Trivia / Batman & Robin

• All-Star Cast: The film featured some of the biggest stars (or at least rising stars) of the time period. Unfortunately, it's also been credited by some of those same stars for crashing their careers.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Uma Thurman took the role of Poison Ivy because she loved the idea of playing a Femme Fatale.
• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Mention this movie in conversation and someone will inevitably intone "Ice to see you!" in a Schwarzenegger voice. Problem is, while Arnold's Mr. Freeze does make many, many cold-related puns in this film, that particular line was never in Batman & Robin, and was in fact uttered by Rainer Wolfcastle, the Schwarzenegger parody character on The Simpsons (in a lovely coincidence, a few years before this film). For the record, Schwarzenegger does make the obligatory "Allow me to break the ice" pun that anyone could have seen coming.
• Billing Displacement: Like with the 1989 movie, top billing goes to the main antagonist (Arnold Schwarzenegger).
• Breakaway Pop Hit: Jewel re-recorded "Foolish Games" for the soundtrack, and that version became the second-best selling single of 1997!
• Christmas Rushed: Production started as soon as Batman Forever was released, leading to many issues such as Val Kilmer being unable to return (as he was busy filming The Saint) and Warner Bros. being forced to replace him with George Clooney as a result (though the Hostility on the Set between Kilmer and Joel Schumacher on Forever would probably have made the former's returning unlikely anyway).
• Costume Backlash:
  • George Clooney hated the infamous "Bat-Nipples" on his Bat-suit. He even joked about it in an ad for Omaze.
  • Chris O'Donnell disliked this movie's Robin costume compared to the one he had in Forever, as it was less comfortable, and the mask was glued onto his face; making him sweat profusely.
• Creator Backlash:
  • George Clooney has made it pretty clear that he hates the film and makes many Take Thats against it. It's been rumored at various times that if you meet Clooney and tell him you saw the film, he will give you your money back, and he has outright stated that he apologizes for the movie whenever he gets the chance. However, Clooney has also said he doesn't regret doing it at all, and in fact credits the film for making him a leading man in Hollywood, as he had previously been a TV actor. He also held enough goodwill to cameo as his version of Bruce Wayne in The Flash (2023). That said, Clooney reportedly still keeps a poster of the film in his home office as a warning to himself, about what happens when you make a decision solely for the money.
  • Chris O'Donnell was quoted saying: "With Batman Forever, I felt like I was making a movie. With Batman & Robin, I felt like I was making a toy commercial."
  • John Glover despite claiming the movie's quality was poor, said that he still enjoyed playing his role as Dr Woodrue.
  • While Joel Schumacher was apologetic about this film, he never really indicated whether or not he actually hated it rather than just regretting it. He mostly just sounded resentful for being singled out for blame for the rest of his career, particularly since he was specifically hired by Warner Bros. to promote toys. Producer Peter MacGregor-Scott also resented the emphasis on the merchandise, saying "I feel if you let a filmmaker just make a good movie, you'd sell toys anyway."
  • To the credit of the entire cast, none of them seem to regret the process of making the film. They genuinely got along, and if nothing else had fond memories of having fun working together.
  • Somebody asked Val Kilmer on Reddit if he dodged a bullet by missing out on this movie. He replied simply, "Duh".
  • Even Billy Corgan, leading man of The Smashing Pumpkins, thought it was awful. He liked the idea of one of his songs being in a Batman movie, and he liked Joel Schumacher; When he was invited to the premiere, he fell asleep for most of it and was hugely disappointed when only a small portion of the song was used for the end credits. That being said, he liked the Grammy the song won.
  • While Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing was happy to be part of something Batman-related, he's made it adamant that he really hates "The Bug", the song he wrote for the soundtrack. Doughty even refused to provide people the lyrics on the band's website because he loathed it so much, and even admitted that he can't remember most of the words because he threw what he wrote out after recording the vocals. The one thing that he likes about it is that it helped him pay his rent and that it scored high on the music charts in Wal-Mart.
• Cult Soundtrack: It was an eclectic album with many hits (such as the one listed on Breakaway Pop Hit). The Smashing Pumpkins' reworking of the lead single even got a second life once used in the trailer for Watchmen.
• Defictionalization: You can get a real life Bat Credit Card nowadays, but unlike the movie, its just a normal credit card with the series logo on it, and they aren't good thru forever, obviously.
