Catwoman (DC animated universe)
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| Bob Kane Bill Finger |
Catwoman (Selina Kyle), a DC Comics supervillain and enemy of Batman and she consistently appeared in Batman: The Animated Series (as well as the 2000s online animated series Gotham Girls), played by Adrianne Barbeau.
Catwoman is a highly succesful cleptomaniac thief that often sees herself fighting for good causes against corrupt people. In society, she presents herself as Selina Kyle,an extremely atractive socialite and animal rights activist, which attracts the attention of Batman as Bruce Wayne. Her double identity and her set of personal values causes her to have a complicated relationship with Batman, who has to fight, aid, rescue, apprehend, romance or team-up with her.
Contents |
[edit] Appearances
- The Cat and the Claw, part I
- The Cat and the Claw, part II
- Cat Scratch Fever
- Tyger, Tyger
- Perchance to Dream
- Almost Got 'Im
- Catwalk
- Batgirl Returns
- You Scratch My Back
- Cult of the Cat
[edit] DCAU Biography
In her first appearance, Catwoman steals a valuable necklace to fund the purchase of land for a mountain lion preserve, encounters Batman in the process, and finds herself undeniably attracted to him. In this moment, they develop an attraction that affects the nature of their cat and mouse relationship during the series. Afterward, by chance, Bruce Wayne dates Selina Kyle with similar results. In the midst of these budding romances, Selina learns that the land she wants has been snatched up by a suspicious cartel, lead by terrorist Red Claw, who will be using the land for their staging area. Batman learns that Catwoman is getting in over her head, and together they fight and defeat the cartel, but Catwoman is arrested.
Put on probation in lieu of serving time, Catwoman joins forces with Batman again, fighting the corrupt Industrialist, Roland Daggett and Doctor Milo's plans to spread a disease among the street animals.
She is in bad terms with most characters of the series, since she also has bad relationships with most of the Gotham City criminals. In Almost Got 'Im, Catwoman rescues Batman from The Joker only to be kidnapped herself by Harley Quinn, which forces Batman to disguise himself as Killer Croc in order to get information from his kidnaper to save her. Catwoman eventually returns to thievery when Scarface hires her to steal a rare dissected tasmanian tiger. The plan was actually a set-up, since the mobster wanted the police to ignore him as the mastermind of the crime. When Batgirl returns, Catwoman initially helps her investigate a stolen cat statue, but betrays Batgirl to attempt to steal the statue for herself.
She is again a full time thief when she tries to seduce a fully-grown Nightwing into being her accomplice to steal merchandise from Enrique “El Gancho”. Later, in The Cult of the Cat, a strange criminal cult attempts to kill her after she steals from them, bringing her to enlist Batman's aid once more. Her cleptomaniac tendencies are explored in this episode.
There were plans for a second Batman Beyond DTV Movie that would have featured Catwoman, but was rejected.[1]
Finally, in a 7-minute short film called Chase Me (written by Paul Dini and released with the Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman DVD) Batman catches her stealing from one of Bruce Wayne’s building and apprehends her.
[edit] Design
Catwoman appeared on the first two seasons Batman: The Animated Series wearing an all gray catsuit with a cat-shaped maske that has never been seen outside that series, but was modeled after the one the character used in Batman Return. However, before the producers decide to make her and the Penguin look more like they do in the Tim Burton movie released at the same time, her original desing was closer to the one worn initially by Julie Newmar, only grayish with purple gloves and boots and black straight hair. The utility belt and the color were the only things kept from that design.
For the Catwoman animated series project, Timm modified the costume making it all black and made her skin whiter. Although the project was never made, the new costume design was used when Batman: The Animated Series was revamped as The New Batman Adventures with a diferent drawing style. For this last design, her head, along with most female characters of the series, was made bigger and her eyes were modified similar to Spider-man.
As Selina has blonde hair, coinciding with blonde actress Michelle Pfeiffer who played her in the movie. In the third season revamp, she has shorter black hair. Whether her hair was dyed or her natural color was never made clear in the series itself, however in the episode "Tyger, Tyger", Selina became a cat/woman hybrid and her hair (or rather fur) was blonde.
[edit] Action figures
[edit] Maven and Isis
As Arizona and Holly in the comics, Maven is Selina Kyle / Catwoman's main aid and confidant. She is her friend and knows all about her secres identity as Catwoman, but her main role is loyal assistant, both in her her life as Catwoman and her regular life, organizing her schedule and business afairs. She appears in The Cat and The Claw and Cat Scratch Fever and was voiced by Mary McDonald Lewis.
Isis is a female trained cat Catwoman uses as aid in her crimes that appears in the same episodes as Maven. In The Cat and the Claw, Part I, Batman rescues her from a truck, and catwoman uses a special wistle to call her back. Later, in Cat Scratch Fever she is taken along several street cats and dogs by Professor Milo as test subjects for a virus Roland Dagget was planing to release in the streets, but batman manges to cure her along with Catwoman, who is the first human test.[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The World's Finest, a site with a complete guide to the DC animated universe. It's the source of a great deal of the related images in Pop-Cult Guides.
- DCAUResource.com a site with very well documented fictional biographies.
- The Animated Batman, an Unofficial Guide, a site with a complete guide to Bruce Timm's Batman. It's the source of a great deal of the related images in Pop-Cult Guides.
