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Hi, everybody-- Jeff Dunham
again at Dunham Family Motors,

2
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along with my buddy Peanut.
- No, no-- I am Batnut.

3
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"Batnut?"
Wait, it's--

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"No, I'm Batnut."

5
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And why are you dressed
like this?

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To fight the crime of
high car prices.

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This next car wasn't built
to be bought.

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It didn't come from Detroit,
Germany, or Japan.

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It came from the pages
of a comic book.

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Its sole mission?

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Strike fear into
the hearts of criminals.

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It's long, loud, armed
to the teeth, dark as night,

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and driven by...

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well, this dude...

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If you're looking to get
yourself into something

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with no cup holders, drinks
jet fuel for breakfast,

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and has some accessories
that will likely result

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in federal charges,

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I might know a guy.

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And the next baby--
A Batmobile?

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No, no, it's the Batnutmobile.

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Throughout time,

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humanity has been obsessed
with getting places

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using anything,
but their own two feet.

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We've tried all
kinds of things.

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- Until finally...
- Hmm.

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...the greatest invention
of all time--

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the automobile.

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Moron!

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These are--
"The Cars That Drove Us."

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Comic legends Bob Kane
and Bill Finger gave

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Bruce Wayne a nightlife in 1939.

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And in the years
since making the...

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leap from page... to screen,

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there have been many
different--

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- Bats?
- Well, Batmen.

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Lewis, Adam, Val, George,
Kevin, Christian, Ben...

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Why did you say that name?

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...Robert, and of course,
Michael.

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I'm Batman.

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But some things...

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Flash the Bat signal.

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...have never changed.

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Batman has always
been the Batsuit

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and the Batmobile.

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Arguably the most iconic
vehicle in all of pop culture.

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And much like the man
steering it...

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We've seen a bunch
of different executions

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of the Batmobile,
each encompassing

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a bit of the new and a bit
of the old.

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But in 1989...

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When Tim Burton's
Batmobile showed up...

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Whoa!

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I mean, it took it
to a new level.

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...a level of Batitude

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that ranks the '89 Batmobile

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as quite possibly
the most iconic of them all.

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The Batmobile was the star
of the picture.

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And like any
superstar superhero,

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the Batmobile's origin story
is one of drama,

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He said, "He's crashed a car,"
I said, "No".

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Suspense, and redemption.

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And the whole audience spurs
into applause.

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Though, thankfully...

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no dead parents are involved.

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But before this Batmobile
could turn heads in 1989,

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a very different one would have
to turn pages in 1939.

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when the first "Batman" comic
book came out.

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Batman had a Batmobile.

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Well, sort of.

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They didn't call it
a Batmobile.

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It was just a red sedan.

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Not a name that strikes
fear in the hearts of criminals.

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But a red sedan,
by any other name,

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would actually be way cooler.

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And so in "Detective Comics,"
issue 48,

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the name Batmobile was born.

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But why stop there?

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They started changing the look
of it to blue and black,

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and they put a bat symbol
in the front of it,

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and they just made
this iconic vehicle.

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Arguably, the most iconic
vehicle in all of pop culture.

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And just in time,

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because when Batman made
his big screen debut

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in this 1943 serial...

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Let's go!

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...the Batmobile was ready for
its Hollywood green light.

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Wait a minute.
Is that the red sedan?

89
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Sorry, kids.

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The first Batmobile that
we used on film was

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a '39 Cadillac convertible.

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If Bruce Wayne was driving it,
the top was down.

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Alfred, drive into that alley
and put the top up.

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If Batman was driving it,
the top was up.

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How sneaky!

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Well, until you get
out of the car.

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Look out, Batman!
They can see you!

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That's the most
ridiculous thing I've ever--

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Second most ridiculous thing
I've ever heard of.

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You are Superman, aren't you?

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Luckily, after a couple
of decades,

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things would get far
less ridiculous.

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Holy sardine!

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Well, at least
from an automotive perspective.

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But by 1960 standards,
the Batmobile was

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old technology.

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It was made from something
called a Lincoln Futura.

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A one-of-a-kind
Ford concept car from 1955.

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Really cool looking.

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Hollywood auto
fabricator,

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George Barris, thought so.

