Birds Of A Feather - Bat-May
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Birds of a Feather does a pretty good job of humanizing the Penguin character. His seemly sincere attempt at reform is the focus of the episode and is one of the better stories of the series that features Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. Join Walter as he continues his deep dive into Batman: The Animated Series.
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Birds of a Feather is an episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series. This is the second episode featuring the Penguin as the main villain, although he tries to go straight but ends up going back to crime. The episode is notable for introducing the character of Veronica Vreeland, a socialte that is often portrayed as a close friend and potential romantic interest for Bruce Wayne.
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What did everyone think of Birds of a Feather?
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It's a great episode where you're actually rooting for The Penguin throughout the whole thing and feel bad for him at the end of the episode.
This is a really good Penguin episode. One that actually has you rooting for the Penguin and you feel bad for in the end.
Oh, Chuck Menville was the father of Scott Menville, aka Robin in the Teen Titans universe. That blew my mind. DC likes to keep it close to the chest, I suppose.
@@expendableindigo9639 Yeah, agreed.
Well I agree that should have flesh out the penguin a lot more, because he has more potential and also this episode has more Phantom of the Opera vibe since he is hiding underneath the Opera.
Best quote of the episode:
"I suppose what they say is true: society is to blame. High society."
Penguin really did the "we live in a society" thing years ago
There was also a very funny dialogue exchange at the party, something like:
Penguin: So, you're the President of Gotham First Federal? I hope you've beefed up security since my last visit; As I recall, your vaults' time release locks were very easy to corcumnavigate..
Bank President: (Furious) Sir, you leave me at a loss for words!
Penguin: I certainly left you at a loss for funds! Ha ha ha!
@@Xarazel
And did it better in my opinion.
I'm glad they gave the Penguin the last line.
They could have had Veronica say to Batman "I suppose You have something to say?" and Batman could have said "no, actually, I don't think I could top that", then turns and leaves. Demonstrating that Batman is actually on his side here.
"All I wanted from you was a little friendship"
I find it interesting how he worded it that way. He wasn't really looking for someone to love (though he did still fall in love with her), he was just looking for a friend. I feel like that gives this episode a bit more depth than the stereotypical unrequited love plot.
The last part of that quote also hits home today “That would’ve cost you nothing”
yeah like at the start of the episode when he got home and started looking for his friends! man was just lonely
Yeah you get the feeling that he would've been happy for her just to treat him as an equal and a friend, it's not a Mad Hatter scenario where he has a sick obsession with her. Well written episode that makes you feel for Penguin without completely changing his character.
Poor Penguin, really felt sorry for him.
He really deserved better
@@critziel7225 his character always deserved better, Penguin like many villains are victims of how cold and cruel the world can be.
@@UltimateGamerCC Definitely. Beyond the eccentricities of the character themselves, it's interesting to see how the general public reacts to a rogue attempting reform (usually very unforgiving). Riddler probably had the best time of it with people actually liking him but everyone is harsh on Harley Quinn due to her association with Joker.
@@critziel7225 Same. Plus I think Veronica was starting 2 warm up 2 Penguin (most likely into a friendship, but stranger things have happened), but like Penguin said "Society's 2 blame, HIGH society."
@@critziel7225
Well he does end up owning a very successful club in the later season so he ends up doing well
"I suppose the old saying is true: Society is to blame...High society, that is."
sometimes money and the finer things in life make people forget how to be human.
Batman felt bad for the guy, he's not like Croc or Joker, he has redeeming qualities
@@UltimateGamerCC True. Unfortunate, but true.
It's always sad when people that are recently released from prison genuinely want to change and reform, but society doesn't let that happen because they still view them as a criminal.
You could say....we live in a society
It's sad. Public perception warpping is a greater punishment.
Harley's Holiday also shows that same problem
Just as one isn't obligated to forgive another for wrongdoings, society isn't obligated to forget criminals past actions. It's nobody's fault but the criminal's for making choices that harmed others.
