Tim Burton Reflects On Working With Michelle Pfeiffer On BATMAN RETURNS

Tim Burton Reflects On Working With Michelle Pfeiffer On BATMAN RETURNS

While talking about working with Michelle Pfeiffer again on Dark Shadow's Tim Burton recalled his time with her on Batman Returns calling it one of his favorite performances.

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By WaylonJones - Mar 15, 2012 06:03 AM EST
Filed Under: Batman Returns (1992)


Film-News caught up with Tim Burton to talk about his newest film Dark Shadows. The film has allowed Burton to work with Michelle Pfeiffer again whom he famously teamed up with on Batman Returns. “It brought back how much I enjoyed working with her. Her Catwoman was one of my favorite performances in any movie I’d worked on," he recalled. He also said he was surprised what he got away with doing to her in that movie saying, "I remember how she impressed me by letting a live bird fly out of her mouth. Another thing that impressed Burton was the way Pfeiffer was able to move on roof tops in high heeled shoes.

Burton also talked about what he liked about Dark Shadows saying, "What I liked about Shadows is it’s a story about family. I grew up resisting family and then as I got older I realized what a strange and chaotic but important thing it is." He went on to explain that they have taken normal family issues and the supernatural then linked it into a story. He said issues like feelings of a teenager growing up when your body’s changing and you’re angry at everybody and trying to keep a family together are relevant, even in this story.

Dark Shadows stars Johnny Depp Helena Bonham-Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Chloe Moretz and Jackie Earle Haley, and will hit theaters on May 11th, 2012.

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JillValenfield
JillValenfield - 3/15/2012, 7:42 AM
She was a cool selina kyle!!!! A combination of a mentally sick and sexy woman in a hot suit
RidiculousFanBoyDemands
RidiculousFanBoyDemands - 3/15/2012, 7:44 AM
Too bad Burton butchered the character along with Penguin and Joker.
RidiculousFanBoyDemands
RidiculousFanBoyDemands - 3/15/2012, 7:51 AM
"I remember how she impressed me by letting a live bird fly out of her mouth."


There are no words to describe how dumb that sentence and scene are.
SageMode
SageMode - 3/15/2012, 7:51 AM
Now that's what a REAL CATWOMAN should look like, not some chick in a black surfer outfit with allusioned cat ears and no sex appeal.
DudeGuy
DudeGuy - 3/15/2012, 7:54 AM
^so do I
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 3/15/2012, 7:58 AM
he put his own twist on the characters,it's not different from what Nolan does: the Joker's origin is not like in the comics,Bane doesn't use Venom,Ra's al Ghul is not
immortal.

I think he did a great job,too bad people disregard his work just because of the Nolan movies.

if it wasn't for him,we probably wouldn't have TDK in the first place.
Tevii
Tevii - 3/15/2012, 8:01 AM
@spidey91 - WELL SAID
BackwardGalaxy
BackwardGalaxy - 3/15/2012, 8:02 AM
Her Catwoman was fantastic. I like how Burton calls family a chaotic thing, though. It's only chaotic for some people. For others, it's very stable. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.
RidiculousFanBoyDemands
RidiculousFanBoyDemands - 3/15/2012, 8:03 AM
@Spidey

I think the Jokers origin was a lazy screen writing attempt to connect Batman and the Joker. I am okay with changes to the characters that make sense.

But I draw the line at Batman Returns, which in my opinion is the second worst Batman movie behind B&R. That was a Tim Burton movie, that happened to have characters named after Batman characters. Really the penguin is a sewer orphan raised by circus freaks? Catwoman was licked back to life by cats, and all of a sudden she is part feline with nine lives? In my opinion that movie was terrible.

And if it wasn't for Batman Returns we wouldn't have gotten Batman and Robin.
Supes17
Supes17 - 3/15/2012, 8:07 AM
Here we go....
Supes17
Supes17 - 3/15/2012, 8:23 AM
Batman Returns was ok
Hated the mutated oozing Penguin and Batman's costume

Catwoman was a freak that was brought back from the death by Cats and literally has 9 lives.
BUT, Michelle's performance is the best I've seen so far.

