User Reviews

I've always thought 'The Cat and the Claw' was an odd broadcast premiere for this show. It makes sense with "Batman Returns" having just been released, but Catwoman's clearly the focus with Batman taking up a supportive role; that alone is unusual. But on its own, it's not bad. The voice talents are great (especially Adrienne Barbeau, who makes a great Selina Kyle; and Kate Mulgrew works nicely as the terrorist Red Claw) and the playful dynamic between Bruce and Selina is well-defined.

'On Leather Wings' would've been a much better opener, I don't think there's enough material here for a two-part episode. But the first half at least is pretty good.

7/10

This episode opens with Catwoman, the thief in the night, doing what she does best with a feline friend. She is tracked and eventually chased by Batman through the rooftops of Gotham. Immediately the one-off relationship between Batman and Catwoman (voiced by the lovely Adrienne Barbeau) is established as they both are unable to deny there is something going on under the radar between the two, despite them both being on either side of the law.

TCATC is another fine episode of The Animated Series. There's a lot going on in this one, including the mob's affairs, Batman and Catwoman's relationship, and corporate business warfare. The main storyline involves Selina Kyle (Catwoman), who is a business woman passionate about wildlife, having her attempts to buy a piece of land for wild cats muscled out by a company who happen to be secretly in league with a terrorist known as Red Claw. This Red Claw character, for whatever terrorist-y reasons, needs the land as there's a hidden military base underneath it and from there she (yes, she) can carry out her dastardly plan of unleashing a toxic poison in Gotham.

As I said already, there are a lot of elements at play in this episode and it's a compliment on the writers' parts that all of these things, such as Selina's donate-money-win-a-bachelor date with Bruce and an exciting police car chase come together to form a cohesive story.

Being rubbed out sends Selina iffy vibes, and she dons her Catwoman outfit and takes a trip to the headquarters of the company who is refusing her purchase of the land, hoping to find evidence of villainous activities. Which she does, of course, seeing as though they are…you know, villains. However, she doesn't manage to do this without alerting Red Claw and co. to her trespassing, and the episode closes with one of their men spying on Selina through her apartment window, having been send there by Red Claw. And I don't think he's there to deliver cupcakes.

My Rating: 8/10

They don't waste any time explaining the origins of Catwoman. In fact, they skip it altogether here, beginning the show with the famous villain and her pet cat steal an expensive gem in a high-rise apartment. Batman, however, is on the roof watching. After a short chase, she eludes him. It seems she can fly around the city as well as the Caped Crusader.

Soon after, at one of these auctions where a woman buys a date with a man, a new woman in town - Selina Kyle (Catwoman, in an evening gown) "purchases" Bruce Wayne for $10,000. She's not interested in a date, though, just the contribution since it's for wildlife, something she's passionate about. Bruce wants the date, though, because he's attracted to her.

Back to the action, we now witness witness a big chase scene and find out "the Red Claw," a famous terrorist, is in Gotham City. Commissioner Gordon is justifiably upset with this but has no picture of the guy. If he's so famous, there should be a picture of him somewhere, wouldn't you think. Oh, well, I don''t want to start nit-picking. This is too a show for that.

So, as you can "see," there is a lot of stuff going on in this episode. What I didn't care for was making the Catwoman, who was a common thief, into some sort of heroine because she's going to thwart, or attempt to, the terrorists. However, that's only because she's an animal-rights extremist and terrorist - under the guise of businessmen - won't build a mountain lion sanctuary for her.

This three party struggle - Batman, Catwoman and terrorists - continues with the second part and conclusion next week. (These are back-to-back on the DVD, in different order than listed here.)

This is my first time watching this show in it's entirety. I watched a a lot of the new animated series and some of this show as a kid, but when I was growing up it was mostly TMNT 2003, Teen Titans, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited.

Let's start off by saying Kevin Conroy is the greatest Batman to ever Batman. I don't have to say much else about the man behind the dark knights imposing performance, everyone knows this Batman to some extent he is amazing. That being said this Isn't the greatest introduction. It looks fantastic and sounds great, but the story is kind of underwhelming. I think it's mostly because the episode is kind of slow and the villain is boring(not Catwoman she's great), also the cliffhanger feels weird a bit weird. Not much else to say, overall imma give a 6/10. The performances are great, the world is great, the characters are great, everything's great except the story.

This episode focuses more on Catwoman than the cape crusader as she appears to be animal rights extremist and is wanting to build a mountain lion sanctuary. Angry at her lawyers Selina seeks action towards the mob and red claw when her sanctuary is rejected. Not the best episode to open on but it sets the tone of the entire series. Right off of Tim Burton's batman returns came the animated series and it's hard to believe how old this is already. For me the cinematography on the roof tops and car chase scenes are epic. This for me was and still is one of the best animated series of all time. From the dare I say, purrrrfect score, to the film like tone and pacing this stands alone as a rule breaker of its time. The Gothic surroundings and lighting set out where Burtons movies left off along with the magnificent voice talent out of the shadows comes the now all so famous Kevin Conroy voiced Batman. I nice colour palet, the stories drive the animations so well sometimes you forget you are watching a cartoon.

Batman: The Animated Series started out with a two-part episode, but for some odd reason Part II is Episode 8. However, since this was aired daily, they were only a week apart. Possibly it was a ploy to keep early viewers hooked, waiting on the second part of the episode.

Here we get Catwoman involved in a burglary, and then donating $10,000 to "win" Bruce Wayne at a charity auction benefitting an animal cause. Neither yet has a clue about the other's secret identities, but after a chase, Catwoman is already hooked on the Batman.

Throw in a terrorist plot they both must battle, and you have a good start to the series.

This first part is a decent enough start to the Cat and the Claw two hander but it also doesn't do all that much exemplary. It's just fine and that's... fine. Catwoman is fun enough, Conroy IS Batman and the animation is decent. A light to decent 7/10

I've always been a huge Catwoman fan, so I was excited to see that the series kicks off with her in a central role. Turns out that With Red Claw actually two female villains are introduced in the first episode. I don't know if that's significant or not but it's interesting and shows where we are in the culture. I guess it could be interpreted as an empowering message for girls - you can be a terrorist leader or burglar too! Great?

The story itself is pretty cliche but that's ok, it's only episode 1 after all and it allows you to focus on character and mood. We have the classic jewel heist, the skyscraper chases, the villainous lair with a movable floor, the gangsters and guns, the witty one liners.

The idea of Ms Kyle having a kitty accomplice named Isis draped around her neck is definitely a Catwoman idea I haven't seen before. The cat seemed to provide comic relief? I don't know, it's a ridiculous thing to scale skyscrapers with a cat draped around your neck but it's only a cartoon after all.

The relationship dynamic between Batman and Catwoman has always been a tense and fascinating one. I hope they explore how Mr Wayne is torn between justice & Lust / intrigue in later episodes.

The idea of Gotham having some random potential reserve for wild cats on its outskirts is kinda goofy. But I guess it makes sense if Selena Kyle set it up.

Let's see if all of the parts come to something bigger and better later on in the series.

An interesting depiction of Selina Kyle/Catwoman, with her wildlife activist side being mixed into her rich socialite side. I'm not sure if this version of Selina has the same origin story as she does in the comics or most of the other movies and shows, but she is pretty interesting. I also like her cute secretary, Maven, and I hope she shows up in future episodes.

The actual villain of this production, Red Claw, seems more suited for a G. I. Joe production than DC Comics. I don't think she's a major villain in the comics, either.

This is an interesting series. I've watched a few episodes back in my childhood, but I've really started to watch it more productively now that HBO Max has all the episodes plus most of the other DC Shows.