Hey, It's That Guy!: Vincent Schiavelli (that droopy-eyed guy Milos Forman cast in many of his films) plays the Organ Grinder, while Zangief plays Chip Shreck. And Abe Sapien plays the "Thin Clown." While Cobblepots are Pee-wee Herman and his short-lived admirer, Simone.
The Mayor of Gotham is recognizable to fans of Robert Altman and/or Garry Trudeau as the protagonist of Tanner '88.
What Could Have Been: Annette Bening was Burton's original choice to play Selina/Catwoman, but she turned it down due to her pregnancy at the time. Sean Young, still bitter over losing the role of Vicki Vale in 1989's Batman, lobbied hard to secure the role as Catwoman, even going as far as to confront Burton at the Warner Bros. studios, wearing a homemade Catwoman costume.
The character of Max Shreck was originally written for Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams). The film would have ended on a cliffhanger, with the explosion at the end only scarring him. And Dick Grayson was going to have a cameo; he was going to be played by... Marlon Wayans. In addition, the original script had much, much more members of the Red Triangle Gang. Notable members of the circus in the original script included a duo with razor sharp metal blades encrusted into their heads like mohawks, a teenage clown with a neon medallion that read "CIRKUS" who was the original stun gun clown, and a group of clowns dressed like firefighters who operate a fire-engine that happed to shoot napalm.
The earlier drafts of the script included a few Continuity Nods to the first film, such as Bruce proposing to Vicki Vale, a souvenir store selling scraps of the wrecked Batplane and more insights to the deceased Joker.
These drafts featured origin stories for neither villain. The Penguin enters the film when he is released from prison for previous offences and Catwoman when he hires her for her burglary skills.
A later script draft revealed Max Shreck to be Penguin's older brother, the "golden boy" of the Cobblepot family, whereas the Penguin was the deformed outsider. He was supposedly ashamed of his father, after he threw his baby brother into the sewer, and he emancipated himself from the Cobblepot family as soon as he became of age.
Dustin Hoffman was reportedly interested in playing the Penguin. It was actually Jack Nicholson who suggested to Tim Burton that he cast Danny DeVito (whom Nicholson had recently worked with in Hoffa).
Burgess Meredith (who played Penguin in the 60's Batman series) was considered to play Penguin's father.