Honestly I felt sorry for penguin later on in this episode. All he wanted was friends and the chance of love and when he got screwed over at his chance for that. It's hard not to see why he went back on his reformed self. A great episode for a great villain
According to the backstory given by the writers in supplementary material, Oswald was literally just a deformed kid who turned to crime after a break in at his mother's pet shop killed the animals and caused his mama to have a stroke. He got rich in the process, but if given a chance, I could see Oswald funding an animal shelter or working with the zoo as one of their top donors.
Holy crap. Is that for real? Where's the source, please?
Sometimes I hate the status quo that dictates that all of Batman's enemies must remain criminals.
Just once I'd like to see a version where they all reform and become good people.
Something like Poison Ivy regrows forests and rare plants and makes cities green without killing humans because she recognizes that they deserve to live too.
Mr Freeze cures his wife and becomes a leading scientist in battling diseases and deadly conditions.
Two-Face becomes a Matt Murdock style defense attorny for societie's most vulnurable.
Joker becomes a Fred Rogers like children entertainier who spreads geniune joy and kindness.
Riddler become an inventor who trying to solve problems with science and ingenuity, and finally gets the recognition and admiration he sought as a criminal.
Scarecrow becomes a therapist and helps people overcome fears and trauma.
Catwoman becomes a security consultant who advices museums on where the blind spots of their security systems are.
Bane starts and organization that helps ex-convicts re-enter society.
And so on....
@@EattaCheesepaw due to there being multiple Dimensions in DC. The alternate dimension Earth-one, not to be confused with the other Earth-1s… man comic history is complicated, has this as Penguin’s backstory. Others have him as the child of Steel Barons. Another has him as a skilled thief. One other has him as the child of a bird shop owner, who became ornithologist, but turned to crime after it was repossessed due to his mother’s debts. After rebooting DC, he followed the standard, rejected by his parents and high society and became a criminal due to this. Everyone has like a dozen backstories now.
@@wjzav1971 I like all of those ideas excluding Joker and Bane
If I remember correctly in a lot of interruptions penguin is also an extremely knowledgeable ornithologist
This is the one time I can remember feeling sympathy for another of Batman's villains besides Mr. Freeze
Clayface had a pretty heartbreaking story
@@lewiskazinsky7334 Don't forget baby doll.
@@27sanderrm one reason why Batman doesnt kill the villains, they are not necessarily bad people, but deranged people who need help and stopped from doing terrible things.
With the exception of Joker they're all sympathetic to some degree. That's a sign of good writing.
@@WhiteFangofWar Don’t know what you’re talking about, Joker is obviously suffering trauma from the loss of Captain Clown #gonebutnotforgotten
"Society is to blame. HIGH Society."
I feel like the "Batman should have given penguin mor of the benefit of the doubt" in this episode is why he lets penguin have his Iceberg lounge in the New Batman Adventures kind of as an apology
Really?
I’m surprised Bruce let him have that after Penguin blinded him after this episode
@@srstriker6420 Well, yeah.
@@mrcritical6751 and stole his plane
I do have to say though, even as a kid I remember I was shaking my head NO when the two we’re concocting their plan to embarrass the penguin.
I mean he’s a member of Batman‘s rogue gallery.
What was going to be there encore, invite the Joker over to their 10-year-old cousins birthday party and then throw cream pies at him?
It won’t end well for you.
Oh no, the Joker is so last season. They'd invite Ras over for a Lazarus pool party
This is probably one of the most realistic plots in a Batman episode - or at least, when the Penguin returns from prison and finds no one to be around, as all of his former friends are career criminals. If he wants to go straight, he has to leave that life behind - including the friends he'd made while there, which is all too common for those trying to escape destructive lifestyles.
You gotta give the show this, it did a better job humanizing The Penguin than in Batman Returns where he literally tries to drown babies
Drown babies?.... ok he’s dead.
