After being constrained by the responsibilities of delivering a big budget blockbuster with 1989’s “Batman,” Tim Burton let his freak flag fly for its follow-up, “Batman Returns.” The director had proven he could give Warner Bros.
what it wanted with his first movie based on the Dark Knight, and returned to helm the sequel on the proviso that he could basically do whatever he wanted.
Which, in practice, meant a total rewrite of the script, a lot more of Burton’s expressionist aesthetic, and a horror-tinged tone that was perhaps best encapsulated in Danny DeVito’s grotesque version of The Penguin.Burton and DeVito’s take on the legendary Batman villain was a deformed figure who inexplicably spewed black bile from his mouth at various points throughout the film, ultimately hatching a plot to drown all the firstborn sons of Gotham.
No wonder Mcdonald’s was upset.DeVito, however, had a ball playing Oswald Cobblepot,…
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