The Single Most Important Batman Scene Ever

For over 80 years, the story of Batman has been told through comics, movies, TV shows, cartoons, video games, and books – a testament to the enduring appeal of this character and his relentless fight against crime. Among all these stories, one particular scene stands out as the most revealing, offering a deeper understanding of who Batman is and what drives him.

Our new video dives into a key scene from the movie *Batman: Mask of the Phantasm*, which was originally part of *Batman: The Animated Series*. We’ll explain how this moment is crucial to understanding the core of Batman – or is it Bruce Wayne? Watch the video to see what we mean!

Enjoyed our video about the most crucial Batman moment? Check out more of our content! We’ve got videos covering Easter eggs in the first episode of *Peacemaker*, the digital release of *Superman* and what it means for cinemas, and speculation about the villain in the next *Superman* movie. You can find even more videos on the ScreenCrush YouTube channel – subscribe so you don’t miss anything! And if you loved *Batman: The Animated Series*, you can stream the whole series on HBO Max.

’80s Foods We Wish They Still Made

Bonkers

Bonkers was a popular, chewy fruit candy throughout the 1980s, famous for its bizarre commercials. These ads featured a woman with glasses correcting common misunderstandings about the candy (like whether it was gum!) while large fruits rained down, often on her family. Despite its popularity throughout the decade, Bonkers quickly lost customers and production stopped after just a few years. Common flavors included grape, strawberry, and watermelon, which was especially clever – the candy had a green outside and a red inside, matching the fruit’s appearance.

C-3PO’s

If you grew up with the original *Star Wars* movies, you probably remember this cereal! C-3POs cereal came out with *Return of the Jedi* and was a big hit in the mid-1980s. The cereal itself wasn’t anything special – it was just a bland mix of oat, wheat, and corn shaped like connected Cheerios, and didn’t really have anything to do with *Star Wars*. But the boxes were amazing! Kids loved collecting the character masks on the back, wearing them as costumes, and often leaving the cereal to sit uneaten in cupboards for months.

Disney Pops

Mickey Mouse ice cream bars are a timeless Disney treat, available at the parks and in stores everywhere. Back in the 1980s, you could also find Disney-themed popsicles! These fruit-flavored treats came in grape, cherry, and orange, and were shaped like Mickey, Donald, or Goofy. It’s a mystery why they stopped making them, especially since people still love both Disney and popsicles! I’d love to have a grape-flavored Donald Duck popsicle right now.

Ecto Cooler

Ecto Cooler is a classic example of a movie tie-in product. This bright green, citrus-flavored drink first appeared in the late 1980s alongside the popular *Ghostbusters* cartoon. Even after the cartoon and *Ghostbusters* movies ended, Hi-C continued to make Ecto Cooler until the early 2000s. It’s made several comebacks since then, released for a limited time with new *Ghostbusters* films. The demand is so strong that when it’s available, bottles often get resold online for surprisingly high prices – sometimes dozens or even hundreds of dollars! That’s a little spooky, isn’t it?

Five Alive

If you liked citrus-flavored drinks but weren’t a fan of Hi-C Ecto Cooler, Five Alive was another option. The name came from the five different juices it contained: orange, grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, and lime. Five Alive disappeared from store shelves in the US in the 1990s, but it’s still available in Canada. If you happen to be traveling there, I’d really appreciate it if you could bring me back a carton!

Fruit Corners Fruit Bars

As a lifelong movie and snack enthusiast, I remember the early 80s being totally taken over by fruit snacks after Fruit Roll-Ups hit the scene. It felt like everyone was scrambling to make their own version of what seemed like healthy junk food for kids – seriously, it had ‘fruit’ right in the name! Having tried them all, I truly believe Fruit Corners Fruit Bars were the best. They took the Roll-Up idea and made it like a granola bar, which was genius. They launched with strawberry, cherry, grape, and orange-pineapple, and I’ve been on a quest to find something that tastes like those cherry bars ever since. Honestly, the That’s It Apple and Cherry bars you can find now are the closest I’ve come to recapturing that childhood flavor!

Fruit Wrinkles

Fruit Wrinkles were a fruit snack similar to Roll-Ups and Fruit Bars, but shaped more like jelly beans. Ads highlighted that they had more fruit and less sugar than other snacks. However, as fruit snacks started coming in more elaborate shapes tied to popular kids’ movies and shows, simple snacks like Fruit Wrinkles lost their appeal and were eventually discontinued.

Giggles

Let’s be real, Oreos absolutely dominate the cookie aisle these days – it’s almost ridiculous how many flavors they churn out (and honestly, Sour Patch Kids Oreos was where I drew the line). But things weren’t always this way. I remember back in the 80s, there was actually competition! Giggles cookies were a big deal – they were similar to Oreos, but with both chocolate *and* vanilla creme filling, and they even had a cute smiley face stamped on top. You could get the cookie itself in vanilla or chocolate. Honestly, with Oreo constantly releasing what feels like 60 new flavors a week, it’s baffling they haven’t revisited this idea. A chocolate and vanilla creme filling is a genuinely brilliant concept, and they’re missing out!

Hostess Pudding Pies

Hostess is still a major player in the snack world, famous for treats like Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Ho Hos. While you can still find their fruit pies, their classic pudding pies – which were incredibly popular in the 1980s and came in vanilla and chocolate flavors – are no longer made. One reason for their disappearance was likely their high fat and sugar content. Even today’s apple pies aren’t exactly healthy – a single Hostess cherry pie contains 8 grams of saturated fat and 25 grams of added sugar, half of your daily recommended intake. But let’s be honest, they tasted amazing, so maybe that’s all that mattered!

