tim Burton film, was particularly inspired by the latter. At the request of MacCurdy, Timm and Radomski, who had never worked together before, produced a silent short film called The Dark Knight's First Night in about six weeks to pitch the series to Fox. They decided to draw inspiration from the 1940 Superman series and received assistance from the studio Lightbox Animation. Fox greenlit the project before they saw the short, but this led to Timm and Radomski taking charge of the project, despite having no prior experience producing a series. Since the series had no writers at this stage, MacCurdy recruited Alan Burnett, who was considering leaving animation due to his frustration with the restrictions imposed by the Broadcast Standards and Practices department. It was the short film, along with MacCurdy's assertion that the series would feature guns and fighting, that convinced Burnett to participate. At the time, animated series were generally not very diverse, being mainly aimed at children and constrained by numerous restrictions, especially concerning violence. The production had to navigate these censorship guidelines; although weapons could be shown and characters could shoot, the series was not allowed to depict bullet holes or show characters dying, for example.

Unlike most other animated series, the artists, directors, and writers worked closely together to ensure effective communication. Each writer received a "scripture bible" written by Timm, along with writers Paul Dini and Mitch Brian, to outline the overall vision of the series and its characters.