Announcer: Tonight, live from the shrine auditorium in los angeles, california,
The motion picture capital of the world!
It's the 61st annual academy awards!
Wolfe: 1989 was one of the biggest years for entertainment.
Mirkin: It was a game-changer in so many ways.
Narrator: 1989, three unlikely heroes turned the old film business
Into a modern merchandising machine.
The first emerged from the shadows to create a new genre.
Thug: What are you?
Batman: I'm batman.
Wolfe: 1989's batman is the blueprint for
Everything that follows it in comic book movies.
Narrator: A teenage girl helped revive one of
The most famous animation studios in the world.
Ariel: You're not getting cold fins now, are you?
Menken: Once little mermaid took off, it just became an engine for merchandise.
Narrator: And a punk kid from america's crud-bucket
Was poised to become a global phenomenon.
Bart: Thanks man.
Brooks: It had the heat of a flash in the pan, and it wasn't a flash in the pan.
Narrator: In 1989, studios began to realize,
A movie's performance at the box office was just its first act.
Uslan: What these are, are actually global branded franchises.
The impact that they had would ultimately change the nature of hollywood and the studios.
(theme music plays).
Reporter: Ok marvel's the black panther is on track to pull in
$194 million just this weekend.
Reporter: Another record breaking weekend, incredibles 2 out performed
Even the outsized expectations.
Reporter: Avengers: Infinity war is sweeping movie theaters.
Reporter: This is 640 million worldwide, it's like mind-boggling.
Narrator: Today, movies and tv shows are merchandising machines.
In recent years most of the top grossing films have been sequels or franchises.
But in 1988, the average cineplex had far fewer familiar characters.
Rain man was number one in theatres,
But no one turned it into a video game or a theme park ride.
That all changed in 89, when hollywood took three big risks that shifted the marketplace,
Including a producer's gamble on some hollywood kryptonite...
Uslan: On October 3rd 1979, me and my new partner ben melniker bought the rights to
Batman from dc comics.
I put the rights to batman in my back pocket, come out to la,
And am turned down by every single studio in hollywood.
The head of production from columbia pictures said
'batman will never be successful as a movie,
Because our movie annie didn't do well.'
I said 'what does that have to do with batman?'
And he says 'oh come on michael, they're both out of the funny pages.'
So ben and I met a bright young guy named peter guber and I did
The whole pitch to peter of the dark and serious batman and he said, 'I get it.'
Guber: At that time making a movie about batman was not exactly
What the center of gravity was in the movie business,
And we began developing it, for years, years!
Nobody really believed in the project, until tim burton became interested in the
Project, and he was the flavor of the month.
Uslan: Peter said 'michael, there is a guy we want you to meet.'
So the studio then set up a screening for me of pee wee's big adventure,
And I saw that movie and I said
'I've never seen seen a more creative marriage of direction and art direction in my life.'
And I was sure this was it.
Narrator: But a great director still needs a great cast.
Today you can get a master thespian to be magneto.
But back then, a big star playing a comic book character seemed unheard of.
Guber: And what tim burton understood is movies are about villains.
And this case the idea villain was a small part, it was only to be three weeks,
A little less than three weeks, and he wanted to get jack nicholson.
Jack read the script, jack said 'ok, make my deal and I'll do the picture.'
That changed a lot of thinking.
Jack nicholson was an academy award winning, super-star actor.
For him to take on this role and give it a gravitas, it was something new.
And I remember being out of the studio, way over schedule, and nicholson was screaming,
'we're here now five and a half weeks and I'm missing my laker's game!
I don't want to put this make-up on anymore!
It just takes forever to put this makeup on!'
He had this incredible smile wiped onto his face, the joker smile, and he was pissed...
But he had a smile on his face, and I started laughing actually.
Narrator: And burton's choice for batman taught hollywood another lesson:
You don't have to go to muscle beach to find the next great action hero.
Wolfe: When they cast michael keaton who was, you know, famously in 'mr mom'...
Keaton: Where does mommy keep the extra diapers?
Wolfe: Fans wrote in by the thousands and asked the studio to re-cast.
Burton: People don't realize that comedy a lot of times comes from anger,
And michael's got quite an explosive side to him,
And I just felt that it was much more interesting
To go this way than a much more traditional square-jawed actor.
