Read My Lips (Batman: The Animated Series)

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“Read My Lips”
'Batman: The Animated Series' episode
Episode no. Season One
Episode 64
Written by Alan Burnett
Michael Reaves
Directed by Joe R. Lansdale
Original airdate May 10th, 1993
Episode chronology
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"Fire From Olympus" "The Worry Men"
List of Batman: The Animated Series episodes

Read My Lips is the 64th episode of Batman: The Animated Series and the first appearance of the Ventriloquist in the DC Animated Universe.

[edit] Plot

When Gotham Police are baffled by a series of crimes executed with clockwork-like precision, Batman investigates the case and discovers that the crimes are planned by a mob boss known as Scarface. He traces Scarface to his lair — a deserted mannequin warehouse — and discovers, to his astonishment, that the crime czar is a wooden dummy, manipulated by a mild-mannered man called the Ventriloquist. Even worst, as he makes further developments, he realizes Arnold Wesker, the ventriloquist, has split personality and it is the dummy who manipulates the Ventriloquist.

Scarface and his gang prove to be very effective when they managed to capture Batman by developing the spying device he put on the Ventriloquist tie and organize a fake hit to get the vigilante. Probably as a homage to the classic villain plots from the 1960s Batman TV series, Scarface ties and hangs Batman and sets him to fall into a pit full of mannequin hands with sharpen nails pointing up. At this point, by faking and projecting the voice of the Ventriloquist, Batman plays both of Wesker's personalities, setting them to fight against each other. That way, he made enough time to set himself free and defeat the gang. During the fight, Rocco, one of the main Scarface thugs, accidentally shoots and destroys him, apparently traumatizing Wesker.

At the end of the episode, locked in Arkham Asylum, Wesker is shown in one of the workshops shaping some wood, after a nurse congratulates him, he rolls it over revealing it was a new Scarface head. He takes a knife and makes a scar.

[edit] Trivia

  • The scenes when the dummy is destroyed became recurring in his future appearances. In Trial he didn't even die after his head was accidentally chopped off by The Scarecrow. In the DVD commentary for Read My Lips, Bruce Timm stated that the recurring destruction of the dummy was because the network censors felt that, since Scarface wasn't "a living character," they didn't place any restrictions on the level of violence that could be inflicted on the dummy. This resulted in the production staff venting its darker impulses by coming up with a more gruesome way of destroying the dummy each time, culminating in The New Batman Adventures episode Double Talk, where Scarface is ground into sawdust by a building's ventilation fans.
  • One of the dummies, probably the one from Read My Lips (because of the several bullet holes), was featured as one of the items of the souvenir gallery of the Bat-cave in Batman Beyond.
  • After Read My Lips, one of the last episodes of the first season, the character became so popular that when the series returned for a second season (The Adventures of Batman & Robin), he was cast as a regular among the enemies of Batman, making three more appearances (two more than The Penguin). A reference to his sudden popularity was made in "Harlequinade", when listing all their friend to the Joker she tries to mention him but she forgets his name.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Kevin Conroy Batman
Bob Hastings Commissioner Gordon
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Alfred Pennyworth
Earl Boen Rhino
George Dzundza The Ventriloquist/Scarface
Joe Piscopo Manager
Neil Ross Ratso
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