Did anyone se Batman Returns in theaters?

[Mace Dolex]

No, McDonald's, including Happy Meal toys, which was very controversal.
NBC reporter Faith Daniels devoted the July 3, 1992 episode of her daily talk show, A Closer Look With Faith Daniels, which aired on NBC at 12 pm, to ''Parents Against Batman Returns.'' Faith Daniels, who refused to take her 5-year-old son to see the movie, said ''It's fine to make Batman Returns an adult film, but don't market it to kids. It's rated PG-13, but who's buying the action toys? Not 13-year-olds.'' The Los Angeles Times published letters that protested ''one violent image after another.'' ''Has McDonald's no conscience?'' another letter asked. Meanwhile, the Michigan-based Dove Foundation, a nonsectarian Christian organization, has protested the McDonald's Happy Meal promotion, designed for children 1 to 10. ''Parents trust McDonald's,'' says a Dove spokesman. ''So why is McDonald's promoting a movie to little kids that's filled with gratuitous graphic violence?''

Talk about a blast from the past I actually remember watching that talk show because I has on summer vacation and found it amusing that a comic book movie would be such a controversial topic for daytime TV.

I would imagine if the internet had been around then all of the media would've been all over the controversy, message boards, twitter accts.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Batman Returns would have been a great experience in the day of the internet.

 

[relentless1]

batman returns was where i fell in love with the character, my dad took me to it when i was 6 and ive never looked back, batfan 4 life

 

[WVsax27]

I did, I was 6 at the time and don't recall being frightened. I know for a fact my parents weren't angry because I had all of the action figures and they let me watch it when it started airing on pay TV.

 

[3rdstone]

Back then I worked every other weekend, and a friend called me at Saturday just when I've taken the subway all the way home (an hour from door to door back then). He wanted us to go and see Batman returns, and I answered something like:

- Please, can't we do it next weekend. I just got home from work, and it feels tough to take the sub all the frakking way back into town again. Besides, I haven't eaten dinner or taken a shower yet. His reply was like:

- Meh, eat something quick and just get your ass here. Michelle Pfeiffer in that shiny tight black dress! What's to discuss here, really?

Of course that vision of Pfeiffer pretty much sold the whole concept, and shortly afterwards I was sitting on the train back into town again.. t: I must've been 25 back then. Oh, those were the days..

 

[Ponyboy]

^

great story

 

[Venom75]

I saw both Burton films in theaters and enjoyed both equally. I was never bothered by them at all,but looking back I can see why some kids might be scared and why there was a bit of a fuss about it. But the character is dark and so is his world. I think too many people expected something along the line of the 60's show.

 

[Ponyboy]

I think too many people expected something along the line of the 60's show.

But that doesn't make sense to me. At all. I mean... did everyone who thought Batman Returns was too dark not see the 1st film? That set the tone and expectation of the franchise at that point.

 

[Call Me Darkman]

The 20th anniversary is around the corner.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Hard to believe its been 20 years of this!

 

[Mr.?]

I love this movie, more then 89. It's probably number 3 on my list of best Batman movies. I was 4 at the time so I didn't see it in theaters

 

[marvelrobbins]

Batman Returns Is my favorate of original Batman series.At times that hasn't been a popular oporion.Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman Is one of greatest female perforamces ever In a comic Book film or Tv show.Perhapes one of best performances ever In a comic book movies.The S&M overtunes to Catwoman has never be stronger than In
Batman Returns.Michelle and Michael Keaton are great.And Michelle as Catwoman Is one
of greatest screen Dominatrixs ever.The scenes of her and Batman on rooftop after department store Is blown up and holding Batman down and licking his face are among sexiest scenes ever.

Michael Uslan remarked Batman returns was tribute to 1990's era of Comic books.The ahole Batman era.And there Is precent for depection of catwomn and some other mages used In film.It was only The Penguin that was totally reimaged.

 

[Mace Dolex]

But that doesn't make sense to me. At all. I mean... did everyone who thought Batman Returns was too dark not see the 1st film? That set the tone and expectation of the franchise at that point.

I think on one of the DVD extras in one of the interviews I can't remember who summarized it best but this person said that Batman '89 was a standard "summer popcorn film" and that BR was more of a "Tim Burton film".

So in essence seeing as B'89 was such a huge hit the studios felt confident Tim Burton would deliver another hit not knowing that he would add a few "Burton-isms" to it. (yeah I made up that word)

 

[StianSteel]

Batman Returns was the first Batman film I saw in theaters, I was 12 years old.

Batman (89) was the movie that made me a Batman fan, but unfortunately I just missed it in theaters, my first viewing was an imported pirated VHS tape.

I rememember being super excited for Batman Returns. When I saw it, well I liked it since it was Batman , but I could not quite get over the fact that it felt so different than Batman (89).

 

[Hordakfan]

No, McDonald's, including Happy Meal toys, which was very controversal.
NBC reporter Faith Daniels devoted the July 3, 1992 episode of her daily talk show, A Closer Look With Faith Daniels, which aired on NBC at 12 pm, to ''Parents Against Batman Returns.'' Faith Daniels, who refused to take her 5-year-old son to see the movie, said ''It's fine to make Batman Returns an adult film, but don't market it to kids. It's rated PG-13, but who's buying the action toys? Not 13-year-olds.'' The Los Angeles Times published letters that protested ''one violent image after another.'' ''Has McDonald's no conscience?'' another letter asked. Meanwhile, the Michigan-based Dove Foundation, a nonsectarian Christian organization, has protested the McDonald's Happy Meal promotion, designed for children 1 to 10. ''Parents trust McDonald's,'' says a Dove spokesman. ''So why is McDonald's promoting a movie to little kids that's filled with gratuitous graphic violence?''

This caused McDonald's to claim that the Batman Returns toys they were selling were not promotion for the movie at all. McDonald's spokeswoman Rebecca Caruso said, ''The objective of the (Happy Meal) program was to allow young people to experience the fun of Batman the character. It was not designed to promote attendance at the movie. It was certainly not our intent to confuse parents or disappoint children.''

Warner Brothers also claimed that the McDonald's Happy Meal promotion wasn't tied to the movie but to the Batman character. ''We were careful not to provide actual toys from the movie,'' says a Warner spokeswoman. She insists that Batman Returns is rated responsibly. ''Clearly Batman Returns is not meant for 5-year-olds. As for whether it's appropriate to Happy Meals, that's up to McDonald's. We don't tell them their business.''
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,311012,00.html
McDonald's was clearly promoting the film Batman Returns:

And the Happy Meal toys are clearly promoting Batman Returns featuring the films version of the Batmobile and Batman in the Batmissile from Batman Returns and the Penguin in a yellow vehicle, even showing that spiral umbrella from Batman Returns which Max Shreck said "What is that suppose to do? Hypnotize me?":

McDonald's issued a written apology to the Dove Foundation, a non-sectarian organization, that charged McDonald's with promoting Batman Returns as an acceptable movie for children. "The object of our Happy Meal program was to simply allow young people to experience the fun associated with the character Batman," Jack Daly, McDonald's communications vice president, said in a prepared release. "It was not designed to promote attendance at the movie or to take the place of parents using their best judgment regarding which movies their children are allowed to see."

"We think McDonald's was culpable in the fact that the figurines they packed in the Happy Meals were advertised as safe for children 1 years old and up, and they were designed to promote a movie created for viewers 13 years of age and over," explained Richard Rolfe, managing director of the Dove Foundation. Dove characterizes itself as a foundation that previews and identifies movies that adhere to accepted Judeo-Christian values.

"McDonald's has historically had Happy Meal premium tie-ins with more benign films, like those of Disney," said Pat Broeske, a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly magazine. "Parents who saw the TV ads most likely figured if McDonald's was involved, it was acceptable for children. McDonald's is looked upon as someone they can trust."

Because of the controversy and protests McDonald's stopped selling Batman Returns merchandise prematurely. The McDonald's representative said the national advertising schedule for McDonald's-Batman Returns ended on July 2, 1992.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n29_v26/ai_12477873/

I collected all those cups when i was 11 and they were quite cool.

I still find "bad parenting" to be the culprit on that one. Anyone in their right mind would know (after seeing the first Batman film) that the movies were violent and dark. If they hadn't seen the first movie, then they sure as hell couldn't miss the fact that it was rated PG-13.

The Burton Batman movies were intended for teens and adult viewers yet kids can enjoy them but they think of Batman from the 60's when they think of Batman without reading the comics, in the mid 80s Frank Miller and Alan Moore did rebooted Batman back to basics with Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One and Killing Joke. Thus the movies were as dark as them yet kids can enjoy them.

