Batman Returns | 1992
The first sequel to Tim Burton’s darkly Gothic Batman improves on the original. Unfortunately, it’s completely studio-bound, taking up all seven of Warner Bros large Burbank soundstages, plus another refrigerated stage (to accommodate those real penguins) at Universal, where the underground lair of Penguin (Danny DeVito) was built.
‘Wayne Manor’ is nothing more than a matte painting (and significantly smaller than rambling Knebworth House seen in the first film). The streets of ‘Gotham City’ use the old Brownstone Street and Hennessy Street (which was built for the film of Annie) on the Warners’ backlot – where the TV series was shot back in the Sixties.
You can see the Warner soundstages on the excellent Warner Bros VIP Studio Tour, 3400 West Riverside Drive, Burbank. It’s a small-scale tour (compared with the Universal theme park), so you'll need to book ahead.
