''Alyas Batman en Robin'' () is a 1991 Filipino

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

film which spoofs the titular superheroes from

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

and Robin. It stars

Joey de Leon Jose Maria Ramos de Leon Jr. (born October 14, 1946), professionally known as Joey de Leon, is a Filipino comedian, actor, television presenter and songwriter. He hosts the noontime variety show ''Eat Bulaga!'' He is a member of the comedy trio ...

as Batman,

Rene Requiestas Renato L. Requiestas (January 22, 1957 – July 24, 1993), professionally known as Rene Requiestas (), was a Filipino actor and comedian. Requiestas was one of the top Filipino comedians of the late 1980s up to the early 1990s. Requiestas was kno ...

as the Joker,

Dawn Zulueta Marie Rachel Salman Taleon-Lagdameo (born March 4, 1969), known professionally as Dawn Zulueta (), is a Filipino actress, host and commercial model. She was recognized as the only Filipino actor to win two different major accolades in acting cat ...

as Angelique Legarda, Vina Morales as Vina, de Leon's son Keempee as Robin, and

Panchito Panchito is a diminutive of the name Pancho, which in turn is a diminutive of the name Francisco. It may refer to: *Panchito Alba, stage name of Filipino actor Alfonso Tagle Sr. * Panchito Pistoles, Disney cartoon character *Francisco Velázquez ...

as the

Penguin Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

. Several songs in the film use melodies taken from other

pop songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

such as "

At the Hop "At the Hop" is a 1950s pop song written by Artie Singer, John Medora, and David White and originally released by Danny & the Juniors. The song was released in the fall of 1957 and reached number one on the US charts on January 6, 1958, bec ...

", Bird Dog and " Surfin' Safari". Originally produced by

Viva Films Viva Films is a Philippine film production company established under Viva Communications. It was founded on November 11, 1981, by Vic del Rosario Jr. History Veering away from the Sharon Cuneta- Gabby Concepcion tandem, Viva became home to qu ...

, the film was delayed from its original release in early 1989 when

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

objected to the use of their characters' names and costumes. The film was eventually produced and released on April 6, 1991, albeit by Viva Film's rival studio,

Regal Films Regal Entertainment, Inc. (formerly and more commonly known as Regal Films) is a Philippine film production company based in Pasig. It was founded by Lily Monteverde on August 19, 1962. It has produced movies of all genres; and is the oldest ...

Plot

Cast

as the Joker/Jocson *

as Angelique Legarda * Vina Morales as Vina * Keempee de Leon as Robin/Kevin *

as Tiyo Paenguin/Tiyo Paeng *Almira Muhlach as

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

*Chinkee Tan as Glasses *Cathy Mora * Ruben Rustia *Mon Alvir *

Bomber Moran Bomber Moran, born Arturo Ocampo, (October 18, 1944 - August 14, 2004) was a Filipino actor noted for his starring roles in action movies. Life and career Moran was born in Manila, Philippines on October 18, 1944. During his career he acted ...

*Joaquin Fajardo * Yoyong Martirez *Rommel Valdez *Ernie Forte *Rene Hawkins *Danny Rojo *Bert Cayanan *Rey Solo *Jun de Guia *Ariel Villasanta *Nemy Gutierez *Enciong Reyes

Production

The film was initially an unauthorized production from

, set to be released in 1989 to

capitalize Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction. The term ...

on the then in-production 1989 Batman film starring

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in '' Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in '' Beetlejuice'' ...

. Shooting lasted into June 1989, with comedians

and

alleging that

was causing delays in the final weeks of shooting due to prioritizing her other commitments. However, Warner Bros. objected to the use of their characters' names and costumes, which resulted in production being halted a day before its completion. Despite de Leon's attempt to remedy the situation by proposing to title the film ''Hello Batman... How's Robin'', the release of the film was still blocked for some time. The film was eventually produced and released by

in 1991, two years later than the intended 1989 release. A sequel was planned, launching Thursday group member and popular matinee teen idol and heartthrob Hector Chua. However, those plans did not materialize.

Parodies

The "R" on the Robin costume was intentionally stylized to resemble the logo of its eventual producer,

, a rival to the film's original production company

's ''Tiyo Paenguin'' literally means "Uncle Paenguin", which is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsdouble entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially a ...

of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

term for

fellatio Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may ...

imitates the mannerisms of Fernando Poe Jr. in some scenes of the film. Ironically, Poe had earlier produced a similar spoof film of Batman in 1965.

's character is based on

Vicky Vale Victoria Vale (usually called "Vicki" or "Vickie") is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character debuted in ' ...

, Batman's love-interest who works as a

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

in the comics and as a photojournalist in

Kim Basinger Kimila Ann Basinger ( ; born December 8, 1953) is an American actress and former fashion model. She has garnered acclaim for her work in film and television, for which she has received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Glo ...

's version of the character in the 1989 film . Similarly, her name is a combination of the names of then-

ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs, known on-air as ABS-CBN News (formerly known as ''ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs'' and later ''ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs''), is the news and current affairs production and distribution divis ...

correspondents, Angelique Lazo and

Loren Legarda Lorna Regina "Loren" Bautista Legarda (born January 28, 1960) is a Filipina politician, environmentalist, cultural worker, and former journalist who is currently serving as a Senator and the president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippine ...

. Her butler, Noli Boy, on the other hand is a spoof of another ABS-CBN anchor

Noli de Castro Manuel Leuterio de Castro Jr. (; born July 6, 1949), professionally known as Noli de Castro, is a Filipino journalist, news anchor and politician who served as the 12th vice president of the Philippines from 2004 until 2010, under President ...

, with him often quoting the latter's signature ''

Magandang Gabi, Bayan ''Magandang Gabi... Bayan'' () named after the signature open and closing lines of Noli de Castro, was a Philippine news magazine program which aired on ABS-CBN. It premiered on August 21, 1988, and ended on December 31, 2005. History The pr ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

Alyas Batman en Robin Movie Gallery
* * 1991 films 1990s musical comedy films 1990s superhero comedy films Unofficial Batman films Philippine superhero films Regal Entertainment films Robin (character) films Philippine musical comedy films 1990s Tagalog-language films Films directed by Tony Y. Reyes 1990s American films Works involved in plagiarism controversies Mockbuster films {{Philippines-film-stub