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It's funny. I've seen the SNL Superman's 50th Anniversary special a few times. But until now, I guess I didn't realize that the bald guy was always supposed to be Lex Luthor.

Strange.

In the credits of the special itself, Robert Smigel is listed as The Brainwave, not Lex Luthor. This was just a case of misidentification.

To answer the question posed in the title of the videos, Jeffrey Katzenberg'a infamous 1991 memo details that the reason Dick Tracy was concerned as a disappointment was that they spent just as much money marketing it as they did making it, severally narrowing the profits. Meanwhile, Pretty Woman only cost a faction of the budget of Dick Tracy and ended up outgrossing Batman worldwide, which was their goal with Dick Tracy. Beatty was pissed about being singled out for this and has sat on the property all of these decades out of spite it seems.

It's always been a bit of shame to me that Cage was more interested in being an "unusual" interpretation of Superman instead of embracing a more traditional depiction. There's some great fan art out there of him looking like the spitting image of Joe Shuster's drawings. Going by the available test footage, you can see Cage being more enthusiastic over details like his longer hair length and sporting a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and the more traditional the costume started to look, the less enthused Cage becomes. He could have served the character as well as Keaton did and it would have been quite a sight to have seen those two on screen together. I'd rather picture Keaton with Cage than with Reeve.

Ever since I first saw these character designs in the Superman: The Complete History book, I marveled at how much more comparable the series could have been with the initial run of Batman: The Animated Series. I'm sure they would have gone fully with it if they were given high budgets like those episodes got. Everything was noticeably streamlined in the later seasons of Batman due to reduced budgets and Superman got no special treatment.

I have no idea how this was acquired, but here's an alternate take on the scene in Vicki's apartment using Prince's scandalous. There's a couple snippets of Basinger and Keaton that aren't in the final film.

This just might prove once and for all that Prince did an entire score for the movie. This poster hopefully can share more from this workprint. This might be more valuable than the Schumacher cut. Hope Kevin Smith doesn't get his hands on it and tote it around as The Prince Cut.

The long hair and shiny detailed musculature evoke a strong Superman Lives vibe. I wonder if it influenced the look of the Cage Superman.

Cage's long hair for the Superman costume tests was coincidental as it was during the time period when he was making Con Air. Cage briefly mentions to Burton keeping his hair length for Superman but it obviously didn't stick as later costume tests display his hair at a shorter length.

Some interesting trivia I just discovered about the 1989 Punisher is that the producers' first choice to play Frank was Christopher Lambert. I remember back in the 2000s people online would constantly remark on the physical likeness between Thomas Jane and Lambert. Jane doesn't resemble Lambert as much these days, but back when he was younger he could've passed for his clone.

I wish they would have cast Ray Wise as Frank Castle.

True. It was very much a case of all the stars aligning with the 1990 film. I haven't seen that doc yet, but I'll have to check it out sometime. The 1990 film is yet another film that, like Dick Tracy 1990, has been treated very poorly stateside. Barebones releases with goofball gimmicks like 'scratch and sniff', ect. I'd love to see what Kino/Arrow/Shout/VinegarSyndrome/Indicator could do with it. Even the old Steve Barron director's commentary from the Region B/C would be alright. At least it's something.

It is a great documentary that truly highlights all of the nuances of craftsmanship that went into making those films. They also highlight great annoyances as I am reminded of in my last rewatch where one of the producers boasts about how they responded to the criticisms of parents who thought the first film was too violent and they responded by having the Turtles use items within their grasp to use instead of their own trademark weapons. They ended up creating a worse problem as I'm sure many kids were influenced to use their yo-yo toys as Michelangelo does to take out a group of bad guys. It's a prime example how brain dead executives can be when they bow to unwarranted complaints by consumers that should just steer clear from the product.

I don't understand either why we haven't gotten new 4K editions of the films yet. I did indeed import those German Blu-rays so I could have my hands on a decent set of special features. I don't know if there's a conflict on the distribution of the films since they're owned by Warners and Paramount/Nickelodeon owns the Turtles trademark. It is weird to see Nickelodeon's name on merchandise for the original films.

Yeah, following "The Next Mutation", TMNT very much went into a dark phase, but ever since the 2003 animated series, the franchise has continued to remain relevant.

