Current Events > Where did Batman Returns cross the line? (Spoilers for both Tim Burton films)

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Backlash from parents famously led to McDonald's pulling a toyline tie-in and led to Warner Bros. replacing Tim Burton as director with Joel Schumacher. Schumacher produced two family-friendly films with the direct intention of selling toys and securing fast-food tie-ins. Batman might take on the Joker, but he won't fuck with Ronald McDonald.

My question is this... where exactly did the second movie cross the line?

It's not like the first film was absent of violence. Jack Napier had his face burned by acid and then went on to disfigure his girlfriend. When he comes back as the Joker, he stabs a man in the throat and fries a man until he becomes a cooked skeleton. The Joker is also beaten bloody during the film's climax.

The most shocking moment of violence in Batman Returns is unquestionably the scene where the Penguin bites a man's nose until it gushes blood. Had they left that out, would parents not have complained about the movie? What about the Penguin spitting up black bile or eating raw fish? Would leaving that out have limited the complaints?

I'm really struggling to see where the film could've been tweaked to have pleased the detractors. And, again, I'm also at a loss for how the second film is that much darker or more violent than its predecessor. Maybe it's that Jack Nicholson's Joker feels like a violent cartoon character whereas Danny DeVito's Penguin feels like a censored R-rated character.

FortuneCookie posted...

Backlash from parents famously led to McDonald's pulling a toyline tie-in

I literally have no memory of that or of parents being upset.

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I don't know how much it factored in, but to me the Penguin is much more gross and unpleasant than the Joker.

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BeyondWalls posted...

I literally have no memory of that or of parents being upset.

I didn't know about it when I was a kid either. I even managed to snag a few of the toys before they got pulled. It's the reason for the change in directors though. It's also why the third movie opens up with Batman telling Alfred, "I'll get drive-through." That scene was shot specifically to be placed in McDonald's commercials.

jpenny2 posted...

I don't know how much it factored in, but to me the Penguin is much more gross and unpleasant than the Joker.

Even his toy from Kenner was modeled more after the 1960s Penguin than the contemporary movie character.

FortuneCookie posted...

Even his toy from Kenner was modeled more after the 1960s Penguin than the contemporary movie character.

I had one of those as a kid. It was basically a comic version with different coloring.



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The plot of killing children and the penguins firing rockets were too scary for lil children. Parents thought the movies were going to be campy like the 66 series

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jpenny2 posted...

I had one of those as a kid. It was basically a comic version with different coloring.

you know what, I had one of these too and never made the connection that it was supposed to be Batman Returns but resembled the 60s character

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AlCalavicci posted...

you know what, I had one of these too and never made the connection that it was supposed to be Batman Returns but resembled the 60s character

It's a recolored version of this figure, but made of a different plastic and with less articulation.


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I remember being a kid and liking Burton's dark and wacky tone. I hated when the films got kid friendly and I was like 10.

FortuneCookie posted...

I didn't know about it when I was a kid either.

Huh. 1992? I was a teenager when Batman Returns came out and I still dont remember anyone being upset.

DD Divine posted...

Parents thought the movies were going to be campy like the 66 series

But they didnt. Batman had switched tones for years by that point. I mean, the merchandising for the first movie was everywhere. Nobody went into Returns expecting the 60s show.

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Maybe the fact that they had to vacuum seal Michelle Pfeiffer into her catsuit had something to do with it. Uptight conservative-values types have always had more of an outrage over sexuality than overt violence.

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