20 years ago Today June 23 Batmania!

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

Wow time sure flies.

[filmation batman fan]

Hard to believe it's been 20 years ago. I was 17 years old and was taking summer classes to make sure I would be a senior and graduate with my real class. Anyway, I recall Batmania of that year. The week that the movie was released, my mom was out of town, so I had the house to myself. I recall going out to Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga on opening day and I bought a ticket for the late show since Batman was a night character. I wandered the mall and bought these little PVC figures of Batman, Robin, the Joker, and the Penguin they were selling in Spencer gifts.

I got there and was among the first in line waiting to be seated. I got comfortable with my popcorn and coke in hand and I loved the movie. Although I did not care for Prince or his album, I absolutely loved the Batman movie score by Danny Elfman. Finally! Batman had a real theme that wasn't the campy Neil Hefi theme from the 1960's TV show.

I enjoyed Batman: The Movie because it was the first live action, updated Batman we had seen since the days of Adam West and the TV show. Jack Nicholson stole the show as the Joker and he had some great memorable lines and I had a short lived crush on Kim Basinger after seeing her as Vicki Vale.

Seeing Batman: The Movie reactivated my interest in not only Batman but also the DC Universe, which had cooled during my mid teen years. But the Death in the Family novel (Death of Jason Todd AKA Robin) and the news about the movie got me caught up in Batmania. I really got caught up in the comics old and new. I bought and acquired whatever old Batman comics I could find and the trade paperback, The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told. I remember buying the Toy Biz Batman and Joker figures, plus the Batmobile and Batwing. Eventually, I bought the DC Toy Biz figures that went with them, but they were nowhere near as good as Super Powers. I remember finally buying the Batman Movie score album on cassette tape and listening to it so much, I practically wore it out. I now have the CD.
The biggest adjustment I had to make was seeing a Batman movie with Batman as a solo act. No Robin. I knew already that they tried to write him in, but he was eliminated from the movie because of Tim Burton and Michael Keaton's lack of interest in the character. Guess Burton and Keaton have something in common with Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale. As a lifelong Batman fan, I grew up with Batman and Robin as a team, and aside from seeing the TV show periodically, my primary Bat viewing was in animation through the Filmation cartoons and the SuperFriends. Throughout all of those interpretations, it was always the Dynamic Duo. So seeing a Batman without Robin was a major adjustment I had to get used to. And I am sure there are others who felt that way. Unlike today, a solo Batman is more acceptable than it was back then. While I loved the movie, I immeditately awaited the sequel in the hopes that Robin would be in that one. Wrong. I had to wait even longer and it took a change of director and lead actor to make that happen, and the result was a nipple neon homo trainwreck.
It's amazing that while Batman has made a successful transition to the big screen, the Robin character has been a problem child when it comes to the big screen.

But it was 1989 that my interest in the Batman universe really took off in a way that it didn't as a kid. From the 1989 Batman era, my favorite collectibles consist of:
Batman: The Movie on DVD in the movie anthology set
Batman: The Movie Score Album CD by Danny Elfman
Batman: The Movie Souvenir Magazine, even though it's worn out and came apart
Batman: The Movie: Official Book of the Movie

The Dark Knight Batman/Bruce Wayne figure that bares Michael Keaton's likeness. They actually rereleased this figure for the Batman Returns lineup with a slight repaint.
The Dark Knight Joker figure. Though the suit is colored wrong and the body was too thin, his face resembled Jack Nicholson's.

The Dark Knight and Toy Biz Batmobiles and the Batwings.

During the Batmania of 1989, almost every media version of Batman was out there. The TV show was in reruns, the 1966 movie was on TV and on video. The two serials were released on VHS, and 5 episodes of the 1968 Filmation cartoons were on Super Powers VHS tapes. Only my favorite series, the New Adventures of Batman from 1977 was nowhere to be found. My burning desire to find this series again got started that year and my search began. It wasn't until 1991 that I found 4 episodes on bootleg and that started what I considered a different story for another time. But the point I'm making is that it was this Batman movie in 1989 that got my Batman research and collecting hobby going at full blast and is still strong to this day.
Those are my Bat Memories.
Cheers.

