Batman Returns

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Having defeated the Joker, Batman now faces the Penguin - a warped and deformed individual who is intent on being accepted into Gotham society. Crooked businessman Max Schreck is coerced into helping him become Mayor of Gotham and they both attempt to expose Batman in a different light. Earlier however, Selina Kyle, Max's secretary, is thrown from the top of a building and is transformed into Catwoman - a mysterious figure who has the same personality disorder as Batman. Batman must attempt to clear his name, all the time deciding just what must be done with the Catwoman.

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Danny DeVito was forbidden to describe The Penguin's makeup to anyone, including his family.

Annette Bening was cast as Catwoman, but was replaced by Michelle Pfeiffer when she became pregnant.

The bad guy's name is Max Schreck. Max Schreck played the first vampire in movie history in Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922).

Sean Young very much wanted the role of The Catwoman. During pre-production she arrived at the studio in a Catwoman costume to confront the makers of the movie. She used other people scouting the studio grounds, using walkie-talkies to communicate, to track down the producers. See also Batman (1989).

Christopher Walken, remembering a film he'd seen earlier, requested from director Tim Burton cufflinks made of human molars. He got them, and wore them in the film as the villain, Max Shreck. (The movie, incidentally, was The Great Gatsby (1974) where the molar cufflinks are worn by the friend of Gatsby who fixed the 1912 World Series.)

Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger from Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) reunite briefly at the beginning of the film as The Penguin's father and mother.

The Batman costume weighed 55 lbs.

The first film made in Dolby Digital.

Neither Tim Burton nor Michael Keaton had been signed up in advance for a sequel; Burton came on board only after the script met all his demands (he hadn't been entirely happy with the first film's screenplay), whilst Keaton only agreed to do the second film after a serious hike in salary.

Sam Hamm's original screenplay draft had The Penguin and Catwoman going after hidden treasure. Dissatisfied with that, Tim Burton brought in Daniel Waters, writer of Heathers (1989), who came up with the concept of an evil mogul backing a bid for the Mayor's office by The Penguin.

Sean Young invaded the studio lot in full Catwoman costume in an effort to win the role. Tim Burton hid behind his desk so as to avoid seeing her.

Michelle Pfeiffer's $3 million salary was $2 million more than was offered to Annette Bening.

At least 50% of the Warner Brothers lot was taken up with Gotham City sets.

The set for The Penguin's underground lair was filled with half a million gallons of water and a simulated ice floe island.

Danny DeVito spent two hours a day in make-up.

The massive Gotham City sets were all constructed to be mobile, and were often shifted between days of filming. Michelle Pfeiffer routinely got lost on her way to filming each day.

The final shot of the film, in which Catwoman is seen looking at the Bat-signal, was added as an afterthought, literally weeks before the film opened. The shot had to be filmed on a weekend, less than a day after conception, with a double for Michelle Pfeiffer. That single shot cost $250,000.

The crew had a hard time getting the shot where the monkey delivers the letter from Batman to the Penguin. Evidently, Danny DeVito's make-up terrified the animal.

Security was so tight on the production that even Kevin Costner was refused permission to visit the set. Warner Brothers employed a private investigator firm when some shots of Danny DeVito in costume made it into the tabloids.

Michelle Pfeiffer got through 60 catsuits during the 6 month shoot, at a cost of $1,000 a time.

The production wanted to use King Penguins but the only tame ones in captivity were at a bird sanctuary in the Cotswolds deep in the English countryside. So the birds were flown over to the States in the refrigerated hold of a plane, they were given their own refrigerated trailer, their own swimming pool with half a ton of fresh ice every day, and had fresh fish delivered daily straight from the docks. Even though the temperature outside frequently topped 100 degrees, the entire set was refrigerated down to 35 degrees. The birds also had a round-the-clock bodyguard. Clearly the birds enjoyed the experience as, following their stint in Hollywood, most of them had mated and produced eggs - the sure sign of a contented penguin.

In the US, McDonald's were forced to cancel a Happy Meals promotion with the film, after parents protested about its violent and sexual nature being inappropriate for young children.

It made $47.7 million in its first 3 days, a record at the time.

In order to get the cats to surround Selina when she's knocked out, the filmmakers put tuna on a dummy version of Selina and tuna on Selina's suit.

In the crowd waiting outside of the cemetary, there is a man wearing a Go-Go jacket. Go-Go was a character on the Warner Brothers cartoon "Tiny Toon Adventures" (1990).

The first script draft of Batman Returns was intended to be a direct-sequel to the previous film. As a result, sub plots and continuity from the first film that would have been addressed included gift shops selling fragments of the destroyed Bat-Wing, further revelations into the past of the now deceased Jack Napier AKA Joker, and even Bruce Wayne proposing to Vicki Vale by the end of the film. However, Tim Burton was uncomfortable in making a direct sequel and as a result, the script was rewritten. However, several plot elements from the original script did make it into the final draft. This included the Penguin and Catwoman's alliance, their framing of Batman, and the Dark Knight's escape via Bat-Glider. Further elements even made their way into the third film, Batman Forever (1995), most notably the storming of Wayne Manor and the Batcave.

