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!
Eaglemoss Collections, the UK company that brought us the cool "DC Superhero Figurines", is now coming out with a new collection of Batmobiles! These new cars are die-cast, 1:43 Scale, & come inside a presentation case that has a 3D lenticular backdrop. Also, each car comes with a collectible 12-page magazine that gives the history of the vehicle. The 1st car in the BATMAN AUTOMOBILIA Series will be the Batmobile from the 1989 Batman Movie! Then, they're making the 1966 Batmobile from the Classic TV Show!
Here's a list of the five cars in the 1st wave:
1989 Batman Movie
1966 Batman TV Show
2005 Batman Begins Movie
2009 Comic Book Version
1944 Comics Version
They plan on continuing the collection & those cars, in the 2nd wave, will include: 1992 The Animated Series, 1985 Comic Book Version, 1939 Comics, 1995 Comics, & 2008 The Dark Knight Movie Bat-Pod!
Oh man, these sound really great! Plus, the production photos of the 1st five cars so far look really really good, I'm totally excited!! Now the bad news: I gotta say that these cars will take a little trouble to find in the US. You see, they're made in the UK exclusively for the European Market & will only be made available in the USA through special outlets. One rumor I've heard is that they might be distributed through Diamond Distributors, they supply American Comic Book Stores with product. So, you might check one of those. Another source will be a few online stores that do ship in the US. Once I get that list compiled I will be doing another post here so be sure to stay tuned to the Bat-Blog!
Check out this Educational "Batman History" Video created by WATCHMOJO. It covers the evolution of the Batmobile Car in the Comic Books, TV Shows, and Movies.
I don't know what my fascination is with "Foreign Batman items" but that sort of stuff is really cool! Plus it's very hard to find. Here's some great examples: The 1st photo shows a JAPANESE POTATO CHIP BAG with a 1989 BATMAN movie promotion. Now, how wacky is that! Speaking of "Japanese", right now my heart goes out to all the people of Japan. The recent events there are such a tragedy. Let's hope things get better soon. The next pic features a 1980's German-Language BATMAN Comic Book... from Germany ( Duh!, ha! ). The the last group of photos are vintage Batman items from Australia. These Australian comics are from the 1970's. So, what do you think? Is this stuff kinda cool!? Hey, I got a question, Do YOU have any foreign bat-items you would like to share? If so, then please send us some pics today. Remember, the Bat-Blog is all about sharing information about the joys of collecting.
On March 21st, 2011, Michael Uslan will be a Special Guest Speaker at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The event is FREE & if you're a film buff ( or Batman Fan ) you need to go! Of course Michael Uslan is the Executive Movie Producer responsible for bringing us the 1989 Tim Burton BATMAN movie & 2008's The Dark Knight. His speech will mainly be about his journey of creating his career to bringing Batman successfully to the big screen. He shares the principles that allowed him to persevere despite repeated rejection and encourages people to reach for their dreams and believe in themselves. It should be pretty interesting. Now, shown here is a Promo Video made by some College Students for the event.
Check out this amazing "JACK NICHOLSON JOKER" Sculpture Bust! It's crazy-good!! This pic was sent in by a Bat-Blog Fan named Pete Arico and this is one of his first statues he made! Pete is trying to get into the Sculpture Business & is a totally Self-Taught Artist. Well, it only took me 1 micro-second to recognize that this is Jack Nicholson from the 1989 BATMAN Movie...So, that's a great start! This piece really captures the essence of the character, from the costume, all the way to that famous smile. Thanks for sharing this cool pic Pete & keep up the good work!
Check out this amazing Batman drawing! This fine artwork was sent in by our friend Michael & it's a scene from the 1989 BATMAN Movie starring Michael Keaton... a Bat-Fan Favorite. Thanks Mike! If any other Bat-Blog Readers out there are creative too then please send us some pics of your art.
When I woke up this morning I realized that I totally forgot to post a few BATMAN BACKGROUNDS yesterday for "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday". Oh man, I'm such an idiot! So to make up for that here are a few that should be favorites for Fans of the 1989 BATMAN Movie. They both sort of revolve around the Actor Michael Keaton. In the 1st one we see him as Batman in the bat-suit costume. The 2nd one shows him as Bruce Wayne & we also get to see Jack Nicholson as The Joker. So, are these cool or what? I've always loved this movie & it's hard to think that it was 22 years ago when it came out. That makes me feel sort of old, ha ha!
This week's "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday" is made-up of some Batman Backgrounds sent in by two very cool Bat-Blog Fans! The 1st one features a group of Batman Cos-Players in New Jersey known as "The BatSquad!" In costume, we see Batman, Batgirl, Catwoman and Robin... Now, that's serious fandom! The next pic was a photo shot by our friend Stephen of SMJART.COM. These are some older vintage Batman toys from around 1989. I think they were made to capitalize on the Tim Burton BATMAN movie craze. I remember these, they're great! They were very BIG Vinyl Figures of Batman, Robin, & Joker made by a toy company called Applause. The cool thing was that they went with a "retro comic book" look. ( I have the 2 Crime Fighters but I'm missing the Villain, ha ha! ) Now, when I say "BIG", they were around 13" tall, maybe a little bigger, & came with a display stand to hold them up. So, what do you think about these wallpapers? Love them? Hate them? I think they're kinda fun & I wanna thank the people who submitted them.