They definitely had to learn the hard way that quality is what matters the most about the franchise, not quantity. It is amazing to see how much the franchise has grown within these last 20 years. Like Batman, it's important for the owners to keep the character relevant for its audience and Turtles is just as worthy because its popularity crosses with both the kids of yesterday and today.

I think Batman 1989 was an entirely different beast altogether than that of Dick Tracy. Where one was absolutely successful on many fronts (and was the template for many years subsequently), Tracy by contrast was one of the many attempts that tried to replicate, but ultimately couldn't quite hit the mark. If Batman had a 'cooling off period', then I would say it was 1991. Where it was only the Kenner "Dark Knight" toyline, and DC Comics keeping Batman in the public consciousness (in 1990 Batman was continually brought up in relation to Dick Tracy so if some people had actually forgot about the film, the media sure wasn't going to let you forget). By 1992, Batman Returns, it's toy line, along with the premiere of BTAS, essentially cemented once and for all that the Batman IP wasn't going to phase out and go into a dormant stage like before with the Adam West show. Batman was very much here to stay. Unfortunately, Dick Tracy kinda came and went with nothing whatsoever being released, subsequent to the 1990 film, that would have kept the Tracy IP germane to the public or children's continued interest. Which kinda explains why it's almost something of a "forgotten" film and has been treated so shoddily on the DVD/Blu/4K physical media market.

It's frustrating seeing much lesser films being treated better on the physical media front, but as we've discussed, I don't think it's necessarily solely due to how the film has been treated since release. Disney is one thing (not friendly towards discs these days), Beatty is another (he's keeping that grip tight), and these boutique companies have to gage where their profit margins lie when licensing movies from the studios. Especially since it's already a niche market, with Dick Tracy being even more niche.

Right, as I mentioned in my previous response, relevancy drives the success of these types of films. Everyone right now is sure learning the value of the Barbie IP with the success the movie is gaining right now. Like what happened with Batman '89, they found the right tone to approach the material that I'm sure was in doubt by many of the people involved, but it's more than paying off with it now just $100 away from making a billion dollars. This will unfortunately cause others to attempt the copy the success as I am already hearing they want Lena Dunham of all people to do a Polly Pocket movie, who I believe won't be able to hold any restraint on her brand if comedy at something that's a kids toy. Then again, they're really pushing the marketing on the latest Ninja Turtles movie on the fact that the people behind Superbad and Pineapple Express are doing this. We might get something good out of this trend like we did with Batman '89 or just pale imitations

Interesting. I would accept Landis' word on Eastwood. As yeah, a series of Dick Tracy movies with Eastwood running concurrently with the still continuing Dirty Harry films would be a bit much, and a case of casting with very much type. Still, it's interesting to think about Eastwood in the role. With his charisma, along with a (presumably) more no-nonsense, direct, gruff demeanor.

It definitely would have been a change for Eastwood, who definitely at that time was wanting to stray away from always playing the gruff anti-hero and was probably looking for something family friendly. After the 80's, he definitely decided to emphasize more on his directing and become just as iconic in that role as he did previously. I do recommend seeing him in City Heat if you'd like to see him in a Tracy-like role. It is reminiscent of Tracy because I'm sure it was filmed on the same city backlots.

Speaking of directors, one choice I wish we could get more details on is when Beatty apparently asked Martin Scorsese to direct Dick Tracy. While I do prefer the idea of Landis directing the film, I can't help but wonder how Scorsese would have approached the material I'm sure piqued his interests. It obviously wouldn't have been R-rated and I know for a while he wanted to do a kids film but couldn't find the right material until he finally came across Hugo.

Oh yes. How could I forgot about those July 4th Adam West Batman marathons FX would throw for year after year in the 1990's. I remember recording quite a few episodes to VHS during those marathons. lol Exactly right on FX, those early FX channel afternoons were great. Heck, FX introduced me to Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman show, and I'll always be grateful for that. 
 

Guess I don't recall that, but I do remember GH airing late nights on FX. I think right before "Back Chat". To which, I still associate Jeff Probst with over Survivor. haha

Exactly on Wonder Woman. I can't even recall a time it was ever put back on the air aside from today where it's part of the Heroes and Icons rerun channel. It was a big deal when those first came on DVD since they weren't seen for so long. I hope someday somebody uploads some commercial blocks from those early FX days to rejuvenate those memories watching those shows there.

That's absolutely understandable. Truth be told, I have interest in collecting The Phantom, and a modest interest in Steve Canyon, but I have to be realistic with expenditures, and especially in this economy and inflation.

