First, A Little Bit Of History
Those of you who are old enough to remember 1989 will no doubt recall the second wave of “Batmania” (the first occurred in 1966 with the television series) when Tim Burton’s Batman wowed audiences the world over. Not only did it change pubic perception of what a superhero movie could be, it redefined the summer blockbuster. In short, it was a cultural phenomenon and a big, big part of my childhood. It’s no surprise then that each subsequent entry in the series weren’t just movies – they were events.
So, when Batman Returns stormed theaters in 1992, saying the stakes were high was an understatement. To this day, Burton’s second trip to Gotham City remains the favorite among many Batfans, but it’s important to remember that it didn’t gross as much as its predecessor. Oh, and there was also the fact that it was “too dark and sexy” according to parents’ groups.
Although Burton himself stuck to his guns in saying it was never billed as a children’s movie, the fact remains that there was much merchandising put behind it geared toward youngsters. To nobody’s amazement, those same watch dogs were responsible for McDonald’s pulling its Happy Meal toys promoting the film, thus making the suits in Hollywood second guess giving the guy who gave them Scrooge McDuck level riches so much creative control.
With that, they passive aggressively booted the now legendary filmmaker, hoping for another director to take the franchise in a more family friendly direction. By now, you know the gun they eventually hired was that of Joel Schumacher, whom the studio had already been familiar with.
To their delight, his first crack at the Bat, 1995’s Batman Forever, was an absolute hit, something today’s folk are either unaware of or choose to forget. While it didn’t make as much as the 1989 flick, it did best Returns at the box office, leading to WB to believe that if people really dug this, they needed to go further in that direction.
Boy (Wonder), were they ever wrong.