Wolfe: No one really thought that jack nicholson playing off of michael keaton was
Going to be this perfect potion for a success, but it was.
And that was also a signal to other actors there was actual credibility in those projects.
And that's why we have today,
There is so many really great actors who are taking on these roles.
Reporter: And now comes batman.
It may be a hit, the kind of movie that can leave a mark on popular culture...
Or it may be a bust.
Wolfe: A lot people were actually really kind of worried if tim burton could
Make something out of batman that would be dark.
So they released this teaser basically.
I think it was so hastily put out just to convince to everyone
That what he was doing was good.
It didn't even have any music on it yet.
This is dark, it's gritty, it was something that you had not seen before,
Especially jack nicholson wearing that makeup.
Nicholson: Wait till they get a load of me...
Wolfe: And that's really when the 'batmania' took off.
Smith: Suddenly the world was given permission to embrace batman because it wasn't this
Silly kids show that they'd known it to be in the past.
For some reason that appealed to us.
That logo suddenly took over the world, it's everywhere.
People are getting the bat symbol cut into their heads.
It's one of the most instantly recognizable logos on the planet, right?
Right alongside the superman shield and the crucifix for heaven's sake,
It's fantastic branding.
Uslan: I mean nobody ever heard before that posters and giant billboards,
Including in times square, would have a movie advertisement without
Using the name of the movie.
Narrator: In 1975 jaws became the model for the hollywood blockbuster.
Now batman was poised to shatter all the records and redefine the industry.
On June 23rd 1989, batman finally arrived as promised...
And so did his fans.
Peters: I never thought of a picture doing $65 or $70 million for the first week.
It was never even my comprehension...
Joker: Boo!
Reporter (over tv): That's the biggest opening in the history of american motion pictures.
Joker: Where does he get those wonderful toys?
Narrator: And at the time, it was easily the highest grossing film based on
A comic book, ever.
Even batman's theme song went to number 1.
Prince: And where, and where, is the batman?
Guber: Batman succeeded made warner brothers a fortune of money.
It became not just a young person's film, it became a critically acclaimed movie,
And that success spread its audience.
Smith: It went beyond simply like 'oh this is for comic book fans,'
And went into the mainstream.
It became an action movie that everybody had to see.
Narrator: And it would impact hollywood for decades to come.
Superhero films today still follow the batman formula.
First, give a comic book hero an edgy makeover, then hit us with non-stop action,
And plenty of comic relief.
Thor: Yes! We know each other. He's a friend from work.
Narrator: And as for marketing, even today's movie posters look familiar.
Wolfe: That movie is the blueprint for everything that follows it
In superhero and comic book movies.
Uslan: There is no marvel universe without batman 1989.
The impact that they had would ultimately change the nature of hollywood and the studios.
It's not just about the movie itself.
It is also spawning many many different revenue streams on an ongoing basis.
Guber: But it sold a lot of merchandise.
That film just happened to capture the zeitgeist,
The audience was changing, the marketing was changing.
Narrator: The movie didn't just kickstart the franchise,
Batman would become a business that dwarfed wayne enterprises:
Rides, cartoons, games, you could even eat batman for breakfast.
Batman was just the beginning in what was to become a turning point
In the business of hollywood.
Hot on its heels two fresh faces were angling for a piece of the action.
Bart: Eat my shorts! Butt-man!
Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh- nuh-nuh-nuh! Butt-man!
Narrator: Today, the very word disney is synonymous with fun for the whole family.
And its kingdom is so vast,
It's hard to remember that time in the 80's when disney animation was floundering.
Wolfe: Nothing much had been happening.
Disney himself had died and there was no understanding of like
What the animation team was supposed to be doing.
In interviews even the head of disney was saying they just had an animation team
Because, you know, they were supposed to.
A lot of people were very worried about whether or not disney would ever
Make a good animated film again.
Narrator: With 1988's who framed roger rabbit, they finally had a new hit,
But even roger had some disturbing scenes that were anything but g-rated.
So how would disney connect with its core audience?
A journey under the sea.
Wolfe: Disney saw that there was a possibility to do something that would
Bring back the lighter side.
They really wanted to get those younger audiences back and get them singing,
And that's something that was very different was the fact that before the little mermaid
We weren't having like movie musicals, those were not regular.