Jell-O Pudding Pops

Pudding was incredibly popular in the 1980s – it seemed like people couldn’t get enough of it! It wasn’t just served in cups or pies; even frozen pudding pops were a huge hit. Jell-O invested heavily in marketing these Pudding Pops, which came in flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and swirl, and were famously advertised by Bill Cosby. (Those commercials still hold up!) Jell-O reportedly sold $100 million worth of Pudding Pops in one year, but eventually, demand dropped and the product was discontinued.

Kudos

Do you remember Kudos bars? They were incredibly popular in the 1980s, originally available in flavors like Chocolate Chip, Nutty Fudge, and Peanut Butter. Made by Mars, they were a unique treat – healthier than a candy bar, but more indulgent than a typical granola bar. They tasted great and were enjoyed for decades, but were eventually discontinued in the 2010s.

Mr. T Cereal

In the mid-1980s, Mr. T was a huge pop culture icon, largely thanks to his roles in *Rocky III* and *The A-Team*. He was instantly recognizable with his mohawk, denim clothing, and lots of gold chains. His popularity with kids led to a strange animated TV show where he played a gymnastics coach who also solved mysteries. From 1984 to 1993, Mr. T’s face was on boxes of a popular Quaker cereal shaped like the letter ‘T’ and made from corn and oats. The cereal even appeared in the opening scene of Tim Burton’s *Pee-wee’s Big Adventure*, further solidifying its place in pop culture history.

O’Grady’s Chips

O’Grady’s was a potato chip brand that disappeared during the competitive snack food boom of the 1980s. They marketed themselves as having thicker-cut chips with a bolder cheese flavor. Fans especially loved their Au Gratin flavor, claiming it was much better and cheesier than anything available now.

Peanut Butter Boppers

One Reddit user perfectly described why people loved Boppers: “They were like the best parts of a granola bar, without the granola!” As a peanut butter lover, they still miss them. And many others agree! These crunchy, peanut butter-filled bars need to make a comeback. Luckily, Nature Valley, the original maker, does share a recipe on their website for those who want to try making them at home.

Product 19

Product 19, easily recognized by its red box and mysterious name (said to be because it was the 19th recipe Kellogg’s tested), was a popular cereal throughout the 1980s and 90s. Kellogg’s marketed it in the 80s with the unusual claim that it had “more vitamin nutrition than any other cereal – but you’d never know it from the taste.” While people once might have chosen cereal for health reasons, that’s no longer the case, and Product 19 was discontinued in 2016.

Quackers

For generations, kids have loved the satisfying crunch and cheesy flavor of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers. In the 1980s, Nabisco tried to challenge Goldfish with a similar snack called Quackers, which were duck-shaped and also tasted like cheese (a surprisingly tasty sour cream and onion flavor was also available). However, Quackers disappeared by the end of the decade, leaving Goldfish as the dominant snack once again.

Slice

Pepsi frequently launches new lemon-lime sodas to challenge Sprite and other competitors. Currently, they sell Starry, but previously offered Sierra Mist and Slice (which itself replaced Teem). Slice even expanded to include flavors like Mandarin Orange and Apple – honestly, we could use more apple-flavored sodas! When Slice first came out, Pepsi heavily promoted its 10% fruit juice content, positioning it as a more natural option. This worked well initially, but they later changed the formula and reduced the juice. Despite trying different packaging and marketing throughout the 1990s, Slice was eventually replaced by Sierra Mist in the early 2000s.

Sunkist Fun Fruits

Still reminiscing about old fruit snacks? Here’s another one! Sunkist Fun Fruits were similar in size and shape to Wrinkles, and came in cherry, orange, strawberry, and grape flavors. Interestingly, even though they were called Sunkist, they weren’t actually made by the Sunkist company. Instead, Leaf Confections licensed the Sunkist brand to make the snack seem like it was made with real, juicy fruit. (Today’s Sunkist Fruit Snacks are made by General Mills.)

Tato Skins

As a total movie buff who grew up in the 80s, I remember Tato Skins potato chips from Keebler like it was yesterday! They weren’t like most chips – they actually used whole potatoes, skin and all, so they tasted surprisingly like a real baked potato. I loved all the flavors – Original, Sour Cream & Chives, Cheddar & Bacon, and Bar-B-Que were my go-to’s. Now you can find something *similar* called TGI Fridays Potato Skins Snacks, but honestly, if you were a fan of the original Tato Skins, nothing else quite measures up. They just don’t taste the same!

WWF Superstars of Wrestling Bars

During the 1980s, when wrestling was incredibly popular thanks to Hulk Hogan and the WWF, companies saw a chance to sell products to kids. This led to the creation of WWF Superstars Ice Cream Bars. These treats were vanilla ice cream between vanilla cookies and a layer of chocolate, with pictures of WWF stars like “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase on top.

Even though they were created to take advantage of wrestling’s popularity on TV, the ice cream bars were actually delicious, and continued to be made even after wrestling’s initial boom in the early 1990s. People remembered them fondly, which led to a brief revival in 2020. Good Humor made a similar product called “WWE Super Stars” featuring newer wrestlers like John Cena and Roman Reigns on vanilla ice cream sandwiches (though these were sandwiches, not popsicles). While tasty, the new bars didn’t stay in stores as long as the original WWF ones.

2025-09-17 17:59