Warner Bros. Pictures
Tim Burton gave us one of the transcendental films for the history of DC Comics, Batman, whose legacy we celebrate more than 30 years after its premiere
One of the most important decades for DC Comics was that of the 80s. Editorially, Crisis on Infinite Earths represented the reboot of the continuity of the vast majority of the characters, while Batman had important stories like The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One and The Killing Joke, to mention a few.
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But one of the events that marked both DC Comics as to several generations it occurred on June 19, 1989, since in Hollywood the premiere of one of the most ambitious productions of Warner Bros: Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Jack NicholsonMichael Keaton and Kim Basinger.
This film was a true watershed for the seventh art, since with the tape of the Dark Knight superhero movies stopped being a matter exclusively for children’s entertainment, giving it an intriguing plot, characters with dark shades and a hero that marked his distance from the series of Adam West.
Tim Burton and the return to the shadows
With previous tapes like Pee-Wee’s Bug Adventure and beetlejuice, and an experience in stop motion animation tapes, Tim Burton he was given the big break to take Batman on his first movie adventure.
One of the main challenges of Burton was to do work that reflected the true nature of Batman, as a vigilante who acts in the shadows, with extreme methods to deliver justice in a city infested with corruption at all levels.
The filmmaker, whose gothic style is unmistakable, is a fan of comics, and for the story of his film he took elements from The Killing Joke, specifically the origin of the joker that count Allan Moore and Brian Bolland.
Gone are the episodes of the 60s series. On October 17, 1988, filming began on the London sets of Warner Broswhich ended on January 12, 1989, in what represented a record filming time, taking into account the size of the production.
A top notch cast
At present we cannot imagine Jack Nicholson without having played the role of joker for this production, which was close to not being a reality, if the producers had not thrown “a bait”.
At first nicholson He turned down the role because he didn’t see any potential, so the producers offered the role to robin williams to play the clown prince of crime. By transcending the information that williams would be the joker nicholson he reconsidered the proposal and accepted the role, on the condition that his credit come first.
robin williams considered that it was used, for which reason he vetoed the proposals of Warner Bros. until Tim Burton not offer a public apology. In 1994 Joel Schumacher offered to robin williams the role of Riddler, which he flatly rejected.
Michael Keaton: From criticism to standing ovations
to interpret to Batman the producers thought of actors of the stature of Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Tom Selleck either Kevin Costner. Tim Burton chose michael keaton, with whom he worked a year earlier on Beetlejuice, a tape that over the years became a classic.
keaton He arrived in Gotham City after a stint in different comedy films such as Mr Mom, so the fans of Batman they made it to the facilities of Warner Bros. more than 50,000 rejection letters and requests to repeat the casting.
The actor based his interpretation of the Dark Knight thanks to reading The Dark Knight Returnsa work by Frank Miller that was published three years before the premiere of Batman, which Keaton studied backwards and forwards.
Over time, michael keaton delivered an impeccable interpretation of Batman, which led him to the horns of the moon.
Vicky Vale and the opportunity that came on horseback
For the role of the photographer and reporter Vicky Okay, the romantic interest of Bruce Wayne, the actress selected in principle was Sean Gunn, but an injury derived from riding a horse ruled her out weeks before the start of filming, since she underwent surgery that would prevent her from being on time for filming.
The producer Jon Peters suggested to Kim Basinger, who in 1986 starred in the controversial 9 1/2 weeksas the interpreter of the photojournalist Vicky Okay, in what represented a breakthrough in her career, which she crowned in 1997, by winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for LA Confidential.
Batimania is unleashed on the world
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the debut of Batman In Detective Comics #27, Warner Bros. went all out with an aggressive advertising campaign, something never seen before for any superhero work in the world.
With the release of the film in movie theaters, thousands of products were released with the bat logo that was used in the cinema. T-shirts, caps, glasses, plates, baby clothes, license plates, toothbrushes, toys, there was no unknown product that did not have the Batman brand.
Additionally, the soundtrack by Prince was one of the most listened to in 1989. There was no radio station that had programmed Batdance, Trust either Partyman.
At par, DC Comics launched the adaptation of the film to the comic, a strategy similar to the one implemented with the releases of the four films of Superman. The plot was carried out by dennis o’nealwhile Jerry Ordaway took care of the illustration
The Batman Legacies
Batman it became (at that time) the highest-grossing opening ever seen before, raising 2.2 million dollars in a single day, and 41 million in its first weekend, leaving behind the mark that Ghostbusters II set weeks before.
Thanks to Batman, Anthony Furst and Peter Young won the Oscar for best art direction at the 62nd edition of the awards ceremony.
the tape Tim Burton inspired the creation of Batman: The Animated Series, which premiered in 1992, and is one of the most acclaimed animated series by fans and specialized critics.
Danny Elfmann also defined a sound style for the films of Batman, leaving behind the subject of Neal Hefty that accompanied the three seasons of the series starring Adam West.
With the success at the box office, the sequel was not long in coming, batman returns, which was the last tape of the Dark Knight directed by Tim Burton, who was replaced by Joel Schumacher to direct Batman Forever and Batman and robin, those that marked the end of the saga that began in 1989.
Michael Gough and Pat Hingle They were the only ones who in these four tapes kept their roles as Alfred Pennyworth and James Gordon, respectively.
Even the canon in comics was influenced
In the comics, the alter ego of the third Robin, Tim Drake, was named in honor of Tim Burton. even the young wonder it was contemplated in a sequence of the film, which it was decided not to film.
It would be impossible to think of current superhero movies, both from DC Comics and the competition, without the boost that the film gave them. Tim Burton.
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Source: SMASH / DC Comics
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