b2curious
Well-Known Member
Not quite sure where this should go, so I'm putting it here. Who here knew that Harley Quinn was inspired by a Days of Our Lives Character, most specifically a specific scene done by that character? I didn't, and my daughter is a huge Harley fan. (My daughter also hates Joker because he's abusive.)
Anyway, I was poking around and found this article "How Harley Quinn Should Really Look" http://www.looper.com/22521/harley-quinn-really-look/s/image-3168/ On the second page (I haven't gotten past page 2 yet), it talks about Harley's debut in 1992, then it says "The character was inspired by a scene from Days of Our Lives, featuring actress Arleen Sorkin [Calliope Jones] rolling around [on roller skates] in wild harlequin gear and makeup. The producer of the as yet unaired Batman: The Animated Series, and Harley Quinn character creator, Paul Dini was friends with Sorkin from college.
According to this article http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/harley-quinn-dc-comics-suicide-squad.html, she had given him a VHS tape of her favorite Days moments. The court jester bit made it, probably because that scene was her idea. Dini was writing for Batman, and was struggling to come up with a female character to use as a "one-off." One day in 1991, when Dini was home sick, he popped in the tape. "When he saw Sorkin in clown makeup, the pieces fell into place." Dini then did a rough sketch, which he took to the cartoon's lead artist, Bruce Timm, who improved on the very rough sketch. Dini even invited Sorkin voice Harley, and she accepted.
Though they'd just meant to use her for that one episode, "when that first episode she appeared in came back from overseas and we saw her animated, with the combo of the visual and Arleen Sorkin's performance, y'know, it was kind of magical," Timm said. "Paul started immediately planning her return and saying, 'Y'know what? I'm gonna bring that Harley Quinn character back." After a while, she was so popular, that Harley began appearing in the comics as well.
Anyway, I was poking around and found this article "How Harley Quinn Should Really Look" http://www.looper.com/22521/harley-quinn-really-look/s/image-3168/ On the second page (I haven't gotten past page 2 yet), it talks about Harley's debut in 1992, then it says "The character was inspired by a scene from Days of Our Lives, featuring actress Arleen Sorkin [Calliope Jones] rolling around [on roller skates] in wild harlequin gear and makeup. The producer of the as yet unaired Batman: The Animated Series, and Harley Quinn character creator, Paul Dini was friends with Sorkin from college.
According to this article http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/harley-quinn-dc-comics-suicide-squad.html, she had given him a VHS tape of her favorite Days moments. The court jester bit made it, probably because that scene was her idea. Dini was writing for Batman, and was struggling to come up with a female character to use as a "one-off." One day in 1991, when Dini was home sick, he popped in the tape. "When he saw Sorkin in clown makeup, the pieces fell into place." Dini then did a rough sketch, which he took to the cartoon's lead artist, Bruce Timm, who improved on the very rough sketch. Dini even invited Sorkin voice Harley, and she accepted.
Though they'd just meant to use her for that one episode, "when that first episode she appeared in came back from overseas and we saw her animated, with the combo of the visual and Arleen Sorkin's performance, y'know, it was kind of magical," Timm said. "Paul started immediately planning her return and saying, 'Y'know what? I'm gonna bring that Harley Quinn character back." After a while, she was so popular, that Harley began appearing in the comics as well.