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He bought it from Ford
for a dollar.

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What a... steal!

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And when Barris got the gig...

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He realized they didn't have
enough time to do this properly.

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Time is getting short!

117
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So he looked around
at what he had and thought,

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"You know what?

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"I can take the Futura and use
this as the foundation.

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And with a fair amount
of moderator tweaking,

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television and superhero
history was made.

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Hey, it's the Batmobile!

123
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That show was part of
my childhood, so

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that was my first Batmobile.

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Complete with Batman and Robin!

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And for the next
two decades...

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Fortunately, old friends,

128
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Zayre is open 24 hours
until Christmas.

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...George Barris' was
the only on-screen Batmobile.

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There's some cartoon versions.

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Well, sure,
for the little guys.

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But other than that...

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nothing.

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Cut to the mid-to-late '80s,

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and we find out
they're making a Batman movie.

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We're dying to find out

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how they're gonna
execute the Batmobile.

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And in 1988, concept
designer Julian Caldow,

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was one of the few
people qualified

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to answer that question.

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But at this point,
he was wrestling

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with his own more personal
uncertainties.

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And I met Anton Furst on
a movie called "High Spirits,"

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where I was doing some
of the makeup.

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I showed him a folio
of the sketches

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that I'd been doing and said,

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"I really want to get into
the art department."

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Brash, confident,

149
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this kid knew exactly
what he was doing.

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And then it kind of hit me

151
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that I didn't really know
what I was doing.

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Well, he was still
brash and confident.

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He'd figure it out.

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But I was kind of
learning on the job.

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A job that entailed
bringing Anton

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and director Tim Burton's
vision of Gotham City to life.

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I thought they were
the perfect gelling of

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crazy minds to come up
with the way

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that that whole thing looked.

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A Gothic metropolis
of epic scale

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and massive proportion.

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But I didn't really understand
scale, proportion, et cetera.

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Be patient.
He's learning on the job.

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And so the art department
threw this rookie

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a softball assignment.

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They got me working on
the Batmobile because

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I didn't understand stuff
about architecture.

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The seasoned vets would
handle the gargoyles

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and flying buttresses
while they tossed...

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The most iconic vehicle
in all of pop culture.

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...to the new guy, which was
certainly a choice.

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Having to invent beautiful
Batmobile while holding in

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the history of that car,

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the history of the aesthetics
of Batman.

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It is a really,
really difficult charge.

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- Um--
- Yeah, no pressure.

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Let me think.

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2
First-time concept artist
Julian Caldow was under pressure

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to design the Batmobile
to top all Batmobiles.

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Principal photography was
four short months away.

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And so Julian leapt into action.

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I was starting to do little
sketches of a sporty,

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'50s road car, a muscle car with
fins that was sort of similar

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in vibe to the TV show.

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But very soon I realized
that that wasn't gonna work.

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Because this wasn't
your father's Batman.

187
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Precisely.

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It was Tim Burton's,
which means a certain...

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approach would be necessary.

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Anton said, "We're not
doing a car specifically,

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we're doing sort
of a brutal statement."

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Oh, no.

193
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"Something that looked
quite menacing."

194
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The concept inspired
Julian to think

195
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outside the box...

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or the bat-box.

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There's no need for this thing
even to be roadworthy,

198
00:08:07,834 --> 00:08:11,367
so that's when I got into
my mind the idea of...

199
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these land-speed-record cars,

200
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specifically the green monster,

201
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to have this enormous intake
at the front with this point.

202
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I mentioned this to Anton,

203
00:08:20,734 --> 00:08:22,901
and he was very excited
by that idea.

204
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Anton was so taken
with the intake

205
00:08:25,234 --> 00:08:27,667
that it was taken in
to the Batmobile design.

206
00:08:27,834 --> 00:08:30,901
So I had this big rocket going
down the center of the car.

207
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That feels right.

208
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That is like,
"That's what Batman
should have."

209
00:08:37,434 --> 00:08:38,700
And it was like a piece of art.

210
00:08:38,701 --> 00:08:41,601
And soon it was time
for Julian to present his art

211
00:08:41,767 --> 00:08:44,000
to Anton and Tim for approval.