I never really saw Batman Returns trying to humanize him, he was a villain to the core, we just got insight into his past and life to further enhance the fact he has no redeeming qualities. Not every flashback/backstory is meant to justify a character's actions (ignoring the fact that they scrapped the original story where he was meant to be Shreck's brother lol)
The only redeeming thing about him was that he was played by Danny Devito.
Batman Returns was an AMAZING film in every way
Devito's Penguin was downright diabolical. He felt no empathy for anyone, and he even killed one of his hemchmen just because he wasn't ok with killing babies.
Can we not forget that Paul Williams was terrific as the Penguin.
People never talk about how good he does! I personally love this casting. People always talk about how great Conroy and Hamill are (and rightly so, since both did their parts perfectly), but they never mention the other actors. Paul Williams, Richard Moll, John Glover, Arleen Sorkin, David Warner, Diane Pershing and Roddy McDowell all were excellent choices for each character they played, and I feel they could use more love!
@@ISBuckley8 Agreed 100%. I absolutely love Moll and Warner's performances the most. Any time I read a comic featuring Ra`s, I always have Warner's delivery in my head.
@@BoUrnNe26 I know! I think David Warner's background at playing bad guys and his accent really helped bring the character to life. When he spoke, you could just feel his presence
Paul was one of my favourite voices in the series. He was brilliant as The Penguin.
No doubt about it...IRL, he holds his own in works as diverse as Smokey and The Bandit and Baby Driver "Charcuterie"
Let's not forget "Touch" his collaboration with Daft Punk
A good parallel to eventually be covered: Harley's Holiday. The same basic starting point, but two completely different characters and therefore two completely different paths that follow. Both episodes are worth a rewatch.
Let’s not forget Riddlers Reform aswell! 👌
@@gothamknight3871 Nah I think Harvey Dent could've been a better choice, if that ever happen.
"Maybe i know what is like to have a bad day"
"Guys like you shouldn't have bad days"
@@gothamknight3871 That’s a bit different.. Riddler wasn’t really trying to reform, it was a front the entire time, he was just good at being ahead of everyone else
@@gothamknight3871 You really don't feel sorry for riddler in that episode. Still good though.
This is my favorite Penguin focus and my favorite reform episode next to Harley's Holiday, cause Oswalt was serious about changing his ways and try joining Gotham High Society the right way only for it to be ruined for him at the last second, heck he's bearly the bad guy until the final act of this episode.
As a kid, I found the last second of his redemption to be sad.
What I love about this episode and episodes like “Feat of Clay”, “Heart of Ice”, “Two-Face” and “If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich” is that they all paint these villains as real tragic figures and prove that the true villainy out there in Gotham City mostly resides in those of wealth, greed and tycoonery.
Also in a way, "Mad as a Hatter." True, Jervis's obsession with Alice was the main force, but his demanding boss was also a key figure in his turn
@@ISBuckley8 Idk, I got kind of a 'nice guy' vibe from Jervis. He also had to use mind control to impress her instead of just being himself.
It also kind of made no sense to me. His technology worked, why did he lie and claim it didn't, risking his job in the process?
@@mechengr1731 firstly, I wouldn’t go comparing Tetch to the “nice guys” freely. He clearly has low self confidence and doesn’t see himself as worthy of attracting Alice’s attention, but he does treat her with genuine kindness once he takes on the Mad Hatter appearance. And he never blames Alice for his fall to villainy, he mostly puts the blame on Batman and anyone else who made him feel like he was cheated out of a happy life.
Second, I doubt Tetch trusted anyone else with his technology because it was his invention, and he probably feared that the credit would be taken from him and that the technology itself would be used in a harmful way, more so than how he himself uses it as the Hatter. A criminal he may be, but his technology doesn’t actually cause any pain, and he’s never been shown to have any global or even municipal ambitions
Riddler's origin isn't really tragic but it's easy to sympathize with him. He was ruined by a jerk.
The Penguin is Batman's sanest villain, but for some reason in 2004's The Batman, he always got sent to Arkham Asylum with The Joker and other criminals
wish that show didnt get cancelled it was fucking awesome
This could've lead into the future episodes where Penguin gets own nightclub in order to a "legit" business.
