Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Kids Colonel Meal toys from KFC

Sad to say the kids toys they gave away for Batman & Robin are not as cool as the Glass mugs they did at McDonalds for Batman Forever.

For the 1997 movie KFC had the fast food license (in the UK anyway) and offered a Kids Colonel Meal that had 1 of 4 tie-in toys depending on which week you bought the meal.

Weirdly only two are connected to the film - an inflatable bat symbol and a puzzle cube featuring some awesome artwork of the main characters.

The other two are a transforming batmobile and a squirting Mr Freeze statue based on the animated series designs. 

Not sure why they did this - one commenter on the video says that the animated ones were given away by Taco Bell in the US a year earlier and both companies have the same owner so maybe they just wanted to get rid of some extra stock. Who knows?

Podcast: Episode 11 - Batman Begins commentary

Well, we did audio commentaries for the two Schumacher Batman films so it made sense to keep going and do one for 2005's Batman Begins - a film that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Both Drew are a little muted on our love for this film. Lots of complicated feelings. As much as we respect Christopher Nolan - we both find his movies a little robotic and cold at times.

One interesting thing I've never really talked about is how I actually got to go to the set of this film as an extra (sadly I didn't get in front of the camera) but I did get to have a good look at the sets contained inside Cardington Hangars. To hear more about this and other topics, go listen.

If you don't want to have youtube open while you watch, here's a link to the commentary as an mp3.

Batman & Robin Merchandise Review - Frostbite Batman & Robin figures from McFarlane

As McFarlane Toys begins it's winding down making DC action figures (they will lose the licence in 2026 as it moves back to Mattel) it's not surprising they want to squeeze out some quick easy ones to make a little extra cash. Repaints of existing figures, re-uses of bits and pieces of existing figures. 

It seems like a no-brainer to make an ice theme version of Batman & Robin - all they have to do is cast the same molds in a different sort of plastic. Initially I thought this was something they were only for the B&R movie line but it turns out there are lots of these "Frostbite editions" for their other comic book based Batman figures too.

Of the two, I really wanted to get the Robin figure as it sort of looks like the bit in the movie where he gets frozen. Sure the earlier figures had some clip on ice pieces which were a fun addition but I tend not to put those on him when he's in my cabinet.

As I say in the video these figures remind me of the old Star Wars: Power of the Force line from the 90s where they made translucent figures of Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yoda to make them look like force ghosts. Turns out these aren't quite as see through - there's a layer of "frosting" that's been added to the figure - which I guess is necessary as the internal workings are a little more on display than those earlier Star Wars figures.

I don't think these are necessarily an essential purchase but I'll take all the variations that McFarlane want to throw out.

Magazine article: Cinefex #71 part 3

 Here's the 3rd and final part of Cinefex's coverage.

Magazine article: Cinefex #71 part 2

Here's part 2 of Cinefex's coverage.

Magazine article: Cinefex #71 part 1

Been a while since I posted any magazine scans but here's Cinefex magazine's coverage of Batman & Robin. Enjoy!

Podcast: Episode 8 - Batman & Robin was a SHOCK to leads Chris O'Donnell & Alicia Silverstone (Entertainment Weekly)

A pretty interesting article came out from Entertainment Weekly (link here) recently in which Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone, while promoting their new projects, looked back at the making and immediate aftermath of Batman & Robin.

Both are pretty honest about their experiences and the film's shortcomings. Silverstone's comments are more to do with the filming and getting in to the costumes. Both of which sound bewildering.

Chris O'Donnell's are more about the critical drubbing the film received. I've got to say as an actor it must be tough when a film is critically panned but you still have to go out and promote it like it's the best thing ever. O'Donnell sounds like he handled it well and has come to accept the film was still "fun to be a part of". I guess he ultimately found his feet in the NCIS: LA TV show and doesn't have to worry about past failures,

But it's sad to hear him say that Joel "was so heartbroken and kind of bummed out about it".

In this podcast episode Drew Griffin goes through the article (and comments) and gives us his thoughts on it all.