The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will present Tim Burton, a major retrospective exploring the full range of Tim Burton's creative work, both as a director of live-action and animated films, and as an artist, illustrator, photographer, and writer. Showcased here are just a few of the "Batman Items" that will be present. We got an original Batman Cowl from a Batman Movie, plus some Costume Design Drawings of both the Penguin & Catwoman from "Batman Returns" and one of The Joker ( Jack Nicholson ) from 1989's BATMAN. Plus, you know there will be much much more! Wow! It looks like a great show!
It will be on view at LACMA from May 29th ( This Sunday! ) through October 31st, 2011, the exhibition brings together over 700 drawings, paintings, photographs, moving-image works, storyboards, puppets, concept artworks, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, including art from a number of unrealized and little-known personal projects. Many of these objects come from the artist's own archive, as well as from studio archives and private collections of Burton's collaborators.
Also, IMPORTANT BOOK SIGNING NOTICE:
Tim Burton will be available at the LAC Museum on SATURDAY, May 28th to personally sign the exhibition catalog book. He'll be there for only 2 hours, between 12:00 & 2:00. For more information, click HERE!
Since the hype for "The Dark Knight Rises" movie has died down a little bit ( ha ha ) I thought I would post some Wallpapers featuring some favorite Bat-Villains from earlier Batman films. Here are Jack Nicholson as The Joker ( Batman, 1989 ) and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman ( Batman Returns, 1992 ). MEOW!
From June of 1992, here is an exclusive interview with Actor Michael Keaton on "Prime Time Live". It covers the "Batman Returns" movie. The cool thing, it starts out with an awesome "Choice Hotels" TV commercial with a Batman theme!
Here's a random Batman item I came across on eBay awhile back that I thought was pretty cool. Well, "cool" because it's kinda weird, ha ha! This was the actual cover to a NEW YORK POST Newspaper dated Thursday, June 18th, 1992. It was around the time of the '92 BATMAN RETURNS Movie by Tim Burton. In fact, the photo on the cover is of the Actor who played the Caped Crusader, Michael Keaton. But, the story really had nothing to do with him. It was mainly about how a New York State Sheriff Group was urging a boycott on all films made by Time Warner Inc. because they were the media giant also responsible for publishing a rap song by rapper Ice-T titled "COP KILLER". The name of the album was called "Body Count" & they wanted it removed from store shelves. OK, I remember all this mess. It got really blown-up for awhile. Now listen, I'm presenting this story as an unusual piece of Bat-History & I don't want to hear a bunch of bigoted opinions about Rap music, thank you. I just think this vintage newspaper cover is kinda fun.
MEOW! MEOW! Presented here, for your viewing pleasure, are these 2 Batman Wallpapers that focus on the CATWOMAN character. The 1st one is a scene from the 1992 BATMAN RETURNS Tim Burton movie with Michelle Pfeiffer & Michael Keaton. The 2nd one features some amazing comic book art by Stanley Lau. Which one do you like the best?
Next Friday & Saturday, December 17th & 18th, PROFILES IN HISTORY will be holding another of their famous "Hollywood Memorabilia" auctions in Beverly Hills, CA. This time they have some extremely amazing items up on the auction block: Original Puppets by Tim Burton from "The Corpse Bride", a Ton of "Blade Runner" Movie Props, Some items from "Terminator", & even "The Wizard of OZ"! But the best items for us Batman Collectors are some pieces from the "Batman Returns" 1992 movie & even one film-prop model from "The Dark Knight". In the "Returns" list there are many Conceptual Art Drawings, Danny Devito's Penguin Costume Pieces ( Umbrella, Monocle, Cigarette Holder ), & a 1/4 Scale Model of the Batmobile. The car alone is expected to bring $30,000 to $50,000 ( just a tiny bit out of my price range ). The "Dark Knight" item is the Garbage Truck driven by a Joker Goon. Well, not the actual "truck", ha ha!, but an extremely detailed model ( check out the pics ). There are even a few more items to numerous to list. So, here's a link to their website, just click HERE!Please keep in mind that Christmas is coming up & ANY of these items would make wonderful gifts... for me!
Check out this amazing photo! These are the original glove pieces for Michelle Pfeiffer's CATWOMAN costume from the 1992 BATMAN RETURNS movie, her "Claws". They were created by a Movie Prop Designer named Scott Schneider and I think it's really interesting to see these sort of things. Most of the time they are very well designed. Also, Scott has a website where you can see some of his other creations. Plus, there are also many more photos ( with great details ) of these Catwoman Gloves. You can get there by clicking HERE!
Here's a very RARE video clip of an older TV Commercial for the 1992 BATMAN RETURNS movie Happy Meal Toys at McDonalds. But, I gotta say, that I don't remember these "Batman Neck Pens" as a premium. What's the deal here?! Were these made for the foreign market? And if so, then from where? It shows 4 different pens to collect: Batman, Catwoman, The Penguin, & even the Batmobile Car! Well, I guess that these are now officially on my wish list. But that's cool, there's always something new to hunt for!
