re: Rank your All-Time Animated Batman Movies

Don't get me wrong,

The Joker in the Dark Knight was cool and the movie is great, but I've always thought of the Joker as an unhinged madman. Which he absolutely was in TAS.

To quote Ledger: he just does things. A dog chasing cars.

But Ledger's joker was anything but that. He was a cold calculating schemer.

They got very close and very dark but he never really became an unhinged madman.

And maybe that was the point. It was set up. It was the beginning of the Joker and he would transform after his plan failed and he had to go even crazier to get to Batman and Gotham's soul.
We'll never know what Nolan's full vision for Joker and Batman was because Ledger killed himself

Throughout Dark Knight, Joker systematically tests and pushes Batman and Gotham to its limits seeing how far he had to go to break them. Until their spirit breaks completely.

Maybe Nolan's third act would've been an unhinged Joker who snaps Gotham. We'll never know.