During the scene where Penguin's henchmen are wrecking a shop, there is a reprise of the "Making Christmas" theme from The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which Danny Elfman also composed.

The Penguin's line: "I am an animal. I am *not* a human being," is a work on John Hurt's line: "I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!" as John Merrick in The Elephant Man (1980).

The role of Max Schreck was originally written to be District Attorney Harvey Dent. The explosion at the end was only to scar Dent, which led to his becoming Two-Face in the third movie. Also, most of Schreck's plot points and political aspirations would make more sense if they came from a D.A. and not a department store owner. Reportedly Billy Dee Williams took the role of Harvey Dent in the first Batman movie because he knew that the character would eventually become Two-Face. Rumor has it that Williams' contract to appear in the sequel was bought out heavily by Warner Bros.

Robin was originally going to be introduced in the sequel. Reportedly Tim Burton helped DC Comics artist Norm Breyfogle redesign the Robin costume in the comic books to coincide with the planned movie costume. Robin was rumored, originally be portrayed by an African American boy. Kenner Toys even went as far as designing a Robin action figure for the movie's toy line. When Robin was eventually written out of the script, Kenner released the toy as the Robin depicted in the comic books.

Lena Olin was considered for the role of Catwoman.

Madonna was reportedly considered for the role of Catwoman.

Marlon Wayans was signed on to play Robin in this movie and Batman Forever (1995) - he even went through costuming for the five minutes that he appeared in the script. But when the script was re-written and Joel Schumacher took over as director, the role went to Chris O'Donnell. Wayans was paid for both movies.

Burgess Meredith (the original Penguin from "Batman") was asked to play The Penguin's father at the beginning of the movie, he accepted, but couldn't play him due to illness.

When Selina is sitting at the desk in Max's office, the light casts a shadow through her eyeglass frames, creating the outline of the pointed mask Catwoman wore in the original DC comic.

The plot about the Penguin becoming mayor was borrowed from the episodes "Hizzoner the Penguin/Dizzoner the Penguin" in the Batman TV show.

When The Penguin first decides to run for mayor, someone puts a cigarette in his mouth, with a cigarette holder. a reference The Penguin from the batman TV show.

In Tom Mankiewicz's script for the first movie, that featured The Penguin, he was described as "a tall, proper-looking, thin man".

Several modifications were made to the Batsuit, including the color scheme and chestplate logo. At the request of Michael Keaton, a zipper was also added to the pants.

Warner Bros. had to constantly submit new Catwoman posters for various cities as many of the bus stop ads were being stolen. It soon got so bad that police officers had to patrol bus stops in order to catch perpetrators before they could break the Plexiglas containers. Today the large scale Catwoman bus ads are worth a great deal of money.

During an A&E Biography, Michelle Pfeiffer said that her Catwoman costume was vacuum sealed once she was fitted into it for scenes, so she actually had only a short amount of time to perform before she would have to have it opened or she could become light headed and pass out. She also admitted that when she first was learning to use the whip she accidentally cut her trainer's face with it, at which he acted as a complete gentleman and continued with their training.

Danny DeVito refused a stand-in during the scene where the penguin gets pummeled with vegetables.

WIHELM SCREAM: Before Batman straps the dynamite to the fat clown, he hurls a goon over a bridge. As the goon flies through the air, he screams the famous Wilhelm scream.

Dan Waters' original script originally had the Bat-Signal blinking on and off at the end of the film as a sign that Selena's electrocution of Max had disrupted the power supply of the city. Tim Burton instead opted to end the film with Catwoman looking out at the signal over a snowy sky, hinting at her survival and possible appearance in a future film.

Dustin Hoffman was Warner Brothers' first consideration for the Penguin.

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In 2005, the film was resubmitted for the special edition DVD release. The BBFC downgraded the certificate back to the original 12 certificate(which was not possible in 1992, when the 12 certificate was cinema only), and waived the cuts to the chain-sticks scene, but the aerosol in the microwave scene remained cut on the grounds that it was a potentially dangerous imitable technique. Various extra features being rated 15 will still mean the overall category of the DVD will be raised to 15 however, unless these features are dropped from the DVD.

Reportedly, the South Korean VHS edition of "Batman Returns" remains infamous between Korean audiences because of its stupid cut by the video company: the movie runs 126m., but in order to put in on a 120m. cassette, the company cut the whole sequence of Selina's transformation to Catwoman. In theaters, it was intact.

In the UK the film was cut by 9 seconds at its cinema release, one cut was of a clown swinging nunchakus, the other was of Catwoman putting some spray-paint cans in a microwave to start an explosion at a department store. These cuts also apply to all subsequent VHS and DVD releases.