• Deleted Scene:
  • A majority of scenes involving Julie Madison were cut from the film. Including her death scene (she's stabbed by Poison Ivy with the same knife she uses in her fight with Batgirl), which was deemed too dark.
  • As John Glover has mentioned, lots of his scenes as Dr Woodrue were shot, and only around 1/4 were made into the movie.
  • There's also a scene where Barbara explains she's a niece of a family friend, and biologically, she's not related at all to Alfred.
• Distanced from Current Events: The 2019 4K and reprinted Blu-ray release removes the "Gotham City" music video, owing to the long standing allegations of sexual abuse against R. Kelly being re-scrutinized after the premiere of Surviving R. Kelly.
• Dueling Dubs: Given the movie came out right as the Brazilian dubbers went on strike, the dub was commissioned in Los Angeles to bypass the union concerns entirely, and the quality (along with an actual dubber that was in the city, the best known voice was the local announcer for TNT!) is as laughable as the movie itself. Later, the film's broadcast TV debut led to a redub in Rio de Janeiro with the cast's usual dubbers, but that version has never been released elsewhere.
• Dyeing for Your Art: The heroes and Mr. Freeze struggled with the heavy suits. Arnold Schwarzenegger also had to have a bald cap, paint himself blue, wear Icy Blue Eyes contact lenses and use an LED that emitted blue light from his mouth. Unfortunately, the LED would disintegrate after at least 20 minutes and made battery acid leak into his mouth, which frustrated Schwarzenegger.
• Executive Meddling: Most of the decisions in the creative process were made by the marketing executives instead of the creative team.
• Follow the Leader: The decision to have R. Kelly do a single for the film was likely an attempt to recreate the huge success of Space Jam's "I Believe I Can Fly".
• Franchise Killer:
  • This film was the final nail in the coffin of the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film series. It counts double when George Clooney even said that "I think we might have killed the franchise". The fifth film that was being planned when Batman & Robin was released got shelved when B&R earned scathing reviews and turned into instant fuel for mockery, ending this version of the Batman movies after 4 installments. A license like Batman, however, never completely dies.
  • It also sounded the death knell for any future live-action Batman productions in TV or film that took a comedic tone a la Adam West's Batman. Any future Batman film or show that has excess comedy or camp is strictly animated.
• Genre-Killer: Along with Steel, this film is seen as the main reason why Hollywood superhero movies were down for the count for five odd years, and when they finally did come back, most traces of camp, which both films had made heavy use of, had been heavily downplayed, if not outright exorcised.
• Looping Lines: Lead dialogue mixer Donald Mitchell said that 95% of the dialogue in the film was looped.
  Donald Mitchell: We have so much steam, prop and other noises on the production track, that we had to replace most of the lines. Also, in certain scenes Arnold [Schwarzenegger] was difficult to hear clearly, because of his costume. During the pre-dubs, we pitch-shifted George Clooney's voice down by about 5% when he appears as Batman, to give it more depth and resonance, and to distinguish the two roles. For [the voice processing of] "Mr. Freeze," we'll use more of a metallic feel, with a Lexicon [480XL] or a flanger.
• Missing Trailer Scene:
  • In the original theatrical trailer, Mr. Freeze says the line, "Button up, boys. A storm is coming." That line is not present in the final film.
  • A brief shot in one of the trailers for this movie shows Mr. Freeze saying that Batman will watch his beloved Gotham perish but this was not said or shown in the theatrical release of the movie.
• One for the Money; One for the Art: George Clooney revealed that the main reason he did it was that his $10 million salary had effectively given him lifelong financial stability, thus allowing him to do whatever films he wanted for the rest of his career. Even now he says he doesn't regret taking the role because it made him a movie star, but he also keeps a picture of himself in the infamous Batsuit in his office to remind himself to never again take something solely for the money.
• The Other Darrin: Val Kilmer was offered the chance to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne from the previous movie, but turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with The Saint and his difficult working relationship with Joel Schumacher. So, he was ultimately replaced by George Clooney.
• Parody Retcon: George Clooney has often claimed that he "played Batman as gay", when he clearly did nothing of the kind, presumably as a face-saving gesture for the biggest stinker of his post-ER career. Subverted with Joel Schumacher: he knew exactly what kind of movie he was making and insisted that the actors treat it like "a cartoon."
• Real-Life Relative: In the Italian dub, Batgirl was voiced by Stella Musy and Gordon was voiced by her late father Gianni Musy.