Well he does have a legit business, he just does crime on the side, almost like a gangster.
the Icebearg Lounge is basicaly Penguin's HQ and some extra profit with the added benefit of not being targeted by the law.
He does have the Iceberg Lounge in TNA and JLA.
I always liked how this series went deep in making Penguin out to be more of a gentleman thief.
This episode genuinely made me feel like Penguin could've changed for the better if it wasn't for society making a fool of him .
Ah yes. Another Episode that ended up on the Nostalgia Critics list of the best Batman Episodes.
This is another one that’s often overlooked.
@@seanpatrickcain2 Harleys Holiday had a similar setup for it's plot but I think this one takes it's time a bit more.
Pretty funny to see Bruce Wayne talking to one of Batman's villains. And I think the Penguin really tried to reform, in his own odd way.
"We're gonna decieve and publicly humiliate a career criminal! What could possibly go wrong?!"
I think one of the best scenes is was there at the end of this video when Bruce talks to him on the balcony. He spots him pulling out a ring box and we see the Batman side him come out suspecting he was ripping her off of her jewelry. Only to see it's actually a gold penguin pin with a diamond eye. Making him start to doubt himself that Penguin hasn't changed and is instead actually trying to go straight.
Paul Williams nailed the Penguin better than Devito. He was actually classy but threatening as well. Even the Arkham games can’t compare.
Hands down, the single best Penguin-centric episode of B:TAS.
Best Penguin episode hands down. Also the score is amazing in this episode.
This episode did a better job at making me feel for the Penguin than the LIVE-ACTION MOVIE. This series, man...
This is my favorite Penguin episode on this series.
"I guess what everyone says is true. Society is to blame; HIGH society."
I always felt Penguin’s role in the overall series to be lacking. I know they wanted to steer clear of the more grotesque behaviors of the Tim Burton version, but it felt like they didn’t go far enough. Once he got the Iceberg Lounge, that’s when I felt like he finally became the B:TAS version of the Penguin we’d been waiting for.
If only they didn't change his appearance. I know most people liked it but I really missed his bird-like design.
@@unclefranklin4575 Indeed, without that monstrous appearance, the gentlemen Penguin just comes across as a boring, typical mob boss rather than someone you'll remember as one of Batman's greatest foes. In fact, a more human design of the Penguin should have the personality of an unrepentant thug like in the Adam West show to serve as contrast.
@@evanbao93 I think you hit the nail on the head with that. The correlation between Penguin looking inhuman and acting inhuman should always be inversely related. The more inhuman he looks, the more gentlemanly he should act, and vice versa.
@@MediaDukart I agree. It would make him far more interesting that way.
I love the "I blame society... high society" line from him, it was very poignant and drove home a nice point to end the episode.
I felt so bad for the Penguin in this episode!
That makes two of us
Penguin's appearances tended to be a arbitrary. "I've got A Batman in My Basement" "The Mechanic" "Blind as Bat" technically those episodes could have used any villain in the gallery.
I think "The Mechanic" was supposed to be mostly an homage to the 60s TV show and Batman Returns, where Penguin also sabotaged the Batmobile. This ep kind of was too about Penguin giving up crime. The best explanation for using Penguin as the villain in "Blind As A Bat" may have been about the weaponized airplane he stole, exaggerating Penguin's fixation on birds.
Felt so bad for Penguin in this episode 😢
Severely underrated episode. I always liked that scene when Bruce sees him holding the brooch, and discovers that he really doesn't have any scheme, it wasn't stolen, and Penguin was sincerely just trying to be a decent guy. I also feel like this kind of leads into later on when he runs the Iceberg Lounge, and pretty much stops his overt criminal activity and instead runs a mostly legitimate business while providing a haven for the other criminals.
By far the best version of The Penguin
Poor Penguin really got taken for a ride in this one.