212
00:08:44,167 --> 00:08:46,467
Tim, when he saw
a drawing that he liked,

213
00:08:46,634 --> 00:08:47,767
he would have a little giggle.

214
00:08:48,968 --> 00:08:50,267
And when you heard that giggle,

215
00:08:50,434 --> 00:08:52,467
you knew that you were
on the right path.

216
00:08:52,634 --> 00:08:54,467
And when Tim saw
Julian's drawing,

217
00:08:54,634 --> 00:08:56,000
there was no giggle.

218
00:08:56,167 --> 00:08:58,801
And Julian learned about
rejection on the job.

219
00:08:58,968 --> 00:09:01,567
I had two little jet
cockpits either side

220
00:09:01,734 --> 00:09:04,767
of this rocket engine,
and Tim said,

221
00:09:04,934 --> 00:09:08,968
"I've got dialogue between
Vici Vale and Batman."

222
00:09:09,133 --> 00:09:10,367
Where are we going?

223
00:09:10,534 --> 00:09:12,100
"They won't be able
to hear each other."

224
00:09:12,267 --> 00:09:13,801
And I said something
stupid like,

225
00:09:13,968 --> 00:09:15,767
"Well, what about
they have walkie-talkies?

226
00:09:15,934 --> 00:09:17,567
Where are we going?

227
00:09:17,734 --> 00:09:19,501
So that was rejected
pretty quickly.

228
00:09:19,667 --> 00:09:22,167
Undeterred, Julian went
back to the drawing board.

229
00:09:22,334 --> 00:09:23,566
And this time--

230
00:09:23,567 --> 00:09:26,901
I was taking steps from
all kinds of different decades.

231
00:09:27,067 --> 00:09:30,000
The grills either side
of the car were taken

232
00:09:30,167 --> 00:09:32,067
from Ferrari Testarossa.

233
00:09:32,234 --> 00:09:34,367
I had these little gills
at the front, and they were

234
00:09:34,534 --> 00:09:35,868
from a Corvette Stingray,

235
00:09:36,033 --> 00:09:38,400
which also informed
the back of the Batmobile,

236
00:09:38,567 --> 00:09:40,667
melded with a Volkswagen Beetle.

237
00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:46,467
Finally, I based the cockpit on
the X-15 experimental aircraft

238
00:09:46,634 --> 00:09:49,767
that Neil Armstrong was flying
in before he went into space.

239
00:09:49,934 --> 00:09:52,000
And after numerous
small steps,

240
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Julian's design was
one giant leap

241
00:09:54,534 --> 00:09:55,667
from where it had begun.

242
00:09:55,834 --> 00:09:57,667
And this time...

243
00:09:59,133 --> 00:10:00,167
...the giggler struck.

244
00:10:00,334 --> 00:10:02,567
The Batmobile had arrived.

245
00:10:02,734 --> 00:10:03,967
So everybody loved it,

246
00:10:03,968 --> 00:10:07,167
but the following week, we sat
and looked at the sketch,

247
00:10:07,334 --> 00:10:09,767
and someone said,
"How does anybody get
into this car?"

248
00:10:09,934 --> 00:10:12,767
Great question, and one
that Julian, as the designer,

249
00:10:12,934 --> 00:10:14,267
should be able to answer.

250
00:10:14,434 --> 00:10:16,501
I hadn't really even
thought about doors.

251
00:10:16,667 --> 00:10:19,467
Maybe we have gull-wing doors
coming up on either side.

252
00:10:19,634 --> 00:10:21,100
Uh, seen it before.

253
00:10:21,267 --> 00:10:22,868
Probably don't wanna go
"back" to that.

254
00:10:23,033 --> 00:10:26,400
Or maybe the whole cockpit
comes up like a jet.

255
00:10:26,567 --> 00:10:29,167
Yeah, that too.
You could probably "top" that.

256
00:10:29,334 --> 00:10:31,167
It was actually Nigel Phelps.

257
00:10:31,334 --> 00:10:33,567
A production designer,
working on Gotham City.

258
00:10:33,734 --> 00:10:35,968
Who said,
"Why not slide the whole thing

259
00:10:36,133 --> 00:10:39,200
down the bonnet
and just jump in?"