Definitely get in touch with your local library on whether or not they have interlibrary loan services. They can help you find some of the rare material that's out of your price range to purchase for the moment. I frequently use the website listed below to search for certain material and send the library the listed OCLC number so they can retrieve it.

https://www.worldcat.org/

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, I can appreciate the Reb Brown movies, but I don't have nearly the nostalgia/attachment as I do the 1990 Cap film. If memory serves, I think the first time I saw the Reb Brown movies was during one of those "Marvel Movie Marathons" that the Sci Fi Channel had (prior to the Syfy spelling change) during, I think, the late 1990s.

You know, back when movies based on Marvel properties were fairly sparse, and mainly consisted of made-for-tv movies. 

Oh, yes. I spent many weekends watching those Mighty Marvel Marathons. My uncle walked in on one of those and gave me a scholarly talk about Marvel since he was big into them when he was a kid.

I wasn't privy to the "Behind the Shells" special, so the explanation/reasoning behind the exclusion of Bebop & Rocksteady was not known to me as a child. I probably theorized back then, that the reason for Tokka and Razar was to simply differentiate the films, from the toon. The 1990 film wasn't exactly a spitting image of the toon either, and I was very cognizant of this even as a young kid. Course, again, all I knew at the time, was the Fred Wolf version, but I was able to roll with the changes. Especially so with the 1990 film, due to it being such a quality adaptation, and one that is something of a miracle we got. Considering the Mirage influences being quite evident, but at the same time, the Mirage Comics being incredibly niche compared to the white hot popularity of the Fred Wolf cartoon at the time.

It definitely was an interesting situation to see the first film reflect the original Mirage comics than the cartoon and action figures which were more popular and recognizable with the kid audience that made it to global phenomenon it became. From that perspective, it makes sense why they went to direction they did. There's also a whole story about how the first cut of the first movie was leaning more towards a PG-13 rating and it was decided to scale down the violence and changes in music to make it PG. One of the most infamous cuts was how Master Tatsu was supposed to actually kill the Foot member who was trying to stop him during his tirade, and how they just simply dubbed in some "He'll be alright" to alleviate the situation.

I hope you've seen the after-mentioned documentary. It really does showcase the complexity of making those films. With the release of the upcoming Turtles movie, everyone still questions why the Turtles can't be live action as well. Seeing how much time and effort that went into the movies, it's a miracle they were actually able to pull them off. It obviously endured a lot of endurance for the actors to wear those costumes, and be correlated enough to look as good as it did. As we saw in the third film, we see how important it is to get all those elements right.

It's easy to get influenced, sure, but I can honestly say that my initial viewing of TMNT3 was disappointing. I distinctly recall not being pleased with the "in time" story line, and the experience essentially paling in comparison to the feeling I had walking out of the 1990 or the 1991 follow-up. As you mentioned, Casey returning was the highlight, but unfortunately even his return couldn't save the film for me, and my lack of enthusiasm when the end credits began rolling.

Another thing about 1993, since I'm stirring up memories, was that I do recall there being a big shift with TMNT being considered "cool" by many of the boys I knew in grade school from just the year prior. I remember being surprised by this, and then becoming very self-conscious since, for whatever reason, being a turtle fan at the grade school I attended was basically the equivalent of liking Go-Bots or whatever. This, compounded with my disappointment with TMNT3, lead to my interest in the Fred Wolf toon (which was still dominating anything TMNT related) slowly becoming something of an afterthought, as I found myself becoming more and more interested in comics, and BTAS/X-Men TAS. 

Exactly and the Turtles eventually got smothered out with the introduction later that year of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. They tried to adapt but the complexity of pulling off believability of the characters was worth more than they were willing to pay, as evident by The Next Mutation. It really was a pleasant surprise when the 2003 animated series came back and was more embracing of the original Mirage comics, which I had started to read in conjunction with it.

That makes sense. Thanks for explaining that. I've watched a few interviews with Beatty in 1990 when he was in the thick of promoting "Dick Tracy", and it's clear he's not entirely comfortable giving interviews. Though some interviewers do state that Beatty never was exactly adept in film promotion to begin with.