This episode is fantastic and probably one of the more underrated episodes in BTAS. Not only is it one of the few episodes that really gives of the personality of the Penguin, but it also discusses the nature of change and reform. I will go one step further than Walter - it is THE best episode featuring Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.
This story is the first of the "reform" episodes (and the strongest, together with Killer Crocs), where we have a villain who tries to reform, or is presented with a chance to change his or her life, and it fails - sometimes by the cruelty of society and sometimes because of what they are deep inside. And sometimes by both. Penguin is getting far more of the first one in this episode and it really asks the question - if society isn't willing to give you a second chance then why should you even try to adapt? It is a tragic episode, but also a reminder that we are what we are and that there are reasons why people don't change their ways. Because said change is never rewarded. Why leave your criminal past behind if you always will be seen as a criminal?
This episode is also one of the few that is about Penguin as a character - not as an enemy of Batman where he easily could be replaced by any other villain, but about Penguin's personality, his motivations and his needs. For me, this episode is the set-up to Penguins later career as a mob boss/nightclub owner of the Iceberg Lounge. This Penguin we see here with his taste and culture, who want to visit luxury restaurants, operas etc gives a far more believable and realistic portrait than when he is trying to kill Batman with weapons.This episode for me works well as his spiritual rebirth, where he tries to combine his aristocratic manners with crime. Why fight Batman when you can own a nightclub that deals in illicit activities. Besides, he is too old and fat to fight Batman anyway.
After his release from Arkham, Batman is also one of the few that care about Penguin. The Penguin might fool himself that people might contact him (the reason that he was contacted had nothing to do with winning his friendship) but his home is empty and dusty and no one wants anything to do with him. I remember crying as a kid and I still get some teary eyes from this one whenever I see it. The penguin knows that no limousine is picking him up, but he pretends in order to keep his spirits up. Then he thinks he got his big break in the socialite, only to find out that everyone is making fun of him...Of course no one wants anything to do with him - he has already made his choices, so why not be the villain people will see him for anyway. It is a very understandable reaction and I think many sane individuals had reacted similar.
Both Veronica and Pierce come off as horrible human beings in this episode (that Bruce cares for Veronica says alot about Bruce, and not in a good way) and I gladly admit that I wanted Penguin to kill them. This is another episode where I sympathised hard with the villain and felt that Batman should just mind his own business. Sure, I realized from the start that Status Quo would be upheld, but the way the writing excellently presents this is that under better circumstances the Penguin might have become good and actually left his past behind him. And the reason why this doesn't happen is because of other people's mindset. Again, you cannot change who you are if other people are unwilling to accept you. Any change in such an environment would only mean self-sacrifice with no benefit whatsoever attached. Sometimes people change, but mostly society makes them change back to what they were.
What more? The animation is again great and I love the final opera scene. Like a penguin the Penguin cannot ever fly with the elite nor can he fully reform. But he did certainly make a serious attempt here and that it didn't work says a lot more about the world than it does about him.
Verdict: 5 out of 5 bats.
stop i love penguin so much hes such a little baby he deserved better
You know there were several episodes aimed at reform. The endings always showed they never changed.
Penguin: (Riding a dragon) And who says opera has to be boring ?
Hehehe, that scene is hilarious !
Part of the brilliance of this show is how it humanized the villains so well. A lot of them aren't truly evil at all, they're victims of circumstance who choose the wrong path in response. There are similar episodes to this one with Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, and the Ventriloquist, where they genuinely try to "go straight", and we find ourselves rooting for them, even though we know it's going to end in tragedy.
I've always believed that the animated series got the Penguin just right. Danny DeVito's portrayal of him in BATMAN RETURNS is really great and arguably underrated - better than Jack Nicholson's performance as the Joker, I'd argue. It was brilliant on Tim Burton's part to retain enough of the "classic" Penguin to make him recognizable (top hat, long nose, umbrella) while giving him some of the attributes of villains I always considered more interesting: Killer Croc (deformed child abandoned and shunned by the human race), the Mad Hatter (uses highly advanced technology to manipulate the minds of penguins into trying to blow up Gotham City for him), and even Ra's Al-Ghul (seeks to destroy all human beings as revenge against God for making him a freak).