260
00:10:39,367 --> 00:10:41,100
That felt very elegant.

261
00:10:41,267 --> 00:10:43,300
And with that, it looked
like the Batmobile was

262
00:10:43,467 --> 00:10:45,200
finally cruising down
Easy Street.

263
00:10:45,367 --> 00:10:47,167
Excuse me.

264
00:10:47,334 --> 00:10:49,601
Oh-- apparently,
special effects supervisor,

265
00:10:49,767 --> 00:10:51,467
John Evans would like
to have a word.

266
00:10:51,634 --> 00:10:55,501
Special effects is a problem
with time and money.

267
00:10:55,667 --> 00:10:57,968
Because now John
and his team had to build

268
00:10:58,133 --> 00:10:59,300
a working Batmobile.

269
00:10:59,467 --> 00:11:02,000
No, we had to get two,
not one built.

270
00:11:02,167 --> 00:11:03,701
Two working Batmobiles.

271
00:11:03,868 --> 00:11:05,667
And we had to have it
in 10 weeks.

272
00:11:05,834 --> 00:11:06,868
Yeah, about that.

273
00:11:07,033 --> 00:11:08,367
That's not only not enough time,

274
00:11:08,534 --> 00:11:10,968
that's an absurdly small
amount of time.

275
00:11:11,133 --> 00:11:12,767
I wouldn't wish it
on my worst enemy.

276
00:11:12,934 --> 00:11:14,100
Neither would Warner Brothers.

277
00:11:14,267 --> 00:11:16,000
So they wished it
on John Evans instead.

278
00:11:16,167 --> 00:11:19,167
A special-effects man's
job is not easy.

279
00:11:21,267 --> 00:11:23,367
2
With an almost
laughable deadline,

280
00:11:23,534 --> 00:11:27,100
special effects supervisor,
John Evans and his team
of craftsmen were

281
00:11:27,267 --> 00:11:30,100
rolling up their sleeves
to build two working Batmobiles.

282
00:11:30,267 --> 00:11:33,901
We really didn't have the time
to build our own chassis.

283
00:11:34,067 --> 00:11:37,300
The solution?
Two chassis-es... es.

284
00:11:37,467 --> 00:11:38,868
There was a kind of an accident

285
00:11:39,033 --> 00:11:40,767
that the car was
as long as it was.

286
00:11:40,934 --> 00:11:42,200
Because, as
you'll remember--

287
00:11:42,367 --> 00:11:46,300
I didn't really understand
scale, proportion, et cetera.

288
00:11:46,467 --> 00:11:49,267
So I was not going out of
the art department

289
00:11:49,434 --> 00:11:52,100
with a tape measure and looking
at the average size of a car.

290
00:11:52,267 --> 00:11:54,067
Basically,
he was bat-winging it.

291
00:11:54,234 --> 00:11:55,601
Um, but--

292
00:11:55,767 --> 00:11:57,200
John and his special
effects team were

293
00:11:57,367 --> 00:11:58,968
there to pick up the slack.

294
00:11:59,133 --> 00:12:01,767
Believe it or not, when
the fiberglass body came up,

295
00:12:01,934 --> 00:12:04,200
everybody was there,
and we slotted it on,

296
00:12:04,367 --> 00:12:07,567
and it went on like a glove.
But then...

297
00:12:07,734 --> 00:12:08,667
Duh-oh.

298
00:12:08,834 --> 00:12:10,367
...all the gadgets started
to come in

299
00:12:10,534 --> 00:12:11,601
from the art department.

300
00:12:11,767 --> 00:12:13,767
That's right,
gadgets, such as--

301
00:12:13,934 --> 00:12:15,367
Where the hook comes out.

302
00:12:18,567 --> 00:12:20,767
We had two machine guns.

303
00:12:22,167 --> 00:12:24,567
Which were the biggest
gadgets, but they were almost

304
00:12:24,734 --> 00:12:26,868
the biggest mini gadgets.

305
00:12:27,033 --> 00:12:30,300
I had encouraged Anton
to use mini guns.

306
00:12:30,467 --> 00:12:31,968
I had just seen "Predator."