YES! I have some really great toy news to share & I am totally excited! HOT TOYS just announced the other day that they finally got the rights from Jack Nicholson to make the 1989 BATMAN Movie JOKER Figure so now they're going full steam on the project. Toy Collectors around the world already know the insane quality of these dolls, I mean Figures, and are drooling in anticipation! They're obviously going to make a BATMAN Figure ( Michael Keaton version ) but let's all hope they also produce a "BOB The Goon"!
This is just great! I don't remember this ad specifically, but it's still nostalgic. Plus, you got a free pin! It's funny that VHS tape movies cost $20 back then & are now often $1 or less used.
Here's a great Batman picture that a friend sent me & as soon as I saw it I knew it had to be a Wallpaper Background, check it out!! This artwork was done by an extremely talented Graphic Artist who wanted to see what the 1989 Batmobile would look like if it was a character in the CARS Pixar/Disney movie...AWESOME!
Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? I always ask that of all my prey, I just like the sound of it. This week's "Batman Wallpaper Backgrounds" feature 2 different versions of The JOKER: Cesar Romero ( From the 1966 Batman TV Show & Movie ) and Jack Nicholson from the 1989 Tim Burton Film. In their own special ways both of these Actors did a very fine job... "Delicious!"
Here are a few Vintage POST Cereal Boxes with cool graphics from the 1989 BATMAN Movie. They were made for the Canadian market & that is why the boxes have both English & French languages on them. They did the promotion on Honey Combs, Sugar Crisp, & Alpha Bits. Also, if you look at the back of the box ( 1st photo, right-side ), then you'll see that the free premiums available inside the box were some "3-Way Action Trading Cards"... AWESOME! Now, I never knew that they made these back then so I hope you're as surprised as I am.
Check out these wonderful photos sent in by our friend Bruno! They were shot at the Six Flags Theme Park in Mexico City. The 1st pic shows Bruno, & a very cute girl, posing next to a life-size Batman Statue they saw in the gift shop. That's pretty awesome! Then the next pic was taken during the special "Batman Show" they have there. It looks like Six Flags went crazy building a massive stage with buildings & everything, that's cool! ( Please remember to click on it for a larger version ). Then the very last photo shows the 1989 Batmobile that they have on public display. Now, Bat-Blog Fans, please keep in mind that this picture of the movie car is also a "Batman Wallpaper Background" you can use to brighten your desktop! Also, I wanna say, "Thanks Bruno for sending the great pics!".
Here's a photo of our friend Carlos. He got to see the original Batmobile car from the 1989 BATMAN movie at the Six Flags Theme Park in Texas!! OK, I just meant for the title to this post to be a joke. Carlos DID NOT TRY to steal the '89 Batmobile! But you know he wanted too. See how he's all ready to leap under that roped-fence thing? I bet he saw a Security Guard at the last minute & then pretended like, "Oh, I'm just getting my picture taken...I'm not doing anything", ha ha! Thanks Carlos for sending us this wonderful photo & I'm just teasing about you being a thief. I'm just jealous because I have never got to see this beautiful custom movie car in real life, ha!
As a totally obsessed ( yes, crazy ) Batman Toy Collector one of my favorite areas in the genre are "foreign items". They're pretty hard to find here in the US & they're always interesting. Here's a few examples: This 1st item is a Vintage Movie Poster for the 1960's BATMAN film. But what make it unique is that it's from Italy & the language is completely Italian...awesome! I love the graphics on this thing. Now, the next 2 pictures show some cool Batman books from around the globe. The 1st book was published in France ( Yes, it's all in French, ha ha ) & it reprinted some Golden Age stories from 1943-44. It was released as a hardback around 1989, during the Tim Burton movie craze. The next book is a paperback & one of the things that make it extremely interesting is the size of the book is very very weird. It has a standard width, but it was made to be extremely tall ( or very long ). The next great thing about it is that it's from Uruguay! It was published around 1968 & is extremely RARE! So, I guess I'm gonna ask all Bat-Blog Fans who live outside the USA if they have any "foreign bat-books or toys" in their collections to please send us some photos. Thanks!
Back in 1989, to capitalize on the popularity of the Tim Burton BATMAN Movie, the New York Blood Center ran a promotion called "You Don't Have To Be Batman To Save Lives". Basically it was a major blood drive where they used the Caped Crusader as a theme. It was pretty successful. Shown here are 2 pieces of memorabilia from that event. The first photo is a T-Shirt & the 2nd one is a small advertising poster. It's cool they didn't use the same exact graphic. Plus, it's the comic book-style artwork & not the movie ( but "movie images" would have been great too! ). Now, it's kinda hard for me to tell but I'm guessing that the art was drawn by either Jose Luis Garcia Lopez or Dick Giordano! If anyone knows exactly please let me know. Either way, it's a very cool part of Bat-History!