But they hired the writers and songwriters of little shop of horrors,
And it was a huge, huge hit on broadway because it melded
Pop and also classic broadway sensibilities,
And that's what they wanted to bring into the little mermaid,
Was songs that people would leave the theatre singing.
Menken: Roy disney, roy of course junior, his big agenda was
'I want a return to the classic fairy tales, the appeal to family audiences,'
And if you looked at the old classics,
They were of a style that was very much influenced by broadway of the time.
♪ I've got no strings ♪
♪ to hold me down ♪
♪ to make me fret ♪
♪ or make me frown ♪
Menken: We were both a return to very traditional musicals, but with this twist.
Back then, coming from new york theatre you are also coming from a culture that
Was very influenced by gay culture,
Very influenced by john waters and divine,
And those little elements were threaded in in a very quiet way.
I mean divine was a little bit of an influence on ursula.
No one would ever know that unless you would have told them.
Ursula: The solution to your problem is simple.
Menken: It was that smart, hip quality that was a part of a new york theatre
That had found a new birth in disney animation.
As we began working on that, we said 'this is working, and it feels great.'
Narrator: Fairy tale fantasy with the emotion of modern musicals gave disney
A new recipe for success that included a story makeover.
Wolfe: There's a whole structure that they infused
And that is borrowed from constantly now,
And you have the lead character who is explaining
Why they're different, and then after that you meet their sidekicks.
And their sidekicks are always going to be, you know, the comic relief.
I mean, look at frozen.
Frozen does not exist without the little mermaid, it's an evolution.
Narrator: And the 200 million the little mermaid hauled in at the box office
Clearly indicated that people of all ages were falling for ariel.
Smith: I was a sucker for little mermaid.
1989 I'm 19, and I was here in new jersey and I wanted to be there, anyplace else.
So you know, when she's singing...
♪ part of that world ♪
Smith: You know, I'm in the audience bawling because I'm like,
'yeah I want to be a part of something!'
Wolfe: The little mermaid signaled that disney animation was going to be here to stay.
It was a juggernaut.
Narrator: So was the marketing of these films.
More than 100 different little mermaid products are sold on the disney site today.
Menken: Once little mermaid took off, it was just this progression that you could
Feel that it was invigorating everything.
Number one it became obviously an engine for the parks and for merchandise,
Little mermaid was just the beginning, that engine really exploded,
You know with beauty and then with aladdin and then with the lion king.
Narrator: The disney animation renaissance was in full swing,
And everyone was taking notice, even the next big thing.
♪ under the sea under the sea ♪
Mirkin: You know I took 'under the sea' thing where homer does basically
The same song as in the disney thing and instead of dancing
With the animals under the sea, he starts to eat them.
Narrator: The simpsons.
Whether you thought they symbolized america,
Or the decline of western civilization,
They were about to become the biggest stars on the planet.
Homer: Doh!
Narrator: If you were channel surfing on the night of December 17th 1989,
You had a few options.
The seahawks were playing the raiders, there was murder she wrote of course,
Or maybe you happened upon a 10-year-old...
Getting a tattoo.
Who knew this was going to be the biggest thing in entertainment since,
Well, there was really nothing to compare it to.
Man (over tv): The 60s had the cleavers, the 70's had the bradys,
The 80s had the huxtables...
Now introducing a television family you can finally believe in...
-Who are those people?
Brooks: At that time the fox network was shaky financially,
There hadn't been an animated show on primetime television for 25 years.
So it was an act of courage on the part of fox.
Wolfe: If you remember back then it was really kind of a syndicated tv network,
And this was original content that they were producing,
That and married with children, that were really breaking the boundaries of entertainment.
Fox was really trying to make its identity being
'we're not the other networks, we are offering something completely different.'
The simpsons debuted in December of 1989 with a christmas special.
Flanders: Hey! Simpson!
Homer: What is it flanders?
Flanders: Oh uh, do you think this looks ok?
Bart: Neat-o! Homer: It's too bright.
Narrator: The ratings were unusually high for the special,
And fox greenlit the series.
That year the simpsons christmas special was nominated for an emmy,
But it lost out...
To another episode of the simpsons.
Wolfe: They were in so many ways, offering the things that americans
Really wanted to see, but they didn't know that they wanted to see.