307
00:12:33,367 --> 00:12:35,200
Having those come out
of the bonnet would be great.

308
00:12:35,367 --> 00:12:36,501
Uh--

309
00:12:42,868 --> 00:12:45,167
But they couldn't get a license
to get those weapons

310
00:12:45,334 --> 00:12:46,467
into the UK.

311
00:12:46,634 --> 00:12:49,868
That was a problem that wasn't
our problem, really.

312
00:12:50,033 --> 00:12:51,701
Don't get too excited, John.

313
00:12:51,868 --> 00:12:53,901
They'd find something else
for you to cram in there.

314
00:12:54,067 --> 00:12:56,968
Eventually, they went
with Brownings, which armorers

315
00:12:57,133 --> 00:12:59,100
in this country had access to.

316
00:12:59,267 --> 00:13:02,167
But they were coming in
two weeks after we started

317
00:13:02,334 --> 00:13:05,767
the design of the car,
so it caused problems.

318
00:13:05,934 --> 00:13:07,267
But we did get it in the end.

319
00:13:07,434 --> 00:13:09,567
But there were a few
extra features to be bolted

320
00:13:09,734 --> 00:13:12,567
onto the outside
of the Batmobile.

321
00:13:12,734 --> 00:13:15,667
The front intake is from
a Harrier, and the back is

322
00:13:15,834 --> 00:13:18,000
from a Rolls-Royce
jet engine?

323
00:13:18,167 --> 00:13:19,467
That's perfection.

324
00:13:19,634 --> 00:13:22,000
The flame out of the back
of the Batmobile,

325
00:13:22,167 --> 00:13:23,701
which we had to create,

326
00:13:23,868 --> 00:13:26,501
it's not easy, because you've
got to get the force of it

327
00:13:26,667 --> 00:13:29,000
coming across on the screen.

328
00:13:29,167 --> 00:13:31,968
And I just didn't feel
we had it right.

329
00:13:32,133 --> 00:13:35,367
For about a week,
we were playing around with it.

330
00:13:35,534 --> 00:13:37,701
Avoid the following
combinations.

331
00:13:37,868 --> 00:13:41,000
Liquid gas,
paraffin, and petrol.

332
00:13:41,167 --> 00:13:42,968
Yeah, sounds safe.

333
00:13:43,133 --> 00:13:44,501
We had to be careful.

334
00:13:44,667 --> 00:13:46,000
Got the driver in there.

335
00:13:46,167 --> 00:13:48,467
If anything went wrong
with his flame...

336
00:13:51,667 --> 00:13:52,868
you've got big problems.

337
00:13:54,100 --> 00:13:55,968
Luckily for the film's
insurance policy...

338
00:13:56,133 --> 00:13:57,300
We did get it in the end.

339
00:13:57,467 --> 00:13:59,567
And no stunt drivers
were incinerated.

340
00:13:59,734 --> 00:14:01,567
But John did have reason
to worry about

341
00:14:01,734 --> 00:14:03,267
one particular Batmobile driver,

342
00:14:04,367 --> 00:14:05,868
the one on the movie poster.

343
00:14:06,033 --> 00:14:09,467
We kept asking Michael Keaton
to sit in the Batmobile

344
00:14:09,634 --> 00:14:11,868
for a fitting because
it was tight.

345
00:14:12,033 --> 00:14:13,567
Can't imagine why
he wouldn't want to.

346
00:14:13,734 --> 00:14:16,067
Liquid gas,
paraffin, and petrol.

347
00:14:17,834 --> 00:14:19,868
You can take all
the measurements you like.

348
00:14:20,033 --> 00:14:23,701
If you don't have an actual
fitting, him sitting physically

349
00:14:23,868 --> 00:14:25,501
in it, you don't know.

350
00:14:25,667 --> 00:14:27,667
But they were about to find out.

351
00:14:27,834 --> 00:14:30,868
On the first day we shot,
first time he had jumped

352
00:14:31,033 --> 00:14:35,200
into it, he was too tall,
and the ears were sticking out.

353
00:14:35,367 --> 00:14:38,767
When the cockpit closed,
his ears were bent back.

354
00:14:38,934 --> 00:14:40,400
Well, if anyone
had a solution,

355
00:14:40,567 --> 00:14:42,367
Michael was all ears.

