Happy 51st Birthday Michelle Pfeiffer!
Today's trivia comes from one of my favorite movies starring one of my favorite actresses: Batman Returns. Forget Halle Berry, Pfeiffer's Catwoman was superb.
Pfeiffer's Catwoman is the only female character from the Burton/Schumacher franchise that deserves respect. The female leads are nauseating. Vickie Vale, the typical damsel who says a total of 30 words in the classic original Batman; Poison Ivy attempted the sexy, "school teacher" appeal, but ends up looking like a sad, awkward nerd; And don't even get me started on Batgirl.
Take notes Chris Nolan....
- Annette Bening was cast as Catwoman, but was replaced by Michelle Pfeiffer when she became pregnant. Pfeiffer's $3 million salary was $2 million more than was offered to Bening.
- Paul Reubens and Diane Salinger from Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) reunite briefly at the beginning of the film as The Penguin's father and mother.
- The Batman costume weighed 55 lbs.
- The first film made in Dolby Digital.
- The massive Gotham City sets were all constructed to be mobile, and were often shifted between days of filming. Michelle Pfeiffer routinely got lost on her way to filming each day.
- The crew had a hard time getting the shot where the monkey delivers the letter from Batman to the Penguin. Evidently, Danny DeVito's make-up terrified the animal.
- Michelle Pfeiffer got through 60 catsuits during the 6 month shoot, at a cost of $1,000 a time.
- Security was so tight on the production that even Kevin Costner was refused permission to visit the set. Warner Brothers employed a private investigator firm when some shots of Danny DeVito in costume made it into the tabloids.
- Marlon Wayans was signed on to play Robin in this movie and Batman Forever (1995) - he even went through costuming for the five minutes that he appeared in the script. But when the script was re-written and Joel Schumacher took over as director, the role went to Chris O'Donnell. Wayans was paid for both movies.
- Several modifications were made to the Batsuit, including the color scheme and chestplate logo. At the request of Michael Keaton, a zipper was also added to the pants.
- During one scene, Michelle Pfeiffer had to put a live bird in her mouth.
- Names thrown out who were considered to play The Penguin include Marlon Brando, John Candy, Dustin Hoffman, Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd.