But DeVito's child-murdering and sexual harassment of women always left a bad taste in my mouth, so it was nice to see a more respectable Penguin in this series. He avoids hurting children if he can help it; and while he's not above threatening or even kidnapping women, he does treat them with respect. I'll always admire that moment in "Almost Got 'Im" when the Penguin flirts - tastefully - with Poison Ivy, even while the rest of the villains are rude to her. (Of course, Ivy is a vicious killer and doesn't deserve respect, but it's still good to see that this version of the Penguin has standards.)
Batman's expression when Penguin calls Veronica "my peach". I loved how confused his eyes looked!😂
Poor Penguin.
I think this episode had a powerful last line, when, even after everything she went through, Vreeland approaches Penguin just to assure him that she genuinely DID like him, and he replies "Society is to blame...HIGH society..." It gives some last minute assurance she isn't actually a bad person herself, so when we see her in later episodes we don't dislike her so much.
I do like that eventually Penguin kinda reforms in later episodes. While he’s involved with the criminal underworld, he stops committing crimes and opens the Iceberg Lounge.
I was surprised how much I loved this episode as a kid, and glad it's still considered one of the best
This the earliest I've been for Bat-May.
I still have no idea why Tim Burton decided the Penguin needed to be a sewer dwelling raw fish eating monster. The show Gotham and this show did him much better
Probably for the same reason why Penguin struggled to find his place in the Batman rogues gallery for a long time after the 60's: A lot of people thought he was boring. After the end of the Adam West TV series, alot of writers tried to give a upgrade to the Batman rogues, taking them away from that silly campy portrayl and show a more dark and mature version of them (for exemple: Joker went from a goofy trickster to a scary psychopath murderer). Penguin took a long time to recover his popularity because writers didn't found anything interesting to do with a criminal whose main appeal was that "he was a fat thief who looked like a penguin".
It was only in the 90's when the writers start to portray him more as crime boss and corrupt owner of the "Iceberg Louge" that Penguin returned to his spot as one the Batman's main villains.
Tim Burton was going for a darker story obviously, but the execution of making him a sympathetic villain was ultimately flawed, maybe time crunches were to blame and/or making the movie focus on two villains which caused us to be more sympathetic for Selena Kyle aka Catwoman.
Because Tim Burton doesn't understand Batman lol
@@watertommyz wrong, it's Zuckerberg who didnt understand Batman, and not Snyder either.
Yeah you feel even the little stings for Pengers in this episode. Like when no one shows up for him on his release from prision, or when hes expecting a surprise from his fellow crooked pals, all he gets is Batman lol.
Another thing I noticed in the episode, probably unintentional but I still found quite interesting. During the episode Penguin and Veronica go see the opera Pagliacci. And they show the scene of the clown character lamenting about how the woman he loves is playing him for a fool, similar to what Veronica was initially doing with Penguin. Penguin was even singing along to the iconic song. Just a really cool nod that really makes the show a classic 👍
sometimes you forget, that behind all that madness and crimes, there's still a human being there
One of my favorite and most underrated episodes in the series.
I miss when Batman villains had legitimate humanizing moments and showed some intention to _want_ to return to normal society
Instead of "kicking puppies evil" and just different flavors of bad guys for Batman to punch their face into jelly
Penguin, Riddler, Mr Freeze, and Catwoman could be the four criminals I could see doing better with Bruce Wayne’s positive intervention than Batman’s pursuit of justice.
Indeed!
Cobblepot tried to redeem himself once and looked for a friend; maybe Bruce could make him try again.
And as I said dozens of time already, Bruce just had to hire Mr Fries to get rid of another villain; he is an cryogenics expert and all he wants its the means to look for a cure for his wife.
@@VJK102, exactly! Hire Fries and Nigma to work under Lucius Fox in the Wayne Tech R&D Department, hire Selena Kyle and Cobbelpot on the Ecological Sustainability committee for any Wayne Tech property development.