356
00:14:42,534 --> 00:14:45,467
If you look at the scenes
inside the cockpit,

357
00:14:45,634 --> 00:14:48,567
he's got these special little
ears that he's wearing.

358
00:14:48,734 --> 00:14:50,601
Good luck trying to spot them.

359
00:14:50,767 --> 00:14:52,767
He's sensitive about
his stubby nubbies.

360
00:14:54,667 --> 00:14:57,267
But that was, again,
my ignorance.

361
00:14:57,434 --> 00:15:00,300
Well, at least there was
one thing impervious to Julian's

362
00:15:00,467 --> 00:15:01,801
inexperience
with a tape measure.

363
00:15:01,968 --> 00:15:03,032
The paint job.

364
00:15:03,033 --> 00:15:05,300
I always had the idea
that it should look like

365
00:15:05,467 --> 00:15:07,167
a Beatles carapace.

366
00:15:07,334 --> 00:15:09,901
It's got, like, purple and blue
and all these colors.

367
00:15:10,067 --> 00:15:11,367
It's very organic.

368
00:15:11,534 --> 00:15:14,167
And somehow the guys who did
the paint job managed

369
00:15:14,334 --> 00:15:16,667
to emulate this thing so that
from different angles

370
00:15:16,834 --> 00:15:17,868
it had different colors.

371
00:15:18,033 --> 00:15:19,100
And to finish it off...

372
00:15:19,267 --> 00:15:21,267
They didn't give it
a glossy finish.

373
00:15:21,434 --> 00:15:23,367
Opting for satin instead.

374
00:15:23,534 --> 00:15:25,667
It was really the perfect
way to kind of make it just

375
00:15:25,834 --> 00:15:28,667
a little bit darker on every
level, absorbing everything

376
00:15:28,834 --> 00:15:29,868
that went around.

377
00:15:30,033 --> 00:15:31,167
But just
like Bruce Wayne...

378
00:15:31,334 --> 00:15:33,100
Now you want to get nuts?

379
00:15:33,267 --> 00:15:34,868
- Come on!
- Let's get nuts.

380
00:15:35,033 --> 00:15:37,100
...satin paint
can be temperamental.

381
00:15:37,267 --> 00:15:40,367
Just a little wear and tear
on it would scratch it.

382
00:15:40,534 --> 00:15:44,367
There's a scene where Vici Vale
is getting out of the car,

383
00:15:44,534 --> 00:15:46,300
and she throws her heel.

384
00:15:46,467 --> 00:15:47,901
And the reason she did that is

385
00:15:48,067 --> 00:15:50,000
she would scratch the Batmobile.

386
00:15:50,167 --> 00:15:51,167
Ahh!

387
00:15:51,334 --> 00:15:52,367
You weigh
a little more than 108.

388
00:15:52,534 --> 00:15:54,400
The paint was
very temperamental.

389
00:15:54,567 --> 00:15:57,467
Which, for the record,
was not Julian's fault.

390
00:15:57,634 --> 00:16:01,901
And lucky for him, neither was
what would happen next.

391
00:16:02,067 --> 00:16:03,267
Well...

392
00:16:06,667 --> 00:16:08,367
2
Against all odds,
Anton Furst's art department

393
00:16:08,534 --> 00:16:10,567
and John Evans'
special effects team,

394
00:16:10,734 --> 00:16:12,601
designed and built
two Batmobiles

395
00:16:12,767 --> 00:16:14,367
in four months' time.

396
00:16:14,534 --> 00:16:16,267
Filming was well
underway when...

397
00:16:16,434 --> 00:16:19,767
Anton comes in the workshop,
Sunday afternoon,

398
00:16:19,934 --> 00:16:22,167
and he said, "Oh, I'd like
to drive the Batmobile."

399
00:16:22,334 --> 00:16:24,567
I can't say no to him,
he's the designer.

400
00:16:24,734 --> 00:16:26,200
He could send Anton off

401
00:16:26,367 --> 00:16:28,868
with special-effects
team member, Andy Smith.

402
00:16:29,033 --> 00:16:32,467
I said, "Be careful, don't let
him get in the driver's seat.

