The trailer for the new DC Direct-to-DVD animated feature Batman: Year One provides more evidence of the fidelity of the filmmakers to the original source material, the miniseries turned graphic novel by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli that remains one of the Dark Knight’s most archetypal and popular adventures.  A promo that was leaked to the Internet in June (and unfortunately has been withdrawn) demonstrated how closely the animators worked to reproduce the panel designs of the original comics (see “Batman: Year One’ Film Close to Comic”).

 

This all too short trailer provides a glimpse of Catwoman, who is voiced by Eliza Dushku, and who gets her own accompanying short animated film.  The “Catwoman” short, which was written by Paul Dini and directed by Lauren Montgomery (the co-director of Batman: Year One), is a pulse-pounding, 15-minute chase sequence through Gotham City that pits Catwoman against Rough Cut, the brutal crime boss, who is voiced by John DiMaggio (Futurama’s Bender).  It is great to see DC adding these short films back into their Direct-to-DVD features.  On all counts Batman: Year One, which is due out on October 18th, looks like on of the best DC “PG-13” animated features yet.