For those of us entranced by the series in Southsea, UK (myself aged 6), every
episode of Batman was prefaced by a short film of Batman and Robin
standing in front of some curtains, talking directly to camera about the
perils of thinking Batman could fly, and not jumping off of roofs in an
effort to emulate Batman.
The only photos of that safety film shoot are captured in card 27 of the Bat Laffs set of photo cards of the Batman TV series, and card 41 from the Belgium Monty Gum set, both shown below.
What happened to that intro film? Does it still exist?
The only photos of that safety film shoot are captured in card 27 of the Bat Laffs set of photo cards of the Batman TV series, and card 41 from the Belgium Monty Gum set, both shown below.
What happened to that intro film? Does it still exist?
[Update] As far as I can recall, the short announcement started to appear around the time that the children's education programme HOW debuted on Southern Television on 10th November 1966, some four months after the Batman show premiered on our local ITV region in July 1966.
The blog http://tothebatpoles.blogspot.com/2011/10/second-season.html contains the following explanation to the short intro being made.
The blog http://tothebatpoles.blogspot.com/2011/10/second-season.html contains the following explanation to the short intro being made.
With the release of the feature film and the series now airing overseas,
a new problem besides sagging ratings arose, as Executive Producer
William Dozier recalled, 'In England, kids started jumping out of
windows; they thought Batman could fly. They thought the cape was wings.
We had to do a special lead-in to the show, with an interview with
Batman saying, "Boys and girls, I do not fly. I can't fly any better
than you can. Don't think I can and don't think you can. And don't take
chances by trying to jump off the roof." They were doing it, but never
in this country. Thank heaven it never started in this country.'
Found among William Dozier's files, was the following note from the executive in charge of Fox's overseas operations. It included the actual intro aired in England:
Found among William Dozier's files, was the following note from the executive in charge of Fox's overseas operations. It included the actual intro aired in England:
TIGHT TWO SHOTInto camera, seriouslyBATMAN Robin and I want all you youngsters to understand we have no wings, and no superhuman powers, and we can not fly.ROBIN And listen, kids, if either of us tried to fly, or jump off a high place, we would be badly hurt. So would you so for gosh sakes, don?t ever try it. Holy broken bones!
And then Robin punched one fist into the other gloved hand, in time-honored fashion.
Does anyone else remember this?
Does anyone else remember this?
Yup, I remember it very well, but I probably didn't know the reason for it at the time. I wonder if it'll be included in the Batman DVD set which is due to be released. (In fact, it may even be released by now, not sure.)
ReplyDeleteYes - will be interesting to see if it turns up on the DVD/blu-ray set in November. If it was only shown in England, copies may be in the hands of the regional ITV broadcasters who tacked it on before the program proper
DeleteI remember jumping off the third step of the house stairs trying to get my plastic cape to flow behind me. Don't think the safety film was aimed at mild mannered young Batman fans like myself. Holy stair jump Batman!
ReplyDeleteYes - I remember jumping from the third step of the staircase too.....the 3rd step was "pushing the envelope" when you're six years old!
Deleteit never featured in the dvd box set...but i remember it well
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, davey. I was disappointed that the safety film did not show up on the blu-ray box set. I bet it is an a UK ITV regional library somewhere - perhaps in more than one location. I read recently that some of the lost early McCloud episodes - prior to being part of the 1970s Mystery Movie cycle - turned up in a regional ITV library, so I still hold out hope that it may turn up.
Delete