Riddle Me This - What is the Woolworths Giftset (and why is it so expensive)?

Taking a brief break from the Batman Forever Merchandise Reviews to introduce Riddle Me This - a series covering a variety of Batman Forever topics. 

First up I'm looking at the Woolworths Giftset for the Acclaim Batman Forever game - a bizarrely expensive box containing the game and other merchandise that goes for £500 - £900 on eBay! 

As a bonus I've included a capture of the Making of the Video Game VHS that was included in the set.

Batman Forever Style Guide - Part 2

Here's more of the best bits from the Style Guide. See the full guide here.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Batman vs The Riddler Cold Cast Statue from Applause

This week we're looking at the final Cold Cast Statue from Applause - Batman vs the Riddler in the Riddler's Throne Room. Unfortunately my one is slightly damaged but you get the idea. Batman raising the Riddler off his feet with one hand. This was something based on the concept art from the Style Guide which featured several illustrations of Batman grabbing Riddler by his collar (something that never happens in the film, they have no physical altercation at all).

Batman Forever Style Guide - Part 1

A while back I posted a video looking through the Batman Forever Style Guide - a massive folder that Warner Bros prepared for merchandisers to use in creating Batman Forever products.

You can see that video here.

It's a fascinating document, full of illustrations of Batman, Robin, Riddler and Two-Face as well as concept ideas. I've now scanned the complete folder and, because of the size, I've created a PDF that can be viewed or downloaded here.

Still I'd like to share some of the images on the website so I'm going to post some of the best images over the next few weeks. Here's the first batch.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Robin vs Two Face Cold Cast Statue from Applause

This week we're looking at the Robin vs Two Face Cold Cast Statue from Applause  - a resin diorama recreation of the scene from the end of the film where Robin fistfights with Two Face on top of the elevated rocks of Claw Island. As with previous Applause statues it's good but let down slightly by the poor quality control on the paint. 

Concept Art: More Costumes

Here's a couple more costumes sketches that I've found. Particularly interesting to see the weird devices that are on Two Face and Riddler's heads. Were these early version of Nygma's box?

To see my first post of costume sketches, click here.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Batman and Robin Cold Cast Statue from Applause

This week we're looking at the Batman and Robin Cold Cast Statue from Applause, a neat little resin diorama of the dynamic duo looking out over Gotham from atop a gargoyle. Apparently they made only 5000 of these.

I think this is loosely based on the deleted ending but with a few changes. Robin is crouching rather than standing alongside Batman and the gargoyle is a bizarre ram's head rather than bat shaped. 

Aside from a few quality control issues, this is probably the best thing Applause did after the 12 inch statues and highly recommended if you can find it.

Concept Art: More Locations

Here's a few more concept art paintings of the locations featured in the film. Absolutely gorgeous. It's amazing to see how closely they were followed in the film.

For the previous post of location concept art click here.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review - Soft Toy Robin Plush from Hasbro

This week we're taking a look at the Robin plush made by Hasbro. It's a weird sort of soft cuddly toy for little kids but has a rock hard plastic head. It's a pretty non-essential purchase - don't bust a gut trying to track it down. Click here to see the accompanying Batman Plush figure.

Miscellaneous content: Scanned Batman Forever script by Akiva Goldsman

A user on twitter Mindd Kidzag has scanned a copy of the Batman Forever script. Unlike the two scripts that have been available previously which dated from late 1993 and early 1994 this is new one is specifically dated 13th October 1994. 

Interestingly the part where Dick steals the Batmobile and confronts the Neon Gang has handwritten dates at the top 13th February 1995(!) - suggesting this scene was rewritten towards the end of shooting.

This is really exciting because it tallies with the shooting period of 24th September 1994 to 2nd March 1995 and gives us the closest view as to what exactly was filmed. With the Snyder Cut of Justice League having just been released a lot of Batman fans are turning their attention to the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever. In my view, this script is the best record of what that Schumacher Cut is/would be.

I'm going to be doing an in-depth video analysis of it soon but in the meantime, have a read by clicking here.

Batman Forever Press Kit - Part 4

Here is the final part of the Press Kit. Just a reminder if you want to see the whole thing as a PDF click here.