OK, I know that today is Thursday & on Wednesday I always post "Batman Themed Desktop background Wallpapers". But I've been having a little trouble lately getting back on track. So, better late than never! Here are 3 Wallpaper Backgrounds that are sure to jazz-up any PC desktop. The 1st one uses some promo art that was done in the 1980's by Paul Gulacy, it's pretty cool. Plus, he's a total bat-fan favorite. Speaking of "promo", the next one uses some art that was found in an old comic book & was made to advertise the BATMAN RETURNS Video Game. It's got Catwoman, The Penguin, & even his famous Duck-mobile vehicle....awesome! The last one is more modern day. it's an image from the DC Universe Film BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD. Of course, it's the Joker....looking pretty twisted ( as usual ). Please be sure to look in the far-left column of this blog where you can find the Bat-Blog Archives. There, you'll see hundreds of other Bat-Wallpapers we have posted in the past...have fun!
The other day I came across this advertisement from an old comic book. It's for the 1992 BATMAN RETURNS MOVIE Video Game for the Super Nintendo System. I thought it was a neat piece of bat-history & worthy of posting. The artwork is pretty cool & I like that it features the Batmobile Car, Catwoman, & The Penguin ( click on it for a larger version ). I know it will bring back a lot of fond memories for some readers who grew-up playing this game. So, while doing this post, I thought it would be a good idea to find a video of the actual game play. That way people could relive their glory days & also people who have never seen this game in action would get a good idea what it actually looked like back then. Oh man, the graphics are so extremely cheesy! If you have played the recent BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM game then you know just how far video game graphics have advanced...it's crazy! Please watch the video & then comment about some of your stories, thanks.
Right now there's a big buzz on eBay. No, Warner Bros has not posted Christian Bale's original bat-suit from The Dark Knight movie. No, George Barris isn't selling off all of his original 1966 Batmobile Cars. No, the big news is that there is an artist in France who made this BATMAN RETURNS MOVIE-INSPIRED DIORAMA MODEL SCULPTURE! It's crazy, I have got a ton of emails about this thing about this with a lot of people asking, "Have you seen this? It's amazing!". An Artist named "ivy-topp" has created a scene right out of the 1992 Tim Burton BATMAN RETURNS movie. It's the moment when Catwoman ( Michelle Pfeiffer ) & The Penguin ( Danny Devito ) are in bed talking in her hotel room. The resemblance is uncanny! The details are totally crazy! The Artist made the figures, the bed, the lamps, the wall / floor, window blinds, etc...even a birdcage with a small bird! This thing is extremely cool! For more information be sure to check it out online right HERE!
Alright, Here's a news report from our Retail-News Reporter Batmobilly! It looks like he's been hitting a few stores lately. He tells us that at Toys-R-Us he saw the new wave of Hot Wheels Batmobile Cars, the cool 1:50 Scale. As an example the BATMISSLE from the Batman Returns movie is shown. Next is another diecast item from Mattel that even I didn't know existed yet. It's a Monster Jam "Monster Duo" Set. You get the Bat-Truck & a special Hot Wheels Car ( Sort of looks like the Vintage Movie version here ). I really like that car! The last photo is from Wal-Mart & he said he took the pic because getting these DVD movies for only 5 bucks each is a pretty good deal. That is, if you just need 1 of them. Actually they have bundled all 4 of these movies together in one set for around $10. But if you're just missing one of these then $5 is cool. Thanks Batmobilly for the great report! If YOU, the Bat-Blog Reader, see any cool bat-merchandise while you're out cruising the stores then please let us know!
A look at the Batmobile that toured the country promoting Onstar. This is the original car driven by Michael Keaton in the Batman movies! This video was shot during production of the Comic Book Literacy documentary. For more information about the COMIC BOOK LITERACY program please be sure to click HERE!
I just realized last night that I have not featured one of these wonderful Model kits in awhile so here we GO! Shown here, for your viewing pleasure, is this extremely beautiful Vinyl Model Kit of THE PENGUIN made by our good friend SKINNYBIRD. Of course it's the "Danny DeVito version" from Tim Burton's Classic 1992 Film BATMAN RETURNS. One photo is a full-body shot where you see the whole thing but the magic really happens in the other photo that is a close-up of the character's face. I think he did an amazing job on the painting of the face. Actually, the whole thing is painted extremely well, but with these kind of model kits of actual real-life people you really gotta do a good job on the face or they just don't work. This one does, looks just like the actor...NICE! If you're new to the Bat-Blog then I guess I need to explain that we have been posting a few of these Batman Models every now & then. A Good Friend to the Bat-Blog, nicknamed "Skinnybird", sent us some great pics awhile back of all the Batman Model kits he has built. To view all the ones posted so far just look down below this post for the LABEL word "Skinnybird" & click on that. It will open all the posts related to his artwork. Last, but not least, I wanna thank Skinnybird for sending these & invite all other creative readers to do the same! Your pics don't have to be models but can be any kind of Batman-related thing, thanks!
