On Leather Wings (Batman: The Animated Series episode)
Encyclopedia
"On Leather Wings" is the pilot episode of Batman: The Animated Series
. It premiered on the Fox Network on September 6, 1992. It was written by Mitch Brian
and directed by Kevin Altieri
. This was the first episode of the series to feature the villain Man-Bat
and was also Man-Bat's first screen appearance. In comics, Man-Bat first appeared in 1970. Although "On Leather Wings" was the first episode of the series to be produced, it was the second to be broadcast, following "The Cat and the Claw, Part 1," which premiered just the day before.
The scene changes to outside of the Phoenix Pharmaceuticals. Inside, a guard is patrolling and making a demo tape for a radio personality ad on a micro-cassette recorder.. He hears a crash and goes to investigate. At first he sees nothing, but then a shadow of a giant bat passes over him. The guard is attacked by the creature and drops his recorder under the desk. The guard tosses a chair through the window, and then the bat picks him up and tosses him out and into the river below.
The next morning headline reads, "Gotham Police Declare War on Batman" with a byline reading, "Giant Bat Injures Night Watchman." Detective Bullock tosses it down onto Mayor Hill's desk. Commissioner Gordon doesn't agree with the headline, and doesn't like that Bullock fed the story to a reporter, since it lets Batman know they're after him. Bullock asks Hill for permission to form his own tactical squad, but Gordon has already denied it. They argue about it for a bit, and the camera pans back to show District Attorney Harvey Dent flipping his trademark coin. Hill authorizes the strike force, reminding Gordon that Bullock has a reputation for catching his man. Harvey Dent promises to put Batman in jail if Bullock catches him.
Batman reads the newspaper article and believes he's being set up. He finds out there were two other robberies at pharmaceutical company and chemicals were stolen, just like at Phoenix. Last night's robbery was the first where someone was hurt. Alfred calls off Bruce Wayne's date with "Bambi" as Batman takes off to catch the burglar. Batman reaches Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, and grapples over to the roof. As he flies past a window, he surprises two pharmacists who were making out after hours. They call the police as Batman gasses the police guard and crosses the police line into the scene of the crime. Bullock receives the call from Dispatch, and then calls in his special task force to convene on the building.
While the task force scrambles to his location, Batman sprays the room down to search for clues. He locates a set of footprints belonging to last night's guard, and then finds the micro-cassette recorder underneath the desk. He takes pictures of a shattered jar, and examines some sort of hair, but is interrupted by the arrival of the task force. Bullock sends his men into the building just as Gordon arrives. Bullock is sure they'll catch Batman, but Gordon says another pharmaceutical company was robbed across town. Batman gasses the strike force as he escapes through an elevator shaft. At the bottom of the shaft, he's ambushed by another squad. One of the team members follows him into a room, but Batman grabs him to keep him quiet. The rest of the squad is certain Batman's in the room, and the leader tosses a tear gas grenade into the room, where it rolls up against some gas cans. Batman grabs his temporary prisoner and dives through the window and swings away as the grenade causes an explosion. Batman deposits the squad member on the ground to be retrieved by Bullock and Gordon, and then disappears into an alley across the way.
The next day, Bruce Wayne arrives at Gotham Zoo, and heads into the bat exhibit, calling for Dr. March. When March appears, Bruce explains that he's there about a possible bat problem, since he keeps hearing squeaks from his chimney. The doctor yells at him for wanting to kill the bats like pests, even though Bruce protests that's not what he's doing. His tirade is interrupted by Dr. Francine Langstrom, who stops her Dad from lashing into Bruce. Kirk Langstrom also comes into the room, giving March a chance to vanish into a lab, presumably to analyze the hair sample. Kirk explains that March gets a little carried away sometimes, as he's really protective of the bat study. Bruce plays the recording of the bat noises for the Langstroms, but they don't recognize the sounds as a bat. Kirk takes the tape and promises to analyze it.
Batman has decided to analyze the sound himself, but he can't find a match either. Dr. March calls at that moment, and lets Bruce know that he has brown bats in his chimney, but they'll leave as it gets colder. The sound on the recorder is actually two sounds, starlings and brown bats, and they're probably fighting over a nest in the chimney. That can't be right, especially since Batman has already ruled out brown bats as being the source of the hair, and the sounds weren't recorded near his chimney anyway. According to the computer, the sounds aren't a match for brown bats and starlings. That means Dr. March is lying, and that makes Batman kind of upset.
