Saturday, January 24, 2009

Barbie as Batgirl

The second Barbie figure I have is Batgirl Barbie. She is supposed to be Batgirl from "The New Batman Adventures", a successor to the highly acclaimed "Batman: The Animated Series" which basically was what started my toy collecting hobby (most dear wife calls it OBSESSION) - see my very first post.

Mattel got the Batgirl costume very close to animated Batgirl's but she doesn't look very animated to me


She reminds me more of the actress Yvonne Craig, who was Barbara Gordon as well as Batgirl from the 1960s TV series Batman starring Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman with Burt Ward as his sidekick Dick Grayson/Robin. The Batman TV series aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network for two and a half seasons from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968. Despite its short run, the series had two weekly installments for most of its tenure, giving the show a total of 120 episodes (the equivalent of roughly five regular seasons). The show was done as a pop art camp comedy. The campy style worked very well then and was very popular. [source: wiki]


Adam West as Batman with Burt Ward as Robin was really a classic. The main villain and his henchmen were always defeated in a major brawl where the action was punctuated by superimposed onomatopoeic words, as in comic book fight scenes ("POW!", "BAM!", "ZOKK!", etc). The costumes were a blast!


It could also be the reason why subsequent superhero movies try to steer clear of being true to the comic book costumes. What looks fine on paper doesn't always translate well on screen.

Back to Batgirl Barbie

Comes with her Batarang as her accessory




No comments: