Does anyone here rememeber Bat-mania in '89??

[theman]

i was born in '87 so i do not know what the hype was likie but i heard it was CRAZY and like a cultural phenominom. does anyone on the hype here remember haveing lived through that and everything, and what it was like? i'd love to hear some stories and stuff about what it was like when Batman came out.

 

[El Payaso]

I was 15 at the time and nothing I can remember was bigger. Not even Christmas.

I don't live in the USA and here the movie was released for our summer; December 24th 1989. So I had to wait six months after the American release date. Thank God there wasn't internet so I knew little about the movie, just a few pics.

First time I went to see I went with a friend and we were scared of it not being good.

We had to watch it three times in a row. That much we liked it.

 

[Irony-Man]

You can't understand the hype without referencing the casting controversy. Warner Brothers had had Batman in development for so long - like Spider-man long - and this was to be their flagship franchise after the implosion of Superman. Finally, we had an announcement of the movie going ahead with the wrong director - Tim Burton, who at that time was known only for "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" and "Beetlejuice" - and the wrong star - "pudgy, half-balding, runt" (to paraphrase some dearly departed members of the Hype) Michael Keaton who was known as a lightweight comedic actor. Now remember kids this was before the internet was in wide use so we had to get our news from the mainstream media, fanzines, or in my case, the guy who ran my local comic book store. When we wanted to talk about the movie we had to actually get together over coffee - normal coffee, not a Grande half-fat mocha latte - or a beer -again from a mainstream brewerey like Labatt's, the most exotic beer we had available was Foster's from Australia, "Gee, Uncle Irony, how did you ever survive?" or we could call each other on an actual telephone that was conected to the wall with a wire and may even had had dials rather than buttons. I'll give you a minute to get that horrible image out of your mind.

Anyways, a couple of things started to happen. Keaton appeared in a movie called the "Dream Team" that showed a dramatic, psychotic edge. Burton started to talk about how he wanted to explore the psychological fracture of the character and how he wanted to show Gotham as a gloomy, Gothic character in the movie. Jack Nicholson was cast as the Joker. Then, WB released a trailer featuring the fight scene between Batman and the Joker's goons and the momentum started to swing.

Suddenly everything was Bat related. People started to get excited about the movie. Our fears that the casting of Keaton had meant a return to the 60"s camp version of Batman receded as we saw the trailer and heard Burton and Keaton discuss the movie seriously.

Then the movie came out. And whether you ended up liking it or not, whether you felt that Keaton was miscast or not, whether you thought that it concentrated too much on the Joker at the expense of Bruce Wayne, you had to admit that they had treated the material with respect, seriously and in with a depth that was usually missing when you discussed a "comic book movie". Comic books and comic book movies would never be the same.

 

[Ponyboy]

I was 11 when Batman came out and I remember it well. All the lads at school were wearing Batman t-shirts... bringing Batman figures to school. A buddy of mine were even collecting the trading cards. I remember going to dinner once (with my parents) and they yelled at me when the food came because I wouldn't put my Batman stuff away

 

[Morg]

I remember the trailer that was on ET had the highest ever of viewers watching it

 

[Mace Dolex]

Ahh yes I remember like it was yesterday and at that point I was 2 years into Batman comics so I knew a movie was coming out.

But at the time I was living in Ecuador so movie news travels slow there so while all the hype began in the U.S.A. in 1988 we here didn't get news of it until June of 1989! That's right, just the same month Batman premiered in the US, in Ecuador it didn't arrive until November of that year.

And as you might know from a foreign country that bootleggers were rampant with Batman toys, T-shirts, coloring books.

And then finally in the darkness of the theater the movie starts up first with the WB logo followed by Danny Elfman's music in what looked like we were going through a maze only to see it's the actual Bat-logo, GOOD TIMES, MAN!

 

[GothamAlleys]

Its not something you can describe. It was like Batman world, everywhere you turned was the yellow oval Bat insignia, and you couldnt not stumble upon some Batman related TV show or TV interview on TV. It was in every magazine and every store, merch was also everywhere and everyone was talking about it. Again, its impossible to describe, it was an absolute mania. The only bigger mania I can think of was Titanic, and maybe Phantom Menace was in the ballpark but still not quite as hyped as Batman. You mustve been there to see the enormous hype and coverage and fandom for Batman '89

 

[Mace Dolex]

The special features on the current DVD are nice but I wish the E! channel would do a THS or A&E do a documentary with brand new interviews like they've done with Jaws, Silence Of The Lambs.

 

[Ponyboy]

I cant believe there isnt a special edition of the film with deleted scenes. I'm sure Burton shot heaps of footage.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

"I saw it I was there, I saw it all!" lived it, loved it will never forget it. At 5 years old one of the best experiences of my entire life, it helped shape and mold who I am today.

 

[roach]

I remember this very well. The first time seeing the trailer was watching the Arsenio Hall show and it was my first geek-gasm. Everyone had a Batman shirt. I didnt have money to see the movie. A week before it came out I found a 5 dollar bill and was able to see the movie then. The line wrapped around the theater and was packed...I had never seen anything like that

 

[C. Lee]

I remember the Bat-mania of 1966....that made the '89 stuff look like nothing.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

wow you must be an old chap to be able to witness that.

 

[Mace Dolex]

Before message boards in which fans can vent their frustrations they actually sent letters to comic magazine editors, cool huh?

Well anyway looking back on old comic periodicals like Comics Scene and Comic Buyers Guide it's probably quite a shock to younger fans now that Keaton and Nicholson weren't quiet that well received by fans with Keaton especially.

Comments were that Keaton was short and balding and Jack was too old to play Joker, there was even a small minority of baby boomer fans that wanted the film to be a retread of the 60's TV show.

Even Adam West was a bit miffed for not being asked to play Batman.

 

[Ponyboy]

I just remember talking to the other boys in school about it... we all even brought our Batman toys to school (the days of denim jackets)... and I'd sneak Batman stuff in my pockets and show my buddies what I had. The Batman movie trading cards (with the stick bubble gum inside) was huge. My friend Rob and I would use our lunch money to buy 3 or 4 packs of the cards before school. It was a... magical time.

 

[roach]

Before message boards in which fans can vent their frustrations they actually sent letters to comic magazine editors, cool huh?

Well anyway looking back on old comic periodicals like Comics Scene and Comic Buyers Guide it's probably quite a shock to younger fans now that Keaton and Nicholson weren't quiet that well received by fans with Keaton especially.

Comments were that Keaton was short and balding and Jack was too old to play Joker, there was even a small minority of baby boomer fans that wanted the film to be a retread of the 60's TV show.

Even Adam West was a bit miffed for not being asked to play Batman.

yeah i remember going to my local comic shop and they had a petition to have Michael Keaton removed as Batman. They tried to get me to sign it. i told them i wanted to see how it goes before I complain

 

[Mace Dolex]

yeah i remember going to my local comic shop and they had a petition to have Michael Keaton removed as Batman. They tried to get me to sign it. i told them i wanted to see how it goes before I complain

Wow I never knew it went to those drastic measures, I think the furor was more evident among the older Batman fans since I was 13 at the time it really didn't sink in that Keaton wasn't right for the part, I just figured any comedic actor can transition to dramatic roles without a hitch.

 

[C. Lee]

wow you must be an old chap to be able to witness that.

That I am. I'll be 54 in June.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

That I am. I'll be 54 in June.

I hope you didn't take any offense to my statement, that really is something you experienced in life to be proud of, those most people could never imagine.

 

[roach]

Wow I never knew it went to those drastic measures, I think the furor was more evident among the older Batman fans since I was 13 at the time it really didn't sink in that Keaton wasn't right for the part, I just figured any comedic actor can transition to dramatic roles without a hitch.

yeah it was crazy...until the trailer showed and everyone shut up

 

[The Joker]

I remember the Bat-mania of 1966....that made the '89 stuff look like nothing.

HA

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Before message boards in which fans can vent their frustrations they actually sent letters to comic magazine editors, cool huh?

Well anyway looking back on old comic periodicals like Comics Scene and Comic Buyers Guide it's probably quite a shock to younger fans now that Keaton and Nicholson weren't quiet that well received by fans with Keaton especially.

Comments were that Keaton was short and balding and Jack was too old to play Joker, there was even a small minority of baby boomer fans that wanted the film to be a retread of the 60's TV show.

Even Adam West was a bit miffed for not being asked to play Batman.

I remember seeing a documentary called "bat-mania" that stated West did attempt to get the role but all they would offer him was a cameo as Thomas Wayne in the death scene, which would have been weird IMO I think it wouldve taken alot of people right out of the film just knowing it was West.

 

[C. Lee]

I hope you didn't take any offense to my statement, that really is something you experienced in life to be proud of, those most people could never imagine.

Oh, none at all. I try to tell my age on here somewhere at least every couple of months. I want people to know that being older doesn't mean you have to give up having fun and reading comics...and that when I talk about certain things, I am talking from years of experience that so many other posters don't have.

 

[Ponyboy]

I am talking from years of experience that so many other posters don't have.

I know, right? God d*mn kids.

 

[redfirebird2008]

I was 3 and still remember the logo being everywhere. I even remember my mom getting Batman cereal at the grocery store.