Though there have been many different depictions of the dapper Batman villain, the Penguin, in television shows like Gotham and films like The Batman, the version voiced by Paul Williams from Batman: The Animated Series was the perfect depiction of the character. Not only was Williams' interpretation iconic in its own right, it encapsulated all that defined the Penguin from the films Batman (1966), Batman Returns (1992), and The Batman (2022). As such, the Penguin seen in Batman: The Animated Series is arguably the most complete version of the character to date.
The character of the Penguin, a.k.a Oswald Cobblepot, was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger for Detective Comics #58 in 1941. Since then, the Penguin has been one of the most consistently recurring members of Batman’s Rogues' gallery. The Penguin featured in three films released to theatres, including Batman (1966), Batman Returns (1992), and The Batman (2022). The Penguin was also featured in numerous Batman shows that include (but are not limited to) Gotham and Batman: The Animated Series. Each iteration of Penguin explored different aspects of his character and origins. The Penguin has proven himself to be one of the most versatile and long-lasting villains in the history of superhero media.
The Penguin from Batman: The Animated Series was the perfect iteration of Oswald Cobblepot because he combined the characteristics from each cinematic version of the character that defined who and what the Penguin is. The three cinematic depictions of the Penguin each brought a different aspect of the character to the forefront and were inspired by various other versions of the Penguin. However, the Batman: The Animated Series version of Oswald Cobblepot balanced all the facets commonly associated with the character. This presented Batman: The Animated Series' version of the Penguin as the ultimate depiction of the character.
Similarities to Burgess Meredith's Penguin (Batman, 1966)
Burgess Meredith was the actor to portray the first cinematic iteration of the Penguin in Batman (1966). He set the standard for how the character would look going forward, and his depiction ensured the Penguin's comic appearance would carry on into the world of television and cinema. He was depicted as a dapper rotund man in a suit with penguin-like qualities, he had a cigarette holder in one hand and a weaponized umbrella in the other.
The Penguin from Batman: The Animated Series had the same visual trademarks as the Burgess Meredith version of the character which showed the Penguin's appearance was still iconic even after thirty years. Many cite Adam West's Batman show as the best depiction of all characters from the comics, and Batman: The Animated Series wasn't afraid to pay tribute to its influence. Although many recent versions of the character have cut these elements from the Penguin’s appearance, as they are no longer of the time, the appearance portrayed by Burgess Meredith’s Penguin that was passed on to Batman: The Animated Series' Penguin is the most iconic because it visually portrays everything the audience needs to know about the character; that he is a refined gentleman mobster with a penguin-like appearance/affectation as well as penguin-themed schemes and gadgets.
Similarities to Danny Devito's Penguin (Batman Returns, 1992)
The tragic elements of Batman: The Animated Series’ version of the Penguin differ from Burgess Meredith’s iteration of the character but were instead more comparable to the Danny DeVito iteration of the Penguin from the 1992 film Batman Returns. Danny DeVito's version of the Penguin became controversial over the years but remained an important and influential depiction of the character. In Tim Burton’s sequel to his 1989 Batman film, the Oswald Cobblepot played by Danny DeVito is reimagined as a penguin/human hybrid who was abandoned by his wealthy family to die as a child. Instead, a group of penguins took the Penguin away to grow up in the sewers below Gotham.
Though Batman: The Animated Series never delves into The Penguin’s backstory in these explicit terms, the show did take the time to frame the Penguin as a tragic figure who was forced to be a villain because of a society that did not accept him. This is predominantly seen in Batman: The Animated Series season 1, episode 52, “Birds of a Feather” wherein Oswald Cobblepot tried to reform his criminal ways, but found Gothan to be judgemental, cruel, and unaccepting of his attempts to belong within society. Batman: The Animated Series continued creating sympathetic villains for Batman to face, and thus solidified one of the most interesting and complicated rogues' galleries in all of DC. Batman Returns and Batman The Animated Series established the Penguin’s tragic nature, which has carried over into multiple other interpretations of the character (as seen in Gotham).
Similarities to Colin Farrell's Penguin (The Batman, 2022)
In the 2022 film The Batman, the Penguin (Colin Farrell) is reintroduced as a lounge owner and criminal lieutenant to Falcone, the most powerful mob boss in Gotham. This iteration most emphatically emphasized one of the important elements of the Penguin's character that has been present since his introduction in the golden age of comics: he is primarily just a human mobster with penguin-like attributes. This 2022 Colin Farrell version of the Penguin as well as the version from Batman: The Animated Series showcased that the Penguin's primary asset as a villain is his ruthless intelligence and mob connections. This mobster element to Penguin's character also helped keep Batman solidified as a noir superhero because the detectives within the noir genre tend to solve mysteries surrounding organized crime that were run by mobsters like the Penguin.
Why The Penguin From Batman: The Animated Series Is The Best
The Penguin from Batman: The Animated Series combined the elements from the different cinematic depictions of the character to represent everything that made Oswald Cobblepot a unique Batman villain. Batman: The Animated Series' version of the Penguin has the iconic appearance of Burgess Meredith, the tragedy of Danny DeVito, and the Mobster status of Colin Farrell. Though The Penguin of Batman: The Animated Series has all the hallmarks associated with the Penguin, that doesn't mean there are no other versions that reinvent the character or other Penguins that were perfect for the time period in which they were released. There are hundreds of different versions of the Penguin in television, film, comics, and literature that audiences can engage with for different reasons. In fact, it is the different interpretations of Oswald Cobblepot's character over the years that are part of the reason the Penguin is such a long-lasting villain in Batman's legacy.
However, the version of the Penguin from Batman: The Animated Series is the version of the character that maintains all the hallmarks of Oswald Cobblepot that are most commonly associated with the character. Although the Penguin is going to be further reimagined in an upcoming Penguin series starring Colin Farrell, elements from the character that were made iconic by the Penguin from Batman: The Animated Series will inevitably be incorporated when adapting the character. Although there are many versions of the Penguin that reimagined different aspects of what made Oswald Cobblepot such a threatening villain, the Penguin from Batman: the Animated Series contained every element that is associated with one of Batman's most notorious and well-known villains.
