Cool Videos: A 20-minute behind the scenes preview for Batman

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

It was 25 years ago today when Warner Bros. released Tim Burton’s BATMAN. It's still my favorite Batman movie and it brings me nothing but joy to see that after a quarter of a century the landmark movie is still being recognized; not to mention is still influential in how superhero movies are being made today. Speaking of influence; not a chance passes that I don't walk by a gargoyle statue and ask "What are you laughin' at?"

I came across this 20-minute documentary showcasing the history of the character, and hyping the upcoming release of Burton’s film. They talk about a lot from elements from the film including the big sets and costume design, which might be a little dry if you're talking about some romantic period flick, but this is BATMAN!

The video comes from 1989Batman.com, which talked to Andrew Gillman, who directed the documentary:

Warner Brothers had found themselves in a very difficult situation at the time. The marketing director at Warner told me that Adam West had been going to various media outlets stating that he should be Batman, that his Batman was the only true Batman, and that this dark thing that Warner was doing had nothing to do with Batman at all. This caused a problem for Warner Brothers because it created doubts in the minds of the film distributors and merchandisers around the world.

Since the longer lead time involved in both merchandise production and film distribution requires a gamble on how a film will look in its finished form, Warner needed to create something to reassure these investors that Tim Burton’s vision for movie was going to work, that this movie was going to be successful. They needed to show them that Adam West’s statements were inaccurate, and that the film would present a version of Batman truer to the comic than the campy, comedic TV show of the 60’s. The opening sequence of the preview film has very specific references to clue-in these investors that the film was returning to Batman’s true heritage, with the West TV show being addressed as merely a footnote in the overall history. In fact, this film would be the vaccination of the Adam West Batman- returning to the character all the wonder of the original comics. So this whole opening statement is basically an assurance to the viewer that Warner is presenting you with the “real” Batman now.