I'm still awaiting some company to make modern 1/12th scale figures of '89 Joker and even Bob the Goon. They also need one of that large bald gang member with the giant 80's boombox. Damn, I love that "Partyman" museum scene.
How awesome. I also saw Batman Returns again on the big screen in years and it was a blast seeing one of my fave Batman films on the big screen. I remembered 29 years ago learning in magazines like comicscene and Starlog (anyone remember those 2 magazines? i collected them since i was 4!) about the sequel coming out in 92 even a Batman animated series which was a dream of mine since the previous year. I couldn't wait for it and i remembered seeing the teaser in theaters at age 9 and wow it was cool! and i saw this movie 4 times in Vegas when i was 10 at the movies and loved it. I had beach towel, lunchbox, some toys, comic adaptation, CD soundtrack, ate the cereal and all plus got the movie on VHS for Christmas that year. I also watched/taped Batman TAS religiously ever after school even when i was a teen on WB especially Batman Beyond. For anyone who saw Batman TAS when it first aired, who else noticed how much it has Burton infleunces and how much Selina Kyle in the first 3 seasons look like Michelle Pfeifer and Penguin looks like Devito? i always did thought so since i saw the sneak preview 2 part episode on saturday morning on Fox being Cat and the Claw as when Catwoman showed up as Selina Kyle i was like "Whoa! she looks like Michelle Pfeifer and just as sexy too!" and when i saw pictures of Penguin in comicscene magazine and starlog magazine months before the show came out i was like "Penguin looks like Devito even the flipper hands and long hair".
Yeah the 2 Tim Burton Batman films and the first run of the animated series that took influence from it were the best of Batman for me. I won't deny that The Dark Knight is an epic film and totally understand the hype for it... But the Burton era will always be the pinnacle for me. Too bad it did what Turtles did and got awful with the tonal shift and change in cast and creative crew when it came time for the third.
With the Returns influence you mentioned, I recall those were mandated by the studio, to the point of them having Bruce Timm go to "Returns" set and draw sketches of the actors in costume (mainly DeVito). I think originally, if they didn't have that mandate, Penguin would have had his classic 40's look a lot sooner than the New Adventures episodes, and Selina might have had more visual cues from the Julie Newmar '66 version (I think the series bible had sketches of that version).
Except Catwoman in the 60s had brown hair and Selina had blonde hair like Michelle then turned dark by season 4.
You know, checking quickly on a online pdf of the bible, looks like they did have the final Catwoman design in there. I could have sworn it had a Newmar-style one, but looks like my memory must have mixed up some things. My mistake. It does have some funky early designs for a few characters like Riddler and Ra's al Ghul. Re-correction: It has both! There's a promo image after the final Selina turnarounds of a Newmar Catwoman escaping while Batman's handling a wildcat. Since I don't know how to link to a specific page of a online pdf file, here's the whole thing. (The early Catwoman image is page #55 out of 153) http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/342183/10300225/1295413576560/Batman_Writers__Guidelines.pdf?token=BIzCCibDlZ8LQCQvfWxysGj3jwI=
I remember Fangoria… but not Comics Scene- but then again I wasn't really into comics. Remember Starlog Photo Guidebooks? Or another Starlog magazine- Cinemagic? https://www.amazon.com/Starlog-Presents-CineMagic-Fantastic-Premier/dp/B001GWTN54 If you know Cinemagic, then you may know another filmmaking magazine- Cinefex. I've been working on getting a good collection of issues 1-49.
I will never forget going to the theater for this one. It was 100% one of those game changing moments that kids have throughout life not unlike the first time we saw a Star Wars... or Indiana Jones... or Terminator 2... or Jurassic Park, etc etc etc. I'll always remember those f'ing RAD posters of the metallic gold & black bat symbol... the entire soundtrack being done by Prince... and Jack Nicholson being the single coolest living human being I'd ever seen at that time. That movie became a damn obsession with me for a long time. I played the soundtrack (on cassette) on loop and got any & every poster for it that was available. And of course it also immediately started the goth kid love affair with all things Tim Burton for me.
I came out of the cinema with my father and probably my sister. He didn't have anything nice to say about it. Meanwhile I'm just there, mindblown. You have your ideas about what a movie is, but then Batman delivered something just vastly beyond all expectations. It redefined cinema for me. It was so cool, like unbelievably cool. It was years before I'd see it again, but I had a few trading cards and stickers and I played it over many times in my mind.
Could Batman: The Animated Series Exist Without The 1989 Film? DCAU Bruce Wayne in Keaton's likeness.
I'd say Nolan's Batman deals with abstractions - he's trying to become a walking idea, a legend that transcends normal people and impacts on Gotham. A lot of dialogue goes into this idea: "If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can’t stop you, then you become something else entirely. A legend, Mr Wayne. " "Endure, Master Wayne. Take it. They'll hate you for it, but that's the point of Batman. He can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make - the right choice." "I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be." "You'll hunt me, you'll condemn me, set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes, the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more, they deserve to have their faith rewarded." "There's a point far out there, when the structures fail you. When the rules aren't weapons anymore, they're shackles, letting the bad guy get ahead... One day, you may face such a moment of crisis, and in that moment, I hope you have a friend like I did! To plunge their hands into the filth, so that you can keep yours clean!" "A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know the world hadn't ended." Burton's Batman isn't too morally complex, but he doesn't give a shit. He embraces his darkness and goes into the night to dance with the other monsters Gotham has. There's no real difference between him the villains he fights, except that he cares more to keep Gotham intact rather than the others who are ready to harm/exploit it. Burton's Batman is insane in a way normal heroes aren't (or even other versions of Batman), and that distinction can be seen even 30 years later.
Batman: Kim Basinger Quietly Kept Playing Vicki Vale for Years "After Batman, I went to children's hospitals like you wouldn't believe and I went for years," Basinger said. "I saw kids die and I went through the journey with their parents, but I would always go in as Vicki Vale." "We would have these wonderful conversations and I would say that Batman was waiting on me downstairs in the Batmobile when we were finished," she continued. "I get chills just thinking about that. Anytime you can come in and make their world better, for even an hour or two, that will change their lives and it will change yours." That's sweet.
So cool. I’ll never forget when that poster showed up - easily the most badass thing we’d ever seen and SUCH a hype inducer. And then the movie came out and completely blew our minds. Being 12 or 13 years old when it was released, I still count it as one of the most awe inspiring & memorable “firsts”.
Christ, I despise this movie what an absolute butchering of Batman. Those ridiculous palm-punching gauntlets, skinny, short-ass Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson just playing himself and collecting a paycheck. One of my worst childhood memories. Tim Burton needed to stick to quirky and get the fuck away from Batman. It’s no question this silly schlock lead to the excess idiocy of Joel Schumacher and ushered in a decade plus of embarrassment for the Caped Crusader, thank God he’s tough and he could take it. Uggg horrible memories.