My parents had no problem of me watching R-rated movies or dark/sexy/violent movies as i had seen R-rated movies in theaters since i was 4 starting with Fright Night and on then as i was a Sci-fi/horror/fantasy/action/comedy fan since then and still am and had no problem of renting/watching violent and sexy Sci-fi/horror/fantasy/action/comedy movies on video and cable just as long as it's not porn. My parents even had no problem of me reading comics that said "Suggested for Mature Readers" like Swamp Thing to Sandman to other Sci-fi/horror/fantasy comics as i had collected comics for 27 years.

McDonald's was clearly promoting Batman Returns. If they were not then they wouldn't have plastered Batman Returns on their menus, wouldn't have had a life-size standy of Micheal Keaton from Batman Returns, wouldn't have sold Batman Returns cups and Happy Meals featuring toys of the Batman Returns Batmobile and Batman in the Batmissile from Batman Returns and the Penguin in a yellow vehicle, even showing that spiral umbrella from Batman Returns, and a Catwoman toy, but no Joker or Robin toys, since they aren't in Batman Returns.
McDonald's shouldn't have been promoting the film to young children with Batman Returns toys in Happy Meals in the first place because it's not a film aimed for little kids. As Tim Burton said about the Penguin in Batman Returns, "He doesn't really fit into the Happy Meal mode."
http://www.empireonline.com/features/wonderful-world-of-tim-burton/5.asp
Michael Keaton also wondered aloud if the movie was suitable for his (then) nine-year-old son, Sean. "There's a couple of things in it he doesn't need to see," he said. "And it's a tad too twisted for young, young kids--five- or six-year-olds."
http://www.timburtoncollective.com/articles/br5.html
Other than the Happy Meal promotion, Warner Brothers and McDonald's should have defended Batman Returns and their Batman Returns promotion in the name of freedom rather than cowardly suppressing and turning their backs on what some found offensive. They shouldn't be so terrified of controversy. You cannot be afraid that someone dislikes something. That thinking makes things banned, censored, mediocre, generic, dull.

Parents shouldn't sugarcoat things for kids for not everything is bright and sunny, the world can be dark and full of different values as kids should learn even from Batman.

Taco Bell did it for the first movie. I remember that they also had cups.

Oh yes i had all those TB cups when i was 8.

well,to be fair,the first film was marketed the hell out of for kids as well, toys,dolls,costumes,etc.

McDonalds basically went with that, looked at it as "BATMAN" ,therefore a comic book movie,therefore "safe" for kids...i have no doubt NONE of the McD's executives saw the film before signing the deal,looked at dailies,read a script, ANYTHING to give them an idea that it would be darker and not intended for the under 13 set. they saw "BATMAN" and thought,hey! good to go!

I had nearly all the merchandise of BR and Mcdonalds should learn about the movie first before promoting the McDs stuff to kids but make only cups. And no thanks to this whole thing, we got Schumacher to make Batman kid friendly. Thank god Nolan rebooted the whole thing to go back to basics where Burton started and doing things his way with no executives pushing him to promote for Mcdonalds or whatever but they still market Batman Begins/Dark Knight/Dark Knight Rises to kids despite the movies are aimed at adults.

 

[bullets]

lol Takes me back...

I had the Penguin cup on the top right.




My dad took my brother and I opening weekend. I remember loving it while my brother was too young to understand and my dad was horrified at what he allowed us to witness. It was not so much the violence but more sexual compared to the first film.

I was at Barnes and Noble earlier and saw they had Hot Wheel toy for Batman Returns.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

My mom handed me the VHS when I was 4... and I turned out just fine.

 

[AnneFan]

I don't think I've seen this pose before until now. Great stuff.