Back at the zoo, a shadowy figure is burning the tape and the hair. The figure suddenly begins to suffer an attack of some sort, and takes medicine to stop it. Batman arrives as the figure wanders out of the room, and locates a discarded Phoenix Pharmaceuticals vial. Kirk reenters the room, and finds Batman lurking in the shadows. Batman says he's looking for Dr. March, but he's off at a lecture. Kirk then goes off on a tirade about how they had created a new species, something that was neither man nor beast. The beast is now looking for the final chemical to complete the transformation. Kirk then changes into the giant bat and attacks Batman. Just as the giant bat has Batman pinned beneath a desk, Francine comes in, shaming Kirk and making him flee. Batman attaches his grappling hook to Kirk's leg and they both go flying off into the night.
We see the police blimp again. The pilot sees the blip again, but before his copilot can tell him it's just nothing again, they are startled by Batman crashing into the cockpit window. They call Detective Bullock about the sighting. Bullock tries to leave the police station in a chopper, but Gordon stops him from leaving and causing another fiasco like at Phoenix. They both leave in the helicopter to get to the bottom of this mystery. Meanwhile, Kirk flies Batman through a construction site, causing Batman to bounce off the girders. Batman finally gets a footing as Kirk flies over a girder and yanks the giant bat to him. They grapple and fall towards the ground. Bullock and Gordon arrive and see the giant bat with Batman in tow. Batman covers Kirk's eyes, causing him to crash into a sign, knocking him unconscious. The police copter arrives, but Batman picks up Kirk and flees before they can catch them.
Back at the Batcave, Batman analyzes the list of components that Langstrom used to create the giant bat and develops a way to reverse the process. He arrives at the zoo, where Francine is waiting, and reveals that Kirk is back to normal. The chemical is out of his system, but Batman doesn't believe that this mission is truly over.
states he wanted this series to focus on "mystery, mood, drama as well as super hero action sequences" and that Man-Bat fit into those categories perfectly. In an interview, he says, "Man-Bat was chosen specifically [for the first episode] because he wasn't familiar to very many people outside of comic book fans. Nobody had any preconceived notions about him. It wasn't like the Joker, where you had to deal with people expecting him to be Jack Nicholson
or Cesar Romero
."
This is also the only episode of the series where a character (Batman) was seen bleeding
. It was never done again as parents thought it disturbing for young children to see. This is also one of three episodes where Alfred Pennyworth
was not voiced by Efrem Zimbalist Jr., as Clive Revill
was originally cast in the role.
gave the episode two stars, but added that his six-year old son thought the premiere was "awesome". Jim Bullard of the St. Petersburg Times
wrote, "The episode is extremely well written and drawn - an unusual combination in cartoons. The result is a unique, memorable style."
Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated...
. It premiered on the Fox Network on September 6, 1992. It was written by Mitch Brian
Mitch Brian
Mitch Brian is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter who has sold, optioned or written on assignment more than 25 scripts to major studios, networks and independent production companies...
and directed by Kevin Altieri
Kevin Altieri
Kevin Altieri is an American television director of animated cartoons. He is best known for his work on The Real Ghostbusters, Batman: The Animated Series, and the music video for Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution".-References:...
. This was the first episode of the series to feature the villain Man-Bat
Man-Bat
Man-Bat is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually as a supervillain and adversary of Batman, though occasionally depicted as a heroic character. He first appeared in Detective Comics #400 and was created by Frank Robbins and Neal Adams...
and was also Man-Bat's first screen appearance. In comics, Man-Bat first appeared in 1970. Although "On Leather Wings" was the first episode of the series to be produced, it was the second to be broadcast, following "The Cat and the Claw, Part 1," which premiered just the day before.
Plot summary
A police blimp is flying over Gotham City. A blip ghosts across the radar screen, then the pilot sees something that looks like bat wings fly past the cockpit window. The blimp rises above the clouds, but they see nothing. We flash to the skyline of Gotham, and see a shadow of a giant bat creature flying past against the buildings.The scene changes to outside of the Phoenix Pharmaceuticals. Inside, a guard is patrolling and making a demo tape for a radio personality ad on a micro-cassette recorder.. He hears a crash and goes to investigate. At first he sees nothing, but then a shadow of a giant bat passes over him. The guard is attacked by the creature and drops his recorder under the desk. The guard tosses a chair through the window, and then the bat picks him up and tosses him out and into the river below.
The next morning headline reads, "Gotham Police Declare War on Batman" with a byline reading, "Giant Bat Injures Night Watchman." Detective Bullock tosses it down onto Mayor Hill's desk. Commissioner Gordon doesn't agree with the headline, and doesn't like that Bullock fed the story to a reporter, since it lets Batman know they're after him. Bullock asks Hill for permission to form his own tactical squad, but Gordon has already denied it. They argue about it for a bit, and the camera pans back to show District Attorney Harvey Dent flipping his trademark coin. Hill authorizes the strike force, reminding Gordon that Bullock has a reputation for catching his man. Harvey Dent promises to put Batman in jail if Bullock catches him.
