Today, we see how Tim Burton’s Batman had New York Mayor Ed Koch be the Mayor of Gotham City for…reasons
This is “My Name It is Nothin’,” a look at when movies and TV shows feature celebrities, characters and/or famous people without featuring the actual celebrity/famous people. You know, changing the names so that you can tell the story without legal issues.
Tim Burton’s Batman had a fascinating vision of Gotham City, designed by the late Anton Furst, who won an Academy Award for Best Art Design for the distinctive look of Gotham City (and the Batmobile).
However, for how distinctive Gotham City was, it still maintained a New York City vibe to it, and that definitely went to Gotham City Mayor Borg, played by Lee Wallace, who was clearly meant to be then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch…
Wallace played Borg so much like Koch that it even fooled some reviewers into thinking that it WAS Koch in the movie! The Hollywood Reporter specifically pointed out in its review that Koch made an amusing unbilled cameo in the film!
Borg was not in the original script for the film, and he is not a comic book character, so obviously someone along the line though, “Hey, let’s have the Mayor be Ed Koch!” and it just sort of happened. Weird, right?
If anyone else has a suggestion for a future My Name It Ain’t Nuthin’, drop me a line at brian@poprefs.com!
The major of the fairy town in the UK cartoon “Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom” is very clearly meant to be Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, and some time later Prime Minster of the UK.
And then there’s the Koch in all but name in Shortbus