Remember the days of fighting with your siblings? Usually it was over something like who got to hold the plastic baggie of Honey Nut Cheerios on a day trip, or who’s Happy Meal toy was “cooler”.
Batman and Dracula aren’t so different.
They clash in the Vampire Trilogy, star in The Batman vs. Dracula animated movie, and even had an unauthorized bout in the Phillippines during the 1960s. All of this because, in a way, they’re siblings as well. And they’ve been at each other’s jugulars since day one.
The fact that Bob Kane and Bill Finger were partly inspired by Bela Lugosi’s Dracula is generally well-known. From Les Daniels’ book Batman: The Complete History:
“There has always been a subliminal association between vampires and Batman; this was a hero who was designed to frighten his foes, and Bob Kane admitted that one of his inspirations was Bela Lugosi’s performance in the 1931 movie Dracula.“
Though the “subliminal association” between the two characters is fairly self-evident, Batman’s physical design (mostly due to Bill Finger’s input) was inspired by Zorro, The Phantom, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous flying machine, and likely the vampire himself (they both have pretty badass capes).
That said, there’s one little tid-bit that often slips by unnoticed when discussing Drac’s influence on the Caped Crusader, and it’s right in the opening titles of the 1931 Universal film. From the ominous opening bars of “Swan Lake”, Batman stares right at you. Check it out:
Switch out the words “Dracula” with “The Batman” and the opening titles could pass for the opening of a 1940s DC film serial.
While the white-eyed bat here doesn’t appear to have ever been “officially” credited as an influence on Batman’s design, Kane and Finger probably walked out of the marquee-lit cinema with the image burned into their respective brains.
So with “Swan Lake”, does this mean Tchaikovsky was the first to compose a Batman theme song? Well…no…. But, like me, have fun pondering the question for far too long.
Watch your movies. Wear your movies.
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