Contents
DRAGON BALL Z News; AFTER SEVERAL YEARS, A FAN DISCOVERED (OR REDISCOVERED?) BATMAN’S BATHMOBILE IN ONE OF THE EPISODES OF THE DRAGON BALL Z ANIME
There are many manga and anime that have references to western productions, and as expected, Dragon Ball is not exempt from that. The series created by Akira Toriyama has its dose of easter eggs.
However, not only this mangaka added these kinds of extras. Toei Animation, the studio behind the animated adaptation, also added their own, and one of them related to Batman was discovered (or rediscovered?).
THE BATHMOBILE WAS IN VIEW OF EVERYONE IN DRAGON BALL Z
This reference comes from Dragon Ball Z episode 26, and was found by an anime fan, iamlevel5, who posted it on Reddit. In the screenshot he shared, if you look closely, he will notice a car with a very peculiar design.
The source of inspiration is clear, since it is the Batmobile that appeared in Batman (1989). In other words, the great movie directed by Tim Burton that put the Dark Knight ‘on the radar’ of Hollywood and fans again.
The design of this vehicle is very characteristic and unmistakable. So it is possible that one of Toei’s cartoonists decided to add the Batmobile on his own, and to avoid any problems, he painted it an orange color.
At the end of the day, no one would say that he copied it directly, and it turned out like a very witty Easter egg. The interesting thing about this episode of the anime is when it came out, and that was in November 1989.
IT WAS ‘HIDDEN’ AS IT WAS PAINTED A DIFFERENT COLOR
It was a month before the Batman movie was released in Japan, so it was an opportune moment to include this orange Batmobile. Officially, the film came out in June of that year in the United States.
So the designer in charge had time to get to know the model of this car through commercials and previews. Without a doubt it is something very interesting that it has occurred to him to add something like that, and that Toei Animation will not take care of it.
However, that was around the time of Dragon Ball Z. In modern times, copyright makes it more difficult to add similar references.
But that doesn’t stop some studios from taking chances. There is also no shortage of those who approach the owners of various intellectual properties and ask for permission to do so. That does not prevent some Easter eggs from appearing in a more ‘veiled’ way in various animated productions.
