Batmobile

The Batmobile is the fictional personal automobile of comic book superhero Batman. The car has followed the evolution of the character from comic books to television to films.

Related Topics:
Automobile - Comic book - Superhero - Batman

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The standard features of the vehicle include a chassis with heavy armor plating and a high performance engine, sometimes with rocket boosts for increased speed, special devices to improve maneuverability, and mounted weapons to disable vehicles and remove obstacles. In addition, the vehicle typically carries a computer that is remotely linked to the Batcave's main computer, a remote control function, a field forensic kit and a personal small helicopter held in the trunk called a whirlybat.

Related Topics:
Weapon - Computer - Batcave - Forensic - Helicopter

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The Batmobile is also frequently referred to as being powered by nuclear generation of electricity, both by Robin in a launch checklist from the 1966 television show, ("Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed!") and by the Penguin in Batman Returns, where one of his schemes to kill Batman is to turn the Batmobile into "an H-bomb on wheels."

Related Topics:
1966 - Television show

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Originally in the comic books, Batman simply drove a simple red automobile with nothing special in its functions. The car's design gradually evolved, beginning with a bat hood ornament which became much larger while the car's paint job became black.

Related Topics:
Comic books - Hood ornament

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Eventually, the predominant designs that would remain the norm included being large, dark colored and often having large tailfins that are scalloped to resemble a bat's wings.

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Although vehicles for the Batman films have been custom built for the purpose, perhaps the most famous Batmobile, the one from the 1960s live action television show, began life as a concept car called the Lincoln Futura, built nearly a decade earlier. Famed customizer George Barris redesigned it in three weeks for the series, in 1966. He gave the car a makeover with black paint and bat-themed trim, and then built several more identical vehicles as needed for filming. The series was a hit, and the Futura/Batmobile passed immediately into popular culture history. Barris has retained ownership of the original car, and at least one of the replicas survives at the Volo Auto Museum in Illinois.

Related Topics:
1960s live action television show - Concept car - Lincoln Futura - George Barris - Volo Auto Museum - Illinois

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Later versions of the famed Batmobile would be built off the stretched-out platforms of other cars, such as the Chevrolet Corvette and Buick Riviera. This style was utilized in the two Batman films directed by Tim Burton. This long, sleek design was later adapted for ', wherein the vehicle was a long, low machine inspired by art deco design style of the film series. As the 1990s Batman films were handed over to director Joel Schumacher, the design for the Batmobile climbed further into implausibility, as decorative lighting was added to the front and the wing-shaped fins reached further into the air. Batman Forever was originally supposed to have a Batmobile designed by none other than H. R. Giger, but Giger backed out of the project when Warner Brothers rejected his design.

Related Topics:
Chevrolet Corvette - Buick Riviera - Tim Burton - Art deco - 1990 - Joel Schumacher - Batman Forever - H. R. Giger

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The Batmobile depicted in the 2005 film Batman Begins, owes more to the tank-like vehicle from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns than to the sleek automobiles seen in previous incarnations. The film's production designer described the machine as being a cross between a Lamborghini and a Hummer. In that film, Bruce Wayne modifies a military vehicle known as "the tumbler," and it is never referred to in the film as a "batmobile." Six individual Batmobiles were built for filming in the movie, each with a special purpose to meet the various stunt needs of the film: two regular, full-size driving Batmobiles were built for exterior shots, one full-size model with hydraulics for the "jump" sequences, one full-size functional vehicle with a real jet engine attatched to the back, one electrically-powered car used for interiors, and one six-foot miniature used for when the car is airborne.

Related Topics:
2005 - Batman Begins - Frank Miller - The Dark Knight Returns - Production designer - Lamborghini - Hummer - Bruce Wayne

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A similar tank-like vehicle appears in the 2004 animated series The Batman, which was in development at the same time as the 2005 film, though that series does not follow the continuity of Batman Begins.

Related Topics:
2004 - The Batman

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