• Rebuilt Set: Finally played straight with the Batcave for the first and only time in the Buton-Schumacher films (which had redesigned the Cave for each movie). The Batman Forever Batcave set is rebuilt with the same basic layout and foundation from the previous film intact. However, it's also's been tweaked and redesigned — which is justified in-universe between Bruce now operating with a partner and the damage the Riddler inflicted during Forever.
• Recycled Script: A common trait in Sequelitis, the movie structure is near identical to Batman Forever. Movie opens up with the hero(es) suiting up and Alfred making a quip about food before they depart. Next the hero(es) fight an already established super villain and then afterwards through video footage we learn that said villain was once a respected member of society before an unfortunate freak accident turned him into a maniac. Then a crazy red haired Mad Scientist who works for Wayne Enterprises becomes a green themed super villain and kills his/her former supervisor. Meanwhile a new spunky young adult moves into Wayne Manor with a chip on their shoulder. Then the first villain crashes a charity event that the green-themed villain witnesses and becomes enamored with the other first villain, then the green-themed villain proposes a partnership and the two team-up. Meanwhile, the spunky young adult goes joyriding and almost gets himself/herself killed by thugs with an affinity for neon before being saved by a more experienced resident in Wayne Manor. While this is going on, one of the villains creates a superweapon housed in a highly conspicuous base of operations. The spunky young adult discovers the secrets of the hero(es), then suits up to help out. The hero(es) go on to defeat the green-themed villain first and then defeat the first villain in the climax, destroying the superweapon along the way. Finally, the heroes run off with the bat signal behind them. In between all this, the main hero has some introspective moments wherein he questions the way he manages his life.
• Refitted for Sequel:
  • Mr. Freeze freezing Gotham City was a plot point in the original planning for Batman Returns, where The Penguin freezes the city as part of his master plan.
  • The car chase on the Gotham rooftop was meant for Batman Forever.
• Role Reprise:
  • Chris O'Donnell, Michael Gough and Pat Hingle reprised their respective roles as Dick Grayson/Robin, Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner Gordon. Through returning for this film, Gough and Hingle became the only two actors to appear across all four films in the Burton/Schumacher continuity.
  • Elizabeth Sanders-Kane, the then-wife of Batman co-creator Bob Kane, reprised her role as Gossip Gerty. She has also appeared as an extra in Batman Returns credited as "Gothamite #4"
  • In the Latin American Spanish dub:
    • Blas García reprises his role as Mr. Freeze from The New Adventures of Batman.
    • Returning from Batman Forever are René García as Dick Grayson/Robin and Federico Romano as Alfred Pennyworth.
  • The second Brazilian dub manages to keep the Batman from Forever, as Marco Antônio Costa is the usual voice for both Val Kilmer and George Clooney.
• Romance on the Set: George Clooney was in a relationship with Vendela Kirsebom, who plays Nora Fries, during filming.
• Screwed by the Merchandise: A famous case. Arguably, Happy Meal toys because the downfall of the Batman Film Series. The second film in the series, Batman Returns was full of horrific and sexual content, which caused an outcry from parents, and the action figures didn't sell. So Warner Bros. kicked out Tim Burton and brought in Joel Schumacher to make the next film Batman Forever Lighter and Softer with more colorful characters and vehicles which could be translated into more action figures. This worked, toys sold. However, there's an argument that the tone shift contributed to this film bombing at the box office. Also this film was one of the first where "toyetic" influence was part of the design; for instance, the Batmobile only had a single seat because that was easier to replicate as a toy (plus it forced Robin to use a separate vehicle that could also be sold as a toy).
• Show Accuracy/Toy Accuracy: The Batgirl and Bane figures for the toyline do not look anything like the versions seen in the movie. The Batgirl figure doesn't look anything like any version of the character, but instead resembles an outright Distaff Counterpart version of the movie's version of Batman. At least the Bane figure resembled the comics version of the character, which probably helped fill a void left by the Legends of Batman toyline, which, despite more or less being a toyline based on Knightfall (including a Venom-infused Riddler and three figures of Azrael as Batman) when it wasn't doing the Elseworlds theme, didn't include a Bane figure.