Here at the Bat-Blog we have a good friend named Zdravko. He recently came across some great Batman-related photos while looking through some old family pictures. The 1st one shows him as a little boy standing next to a special Batman Birthday Cake that his Dad had made for him...that's cool! His Dad did a great job because the cake looks really nice. The 2nd photo is from his Baptism as a small child. His Mother is carrying him in Church. In it, you can see he's holding a Batman figure. Yes, he took Batman with him! The photo is from the mid-1990's & the toy is actually a Topps Bubble Gum Candy-Filled Hard Plastic Figure that was made around the time of the BATMAN RETURNS movie. I have one of those, how funny! Thanks Zdravko for sharing these wonderful photos, they're both very awesome! As always, I want to extend an invitation to all Bat-Blog Fans to please send us your "Bat-Memories". Our e-mail button is always at the top right-hand side of this page.
Anybody remember these BATMAN RETURNS Movie Cups from McDonalds? I do, I collected them all! I also remember being sort of upset that they were plastic because for a long time these Premium Promo Glasses from Fast Food Restaurants used to be high-quality glass. Then, I guess some moron sued them or something ( or maybe they became too expensive to produce ) so they all went to plastic. But, these BATMAN RETURNS Cups were still pretty neat & the graphics were really nice. The lids were actually a Mini-Frisbee that didn't fly very well, but looked cool. There were 6 to collect: Batman, Catwoman, The Penguin ( 2 ), Bruce Wayne, & The Batmobile. Now, I got the photos here so you can see the cups & that "Newspaper-looking thing" was the Paper Placemat used at McDonalds for the trays. I remember a HUGE Standee Store Display Sign that was in the store too but couldn't find a pic at the time of this post. But really the main thing are the cups & the video. Yes, the TV Commercial! It's down below so be sure to check that out too.
Remember the PENGUIN COMMANDOS in the 1992 BATMAN RETURNS movie? I always thought they were extremely cheesy but, also, I do have to admit that they do look kinda cool! These were the animals that the Penguin ( Danny DeVito ) had brainwashed & loaded with weapons to terrorize Gotham City, ha ha! Well, Here are some amazing Vinyl Model kits of them built-up by our friend known as SKINNYBIRD. This guy is pretty talented and has great skill with painting & building models! Every now & then we feature one that he has made. Please be sure to check out the BAT-ARCHIVES for more of them! ( Thanks Skinnybird! )
Here's a recent Batman-Style Tattoo done by the Famous Tattoo Artist Josh Reynolds. It's a very detailed piece of art! ( Be sure to click on it for a larger, more detailed, photo ). Of course, it's CATWOMAN from the 1992 Batman Returns movie. The thing that's co cool about it is that it looks EXACTLY like Michelle Pfeiffer! Josh is really good at the "Photo-Realistic" tattoos. In fact, if you're interested in seeing more of his artwork ( both tattoo art & paintings ) then just click right HERE!
This is our friend Zack with his lovely Girlfriend. Of course he is Batman (1992 BATMAN RETURNS "Michael Keaton" movie version ) & she is perfect as the Catwoman. Zack told me that even though he built his costume himself, with items he found from different locations, he did custom-build the chest piece for this bat-suit. OK, I gotta say that both costumes look really really great & I don't mean any disrespect here but, Dude, your Girlfriend is totally HOT! But all kidding aside, I guarentee that both of you will be a total hit at any party you go to...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! ( Zack - Thanks for sending the wonderful pics )
Tonight, in California & online too, the famous Auction Group PROFILES IN HISTORY will be auctioning off a few very desired pieces of Bat-History! The sale includes an original Michael Keaton Batman Full-Costume from the Batman Returns movie, The Umbrella used by Danny Devito for his Penguin character, Original Concept Production Drawing of various characters from the film ( mostly revolving around the Penguin ), the "Gotham City Snow Globe" used by Poison Ivy ( Uma Thurman ) in Batman & Robin, The Sword used by Liam Neeson to fight Christian Bale in Batman Begins, Chris O'Donnell's Robin "Ice Suit" from Batman & Robin, Jim Carrey's Signature Riddler Cane from Batman Forever, & much much MORE! In fact, there's almost too much to list, ha ha! But I gotta mention my favorite item, mainly for sentimental reasons, & that is they will have the Original BATGIRL Belt Buckle used for Yvonne Craig's costume in the 1966 TV Series. This is probably the best piece in the auction revolving around the 60's series. Well, they do have another lot with some scripts but I think this is way cooler! Anyways, if ya want to check out all the amazing stuff then just click HERE! & when you get there do a SEARCH for "Batman".