I loved her version of Catwoman. To me it proved
It is okay to deviate from the comkcs as long as the story and portrayal stays true to the character *cough* Heath Ledger's Joker *cough*
theangrytroll
theangrytroll - 3/15/2012, 8:24 AM
The only live action Catwoman better than Michelle Pfieffer was Julie Newmar. That's not gonna change this summer.
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 3/15/2012, 8:30 AM
@RidiculousFanBoyDemands

well,to be fair,Batman and Robin wasn't Tim Burton's fault. he did Batman Returns,it wasn't a huge success like the studio hoped,they replaced Burton with "you know who",along came Batman Forever,the rest is history.

now about the characters,the Joker created Batman,Batman created the Joker,is one of those "at all comes full circle" kind of thing,I kinda like that stuff,but that's just me.

and I have to agree with you on the Penguin,while Danny DeVito performance is great,the character itself was just...so f*cked up,he's pretty disgusting in the movie.

now about Catwoman...is Michelle Pfeiffer in a cat-suit,I couldn't care less about her origin :P
Fantine
Fantine - 3/15/2012, 8:31 AM
"How can the guy who played a gay cowboy play the Joker? Jack Nicholson's portrayal will never be topped, this Ledger guy will suck!"

I remember reading that comment around the same time now before Dark Knight came out...

People shouldn't be quick to judge Anne Hathaway.
AC1
AC1 - 3/15/2012, 8:31 AM
@Spidey91 do you mean Burton's Joker or Nolan's Joker? Because Burton's one was the one with the messed up origin, they made him the murderer of the Waynes, and gave him a name, etc. Nolan's Joker had no name, and made up different back stories every time he was asked, just like the comic Joker does.

Anyhoo, didn't really like Batman Returns (better than Schumacker's films, not as good as Batman '89 or Nolan's films) but Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman was certainly a stand out. The bird scene was weird, and the weird cat puns and her being resurrected by a group of magical alley cats in her origin are some of the problems I have with the film, but Pfeiffer's over all performance is going to be very hard for Anne Hathaway to try and surpass in TDKR (and Michelle certainly has the better costume too)
Rowsdower
Rowsdower - 3/15/2012, 8:39 AM
Nolan sucks. Bring Burton back.
Darkhaven
Darkhaven - 3/15/2012, 8:45 AM
@theangrytroll: Dude, you ain't lying!

Don't get me wrong guys, Anne Hathaway is hot as hell. But, she looks kind of ridiculous as Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer's back story as Catwoman was insane (cat resurrection = roflcopter!) but her execution...oh HELL yeah.

Could you imagine a twenty something year old Julie Newmar today?
revloveR
revloveR - 3/15/2012, 8:56 AM
michelle is one of hollywood's all time most beautiful women.
SamWinchester
SamWinchester - 3/15/2012, 9:00 AM
You guys are judging Hathaway before her performance has even been given a fair shake on the big screen. Just like Ledger's Joker, once the new film comes out, I'll bet you a month's pay that you same complainers will be jumping up and down on the Nolan sausage-fest....
Darkhaven
Darkhaven - 3/15/2012, 9:16 AM
@SamWinchester: I guarantee you I won't ever jump up and down for anything Nolan. He does good work, but there's only room for one Jesus in my life :p

I have no doubt that Hathaway will do a good job, she's an awesome actress, and she broke away from the child actor curse very smoothly. My opinion is more that she looks ridiculous as Catwoman. Not worse than the new "Batwing" or Bane, but still.
Ceejay
Ceejay - 3/15/2012, 9:30 AM
Jesus that Catwoman was stupid! She dressed like a part-time dominatrix and got her powers from falling from a building, hitting her head and being brought back to life by cats biting and licking her. This apparently gave her whip and acrobatic skills.. fanboys who think this is brilliance are dumb!