• Spared by the Cut: Poison Ivy originally found Julie Madison at the Gotham Observatory after she had stolen the keys to the Bat-Signal from Commissioner Gordon and Ivy fatally stabbed her with a knife. She would later be shown using the same knife in the film during her fight with Batgirl. Julie's death scene was cut out of the film, because it was considered too dark for a film aimed for younger viewers, and because Joel Schumacher was interested in bringing her back in the planned sequel.
• Star-Derailing Role: Clooney and Schwarzenegger were the only two leads to escape unscathed.
  • The combination of this film's failure along with Excess Baggage served to toss Alicia Silverstone out of the A-list at the height of her fame. This was partly self-motivated, as she'd grown uncomfortable with the intense media scrutiny she was under, including becoming a sex symbol thanks to The Crush and the Aerosmith videos made while she was underage.
  • It's also been said to have done this to Chris O'Donnell, but he says it it's not true and that he had steady work offers through the 2000's but wanted to take time off to raise his kids. Once he was ready to return, he found a smash hit in NCIS: Los Angeles.
  • It's been said to have happened to Uma Thurman, with help from The Avengers the next year, and she would need Quentin Tarantino to help her career again with the Kill Bill movies. However, she did take some time off because of her pregnancy, and was in fact approached for The Lord of the Rings precisely because they wanted a bankable Hollywood star amongst unknowns and character actors. Before Kill Bill, she also starred in a TV version of Les Misérables with an All-Star Cast and received a Golden Globe nomination for Hysterical Blindness, so she wasn't completely tossed from the A-list.
• Trend Killer: The backlash against this film killed the trend of superhero movies with a lighthearted, borderline comical tone. The success of Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man convinced studios that more grounded and realistic takes on comic book characters was the way forward for the genre. It would not be until 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy (and the failures of many Darker and Edgier comic book movies) that such a tone would be deemed acceptable again (albeit with far less Camp).
• Uncredited Role: Corey Haim makes a brief cameo as one of the bikers.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Kurt Russell, David Duchovny and William Baldwin were considered for the role of Bruce Wayne before George Clooney was cast. Baldwin was previously approached for Batman in Batman Forever.
  • Patrick Stewart, Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris were considered for the part of Mister Freeze before the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
  • Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone and Demi Moore were in the running for the role of Poison Ivy before Uma Thurman was cast.
  • Olivia d'Abo was initially offered the part of Barbara Wilson before the casting of Alicia Silverstone. However, Joel Schumacher considered her "too old" for the role.
  • Kane Hodder was the original choice for Bane before Robert Swenson was cast.
  • In earlier drafts, Barbara wasn't actually Alfred's niece but the daughter of an old friend of his that came to see him as her "uncle". This was kept for the comic adaptation.
  • Barbara's Batgirl costume was to also have a full-head cowl, but Schumacher didn't like the look of it after a costume test and wanted Alicia Silverstone's hair to flow freely. Thus, the Domino Mask was used, though Silverstone does use a cowl as Batgirl in one scene.
  • Poison Ivy's costume was originally a lot pointier◊.
  • Early plans for a fifth film were put into motion even before the release of the movie. The working title was "Batman Unchained" and Joel Schumacher was attached to return with a much Darker and Edgier script akin to the Tim Burton Batman films. Nicolas Cage was considered for the part of The Scarecrow. Courtney Love was considered for Harley Quinn, who was rewritten as the Joker's daughter wishing to avenge her father's demise. Jack Nicholson had brief discussions about a potential cameo as The Joker as well before the project was scrapped due to the negative response towards the film. According to Schumacher himself, even before that, he had wanted to make a much darker sequel akin to The Dark Knight, with Scarecrow as the villain.
  • Coolio's brief cameo in Batman & Robin was meant to set up the Scarecrow's appearance in a potential fifth movie in the series. However, thanks to the critical failure of the film, these plans were scrapped.
• Word of Saint Paul: George Clooney told Barbara Walters in an interview that he played Batman as gay in the film.
  Bruce Wayne isn't gay. But I played him as if he was.
• Working Title: This film was originally titled Batman 4Ever because it is the fourth film in the series. However, because the third film was already titled Batman Forever, it was retitled "Batman & Robin," which actually was the original title for the third film.
• Written-In Infirmity: Batman limps visibly inside the freeze rocket. During filming, George Clooney injured his lower leg playing basketball. He needed to cut the boot off of the Batsuit in order to wear a cast.
• You Look Familiar: Michael Paul Chan, who played a Wayne Enterprises executive in Batman Forever, appears as Dr. Lee in this film.

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