Remember those penguins in Batman Returns? They were people in suits. The above video shows the actors testing out the suits and there’s an accompanying blog post from the Stan Winston School of Character Arts describing the process:
“Our mechanical puppets were slightly larger than real penguins,” explained Stan Winston Studio Batman Returns team member Chris Swift, who sculpted the suit-and-head version. “There were 3 sizes of penguin puppets for the film;” added fellow team member Andy Schoneberg, “18-inch black-footed, 32-inch king, and 36-inch emperor penguins.”
“Then we had even larger versions,” said Swift, “which were little people in suits, with mechanical heads. The heads and the flapping wings were puppeteered, but the walking was done by the little people in the suits.”
As for the main Penguin (aka Oswald Cobblepot), did you know he ate real fish in the movie?