Shark fin by Ian McLean, on Flickr
When I found *this* in my garage (in Australia) a few years ago, It took me a while to work out exactly what it was. Then I remembered: it's the interactive shark fin prop I made when Hoyts Cinema Centre, in the Sydney CBD, asked a group of "Star Trek" friends who happened to have homemade superhero costumes, to dress up and do a "Rocky Horror Picture Show"-type event for the 60s "Batman" movie revival. A quick rummage through old files told me it was early 1987!
The plan was to run a different episode of the old 1949 "Batman and Robin" serial each week, and then the 1966 "Batman" feature film. I think it ran for five weeks, and we received free entry each night and a bunch of passes for other films. We had a Terrific Trio, a Lois Lane, a Riddler, a Catwoman and a Supergirl - and sometimes a Jimmy Olsen. We wandered around with the patrons, chatting away in character, then, when the opening credits of the feature rolled, we had our Batman, Robin, Riddler and Catwoman, in turn, race through the aisles and across the stage. Lots of cheers as each actor made their entrance in the movie.
As Robin, I also ran across the screen with this "fin on a stick" just before the famous "rubber shark scene". Then it was back in my seat to inflate about ten black balloons, which I then tied off and then passed through the audience during the "Some days you can't get rid of a bomb" scene. Without a need for explicit instructions, everyone somehow knew to burst their balloon when the bomb exploded!
Such fun!
Superheroes by Ian McLean, on Flickr
The theatre intended to repeat this exercise in 1989 (with us supplying a Two-Face, Joker and Riddler), but the distribution rates for the two serials went through the roof when the Tim Burton "Batman" movie was released, and Batmania was reviewed anew.
Battalion by Ian McLean, on Flickr
Battalion by Ian McLean, on Flickr
