Batman Returns 25th Anniversary Secrets Revealed

This day in history marks the day “Batman Returns” hit theaters 25 years ago. In celebration of the film’s two-decade-and-a-half existence in pop culture, Director Tim Burton and the cast recently revealed a couple of untold secrets about the movie’s production.

The Hollywood Reporter did an interview with the entire “Batman Returns” cast namely Burton, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken to talk about the film and how it became a worthy sequel to the 1989 classic Batman film.

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Danny DeVito And Penguin’s Black Saliva In Batman Returns

Burton wanted to make the film weirder, darker and less kid-friendly. That’s why if you remember how Penguin looked like, you’d be creeped out at how hideous he is and scary his mannerisms are.

For DeVito, Penguin had to be more weird than he already is in the movie. With more action figures planned to be released in partnership with McDonald’s, the fast food chain had to pull itself out of the project because of the oddity that “Batman Returns” had going on. According to the fastfood juggernaut, it was DeVito’s black slime/saliva. Burton says that McDonald’s was freaked out by “all of the black stuff coming out of Penguin’s mouth.

Photo via Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

DeVito said, “the black saliva was a concoction that I came up with after working with the makeup and special effects people. Basically, it’s kind of like mild mouthwash with food coloring in it. We had a jar of it with a nozzle on it. Before every scene, I’d squirt it into my mouth. Luckily the taste wasn’t so bad.”

DeVito also shared about the grueling 4-hour makeup process that he had to go through every day on set. But towards the end of filming, the makeup artists were able to trim it down to 3 hours.

Michelle Pfeiffer On The Uncomfortable Catwoman Suit

Pfeiffer also shared her experience in playing the role of Catwoman and how she had to work with a whip master (remember when she had to whip Batman repeatedly during their rooftop fight scene?). According to Pfeiffer, there were 40 cat suits made for Pfeiffer. The studio ended up using only two of the suits after all changes were made.

Photo via Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

“It was the most uncomfortable costume I’ve ever been in. They had to powder me down, help me inside, and then vacuum-pack the suit,” Pfeiffer said. “Originally they didn’t leave me a way to use the restroom in the suit, so that had to be remedied as well.”

Less Talk, More Batman

Keaton also revealed that Batman was initially planned to be more talkative in the movie. However, Keaton ended up cutting out huge chunks of dialogue to let Batman do the talking through his movement and body language. This wasn’t the only reason why Keaton had to be a less talkative version of Batman. According to Keaton, it was also in the suit.

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“It was a practical move early on to move in a certain way because they hadn’t refined the suit and it wouldn’t function properly. I got around that by making bigger, bolder, and stronger moves from the torso up, and it worked.”

Keaton wasn’t able to move his neck in the suit, that’s why it was nearly impossible for him to do a conversation for Batman.

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Real Penguins On Set: No Animals Were Harmed

The studio also used real penguins, so the set had to be kept cold at all times. It worked well for DeVito, since he had a tremendous amount of makeup and had to wear a heavy coat.

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Walken then shared that the penguins were treated well on set, with some of them being nicer than the others. “They had their own area on the studio lot with a swimming pool and refrigerated dressing rooms. They were very well taken care of,” Walken said. “There were three different kinds of penguins. There were the big ones, the Emperors. They were very docile and sweet. They would walk up to you and you could pet them like a cat. Then there was a middle size, who were a little more active. The smallest ones were very busy and aggressive, they’d give you a peck.”

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Batman Returns was certainly a hit, but it didn’t outrun the previous film’s box office earnings. Burton also revealed that he didn’t feel welcome to come on board for a third Batman movie, with Keaton also refusing to return because he “just didn’t like the script.”

The Burton/Keaton era was deemed over after “Batman” and “Batman Returns,” but both movies stood the test of time by being one of today’s best films of all time.