 

[PB210]

McDonald's was clearly promoting Batman Returns. If they were not then they wouldn't have plastered Batman Returns on their menus, wouldn't have had a life-size standy of Micheal Keaton from Batman Returns, wouldn't have sold Batman Returns cups and Happy Meals featuring toys of the Batman Returns Batmobile and Batman in the Batmissile from Batman Returns and the Penguin in a yellow vehicle, even showing that spiral umbrella from Batman Returns, and a Catwoman toy, but no Joker or Robin toys, since they aren't in Batman Returns.
McDonald's shouldn't have been promoting the film to young children with Batman Returns toys in Happy Meals in the first place because it's not a film aimed for little kids. As Tim Burton said about the Penguin in Batman Returns, "He doesn't really fit into the Happy Meal mode."
http://www.empireonline.com/features/wonderful-world-of-tim-burton/5.asp
Michael Keaton also wondered aloud if the movie was suitable for his (then) nine-year-old son, Sean. "There's a couple of things in it he doesn't need to see," he said. "And it's a tad too twisted for young, young kids--five- or six-year-olds."
http://www.timburtoncollective.com/articles/br5.html
Other than the Happy Meal promotion, Warner Brothers and McDonald's should have defended Batman Returns and their Batman Returns promotion in the name of freedom rather than cowardly suppressing and turning their backs on what some found offensive. They shouldn't be so terrified of controversy. You cannot be afraid that someone dislikes something. That thinking makes things banned, censored, mediocre, generic, dull.

Of course, these properties derive a great chunk of their revenue from products sold to children-part of the reason that they persist on the silver screen. Some find it disgusting that these expensive films take up screen space from more adult thriller writers such as Tom Clancy, etc. However, the toyline tie-ins keep them going.

Examples: On the subway, I found a Toys R' Us advertisement for DC toys, even the prominently reviled Green Lantern (a Lensmen derivative). In the pharmacy, I found greeting cards for children, including yet again the Green Lantern. (Many of the drug stores I have gone into still have Green Lantern greeting cards, even though the reviled film came out almost one year ago.)

In 1966 a wide array of Batman merchandise appeared on store shelves. As might be expected, many of these were toys. Corgi manufactured diecast toys of the Batmobile, Batcopter, and Batboat. Ideal put out a toy version of Batman's utility belt, a Batman helmet shaped like Batman's cowl (complete with a cape), a Batman and the Justice League play set, a Batcave play case, and several other Bat-toys. Marx put out a toy version of the Batphone, a twistable Batman figure, a Batman costume, and many other toys. Mattel put out a Batmobile pedal car, a Batcycle, a "Batbomb," and other toys [note that Mattel has continued this association with the property into contemporary times]. There were Batman rollerskates, a Batman bull horn, a Batman bicycle, a Batman water gun, and numerous other Batman toys on the market in 1966.

There were also other many Batman items available beyond toys in 1966. Ben Cooper put out a Batman Halloween costume. Aladdin put out a Batman lunchbox with a Thermos. Milton Bradley manufactured a Batman game. Colgate made Soakies for both Batman and Robin (a Soaky was a figure of a popular character filled with bubble bath). Viewmaster released several reels based on episodes of the TV show. Aurora released kits for the Batmobile, Batcycle, Batplane, Batboat, and figure kits not only of Batman and Robin, but many of the villains as well. Topps released several series of Batman bubblegum cards. There were Batman pinback buttons, Batman toothbrushes, Batman wristwatches, Batman mugs, Batman, stickers, Batman waste baskets, Batman placemats, and other items too numerous to list. Among the most unusual Batman items were various food products. There was Batman bread, Batman peanut butter, Batman candy, Batman orange drink, and yet other food products. Batman would account for $150 million worth of merchandise sold in 1966 alone.

Of course, the Adam West show, in its syndication in the 1970's, kept this merchandising trend going, as did Super Friends/Powers/Galactic Guardians from roughly 1973 to 1985. Adam West has continued his influence on tacky merchandising to recent times.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06...-merchandise-based-on-adam-west-batman-series

http://mercurie.blogspot.com/2010/03/batmania-how-batman-conquered-america_29.html

As the Batman does indeed represent a more overtly juvenile version of the Shadow (look at Robin’s old costume), toyline tie-ins represent an important source of the property's lucrative position. So when one threatens that, one threatens an integral part of the franchise.

 

[ShaneHelms]

I don't think I've seen this pose before until now. Great stuff.

That is wicked. I still have all my Returns cups and my Batman Forever ones too.

