If you saw Batman Returns in 1992 as a kid, you probably still have a specific mental scar involving black bile and a raw fish. It’s been over thirty years. Thirty years! And yet, mention the name Danny DeVito Oswald Cobblepot in a room full of movie buffs, and everyone instantly remembers that pale, waddling nightmare.
Honestly, it shouldn’t have worked. By the early 90s, the Penguin was a joke. He was the guy in the purple top hat who squawked and had trick umbrellas. He was Burgess Meredith. He was campy. Then Tim Burton and Danny DeVito showed up and decided to make him a biblical, sewer-dwelling mutant who bites people’s noses.
It was a total pivot. You've got to respect the sheer audacity of it.
The Transformation That Scared the Crew
Let’s talk about the makeup. This wasn't some simple "throw on a mask" situation. The legendary Stan Winston—the guy behind the Terminator and Jurassic Park dinosaurs—spent months figuring out how to turn one of Hollywood’s most beloved short kings into a literal monster.
DeVito spent roughly four and a half hours in the chair every single morning. Think about that. Most of us can barely sit through a two-hour flight without losing our minds. He was getting layers of foam latex glued to his face before the sun even came up. By the end of the shoot, the team got it down to three hours, but it was still a marathon of discomfort.
The look consisted of:
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- A T-shaped prosthetic that covered his brow, nose, and upper lip.
- Rotten, jagged false teeth that looked like they hadn't seen a toothbrush since the Nixon administration.
- A custom "fat suit" that supposedly weighed around 100 pounds.
- Flesh-colored flipper appliances for his hands (which made eating or using the bathroom a logistical nightmare).
Stan Winston famously said that nobody on set would talk to Danny between takes. Not because they were being mean, but because he was just too creepy. He didn’t just wear the suit; he inhabited the grease and the grime. Even Tim Burton admitted that there was a point where Danny just "clicked" into the role and became this antisocial creature who had been out of the loop for way too long.
That Gross Black Mouth Wash
You know the black goo? The stuff that looks like old motor oil mixed with nightmares? That wasn't some CGI trick. This was 1992.
Danny DeVito actually swished a concoction of mouthwash, red food coloring, and green food coloring (some sources say spirulina was involved) right before the cameras rolled. He’d hold it in his mouth and let it dribble out during his lines. It was disgusting. It was visceral. It’s exactly why the movie caused a massive controversy with parents who thought they were taking their kids to a "fun superhero movie" and ended up witnessing a political candidate eat raw fish and bleed black ink.
Why Danny DeVito Oswald Cobblepot Diverged from the Comics
If you’re a comic book purist, you know that the Batman Returns version of Oswald Cobblepot is basically a different character. In the source material, the Penguin is a "gentleman of crime." He’s a mobster. He runs the Iceberg Lounge. He’s sane (mostly) and cares about his image.
Burton didn't care about any of that.
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He wanted a Moses-gone-wrong story. He wanted a baby thrown into the Gotham sewers because he was too "different" for his wealthy parents (played by Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger, in a weirdly perfect cameo).
Some fans actually argue that DeVito’s Penguin is more like Killer Croc than the traditional Oswald Cobblepot. He lived in the sewers. He led a circus gang. He had a literal physical deformity. But DeVito brought a Shakespearean level of tragedy to it. You kinda felt bad for the guy when he was looking for his parents' names in the Hall of Records, even if he was planning to kidnap and murder all the first-born sons of Gotham five minutes later.
The Political Satire Nobody Noticed
People forget that a huge chunk of this movie is a dark parody of an election. Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) tries to "brand" the Penguin as a hero to get him elected mayor.
It’s surprisingly relevant today. They take this literal monster from the sewers, put him in a nice coat, give him a scripted speech, and tell the public he’s a man of the people. DeVito plays the "charming" version of Oswald with just enough thinly veiled rage to make it hilarious. The scene where his "hero" image falls apart because Batman plays a recording of him insulting the entire city? Pure gold.
The Legacy: DeVito vs. Farrell
Now that we have Colin Farrell’s version of the Penguin in the The Batman (2022) and the HBO series, people love to compare them. It’s sort of an apples-to-oranges situation.
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Farrell is playing a gritty, Scorsese-style gangster. He’s amazing, but he’s grounded.
Danny DeVito Oswald Cobblepot is something else entirely. It’s operatic. It’s German Expressionism brought to life. It’s a fairy tale villain.
When Danny did a lie detector test for Vanity Fair a few years back, they asked him who did the better Penguin. He didn't hesitate. "I love Colin, he’s a terrific guy... but my Penguin was better." He said it with a smirk, but you could tell he meant it. There’s a theatricality to his performance that we just don’t see in modern superhero movies anymore. Everything now is so "realistic" and "gritty." Sometimes you just want a guy in a giant rubber duck boat.
How to Appreciate the Role Today
If you want to really understand the impact of this performance, you have to look past the "gross" factor.
- Watch the eyes: Despite all the latex, DeVito’s eyes do 90% of the work. You can see the hurt of the abandoned child and the malice of the villain at the same time.
- Listen to the voice: It’s not just "Danny DeVito." It’s a raspy, phlegm-filled growl that feels like it’s been echoing off sewer walls for thirty years.
- The Physicality: The waddle wasn't just for show. He moved like a creature that wasn't comfortable in a human body.
To get the full experience of why this version of the character remains the definitive "freak" of the Batman cinematic universe, re-watch the final scene in the Arctic World exhibit. The way the penguins carry him into the water? It’s strangely beautiful. It’s weird. It’s Tim Burton at his most unhinged, and Danny DeVito at his absolute best.
For those looking to dive deeper into the production, hunting down the old "Behind the Scenes" featurettes from the Batman Returns DVD is a must. Seeing the Stan Winston team sculpt the nose in clay gives you a real appreciation for the tactile, pre-CGI era of filmmaking. You can also find interviews where DeVito discusses his "method" approach, which involved staying in character and keeping that 100-pound suit on for as long as possible to maintain the Penguin’s perpetual bad mood.
Ultimately, the character works because it’s a perfect collision of a fearless actor and a director who wasn't afraid to make his protagonist’s rival truly repulsive. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the best way to make a character "human" is to lean into their most monstrous traits.