Catwoman Purrrsday :: Michelle Pfeiffer

It is incredible to think that twenty years ago today in 1992 I was waiting on bated breath for any news and images about Catwoman's appearance in the upcoming Batman sequel 'Batman Returns,' and here I am in 2012 once again waiting on bated breath for news and images on Catwoman's appearance in the Batman sequel 'The Dark Knight Rises.'

But I digress. Today let's look again at the best thing about Batman Returns: Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman!

Meow.

I was Junior in High School when the anticipation for this sequel was hitting a fever pitch. I couldn't wait for summer to arrive so I could see Michelle Pfieffer in all her black vinyl glory...I mean...see the sequel to my favorite movie of all time, 1989's 'Batman.'

Yeah.

I had quite a few posters of Ms. Pfeiffer in my bedroom, culled from the only source available: movie magazines, back in that pre-internet time we like to refer to now as 'The Stone Ages.'

I drew pictures on my desk of Batman and Catwoman and Penguin with the tagline 'The Bat, The Cat, The Penguin.' Once after High School I met a girl who had gone to the same school as I but whom I never knew; she knew me from my desk vandalism and said she loved coming into the classroom each day (she had the class after I did) and seeing what I had drawn on the desk.

Chicks dig rebels.

Anyways, the Michelle Pfeiffer/Tim Burton Catwoman was like nothing we'd seen before. A costume that emphasized it's homemade nature with a 'Bride of Frankenstein' meets 'Dominatrix' tone, Miss Pfeiffer brought the costume design to the next level with a sexy swagger and low purring voice that melted many a viewer like butter!

Say what you will about 'Batman Returns,' it isn't the perfect Batman film but it isn't the worst by a long shot (Damn you Schumacher...DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!) and it's hard to deny that Michelle brought something nearing purrrfection to the silver screen.

Watching the movie again as I write this post, I am a bit amazed that I really do like it. Call it nostalgia or whatever, but this is MY Batman, this is MY Gotham City. Burton, Keaton, Nicholson, Hingle, Gough, DeVito, Pfeiffer...they defined 'Batman' for me and my generation, and they did a pretty damn good job of it.

I may consider myself older and wiser and like to think that Nolan, Bale, Ledger et al are the best, and while they are a more mature 'realistic' look at Gotham City, I really really love the pseudo 40s depression Fritz Lang Metropolis black on black Gotham City the two Burton movies created.

It is beyond a crying shame to think that after 'Batman Returns' TWO sure-thing comic book movie properties were brought to their knees (the Batman franchise and the solo Catwoman film that inexplicably did not star Michelle Pfeiffer) but in hindsight at least Keaton and Pfeiffer stayed away when they saw what was happening to their characters (whether it was by choice or otherwise.)

Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman will forever stand out as a beautiful unique creation that can never be duplicated. In today's Hollywood, that's quite an achievement!