So yeah, I think that’s why I didn’t end up …” You complain about me, I’m too weird, I’m too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f**k yourself.’ Seriously. “So, it makes me laugh a little bit.”Īdded Burton: “ they went the other way. “It is funny to see now, because all these memories come back of, ‘It’s too dark,’” Burton told Empire magazine. Robert Pattinson Officially Confirmed For ‘The Batman 2’ That winning formula is something Burton was criticized for. The caped crusader has become more and more grim in recent years with films like Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” standing our as particularly dark. Tim Burton sees a lot of irony in dated criticisms of “Batman Returns” and the movies that came after.īurton recently sat down to celebrate 30 years of “Batman Returns”, Burton’s second and final stint as “Batman” director. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
And in the prequel TV series Gotham, he launched another mayoral campaign, and this time he actually won.Val Kilmer on the set of "Batman Forever" - Photo: Warner Bros. In the alternate universe of Batman: Earth One, the Penguin has been mayor since before Batman put on the cape and was even involved in his parents' death. After Batman: The Animated Series wrapped, a new volume of the comics spinoff Batman Adventures picked up its storyline after a time skip in which the Penguin was elected mayor and Batman was on the run. The idea must have struck a nerve with Batman writers, because this wasn't the end of the Penguin's mayoral career.
That included Rocky star Burgess Meredith as the Penguin, who ran for mayor of Gotham in the two-part episode "Hizzoner the Penguin/Dizzoner the Penguin." Sadly, the movie didn't adapt the series' plotline of Batman running against Cobblepot, but there are some other similarities, including a scene where the Penguin wins over voters by rescuing a baby. The 1966 series starred a rotating cast of character actors and celebrity guests as Batman's colorful enemies. Kids understand this kind of storytelling - maybe, even with all the inappropriate content, they're the perfect audience for Batman Returns after all.
Like Burton says, the Penguin is full of bile, and the literal bile he coughs up is a visual representation of that hatred. You might as well ask how true love's kiss could wake up Snow White. You might as well ask how the sewer-dwelling Oswald got all his trick umbrellas, or the sci-fi tech to work penguins or the Batmobile by remote control. There's no literal answer because Batman Returns isn't a literal movie. It's a snappy answer, but also an insightful one. He's filled with bile, he's a dark little character and he got a lot of things inside him, but I can get a chemical breakdown if you like.'" "I would say to them, 'I don't know, but I can send it and have it analyzed. "People would pick on certain things, like, 'What's that black stuff coming out of the Penguin's mouth?'" he says in Burton on Burton. That question helped cost Batman Returns its Happy Meal tie-ins and exasperated Tim Burton. Fortunately, we happen to have one for you right here. Some of it may be difficult to recognize even through adult eyes without a guide. Most of it probably sails right over kids' heads the way the Penguin does in his umbrella-copter. Hidden beneath all the kid-pleasing superhero action, there's a wealth of horrific imagery and dark psychological and psychosexual themes. Looking at Batman Returns again as an adult, it's easy to see what all the fuss was about. "Has McDonald's no conscience?" asked one concerned parent. McDonald's was the center of a firestorm from parents' groups for promoting the movie with their Happy Meal toys. According to EW.com, director Tim Burton had to make extensive cuts to knock the rating down to a PG-13 from an R - a death sentence for a crowd-pleasing comic book movie in the pre- Deadpool world.Įven in its finished form, Batman Returns wasn't kid-friendly enough for a lot of folks. So there's a good chance many of you got to see Batman Returns pretty young.