Marion Louise "Mary" Dahl, also known as Baby Doll, is an actress born with systemic hypoplasia, a rare condition which kept her from ever growing, meaning that she spent all of her life looking like an adorable little girl.
Appearance[]
Dahl was born with systemic hypoplasia, a rare condition that kept her from growing. Because of this, Dahl has the physical appearance of a five year-old girl despite being over forty years old. She has blonde hair in short curls held up with black bows, and big blue eyes, similar to child actress Shirley Temple. She wears a short purple dress with puffy sleeves and a black skirt, collar, and buttons, short white socks, and black Mary Janes, along with a very poofy and puffy pair of bloomers, similar to that of a typical girl's doll of the 1950s.
History[]
When she was twenty, Dahl became famous for a brief period when she played the title character in the TV sitcom Love that Baby. She and the show were wildly popular, but as the series got older, the ratings dwindled. In the final season, the producers of the show decided to add a new character; Baby Doll's cousin Spunky. Dahl was angry at Spunky because she thought that he was stealing her spot light, especially on one occasion on her birthday episode, where he pushed her face into her birthday cake. Furious, Dahl quit the show in order to pursue a career as a dramatic actress.
Her first dramatic role was in Macbeth. Unfortunately, the reviews for the play and her acting were terrible, ruining Dahl's chances of becoming a popular actress. When her career went down the toilet, she tried to get Love That Baby back on the air because it had been canceled when she left, but the networks turned her down. After that, Dahl tried to get any job that came her way, but was always shunned and never got the role. Without a job, Dahl went through a rough, depressing period of her life where she realized that the only time when she had been truly happy was when she was in the show as Baby Doll, when she used to have a "family" in the show and was adored by millions of viewers.
Batman: The Animated Series[]
Baby-Doll[]
Baby and her kidnapped family
Keeping her persona as Baby Doll permanently, Dahl went around with Mariam and her hired goons and kidnapped all of the original cast of Love That Baby, bringing them together so that she get revenge on Spunky and her fellow cast members. She tied all of the actors up in the old set and bought along a birthday cake. After pushing Spunky's head into the cake, she then got a stick of dynamite, put it on the cake like a candle and lit it, planning to blow up the cast members and herself. Spunky ruined her plan by grabbing the stick with his mouth and throwing it far enough away that it exploded without hurting anybody.
Batman crashed into the room and revealed that Spunky wasn't Spunky at all, but Robin in disguise. After Batman and Robin had realized what Dahl was doing, they had gone to the actor, told him what was going to happen and the man had let Robin take his identity. When Robin had been captured, he sent a radio signal to Batman, who had traced it and found out where Baby Doll was.
True reflection
While Robin released the captives, Batman chased Dahl into a nearby fairground, cornering her inside a funhouse. Inside, Dahl came across a hall of mirrors. Within one of the distorted mirrors, Baby saw herself as an adult, how she believed she should've looked had her life been different. Realizing it all to be fake, just as her life and character was, Dahl shot and broke all of the mirrors before breaking down and running out of bullets, weeping in frustration at the normal life she would never have. When Batman walked up to her, she surrendered and went peacefully, uttering her infamous catchphrase "I didn't mean to" as Batman comforted her.[1]
References[]
- ↑ Batman: The Animated Series S2Ep11; "Baby Doll" (Riba, Dini, 1994)
Batman: The Animated Series Season 2 Episode 9; “Baby Doll” (Riba, Dini, 1994) HBO MAX