Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles
Jonathan Crane
Professor Jonathan Crane had been interested in the study of human fears and phobias ever since childhood. He was entranced by the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. He felt a great kinship with the character of Ichabod Crane and was angered that the character proved so craven and overtaken by fear. He dedicated himself to learning all about fear, mastering it so that it could never master him.
Quite lithe of frame, Jonathan was teased by neighborhood bullies who nicknamed him ‘The Scarecrow.’ These bullies frightened him but he swore never to expose his fears to such adversaries.
After earning a doctorate in psychology, Crane became a Professor at Gotham University. His ongoing experiments to better understand fear became too dangerous and he was fired over his obsession with inspiring terror in his patients and students.
A vengeful Crane turned to a life of crime and used various drugs, chemicals, devices, and his expertise in psychology to terrify whoever crossed his path. In particular, he refined a 'fear gas,' a fast-acting hallucinogen that super activated the fear-center of the brain. Exposure to this gas completely incapacitated its victims, leaving them writhing in their worst, most deeply seated fears.
Crane took on the name those bullies had given him as a boy. He became ‘The Scarecrow’ and would go on to be one of the most feared criminals in all of Gotham City.
Actors Henry Polic II, Jeff Bennett and Jeffery Combs have each provided the voice for Professor Crane/The Scarecrow. The villain first appeared in the tenth episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘Nothing to Fear.’
erm I'm trying to get better at realistic so I tried drawing Jeff Bennett 😅 I'll have to come back to this when my skill level is up bc I kinda didn't do him justice
Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles
The Scarecrow
The self proclaimed ‘master of fear and the lord of despair, whom all should cower before in witless terror,’ The Scarecrow has proven one of Batman’s most persistent of foes. Fired from Gotham University for his unconventional antics, Professor Jonathan Crane became The Scarecrow so to extract vengeance on those who wronged him.
Utilizing his copious knowledge of fear, chemistry and psychopharmacology, Crane created a specialized hallucinogenic gas that can induce immediate and crippling fear in anyone who comes into contact with it. This gas has the effect of taking a victim’s greatest fears and manifesting them in the form of vivid and convincing hallucinations.
Donning a costume evocative of a scarecrow, Crane used this gas to commit a string of robberies that aimed to bankrupt Gotham University. This crime spree attracted Batman's attention and Scarecrow's plans were foiled by Batman. In their showdown, Crane became infected by a concentrated dose of his own fear gas, causing him to see Batman as a giant, menacing bat creature. Overwhelmed by sheer terror, The Scarecrow was reduced to a quivering heap and remanded to Arkham Asylum for treatment.
Actor Henry Polic II provided the voice for The Scarecrow. The villain first appeared in the tenth episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘Nothing to Fear.’
The first episode of Dexter's Laboratory premiered on March 24, 1996 according to IMDB (people in the trivia gave the date as premiering as a special on TNT on April 27 or 28). It was actually the third episode produced. It was the first Cartoon Network original series produced by Cartoon Network Studios and the first Cartoon Cartoon original series to premiere on Cartoon Network since What a Cartoon! ("Deedeemensional", "Dial M for Monkey: Magmanamus", "Maternal Combat", Dexter's Laboratory, TV Event)