Batman reads the newspaper article and believes he's being set up. He finds out there were two other robberies at pharmaceutical company and chemicals were stolen, just like at Phoenix. Last night's robbery was the first where someone was hurt. Alfred calls off Bruce Wayne's date with "Bambi" as Batman takes off to catch the burglar. Batman reaches Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, and grapples over to the roof. As he flies past a window, he surprises two pharmacists who were making out after hours. They call the police as Batman gasses the police guard and crosses the police line into the scene of the crime. Bullock receives the call from Dispatch, and then calls in his special task force to convene on the building.
While the task force scrambles to his location, Batman sprays the room down to search for clues. He locates a set of footprints belonging to last night's guard, and then finds the micro-cassette recorder underneath the desk. He takes pictures of a shattered jar, and examines some sort of hair, but is interrupted by the arrival of the task force. Bullock sends his men into the building just as Gordon arrives. Bullock is sure they'll catch Batman, but Gordon says another pharmaceutical company was robbed across town. Batman gasses the strike force as he escapes through an elevator shaft. At the bottom of the shaft, he's ambushed by another squad. One of the team members follows him into a room, but Batman grabs him to keep him quiet. The rest of the squad is certain Batman's in the room, and the leader tosses a tear gas grenade into the room, where it rolls up against some gas cans. Batman grabs his temporary prisoner and dives through the window and swings away as the grenade causes an explosion. Batman deposits the squad member on the ground to be retrieved by Bullock and Gordon, and then disappears into an alley across the way.
The next day, Bruce Wayne arrives at Gotham Zoo, and heads into the bat exhibit, calling for Dr. March. When March appears, Bruce explains that he's there about a possible bat problem, since he keeps hearing squeaks from his chimney. The doctor yells at him for wanting to kill the bats like pests, even though Bruce protests that's not what he's doing. His tirade is interrupted by Dr. Francine Langstrom, who stops her Dad from lashing into Bruce. Kirk Langstrom also comes into the room, giving March a chance to vanish into a lab, presumably to analyze the hair sample. Kirk explains that March gets a little carried away sometimes, as he's really protective of the bat study. Bruce plays the recording of the bat noises for the Langstroms, but they don't recognize the sounds as a bat. Kirk takes the tape and promises to analyze it.
Batman has decided to analyze the sound himself, but he can't find a match either. Dr. March calls at that moment, and lets Bruce know that he has brown bats in his chimney, but they'll leave as it gets colder. The sound on the recorder is actually two sounds, starlings and brown bats, and they're probably fighting over a nest in the chimney. That can't be right, especially since Batman has already ruled out brown bats as being the source of the hair, and the sounds weren't recorded near his chimney anyway. According to the computer, the sounds aren't a match for brown bats and starlings. That means Dr. March is lying, and that makes Batman kind of upset.
Back at the zoo, a shadowy figure is burning the tape and the hair. The figure suddenly begins to suffer an attack of some sort, and takes medicine to stop it. Batman arrives as the figure wanders out of the room, and locates a discarded Phoenix Pharmaceuticals vial. Kirk reenters the room, and finds Batman lurking in the shadows. Batman says he's looking for Dr. March, but he's off at a lecture. Kirk then goes off on a tirade about how they had created a new species, something that was neither man nor beast. The beast is now looking for the final chemical to complete the transformation. Kirk then changes into the giant bat and attacks Batman. Just as the giant bat has Batman pinned beneath a desk, Francine comes in, shaming Kirk and making him flee. Batman attaches his grappling hook to Kirk's leg and they both go flying off into the night.
We see the police blimp again. The pilot sees the blip again, but before his copilot can tell him it's just nothing again, they are startled by Batman crashing into the cockpit window. They call Detective Bullock about the sighting. Bullock tries to leave the police station in a chopper, but Gordon stops him from leaving and causing another fiasco like at Phoenix. They both leave in the helicopter to get to the bottom of this mystery. Meanwhile, Kirk flies Batman through a construction site, causing Batman to bounce off the girders. Batman finally gets a footing as Kirk flies over a girder and yanks the giant bat to him. They grapple and fall towards the ground. Bullock and Gordon arrive and see the giant bat with Batman in tow. Batman covers Kirk's eyes, causing him to crash into a sign, knocking him unconscious. The police copter arrives, but Batman picks up Kirk and flees before they can catch them.