I remember seeing it as a kid was like “What? He didn’t do anything wrong!”
Best Penguin episode, hands down. The rest render him interchangeable with any rogue without changing the story much. While he gets more screen time in TNBA with the Iceberg lounge he's merely there as a side character, never again getting the spotlight. This and the very first Batman Adventures comic both do a good job showing his emotionally vulnerable side, pretending to be 'high class' but secretly lonely and easily played by anyone who shows him signs of friendship or butters his ego.
Speaking of Batman Returns, I've always Loved the Character Max Shrek. They need to bring him back
Shreck needs Christopher Walken to work.
@@UltimateGamerCC Walken is the MAN
I love the Penguin and this is his best episode of the series.
In regards to Chuck Menville, my introduction to his work was through THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS! He was definitely in top form by the time he worked on BTAS. I appreciated the semi-tragic aspect of Penguin's character arc in this series. Not completely good, by wasn't too far away from actually being someone you could root for to rehabilitate. Always a shame that even in the cartoon world, accidents of genetics would prompt scorn and ridicule from so-called normal people. Even Bruce Wayne felt bad for misjudging Oswald. He does the right thing in stopping Penguin from harming Veronica towards the end. Yet there had to be a part of him that felt shitty for doing it. The duality of hobnobing with the rich by day and helping the downtrodden by night must have been taxing to Wayne's psyche. Especially on this episode, where the culprits who goaded Penguin into regressing came from Bruce's inner circle of rich snobs. Great breakdown of class and societal issues from a great series. 😎🇵🇷🇺🇸🗽🦂😉
Most of Penguin's episodes we join him already in the middle of a crime. I like how this one gives him a beginning, middle, & end, w/ a motive
This episode always made me cry
Penguin didn't deserve this treatment from the rich and elite! He easily became a favorite of mine after this episode: and made me respect him in later in The New Adventures episodes.
Both Birds of a feather and Harry’s Holiday are two of my favorite episodes were the antagonists try there hand at going straight. Though Harley went off the rails allot easier then penguin. You feel bad for Penguins as he really might have turned over a new leaf had it not been for a cruel joke.
Oswald says it best.
“Society is to blame. High Society.”
One of my favorite episodes
In full honesty. This is the best Penguin episode of the whole series. I wish this was what Danny Devito was in Batman Returns. I feel sorry for Penguin. The rich assholes are the true villains and I wish Penguin killed them both.
Thank you for the episode.
I do love any reform episode for the villains.
Good to see this again and remember the episode, thank you. How Penguin was treated here has you sympathize with him greatly.
I site this as one of the few original villain insight episodes which became a trend like the Justice league episode with flash an ultrahumanite wanting his radio station to stay on air
This was by far Penguin's best appearance in the DCAU. Wish he had gotten some better episodes honestly
I like this version of The Penguin. To me he was more of a crime boss type character, than freak show like other versions of him.
I had a cassette with this episode and “The Mechanic” and watched it so much, the tape is almost worn away completely.This might have even been the first Batman episode I saw so there was a lot of call backs and references I did not get at all, with the sporadic episodes I was able to see on TV. However, as I got older and rewatched the tape, I really liked this episode more and more, compared to the action centric “The Mechanic”.
Amazing birds of a feather is one of my favourite episodes of the Batman animated series and the penguin is my favourite Batman villain of all time too.
"All I wanted from you, deary was a little friendship. That would've cost you nothing."
"Its true what they say. Society is to blame. HIGHER society"
-penguin
Gotta be honest this episode made me love the Penguin back when i was little, yet at the same time it absolutely made me HATE the Tim Burton movie.