[huedell]

fbf kinda covered everything up there---but I'll mention that the reason that
Robin is always an afterthought in these things is because there are at least two main dudes ahead of ROBIN in the pecking (ahem) order...
1) Bats
2) "Insert villain here"
so that's my theory anyway.

All I have to add is that in 1989, I loved everything about that movie...
and as far as PRINCE...it actually re-inited my interest.

At the time, the only other movie(s) that championed my heroes in
a simillar way was the Reeve Superman movies, and I basically hated IV, so
I eagerly awaited some new and great to watch to add to
what seemed to be a simillar yet DEAD franchise.

20 years later BATMAN is STILL one of my favorite superhero movies
probably only trailing behind the new SPIDEY franchise...
but
alas...superhero movies in general don't really "do it" for me anymore.

Other than Spidey 4 I don't think there'll be another that'll
even come close when it comes igniting my interest as
far as superhero movies.

Here's hoping

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I liked the whole movie, except that Batman killed some guys. I know that happened in the early days of the comic, but it didn't fit the movie I think.

[trekman101]

Wow 20 years already...I remember it like it was yesterday....it still holds up today...I liked it a lot

[toys2cool]

But it was 1989 that my interest in the Batman universe really took off in a way that it didn't as a kid. From the 1989 Batman era, my favorite collectibles consist of:
Batman: The Movie on DVD in the movie anthology set
Batman: The Movie Score Album CD by Danny Elfman
Batman: The Movie Souvenir Magazine, even though it's worn out and came apart
Batman: The Movie: Official Book of the Movie

The Dark Knight Batman/Bruce Wayne figure that bares Michael Keaton's likeness. They actually rereleased this figure for the Batman Returns lineup with a slight repaint.
The Dark Knight Joker figure. Though the suit is colored wrong and the body was too thin, his face resembled Jack Nicholson's.

The Dark Knight and Toy Biz Batmobiles and the Batwings.


Cheers.

you forgot one of the best parts, the 1989 cereal with the free bank

[toys2cool]

isn't it amazing how we don't forget in what movie theater we saw it in? I remember mine was a place right across Florida International University

[The Toyroom]

I still have my "life-size" Jack Nicholson Joker stand-up that I bought at Spencer's......

[MegoGeek]

I was lying on the couch with mono 20 years ago today.

[starsky]

batmania was definitely outta control in 89! i loved that batmobile and was ecstatic that kenner came out with a decent version of it!

[kryptosmaster]

Oh should I make you guys salivate and dig out all my '89 batman stuff and take some pics?
Stuff like unopened cases of Topps cards, batmobile model kit, cereal box with bank, pvc figure, tee shirts...
Rich

[filmation batman fan]

you forgot one of the best parts, the 1989 cereal with the free bank

Ah Yes! I remember the cereal. I enjoyed eating and snacking on it while reading the 3 part World's Finest novel that came out in 1990 or 1991 by Steve Rude. While snacking, I remember visualizing the novel as a movie with Christopher Reeve, Michael Keaton, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, Margot Kidder, and the others from their movies all together in this one. Realistically, it was impossible, but it was mental fun I had while reading and snacking on the Batman cereal.
Cheers.

[toys2cool]

Oh should I make you guys salivate and dig out all my '89 batman stuff and take some pics?
Stuff like unopened cases of Topps cards, batmobile model kit, cereal box with bank, pvc figure, tee shirts...
Rich

do it i have a bunch of stuff as well

[Joe90]

20 years? Already???

I went to see it opening night. I remember mentally preparing myself to be let down by the star and director of Beetlejuice. But it was Batman, and Jack was going to be the Joker. And Kim Basinger, formerly of 9 1/2 Weeks was in it. I remember thinking "How bad can it be?"

I was pleasantly surprised! I thought the movie was a great synthesis of the Batman comics, serials, and television show, and was a perfect combination of Dark Camp and Gothic High Tech. Despite the presence of Basinger, there wasn't enough female form to stare at. But Michele Pfeiffer made up for that in Batman Returns.

When the lights came up at the end, it was Jack's movie: “Ever dance with the devil by the pale moon light?”