Comic hero Batman has been around since 1939, and almost from the beginning there has been a Batmobile. Unlike other caped super heroes, Batman has no special powers; that makes the armored and heavily-armed Batmobile that much more important to the story of Batman.

Warner Brothers knows this, so it’s producing a documentary on the evolution of the Batmobile to be released (likely in conjunction with a Batman movie box set) in time for the 2012 holiday season. The Youtube video above, found on Autoblog, teases the Batmobile documentary with footage from every version we can think of.

The Batmobile has changed with the times, and the George Barris-designed version used in the 1960s Batman television series bears little resemblance to the heavily armored “Tumbler” version seen in the latest films. Perhaps it’s a a statement of our own fears that crime is getting more violent, and life in general is less carefree.

The Batmobile documentary covers the cars from many different perspectives. In addition to interviews with actors like Adam West (the real Batman, if you ask us) and Christian Bale, there’s commentary by director Tim Burton and even stunt driver George Cottle, who piloted the Tumbler Batmobile in The Dark Knight.

If you’re a fan of the Batman franchise, the Batmobile documentary will almost certainly be worthy of your time and money.