Robin, the Boy Wonder Costume Prop: A blog about the Robin costume that was used in Batman Forever.
Robin is a fictional character, a comic book superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics
Robin, the Boy Wonder Costume Prop: A blog about the Robin costume that was used in Batman Forever.
A question that has come up several times since the release of Batman Forever is: “What happened to Robin’s costume?”
Robin’s costume was created by adding a few pieces to an existing jumpsuit. The fabric on the chest was taken from a red Superman shirt and sewn onto the front of the black jumpsuit. The sleeves were cut off and red sleeves from another shirt were added to make it look like a short sleeve shirt. The “R” symbol was created as a separate piece and also sewn onto the chest. Long black boots were worn over the legs of the jumpsuit, which were cut off at mid-calf. The cape was attached at shoulder level and large yellow rubber gloves completed the outfit. Robin’s black domino mask was made of thin PVC plastic.
This is a blog about the Robin costume that was used in Batman Forever. It is not a full replica or restoration, but it uses many of the original pieces.
The history of this costume is a little murky. I have found 4 different versions of the “Boy Wonder” suit online. One site in particular, says that they have the only authentic version, and that the one I have here is a fake. This is completely false.
There are 2 original movie costumes: one kept by Warner Brothers and another owned by Jim Carrey. There’s also an original model kit which was produced by Applause (now owned by Diamond Select Toys). And finally, there’s this one: purchased from Premiere Props in 2000 for $70,000 and now owned by Stephen Lane of http://www.westcoastcustoms.com/. There were 5 such suits made for use in the film, all with slightly different features such as material type and stitching patterns (see comparison pics below). This particular suit has been seen at Comic Con events over the years but has never been on display anywhere else until now.
I’m not sure how many other replicas there might be out there but it seems like there are at least two more: one owned by a private
This is a blog about the Robin costume that was used in Batman Forever.
I’ve built many costumes over the years, and had always wanted to do one of the Batman suits. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen an actual screen used Batman Forever suit up close, and it’s my favorite version of Batman ever. It’s a little more “comic booky” than some of the earlier suits, but has all the great details that Burton/Nolan fans will recognize.
I decided to go with this version for several reasons. The biggest reason is that I really love this suit, and it’s my favorite Batman movie (although not my favorite Batman costume). Another reason is that it’s not as familiar to people as the Nolan trilogy suits, so I figured it would be more unique. And finally, there aren’t many screen accurate replicas out there – so I knew I’d be doing something different from what everyone else has done before.
In Batman Forever (1995) Robin, the Boy Wonder, played by Chris O’Donnell, wears a very distinctive costume. The costume was specially made for the film and it has never been used again. It is instantly recognizable to any fan of Batman.
Yet there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about this costume. In fact, I have seen it described in a number of different ways on web sites:
Robin’s costume from Batman Forever
Robin’s outfit from Batman Forever
Batman Forever Robin outfit
Chris O’Donnell’s Robin outfit from Batman Forever
Batman Forever Robin Costume
This is understandable, because no one knows exactly what to call it. If you would like to own this one-of-a-kind piece of movie history for yourself, then please continue reading below.
I am a big fan of Batman, so when I found out that the Robin costume which was worn by Chris O’Donnell in Batman Forever was going to be up on auction I had to check it out. This is definitely a neat item that any hardcore Batman fan would want to own.
This is one of the biggest events being held yet by Profiles in History, who are the world’s largest auctioneer and dealer of original Hollywood memorabilia. It will take place at Sotheby’s located in Beverly Hills on December 15th and 16th.
You can see some pretty neat photos of the costume prop here on Profiles in History website. You can also check out their online catalog for more information about this and other items which are being auctioned off. A lot of this stuff is pretty cool so if you’re looking for a unique Christmas present for someone then you might want to give it a look.
I began my costume project by building a model of the entire Robin costume from scratch. I used Photoshop to combine and resize photos of the actual Robin costume, then printed them out to make a template. Using the template, I cut several pieces of foam board into the shapes of the various parts that make up the costume. Then I glued them all together with Elmer’s glue and allowed it to dry overnight.
The foam board model was incredibly useful for several reasons:
It gave me an idea of how big the costume would actually be when completed – much bigger than I had anticipated!
It allowed me to see where problems would arise and how they could be fixed before any money or time was spent on working with real leather.
It enabled me to make adjustments to my design because it was easier to cut pieces off a piece of foam board than a piece of leather!
I had many templates for each part of the costume, which would be needed in order to transfer them onto leather and then cut them out properly.