Batula (Character)

Batula is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Eric Langile and first appearing as an antagonist in Ozone The Flying Squirrel and later the deuteragonist in Musician's Friend. He is an anthropomorphic vampire bat who has tear-drop ears and green shorts along with white gloves and white boots.

Ozone The Flying Squirrel Cartoon Series (1926 - 1930)
In the Ozone The Flying Squirrel cartoon series from 1926 to 1930, Batula was an antagonist in the series, residing in a cave. He would attempt to annoy Ozone every time he flew past him and he would do anything to keep him from enjoying his adventures. In this series, Batula had pointy ears, a pig-like nose, and lacked shoes, shorts, or gloves, and his body was more bat-like than his later appearances.

One Way or Another (1935)
In the 1935 short film One Way or Another, Batula was given his current appearance, having green shorts and white shoes and gloves, and his head resembled more closely to Mickey Mouse (e.g., he had a similar face to Mickey Mouse, except that he had teardrop ears instead of round ones). He had a simpler body and a more anthropomorphic character than he did in his previous appearance.

Batula Cartoon Series (1937 - 1939)
Batula was eventually given his own cartoon series in 1937, and it would run until 1939. He still retained his appearance as he did in One Way or Another.

Batula And The Beanstalk (1943)
Batula debuted in a 90-minute movie dubbed Batula And The Beanstalk. Again, he kept his appearance as he did in his other two appearances. This would be his last appearance until Musician's Friend 32 years later.

Musician's Friend (1975)
After more than three decades, Batula would finally appear once again, this time in the 1975 movie Musician's Friend, as well as the series that it is part of. As with his last appearances, Batula retained his green shorts, white gloves, and white boots. However, as this series is geared towards slightly older audiences, Batula was given a more adult-like personality, going as far as to bite the protagonist's groin as seen in the second film when the two got into a bad argument over who would retrieve the silver saxophone.

Ozone The Flying Squirrel: The Abundant Adventure (2006)
Batula came back in the 2006 adult animated film Ozone The Flying Squirrel: The Abundant Adventure, where he appears as a minor character. In this film, he has pointed ears and a rounder face instead of his mickey-mouse face, having one more akin to that of Amden The Rabbit.