Burgess Meredith, who played the Penguin on Batman (1966) and in Batman: The Movie (1966), was asked to play the Penguin's father in the opening of the film, but illness prevented him from it.
In an interview for television, Stan Winston told a little anecdote about how his crew were collecting the mechanical penguins after a day's shoot, and found one of the live penguins snuggled up asleep against a mechanical one.
The production wanted to use King Penguins, but the only tame ones in captivity were at a bird sanctuary in the Cotswolds, deep in the English countryside. So the birds were flown over to the States in the refrigerated hold of a plane. They were given their own refrigerated trailer and swimming pool with half a ton of fresh ice every day, and had fresh fish delivered daily straight from the docks. Even though the temperature outside frequently topped one hundred degrees, the entire set was refrigerated down to thirty-five degrees. The birds also had an around-the-clock bodyguard. The birds clearly enjoyed the experience as, following their stint in Hollywood, most of them had mated and produced eggs, the sure sign of a contented penguin.
The massive Gotham City sets were all constructed to be mobile, and were often shifted between days of filming. Michelle Pfeiffer routinely got lost on her way to filming each day.
Elizabeth Sanders: (at around 43 mins) The wife of Batman co-creator Bob Kane says "He's like a frog that became a prince" when the paper boy sells newspapers about the Penguin forgiving his parents.
Paul Reubens, Diane Louise Salinger: Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) stars reunite briefly at the beginning of the film as the Penguin's parents, Tucker and Esther.
Benny Urquidez: One of the clowns slapping the man on the head before Batman grabs him is Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, legendary karate pioneer and kickboxing champion. He helped train the eight other clowns who battle Batman hand to hand in the street.
Anthony De Longis: famed Hollywood weapons consultant not only taught Michelle Pfeiffer to wield Catwoman's whip, but appeared uncredited as another one of the Penguin's clowns.
Danny Elfman: (at around 1h 30 mins) As one of the off-screen tomato and lettuce throwers during the Penguin's botched speech.
Tim Burton: (at around 24 mins) When Selina comes home to her apartment and turns on the answering machine, that's Burton's voice on the second call.
Tim Burton: [Dracula] The Penguin's appearance, attire, bestial habits, and affinity for threatening shadows combines the presentation of the characters Orlok and Knock from Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922), a variation of Dracula. Orlok actor Max Schreck provided the name for Christopher Walken's character.
Tim Burton: [Alfred Hitchcock] Bruce talks to Selina about Norman Bates from Psycho (1960). The scene of Batman and the Ice Princess atop a building is suggestive of Vertigo (1958). An attacking swarm of bats recalls The Birds (1963).
Tim Burton: [James Bond] The Penguin hacks the Batmobile's control system just like the wheelchair man did to Bond's airplane in For Your Eyes Only (1981), Batman pulls a swallowed sword out of a circus man's throat like Bond did in Octopussy (1983), and Christopher Walken plays a villain similar to the one he played in A View to a Kill (1985).