What I find interesting is that after this episode, Veronica is a slightly nicer character, or at least isn’t as horrible as she was in this episode, by the end of the episode Veronica confesses that she really was starting to warm up to Penguin, I like to think that by the end of the episode she learned her lesson and felt regretful since the last shot of the episode sees her with a look of seeming regret
Something I like about this reform episode (and that also goes to all the episodes about the villains trying to reform) that is not talk about that much, it's how develops Batman's world building, as well his conflict against Gotham City's corruption. Something alot of batman fans ask is "why Batman keep showing compassion towards his villains, even though they will just escape and continue to comitt crimes, showing that they will never change?". Episodes like Birds of Feather show that it's not that villains can't reform, it's that they don't have any reason to want to become better people in a city like Gotham, a city cannot reform itself. In the case of Penguin, he tried to reform and become a better person but was not reject by people but was victim of Veronica and Pierce actions. If people like the wealthy elite will just look down upon the villains when they reform, why would the villains even bother to reform ifit means they are just gonna be another poor guy who is mistreat by others?
That is just reinforced by the fact that prisons like Arkham Asylum are basically revolving door. The villains can just be escape with no problem and Gotham doesn't promote any improvements, so they aren't motivated to change, making Batman goal to make Gotham a better place even more difficult.
I'm not sure if it's continuity on purpose, but considering he, along with the other villains were arrested in Almost Got Em, I like to think that was the sentence he had finished.
The beginning of the episode showed he was arrested for trying to steal paintings from an art museum.
Why did the Penguin open his umbrella at Batman's family reunion?
Because it was a Wayne-y day.
I loved the title card for this episode, it has a theater aspect to it and almost like something you'd see on a tragedy poster.
Guy just needed his "Jean Valjean" moment.
You gotta love these two rich peoples plan "Yeah we're going to make this dangerous criminal feel like he's being cared about by people and then make a fool out of him surely nothing could go wrong from doing this".
I actually really like this version of penguin cause he's not just called Penguin cause stout and well dressed. He actually has the rare lobster hands deformity that makes his hands look like claws or talons
I always liked the episodes where the Rogues were given humanising moments.
The tv series Gotham tried (& sometimes succeeded ) to make Oswald Cobblepot a sympathetic character who is fated to be accepted only as a villain.
Someday we'll get a definitive Penguin worthy of his history.
This episode (and of course what came afterwards when Penguin opened the Iceberg) does make me wonder about the possibilities of Oswald becoming a “reformed villain.”
Of course, chances are that will never happen considering Penguin’s hatred for Wayne and how he felt his got screwed out by the family and led him to becoming a crime boss. But it is episodes like this that do make me wonder and consider the possibility of Penguin becoming someone who provides a bit of comfort in Gotham from the rampant crimes (even though it would probably be for the higher class of Gotham and not really anyone who could me middle or lower).
Probably not on the same level as Mr Freeze, but Penguin definitely could be someone who could probably turn a new leaf if given the chance.
When genuine effort to reform and seeking companionship is met with mockery and suspicion...
Gotta love the good writing that can invoke sympathy towards villain characters.
probably my favorite penguin episode
This had way more heart and depth than the episode where they tried to do the same with Harley
Amazing that they kept penguin smoking.
The best wine is at the ends when the penguin says perhaps Society is to blame High Society
Fun fact: the writer of the episode Chuck Menville was the father of Scott Menville who played Robin on Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!.
Honestly, when looking at the background of some of his other incarnations, you really feel bad for this guy. In Batman Returns, he was dumped down a river by his parents and raised in the sewers by penguins, in Gotham, his father was forced to abandon him and he ended up being mistreated by his crime boss, and in the comics, he was bullied to the point of having his bird collection murdered.
I felt bad for Penguin in this episode. especially at the end because even though Oswald was the one being arrested, the real villain of this episode was Veronica because just when it seems like Penguin genuinely wanted to reform Veronica just had to go and mess with his emotions like that.
But at least Veronica seemed to genuinely feel bad for doing that to Oswald and she apologized to him, i mean that may not have made things better between them but at least Veronica had the sense to try and make up for what she did.
I like the idea of Penguin being reformed and rejoining society. He has all the makings of a potential gentleman, and we've seen in the comics that he's not all that bad of a guy