Right, it is possible that overexposure can cause major backlash. I would like to study more of what the audience reaction was at the time of this release versus the very positive critical reaction that gathered the most nominations for a comic based film at the time. Something that I noticed with Batman 89 growing up was that mostly everyone I knew, didn't even remember it and those who did treated it as though if it were a flash in the pan. My best friend honestly thought that the Batman film series started with Batman Returns. Some people complain about how movies are too forgettable nowadays, but it's obvious that even the most successful movies at the time get forgotten. Definitely the movie of 1990 that people won't forget is Home Alone and you're lucky if you meet someone who is not only familiar with Dick Tracy because they're fans of Madonna. I still regret that I never took up a chance of watching that and Evita back to back with the girl I knew that was a big Madonna fan, but had not seen Tracy. All that I got later on in life was my friend and his girlfriend and me watching it once really late at night.

Was Clint Eastwood's interest/involvement with potentially starring in a series of Dick Tracy films around this time period, or was this more in and around the time John Landis was involved? I seem to remember Eastwood's name being brought up in relation to being potentially considered, or that he was actually interested in the role to some extent.

There's some conflicting facts about Eastwood wanting to play Tracy. Some sources say that he seeked out Landis for the part and Landis has said that Eastwood was his first choice and had a meeting with him. Eastwood said that he wasn't interested because he was still doing Dirty Harry movies at the time and didn't feel the desire to play another cop. Apparently he later more open to doing the film City Heat with Burt Reynolds that was directed by Richard Benjamin, who was at one point slated to direct Dick Tracy. It would've been interesting to seeing him do it, but the problem with many of the choices for casting Tracy was that they had all played similar detective roles before. Landis also mentioned when he eventually had a meeting with Beatty he had to really convince him why he would be good for the part when he expressed concerns about how the audience perceived him in previous movies like Bonnie and Clyde.

Yeah, with the way that scene is edited, it really comes across like there's something missing there. Upon first hearing about a longer work print cut, I speculated that there was something that unfortunately got edited out, explaining the peculiar conclusion to the scene. 

It's just so clumsily edited as well. Where did Bug disappear to? The script makes more sense as just described as Tracy's gun getting accidentally covered while he tries to help Bug out of the cement bath. There's no reason at for him to be covered in the cement.

Exactly. I remember thinking the Rogan film would at least have one positive outcome, in by having the 1960's series released on DVD or Blu, but nothing. I also thought that the GH series might be released a year or so following the Adam West Batman finally getting an official release, but nope. Like you said, Bruce Lee's association would make this a seller immediately. The last time that the Green Hornet has received national exposure, was in the very early years of the FX channel. Which is weird to think about, and most unfortunate.

I remember the SyFy Channel of all places ran a marathon of all of the episodes to promote the movie. I believe that was its last true national exposure aside from appearing in syndication on stations like MeTV that would pair it with episodes of Batman, like what was done for FX. That was truly a great time when you could catch The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman on FX as well. I distinctly remember a Fourth of July Batman marathon on FX where they would have long blocks of certain villains and that kept me from playing with fire crackers and watching fireworks that year.

Also, at one point, The Green Hornet was aired unedited on one of the various Encore/STARZ channels. One of the first DVRs we ever got had every episode on it.

Rub it in. 
   

Yeah, it's a collection which, to be perfectly honest, I've wrestled with for a number of years as I knew it would be an undertaking to say the least. The reprints from Clover Press finally was the catalyst in being the deciding factor. However, I've been relatively lucky on Vol. 7, 8, and 9. Vol. 7 with The Mole on the cover, I got back in May (shortly after committing to the reprint bundle) for about $42. Which is a steal compared to the "buy it now" prices on the secondary market from what I can tell. Vol. 8 with Pruneface on the cover, I got for roughly $55. This past Sun, I was able to secure Vol. 9 with the Flattop cover for $40 plus shipping. Indeed, I am procedurally going down the line with these, but have been getting fairly lucky on auction listings thus far. I haven't resorted to a "buy it now" price on eBay ... yet.

Just be patient and remember that good things come to those who wait.

I remember seeing a few of the early 1st printing volumes with the more old timey covers over on EdwardRHamilton, which had some really good wholesale prices for the books, but again, I wasn't entirely convinced I wanted to undertake such a task. Guess I'm glad I waited considering the consistent format change, and larger print of the upcoming reprints.

It is a bit of a pain to keep up with all of the various re-prints. I'm also a big fan of Flash Gordon and I've collected the recent collections of the original comic strips but I'm not a fan of the matter in which they printed them like old newspapers. I had to go with reprints from Nostalgia Press that are better bigger printer and better looking.