Back at the Batcave, Batman analyzes the list of components that Langstrom used to create the giant bat and develops a way to reverse the process. He arrives at the zoo, where Francine is waiting, and reveals that Kirk is back to normal. The chemical is out of his system, but Batman doesn't believe that this mission is truly over.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy Kevin Conroy Kevin Conroy is an American stage, screen, and voice actor, best known for his acclaimed voice role as Batman in numerous animated television series, feature films, and video games that make up the DC Animated Universe.-Early life:... |
Bruce Wayne / Batman Batman Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics... |
| Marc Singer Marc Singer Marc Singer is a Canadian-born American actor best known for his roles in the Beastmaster film series and as Mike Donovan in the original 1980s TV series V.-Personal life:... |
Kirk Langstrom / Man-Bat Man-Bat Man-Bat is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually as a supervillain and adversary of Batman, though occasionally depicted as a heroic character. He first appeared in Detective Comics #400 and was created by Frank Robbins and Neal Adams... |
| Clive Revill Clive Revill Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:... |
Alfred Pennyworth Alfred Pennyworth Alfred Pennyworth is a fictional character that appears throughout the DC Comics franchise. The character first appears in Batman #16 , and was created by writer Bob Kane and artist Jerry Robinson. Alfred serves as Batman’s tireless butler, assistant, confidant, and surrogate father figure... |
| Bob Hastings Bob Hastings Robert "Bob" Hastings is an American film, radio, and television character actor. He has also provided voices for animated cartoons.... |
James Gordon James Gordon (comics) James Worthington Gordon, Sr. is a fictional character, an ally of Batman that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane... |
| Robert Costanzo Robert Costanzo Robert Jason Costanzo is an American actor. He has an acting career spanning over thirty years and is often found playing surly New York types such as crooks or low level workers and mixes both drama and comedy roles... |
Harvey Bullock Harvey Bullock (comics) Harvey Bullock is a fictional character from DC Comics' Batman titles.-Fictional character biography:Prior to the 1984-85 DC maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bullock is a crooked police detective under instructions from Gotham City's Mayor Hamilton Hill to sabotage Commissioner Gordon's career... |
| Richard Moll Richard Moll Charles Richard Moll is an American actor and voice artist,best known for playing Bull Shannon, the bailiff on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1983 to 1992... |
Harvey Dent Two-Face Two-Face is a fictional comic book supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. and is an enemy of Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #66 , and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.... |
| Meredith MacRae Meredith MacRae Meredith Lynn MacRae was an American actress and singer.-Life and career:MacRae was best known for her television roles as Billie Jo on Petticoat Junction and as Sally Ann in My Three Sons... |
Francine Langstrom |
| Rene Auberjonois Rene Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois is an American actor, known for portraying Father Mulcahy in the movie version of M*A*S*H and for creating a number of characters in long-running television series, including Clayton Endicott III on Benson , Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Chef Louis in The Little... |
Dr. March |
| Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner was a Canadian actor, usually playing the role of suave, rich leading men.- Career :... |
Mayor Hill |
Production
Bruce TimmBruce Timm
Bruce Walter Timm is an American character designer, animator and producer. He is also a writer and artist working in comics, and is known for his contributions building the modern DC Comics animated franchise, the DC animated universe.-Animation:Timm's early career in animation was varied; he...
states he wanted this series to focus on "mystery, mood, drama as well as super hero action sequences" and that Man-Bat fit into those categories perfectly. In an interview, he says, "Man-Bat was chosen specifically [for the first episode] because he wasn't familiar to very many people outside of comic book fans. Nobody had any preconceived notions about him. It wasn't like the Joker, where you had to deal with people expecting him to be Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
or Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
."
This is also the only episode of the series where a character (Batman) was seen bleeding
Bleeding
Bleeding, technically known as hemorrhaging or haemorrhaging is the loss of blood or blood escape from the circulatory system...
. It was never done again as parents thought it disturbing for young children to see. This is also one of three episodes where Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Pennyworth is a fictional character that appears throughout the DC Comics franchise. The character first appears in Batman #16 , and was created by writer Bob Kane and artist Jerry Robinson. Alfred serves as Batman’s tireless butler, assistant, confidant, and surrogate father figure...
was not voiced by Efrem Zimbalist Jr., as Clive Revill
Clive Revill
Clive Selsby Revill is a New Zealand-born British character actor best known for his performances in musical theatre and on the London stage.-Early life and stage career:...
was originally cast in the role.
Reception
Lon Grahnke of the Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the episode two stars, but added that his six-year old son thought the premiere was "awesome". Jim Bullard of the St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
wrote, "The episode is extremely well written and drawn - an unusual combination in cartoons. The result is a unique, memorable style."