403
00:16:32,634 --> 00:16:34,968
"Just take him up and down
Gotham City,

404
00:16:35,133 --> 00:16:36,968
that-- quite at good speed,
and he'd be happy.

405
00:16:37,133 --> 00:16:38,868
Sure.
Couldn't do any harm.

406
00:16:39,033 --> 00:16:40,767
About 15 minutes later,

407
00:16:40,934 --> 00:16:43,868
Andy Smith comes
in the workshop, white-faced.

408
00:16:44,033 --> 00:16:45,467
He said, "He's crashed the car."

409
00:16:45,634 --> 00:16:47,367
I said, "No."
- Yes.

410
00:16:47,534 --> 00:16:49,667
And this was no
minor fender-bender.

411
00:16:49,834 --> 00:16:52,267
He crashed it into one
of the lampposts.

412
00:16:54,634 --> 00:16:56,167
I said, "Why did you let him
get in it?"

413
00:16:56,334 --> 00:16:58,467
Luckily, Anton was fine.

414
00:16:58,634 --> 00:17:02,400
But it was lights-out for
the lamppost and the Batmobile.

415
00:17:02,567 --> 00:17:05,167
And I go out there,
and he smashed all the side

416
00:17:05,334 --> 00:17:06,400
to the, uh, car.

417
00:17:06,567 --> 00:17:08,067
If only someone
had told him to--

418
00:17:08,234 --> 00:17:09,701
Stop.

419
00:17:12,167 --> 00:17:13,367
Talking about you, John.

420
00:17:13,534 --> 00:17:16,601
So now, this prop,
we've only got two.

421
00:17:16,767 --> 00:17:18,567
Well, now one.

422
00:17:18,734 --> 00:17:19,901
And at this point, it's--

423
00:17:20,067 --> 00:17:22,701
Two o'clock, three o'clock,
Sunday afternoon.

424
00:17:22,868 --> 00:17:25,801
We've got to have it on the set
for Monday morning.

425
00:17:25,968 --> 00:17:28,667
It was time to send out
a signal for help.

426
00:17:28,834 --> 00:17:31,868
So I phoned the guy up
who does the fiberglass,

427
00:17:32,033 --> 00:17:33,567
told him the situation.

428
00:17:35,167 --> 00:17:37,767
Plus, we had to get it
sprayed as well.

429
00:17:37,934 --> 00:17:40,767
Luckily, no one else had
brunch plans that day either.

430
00:17:40,934 --> 00:17:42,868
Skin of our teeth,
we got it done.

431
00:17:43,033 --> 00:17:45,167
But how we got it done,
I don't know.

432
00:17:45,334 --> 00:17:47,567
The Batmobile was
as good as new.

433
00:17:49,834 --> 00:17:52,501
And nobody knew about it.
Only Anton and me.

434
00:17:52,667 --> 00:17:54,367
Well, and the lamppost.

435
00:17:55,767 --> 00:17:58,467
With the Batmobile back
in action,

436
00:17:58,634 --> 00:18:01,467
Batman wrapped filming
in January of 1989

437
00:18:01,634 --> 00:18:03,868
and headed
for the summer box office.

438
00:18:04,033 --> 00:18:06,567
If you start lining up now,
you might get in to see it

439
00:18:06,734 --> 00:18:07,767
the first couple of days.

440
00:18:07,934 --> 00:18:09,467
And while this kid felt
good about it...

441
00:18:09,634 --> 00:18:10,767
I think it's gonna be rad.

442
00:18:10,934 --> 00:18:13,467
...others had reason
to be trepidatious.

443
00:18:13,634 --> 00:18:15,400
You have to understand,
we didn't have a ton of

444
00:18:15,567 --> 00:18:18,701
superhero movies, and most
of them were not just bad.

445
00:18:21,434 --> 00:18:22,367
They were awful.

446
00:18:22,534 --> 00:18:24,267
Hey, man, I don't wanna
mess with you.

447
00:18:24,434 --> 00:18:26,367
Open the door, would you please?
I'm not feeling well.

448
00:18:26,534 --> 00:18:28,100
The stakes are about as high

449
00:18:28,267 --> 00:18:30,100
as they could be that it is

450
00:18:30,267 --> 00:18:31,400
not dumb.

