The Penguin (Danny DeVito)

Batman Returns
In Batman Returns, The Penguin was portrayed by Danny DeVito. Director Tim Burton, inspired by the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, re-imagined the character not as an eloquent gentleman of crime, but a physically deformed lunatic with a childhood trauma. While this Penguin retained a number of trademarks, particularly the variety of trick umbrellas and the use of a monocle, he was given a huge visual makeover. His hands were now flippers, with a thumb and index finger, and the remaining three fingers fused together. Where the comic version had varied between a full head of hair and varying degrees of thinning, this Penguin was bald, with his remaining length of hair long and stringy. Instead of a tuxedo, he wore a more gothic, Victorian-style outfit, with a jabot as opposed to a bow tie. Other instances show him in black boots, a bib-like cloth around his neck, and something akin to a child's blanket sleeper, or the old long john-style underwear of the 1800s. Combined with his long dark coat/robe, the full white front of the bodysuit gave him an even more penguin-like appearance. One visual aspect that remained fairly intact in this re-imagining was the familiar top hat. Another new touch was his large yellow duck vehicle, which had the triple functionality of being a boat, a car, and an elevator-like lift.

At the beginning of the film The Penguin's origin story was retold. While he was still born disfigured, his wealthy parents (whose hatred for their child was kept from the comics) tried to get rid of their son. However, the Cobblepot child survived and, after floating down Gotham's sewers and under the city zoo, he was taken in by a group of penguins and, eventually, joined a circus freak show. Years later, The Penguin developed both a partnership with evil millionaire Max Shreck and unrequited lust for Catwoman. The Penguin became a hero to Gotham City when he rescued the Mayor's infant son from a member of the Red Triangle Gang (who, of course, was working for him.) He then ran for Mayor and framed Batman for a murder. Batman eventually learns that the Penguin's run for mayor is a cover for his true intentions: to kidnap and murder every first-born child in Gotham City as a twisted act of revenge for being abandoned as a child.

Batman foiled the Penguin's plans by recording one of his tirades against the city and playing it in front a crowd. In a final, desperate act, the Penguin tried to destroy Gotham with missiles launched from the backs of penguins. Thwarted once again, Penguin battled Batman, but crashed through a plate-glass window and fell back into the waters of his sewer home. Soon after Max Shreck died at Catwoman's hands and Catwoman herself escaped, Penguin rose from the water but died almost immediately afterwards. His fellow penguins lined up and slowly slid his corpse down back into the sewer water, sending him to a watery grave.