Chase Me
| Chase Me | |
|---|---|
 Title screen | |
| Directed by | Curt Geda |
| Produced by |
Alan Burnett Margaret M. Dean Curt Geda Benjamin Melniker Michael Uslan |
| Written by |
Paul Dini Alan Burnett |
| Based on |
Characters by Bob Kane Bill Finger |
| Music by | Lolita Ritmanis |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Home Video |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | none (Silent film) |
Chase Me is a 2003 American direct-to-video animated short film based on the animated series The New Batman Adventures. The film was released as a bonus feature on the DVD for Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman in the U.S. on October 21, 2003 and was produced by Warner Bros. Animation.
The short, which follows Batman as he chases Catwoman across Gotham City, is made in old school silent film-style; it contains no dialogue or sound effects, only a musical score. The music is composed by Lolita Ritmanis, who also composed the score for Mystery of the Batwoman, as well as several episodes of The New Batman Adventures.
Plot
The piece begins with the view of the Wayne Enterprises building to which Bruce Wayne is gazing out the window during a party. He's pulled to the dance floor by three lovely young ladies. Each has their turn before Alfred rescues Bruce, who dives into a nearby elevator. When he reaches his office, he sees none other than Catwoman at the safe, looting it. Catwoman pins Bruce to the wall while she finishes robbing the safe, and makes her escape. Bruce breaks free, and heads after her as Batman.
He finds her on the rooftops, and the chase begins. She dives several dozens stories below into busy traffic, breaking her fall with a banner and swinging onto a tour bus. She poses for some pictures until Batman arrives, taking most of the publicity away from her.
They jump on a milk truck tanker and Catwoman blows the tires out. The truck spins off, and Batman pursues after her, ignoring the truck dumping gallons of milk on a couple of stray cats, as well as onto Harvey Bullock.
Then, they jump on a train, where, while going into a tunnel, Batman loses Catwoman, only to see her trail leading into a zoo. Expectedly, she had detoured through the Large Cats exhibit and leaves Batman. He escapes through the sunroof while Catwoman runs into an aviary to be chased out by a colony of bats. She is then cornered by Batman against the gates of the zoo. She notices he was scratched earlier, and leans to kiss him. Batman pushes her away, and she appears hurt. Batman then sweeps her into his arms and kisses her.
The police arrive, and Catwoman looks around, concerned. She pushes at Batman to leave. Batman then slowly smiles at her. He takes the bag of money and leaves. Catwoman smiles, thinking she's been let off the hook, only to find herself handcuffed to the fence. She falls to the ground, despondent, then looks up in quiet rage.
A remorseful Bruce Wayne looks through the window at the party, again, watching police cars fly past below. Then, a lady who bears a striking resemblance to Catwoman's alter ego Selina Kyle grabs his arm and pulls him back to the party.
Note: Black Canary makes a cameo appearance 42 seconds into the silent film.
Music score
The soundtrack starts with a quiet bossa nova/cha-cha-cha piano theme, which features a flute solo and a female singing voice, with then later a high upbeat saxophone-led jazz style score that plays up the chase and slowly dips into a slower/methodical jazz score as the film reaches its downbeat climax. The opening theme is reused in the end credits.