Mirkin: You were just sick of these sitcoms being so happy and sweet,
And pushing this (bleep) line that your problems can be solved in 24 minutes.
And the idea of showing a family as it really was,
Full of arguments, full of darkness.
Lisa: The sad truth is, all families are like us.
Mirkin: And so many people said 'yes, that's really what we are feeling!'
Wolfe: It caught a cultural zeitgeist of humor.
Brooks: Oh there's no way to explain it, we caught something.
And at the beginning bart hit as a huge star
As being like an almost out of control kid.
Bart: Uh oh!
Narrator: And like principal skinner, not everyone was on board with bart's antics.
Reporter (over tv): The most popular bart shirt is causing controversy,
Some school officials don't like bart's attitude.
Wolfe: It was such a panic for teachers,
We got letters sent home to our parents that encouraged them to
Not let us watch the show because it encouraged a certain kind of disobedience.
Mirkin: Teachers were very upset, the president was upset...
Bush: We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the american family to make
American families a lot more like the waltons and a lot less like the simpsons!
Homer: Huh?
Bart: Hey! We're just like the waltons.
We're praying for the end to the depression too.
Mirkin: It's so funny that when you try and suppress something,
It only makes them more popular,
So there really is an advantage to people getting outraged to something.
Reporter (over tv): For now bart shirts and keychains and pins are popular.
Some people would like bart simpson to fade like any other fad.
Narrator: Needless to say, it was hardly a fad.
Now in its 30th season, the simpsons entire franchise is worth a
Figure too big for homer to comprehend.
Brooks: It had the heat of a flash in the pan,
And it wasn't a flash in the pan,
And that's the weird thing about it.
♪ the simpsons ♪
Mirkin: I mean we've been incredibly fortunate to be this successful and just be
On this long that everyone gets exposed to it, and we get new fans all the time.
It's pretty frightening the amount of people that come up and talk to me about the show
That weren't even born when I started.
Wolfe: The simpsons changed the tv landscape in the way that made animation acceptable
To adults, it made it okay to have kind of cruder jokes with animation.
Without the simpsons you would not have south park.
Cartman: You need to stop being such a (bleep) and stand up to your mother!
Wolfe: You would not have the family guy.
Peter: We act like we didn't take a lot from the simpsons,
But we took a lot from the simpsons.
Mirkin: You see the influence of the simpsons in humor everywhere.
That kind of cynicism mixed with sweetness in almost every modern show.
Narrator: Hollywood's takeaway was clear,
Whether it was a billionaire in a batmobile,
Or a wise-ass on a skateboard,
These were more than just creative influences.
They were huge financial opportunities.
Wolfe: Batman and bart simpson together, I think,
Was the ultimate marketing opportunity.
Its appealed to a lot if the same audiences,
People who were so excited that there was like a grittier superhero movie
And they were so excited that there was a grittier animated show,
I mean something that could appeal to adults.
Narrator: They were brands that could extend far beyond film and television,
And reach every inch of the globe.
Brooks: There are a lot of countries where the show is as popular as it is here,
More popular.
(speaking foreign languages).
Uslan: What these are are actually global branded franchises.
It's not just about the movie itself.
It spawns sequels and it spawns tv series.
It's the animation, it's the video games,
It is the publishing, it is the theme parks.
Narrator: 30 years ago the studios expanded their playbook.
Just getting eyeballs wasn't enough, so they
Found a way to encompass every aspect of our lives.
Smith: You gotta remember this is a business.
It's not about making you a better human being.
If you find nourishment in a movie, fantastic!
Good for you.
They don't give a (bleep).
That's not their aim, they got what they wanted outta you, cha-ching!
Narrator: Hollywood's golden age may have been in the 30's,
But the town struck a new kind of gold in 1989.
Guber: It's called show business, it's not called show show,
And when anybody in film business tells you
They're not interested in money you wanted to get on your horse or in your car
And run as fast away from them as possible because
They're not recognizing that it's an economic enterprise.
And the idea that batman succeeded made warner brothers a fortune of money, a fortune.
The studios kept looking for that pot of gold,
And now they have brought it to an art form
Because they have exploited those characters ad infinitum.
There's nothing wrong with that, as long as it's properly gained,
That's the way it works.
Captioned by cotter captioning services.