451
00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:34,501
I can definitely
remember going to see it

452
00:18:34,667 --> 00:18:36,167
with my family,

453
00:18:36,334 --> 00:18:39,200
and there's that line where
Batman and Vici Vale

454
00:18:39,367 --> 00:18:42,367
come out of the museum,
and Batman says--

455
00:18:42,534 --> 00:18:43,467
- "Get the car."
- And she says,

456
00:18:43,634 --> 00:18:44,467
"Which one?"

457
00:18:44,634 --> 00:18:45,767
And then...

458
00:18:48,667 --> 00:18:51,267
...and the whole audience
burst into applause.

459
00:18:53,934 --> 00:18:56,367
And it can all be
attributed to the sure-handed

460
00:18:56,534 --> 00:18:59,868
talent of the now successful
veteran production designer,

461
00:19:00,100 --> 00:19:01,167
Julian Cal--

462
00:19:01,334 --> 00:19:02,601
That was something
I didn't even realize

463
00:19:02,767 --> 00:19:04,868
I was doing at the time, em...

464
00:19:05,033 --> 00:19:06,467
And this should have been
when Julian learned

465
00:19:06,634 --> 00:19:10,767
about taking credit when things
go well on the job.

466
00:19:10,934 --> 00:19:14,300
The 1989 Batmobile
was an instant classic.

467
00:19:14,467 --> 00:19:16,167
And while there have been many
different versions

468
00:19:16,334 --> 00:19:17,667
in the years since...

469
00:19:17,834 --> 00:19:19,801
They're each different
approaches to executing

470
00:19:19,968 --> 00:19:22,567
an absurd comic book
in the real world.

471
00:19:22,734 --> 00:19:24,567
Some, a little more
absurd than others.

472
00:19:24,734 --> 00:19:26,000
Chicks dig the car.

473
00:19:26,167 --> 00:19:28,501
This is why Superman
works alone.

474
00:19:28,667 --> 00:19:30,367
None have quite
captured the magic

475
00:19:30,534 --> 00:19:32,467
of that mythical
summer of the bat.

476
00:19:32,634 --> 00:19:34,767
I was proud of it, and--
and all my team were

477
00:19:34,934 --> 00:19:36,267
very proud of it.

478
00:19:36,434 --> 00:19:37,868
Never got to drive it.

479
00:19:38,033 --> 00:19:39,367
Shame.

480
00:19:39,534 --> 00:19:41,901
There's people of a certain age,
who when they went to see it,

481
00:19:42,067 --> 00:19:43,601
thought it was the best
thing they'd ever seen,

482
00:19:43,767 --> 00:19:45,067
now, they're 40,

483
00:19:45,234 --> 00:19:48,567
and they look back with that
movie with a lot of nostalgia.

484
00:19:48,734 --> 00:19:50,801
And while you can
never truly go back--

485
00:19:50,968 --> 00:19:52,267
And here's
our exclusive first look

486
00:19:52,434 --> 00:19:54,300
at the $17 Batmobile.

487
00:19:54,467 --> 00:19:56,567
Yeah, that hasn't stopped
some from trying.

488
00:19:58,767 --> 00:20:00,100
Jumping into the Batmobile...

489
00:20:00,267 --> 00:20:01,100
Oh.

490
00:20:01,267 --> 00:20:03,501
Oh, OK, it-- gently

491
00:20:03,667 --> 00:20:06,100
easing into the Batmobile...

492
00:20:08,567 --> 00:20:10,767
is like jumping into the pages
of a comic book

493
00:20:10,934 --> 00:20:13,801
with nothing but open road
and crime to fight ahead of you.

494
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:17,067
Because it's more than a car.

495
00:20:18,501 --> 00:20:22,100
It's every bit a crime-fighting
hero itself, worthy of sharing

496
00:20:22,267 --> 00:20:25,300
the screen with arguably
the most iconic superhero

497
00:20:25,467 --> 00:20:26,601
of all time.

498
00:20:26,767 --> 00:20:27,801
I'm Batman.

499
00:20:38,734 --> 00:20:40,067
I kill you!