Was the Villain Max Schreck in Batman Returns Originally Going to be Harvey Dent?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the Movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: The villain Max Schreck in Batman Returns was originally going to be Harvey Dent and become Two-Face at the end of the film.

After the massive success of 1989’s Batman, both the film’s star, Michael Keaton, and the film’s director, Tim Burton, found themselves in rather powerful positions. Neither Keaton nor Burton had been signed for a second film before the release of the first film, and as a result, Warner Bros. had to go to extra lengths to secure them for the much-anticipated sequel. In the case of Keaton, it required a large pay increase (reportedly over $10 million!) and for Burton, he was given more control over the film’s story (while also, of course, securing a pay raise). One area of concern for Burton was the screenplay for the second film. The first film’s screenplay by Sam Hamm was well-liked but Burton felt that it needed work, and it was re-written by Jonathan Gems, Warren Skaaren and Charles McKeown during the filming of the movie. Hamm was initially brought on board for the screenplay of Batman 2 (the working title for the movie at the time), which was very much a continuation of the story of the first film, complete with Vicki Vale (who Batman proposes to in the script). Burton, however, wanted the second film to stand on its own and he brought in Daniel Waters, who had just written the dark, social satire Heathers, which Tim Burton had much admired. Waters dramatically re-wrote Hamm’s script, mostly excising everything except for the basic concept of Catwoman and Penguin being the villains of the film. Waters’ script was then re-written by Wesley Strick and that was the final film.

Due to the three writers of the film (and multiple revisions by Waters), changes obviously were made to the movie along the way. Famously, a role for Marlon Wayans as Dick Grayson was written out of the film (as noted in this old Comic Book Legends Revealed).

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Another notable change that often has been brought up is that the overarching villain of Batman Returns, the corrupt businessman Max Schreck (played by Christopher Walken), was originally going to be Harvey Dent, with the scene at the end of the film where he is killed by a power plant originally meant to only scare Dent on half of his body, thereby giving us Two-Face. Is that true?
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September 25th, 2015 | Posted in Movie Legends Revealed | 4 Comments

What Surprising Character on Friends Was Originally Going to Have a Kid?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: Originally “Friends” was going to have a season-long story where one of Ross’ girlfriends gets pregnant.

A curious challenge that long-running television series often encounter is that it is difficult continuing to give your characters forward momentum without feeling as though you are just recycling plotlines. For instance, the long-running sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” managed to stretch the seemingly simple story of the lead character meeting the mother of his kids out to nine seasons (including the final season, which took place over a single three-day weekend). One of the ways that that series handled it was to keep giving their lead character, Ted Mosby, different longterm girlfriends that could be the mother (in fact, as I detailed in an old TV Legends Revealed, a couple of them even were going to be the mother, if the show had been canceled too soon). Still, continuing to give Ted new possible mothers could certainly get repetitive after time (something even “How I Met Your Mother” co-star Jason Segel felt, leading to an interesting mocking insult of the series).

The long-running sitcom “Friends” faced a similar problem with their central romantic couple, Ross and Rachel (played by David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston). They played the “will they or won’t they?” game for the first season before getting the two together in season 2 and breaking them up in season 3. The creators of the series, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, always intended for Ross and Rachel to end up together at the end of the series. The problem was that they had no idea how long the series would run (it ended up lasting ten seasons), so they didn’t want to have them break up, get back together, break up again, get back together again, etc. So they had to come up with long-running plots that would serve to keep the pair apart until they ultimately get together in the show’s finale.

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One of those plots was Rachel’s pregnancy in Season 8 (with Ross’ baby from a one-night stand between the two). However, interestingly enough, they had a whole other pregnancy plot originally planned for Season 7 with a surprising character. Read on to find out who it was!
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September 23rd, 2015 | Posted in TV Legends Revealed | No Comments

Did Paul McCartney Acquire the Rights to the Phrase “Ob La Di, Ob La Da” in a Unique Fashion?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: Paul McCartney got the rights to the phrase “Ob La Di, Ob La Da” by paying the legal fees of a friend of his who coined the phrase.

For such a simple song, “Ob La Di, Ob La Da” (which is on the Beatles “White Album”) has a bit of a controversial history with the Beatles.

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Written by Paul McCartney, the other three Beatles were not fans of the song and actually blocked it from being released in the United States a single (John Lennon apparently loathed the song, according to studio engineer Geoff Emerick, although Lennon also is the one who came up with the idea of doing the song with a fast tempo, as McCartney was spending such a long time trying the song as a slow tune that Lennon got frustrated and showed him how the song sounded better fast).

The name of the song is courtesy of a friend of McCartney’s by the name of Jimmy Anonmuogharan Scott Emuakpor. He went by “Jimmy Scott.” Scott was Nigerian and he used the phrase often, which he said meant “life goes on” in the language of his native tribe back in Nigeria. So he would often say, “Ob la di, ob la da, life goes on, bra.”

McCartney decided to adopt the phrase into a song.

This, naturally enough, kind of irritated Scott, who even had a band that he called “The Ob La Di Ob La Da” band.
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Did Paul McCartney Have a Hidden Message in an Episode of The Simpsons?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: Paul McCartney had a hidden message in an episode of The Simpsons.

As we have noted a few times over the years, when it comes to guest stars, sometimes the producers of The Simpsons have trouble with the celebrities that they have on the show. Whether it is a problem with their dialogue (like Justin Timberlake), problems with the script (like Johnny Carson) or just general weirdness (like Michael Jackson), working with celebrities was often a pain for The Simpsons production staff. Legendary musician Paul McCartney, however, made only one notable demand when he appeared on the Season 7 episode “Lisa the Vegetarian” in 1995. The episode dealt with Lisa Simpson, the Simpsons’ eldest daughter, deciding to become a vegetarian.

