When Tim Burton brought The Dark Knight to the big screen in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), he not only legitimized the character in the eyes of mainstream audiences, but also legitimized superheroes on film and redefined the summer tentpole blockbuster. Anyone who remembers the releases can attest that they weren’t just movies – they were events.
While sitting down with Yahoo Movies to discuss his upcoming film Big Eyes, the topic of Batman came up. Here’s what he had to say regarding the then controversial casting of Michael Keaton as the title character:
“It got a lot of criticism for being too dark, and there was a lot of criticism for casting Michael Keaton. They thought it was going to be a comedy or whatever, but it felt very special. We met these big tough guys, but what it came down was that, you look at someone like Michael and you think, ‘Here’s a guy you can see dressing up like a bat.’ He’s got the eyes and the kind of crazy quality and the kind of internal life, but he’s not Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“So, here’s somebody who needed to create a persona to frighten people and intimidate people, and Michael just seemed like the perfect person to be that. The studio was quite supportive. Thank God, the Internet wasn’t as big then, because we would have been really murdered. But even without the Internet, there was a lot of negativity and alarm.”
It’s also no secret that he didn’t return for a third outing when Batman Returns was deemed too dark and sexy by outraged parents. McDonald’s, who sold promotional Happy Meal toys in support of the film (I believe I still have some), wasn’t entirely thrilled with the film’s tone. Considering comic book movies weren’t taken seriously by the public yet, they were regarded as kids’ stuff and many didn’t expect Burton’s level of sophistication. Wary advertisers were a huge factor in Burton’s exit. This not only resulted in Batman Forever being more family friendly, the famous Golden Arches can be seen in Gotham when Dick Grayson steals the Batmobile. Burton had this to say about the Happy Meal deal:
”I think I upset McDonalds. [They asked] ‘What’s that black stuff coming out of the Penguin’s mouth. We can’t sell Happy Meals with that!’ It was a weird reaction to Batman Returns, because half the people thought it was lighter than the first one and half the people thought it was darker. I think the studio just thought it was too weird — they wanted to go with something more child- or family- friendly. In other words, they didn’t want me to do another one.”
Tim Burton’s Big Eyes opens this Thursday, December 25 and stars Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.
Source: Yahoo Movies