When I was about 11 years old, I went to see a Disney film titled
FREAKY FRIDAY and LOVED it.
Stop laughing. I was like 10 or 11, OK? And we're talking the original with Jodie Foster, c. 1976 -- not that one from a few years back with that skank (and I'm NOT referring to Jamie Lee Curtis). Anyway...
The premise was that a mother and daughter magically switch bodies resulting in all sorts of "crazy-ass hijinks."
Let’s say that “The Criss Cross Conspiracy!” is kind of BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD’s version of that film.
This episode is a straight-up Batman story. It’s set in Gotham, The Riddler is the main villain, and a good chunk of the Batman family is present. I’m talking Batman, Robin (in a flashback), Nightwing, and Batgirl. Oh yeah, Batwoman is also in the mix -- the 1950s Silver Age version that is.
Well, sort of.
B:TB&TB’s Batwoman is not Kathy Kane, but a Gotham socialite by the name of Katrina Moldoff. Why the name change from a show that’s so anal about it’s Batman history? Well, it’s a tip of the hat to Batman comic book artist Sheldon Moldoff. Very cool.
I’m not going to spoil the plot other than to say that Katrina is exposed as Batwoman by The Riddler, and is ultimately banned from vigilante crimefighting by the city of Gotham.
10 years later, The Riddler has yet again escaped from Blackgate prison, firing up Katrina’s revengeful juices. Consequently, she turns to the sorcerer Felix Faust and finagles a body-switching spell out of him to use on The Batman.
Like I said, FREAKY FRIDAY, THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD style.
Speaking objectively, I wouldn’t rank this show as one of its classics. However, I personally loved the heck out of it. I was happy to see a very “Batman-centric” installment with Gotham City as the setting, The Riddler as the bad guy, and The Batman Family the only superheroes featured (sans the opening sequence of course).
On top of that, this one’s flat-out funny -- but not in a silly and campy way. That’s one of the things that’s so great about B:TB&TB. The fine folks behind this great show take some of the most ridiculous stuff from Batman times gone by and turn it into smart, classic Bat-Brilliance.
In this case, it’s Batman in a women’s body (voiced by Vanessa Marshall), as well as a women in Batman’s body. GREAT writing here and Diedrich Bader is absolutely awesome as “Female Batman,” if you will.
Loved “The Criss Cross Conspiracy!” and I certainly chalk it up as one of my personal faves of the series.
And by the way, did you know that Dick Grayson’s scared of monkeys?
Must be a circus thing.