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McCartney was (and still is) famous for being a vegetarian, hence the producers asking if he would guest star in the episode. His one condition was that they would not have Lisa’s vegetarianism be a one-off gag. They agreed, and Lisa has been a vegetarian ever since. Besides that small request, McCartney was game for pretty much anything that the show’s writers came up with, including a very amusing Simpsons-style twist on the all of the rumors of hidden messages in Beatles songs. Read on to learn what message McCartney and the show’s writers hid in the episode!
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September 17th, 2015 | Posted in TV Legends Revealed | No Comments

Why Were There No Spaceballs Action Figures?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the Movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: Spaceballs had a deal that involved them agreeing to do very limited licensing tie-ins with their film.

One of the most famous scenes in Mel Brooks’ Star Wars parody, Spaceballs…

was the scene where Brooks (as the Yoda parody “Yogurt”) mocks the proliferation of Star Wars merchandising by telling the other characters in the film that the real money is in merchandising!

Amazingly enough, the film Spaceballs actually did not have any notable tie-in merchandising of its own.

Why was this?
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September 16th, 2015 | Posted in Movie Legends Revealed | 4 Comments

Was Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World Designed to Have a Secret Apartment Inside for Walt Disney?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to amusement parks and whether they are true or false.

AMUSEMENT PARK URBAN LEGEND: Cinderella’s Castle was designed with a secret apartment inside for Walt Disney’s personal use.

In the an earlier edition of Amusement Park Urban Legends Revealed, I discussed an urban legend involving Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom in Florida’s Disney World. Now here’s another one!

Walt Disney had a secret apartment in Disneyland in the Main Street Firehouse. So when designs were made for Magic Kingdom in Florida, did Disney want a similar apartment built in Cinderella’s Castle?
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September 15th, 2015 | Posted in Amusement Park Legends Revealed, Grab Bag Legends | 1 Comment

Was Neil Young Sued By His Own Record Label for Not Making “Commercial” Music?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: Neil Young was sued by his own record label over not making “commercial” music.

David Geffen was one of the top music managers in Los Angeles when he found himself unable to get a record deal for one of his new clients, a young singer named Jackson Browne. His friends told him, “Why not start your own label then?” He did, they put out Jackson Browne’s first album, it was a hit and Asylum Records was born. It became a popular record label known for putting out artists that Geffen believed in, whether they were necessarily commercial or not (it was mostly the Southern California acts that he was familiar with, like Browne and Warren Zevon). In 1972, it was purchased by Warner Communications, who merged it with Elektra Records. Geffen ran the combined company until 1975, when he left to become a film executive for Warner. That did not work out, so in 1980, he formed his second record company, Geffen Records. Once again, he was known for how artist-driven the company was. He famously agreed to put out an album by John Lennon (which turned out to be Double Fantasy) sight unseen (or song unheard, I guess?). He had that much faith in his artists.

This is why it was shocking to see Geffen end up SUING one of his artists for not putting out commercial music! Read on for the details…
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Was Spock Originally Going to Have Red Skin on Star Trek?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about TV and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the TV urban legends featured so far.

TV URBAN LEGEND: Spock was originally going to have red skin on Star Trek.

Few characters in television history seem to have as much myths and rumors built around them than Star Trek’s Mr. Spock (portrayed by the late, great Leonard Nimoy, who sadly passed away earlier this year at the age of 83). There have been articles written about the myths surrounding Nimoy and Spock all the way back to the 1970s (from the Associated Press in 1978, “Lenoard Nimoy shoots down myths about him, Mr. Spock”).

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I have debunked a few Spock legends here, as well, over the years, like whether it was Spock who was originally going to be the one who kissed Uhura on the famous interracial Star Trek kiss or whether Nimoy requested for Spock to be killed off in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This is not to say that every legend about Spock over the years was false, of course. For instance, there is the story of how Spock originally was going to have red skin! Read on to find out how his actual skin color came to be!
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September 9th, 2015 | Posted in TV Legends Revealed | No Comments

Where Did the Liberty Bell in Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square Come From?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends related to amusement parks and whether they are true or false.

AMUSEMENT PARK URBAN LEGEND: The Liberty Bell in Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom is from a series of 50 replicas made of the Liberty Bell for the Bi-Centennial.

In Liberty Square in the Magic Kindom, there is a replica of the Liberty Bell…

Here’s how the story goes:

In 1976, 50 replicas were cast and molded in honor of our country’s 200th birthday. Each state would receive one and place it in a spot of their choice. However, the state of Pennsylvania had a problem. They already had the original Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Why would they want a replica? Years later, Walt Disney World realized Pennsylvania had the replica and asked if they could have it for Liberty Square. Pennsylvania agreed and on July 4th, 1989 the replica Liberty Bell was hoisted and lowered into its permanent spot inside Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom where it still sits today. Florida remains the only state with two of the 50 replica Liberty Bells.

Is that true?
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Did the Real Life Troy From Reality Bites Sue Over His Depiction in the Film?

Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the Movie urban legends featured so far.

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: The writer of Reality Bites was sued by the real life Troy Dyer over the depiction of Troy in the film.

Helen Childress’ script for Reality Bites is impressive in how well it captures a particular point in US cultural history, specifically the lives of the so-called “Generation X” (young adults during the 1990s).

However, the film, which stars Winona Ryder as a young film-maker named Lelaina trying to make a documentary about her life (and her friends’ lives) torn between two men, Michael Grates(Ben Stiller) and Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke) might have been a bit TOO true to life for one man – the “real” Troy Dyer!
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