Nolan's Catwoman is based in some reality, a CAT-BURGLAR with appropriate gear and tools, not a stupid dominatrix costume, how's that helping her? .. only in the dumb comics!
PapaEmeritus
PapaEmeritus - 3/15/2012, 10:06 AM
RidiculousFanBoyDemands said it all.
She was a great Catwoman, only VISUALLY speaking. But the character was terribly, bad written. In fact, the whole Batman Returns flick was terribly written. Not a good movie at all.
I'm a fan of Burton's work but everybody knows that he is a visual director and don't care that much about the script.
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 3/15/2012, 10:09 AM
@Ceejay

while Nolan's Catwoman is more "realistic",why wouldn't she cover her hair to prevent leaving DNA in the crime scene?

hey,just sayin'
Darkhaven
Darkhaven - 3/15/2012, 10:23 AM
@Ceejay: Yeah, I've heard jet black rubber is all the rage with cat burglars. Not to mention their LED lit headgear and huge motorcycles. I assume that's the 'appropriate gear' you referred to, considering that's' the ONLY gear we've seen of hers yet. Cross-reference "cat burglar" with "LED lights and "anime sized getaway bike", and tell me how many hits you get from real life events.

And I'm pretty sure no one above said Pfeiffer's Catwoman was "brilliant" (and seriously, what the hell is it with Nolan fans and the word "brilliant"? Grab a thesaurus!). People have said she was hot, and she gave a good performance, but pretty much everyone disliked the back story.

Finally, be a Nolan fan all you want, but don't be one of those self hating comic book fans his movies have created recently. Nolan wouldn't be making Batman movies without Batman comics.
thisheart
thisheart - 3/15/2012, 10:36 AM
Burton and Nolan both screw with characters, their backstory, and their look. With enough suspension of disbelief, you can enjoy any movie, no matter how ridiculous the costume, or story is. Different strokes for different folks.

Burton's batman had better costumes, Nolan's has better story.

But why would people judge Hathaway's catwoman based on one 5 second clip from the trailer? Costume aside, I think she'll do a great job, and I don't even have a clue what her angle in the movie will be.
marvel72
marvel72 - 3/15/2012, 11:12 AM
definetly the best big screen catwoman but julie newmar is the best overall catwoman.

anne hathaway is the weak link to the dark knight rises.
CherryBomb
CherryBomb - 3/15/2012, 11:36 AM

Michelle Pfeiffer was a great Catwoman.
The story obviously didn't stick to the comics at all. BUT Michelle played Burton's version perfectly .. she was dark, troubled, hella' sexy and could kick-ass with just a look.

Hathaway as Catwoman looks like a small child could just beat her down in a second.
NeoBaggins
NeoBaggins - 3/15/2012, 11:44 AM
@magic8 Batman Returns IS darker. Remember the spine-tingling scene of mutant Penguins giving the Penguin a funeral in his long johns? So true to the source material too, right down to him eating raw fish and Catwoman literally having 9 lives.
Stinkor1
Stinkor1 - 3/15/2012, 11:58 AM
She never got any powers or claimed to have powers. She fell through the window, landed through twenty canopies to slow her down and got knocked unconscious when she hit the ground. A bunch of cats came and bit the crap out of her til she woke up. Boom. Each time she "died" and called it losing a life were all survivable things. She was young thin and in shape to begin with. Who says she couldnt always do basic gymnastics?
Ryguy88
Ryguy88 - 3/15/2012, 12:16 PM
Returns was the only movie from the 1st 4 that I really liked. The rest were either boring or dumb...or both. I liked Pfeifer's Catwoman but I'm glad they aren't just going to go and copy it in TDKR, what would be the point?
NeoBaggins
NeoBaggins - 3/15/2012, 12:52 PM
@supersayianfan1 A lot of People have a natural reaction to rebel against popular and/or successful things. Some times it's warranted, like in the case of shitty music artist. Some times a person might actually like something, but the way other people talk about it annoys them to the point where they now want to look for flaws. In other cases it's the MARVEL-fan hate train; hating because it's a DC movie. DC can't get their live-action films off the ground and the one successful film they have has laid waste to MARVEL'S entire roster of films financially. I'm sure that causes much desperation and contempt.
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