 

[DACrowe]

No, McDonald's, including Happy Meal toys, which was very controversal.
NBC reporter Faith Daniels devoted the July 3, 1992 episode of her daily talk show, A Closer Look With Faith Daniels, which aired on NBC at 12 pm, to ''Parents Against Batman Returns.'' Faith Daniels, who refused to take her 5-year-old son to see the movie, said ''It's fine to make Batman Returns an adult film, but don't market it to kids. It's rated PG-13, but who's buying the action toys? Not 13-year-olds.'' The Los Angeles Times published letters that protested ''one violent image after another.'' ''Has McDonald's no conscience?'' another letter asked. Meanwhile, the Michigan-based Dove Foundation, a nonsectarian Christian organization, has protested the McDonald's Happy Meal promotion, designed for children 1 to 10. ''Parents trust McDonald's,'' says a Dove spokesman. ''So why is McDonald's promoting a movie to little kids that's filled with gratuitous graphic violence?''

This caused McDonald's to claim that the Batman Returns toys they were selling were not promotion for the movie at all. McDonald's spokeswoman Rebecca Caruso said, ''The objective of the (Happy Meal) program was to allow young people to experience the fun of Batman the character. It was not designed to promote attendance at the movie. It was certainly not our intent to confuse parents or disappoint children.''

Warner Brothers also claimed that the McDonald's Happy Meal promotion wasn't tied to the movie but to the Batman character. ''We were careful not to provide actual toys from the movie,'' says a Warner spokeswoman. She insists that Batman Returns is rated responsibly. ''Clearly Batman Returns is not meant for 5-year-olds. As for whether it's appropriate to Happy Meals, that's up to McDonald's. We don't tell them their business.''
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,311012,00.html
McDonald's was clearly promoting the film Batman Returns:

And the Happy Meal toys are clearly promoting Batman Returns featuring the films version of the Batmobile and Batman in the Batmissile from Batman Returns and the Penguin in a yellow vehicle, even showing that spiral umbrella from Batman Returns which Max Shreck said "What is that suppose to do? Hypnotize me?":

McDonald's issued a written apology to the Dove Foundation, a non-sectarian organization, that charged McDonald's with promoting Batman Returns as an acceptable movie for children. "The object of our Happy Meal program was to simply allow young people to experience the fun associated with the character Batman," Jack Daly, McDonald's communications vice president, said in a prepared release. "It was not designed to promote attendance at the movie or to take the place of parents using their best judgment regarding which movies their children are allowed to see."

"We think McDonald's was culpable in the fact that the figurines they packed in the Happy Meals were advertised as safe for children 1 years old and up, and they were designed to promote a movie created for viewers 13 years of age and over," explained Richard Rolfe, managing director of the Dove Foundation. Dove characterizes itself as a foundation that previews and identifies movies that adhere to accepted Judeo-Christian values.

"McDonald's has historically had Happy Meal premium tie-ins with more benign films, like those of Disney," said Pat Broeske, a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly magazine. "Parents who saw the TV ads most likely figured if McDonald's was involved, it was acceptable for children. McDonald's is looked upon as someone they can trust."

Because of the controversy and protests McDonald's stopped selling Batman Returns merchandise prematurely. The McDonald's representative said the national advertising schedule for McDonald's-Batman Returns ended on July 2, 1992.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n29_v26/ai_12477873/

That was an interesting read, thanks. I knew the broad strokes, but that really takes you back to the PC-obsessed '90s. The reaction to that movie was nothing but self-righteous absurdity. Don't blame McDonald's for seeing BR. Also, I wonder how they'd feel now with the darker-in-tone (if no theme) Nolan movies?

Reminds me when they said video games like Mortal Kombat and Goldeneye and Resident Evil or rap music were corrupting the youth of America. Not quite.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

That is wicked. I still have all my Returns cups and my Batman Forever ones too.

So do I, ill never get rid of them either!

 

[Hellion]

I did, I was 6 at the time and don't recall being frightened. I know for a fact my parents weren't angry because I had all of the action figures and they let me watch it when it started airing on pay TV.

ditto.

 

[ALP]

I wasn't even conceived when Batman Returns was made so no, I'm afraid I didn't see it in theaters. It always has a special place in my heart though. I use to watch it as a kid and I don't recall ever being afraid of it.

 

[Art Damage]

Batman Returns would have been a great experience in the day of the internet.

I totally agree with this. I remember as a kid seeing all of the McDonald's cups especially the main Penguin one. I rented it all the time as a kid but I totally don't remember seeing this in the theater despite my parent's claims that they did take me. I had to be about five years old at the time.