Burbank, CA—Deep within the cavernous Warner Brothers facility that serves as Batman's lair in the just-released Batman and Robin movie, engineers late last year found themselves scratching their heads over a vexing Bat-problem: How to rotate, pivot, and extend a massive 45-ft-long telescope for the movie's key scenes. After scribbling out some rough calculations, they realized they'd be moving as much as 97,000 lbs. While engineers struggled with the problem, however, one aspect of it became clear: The prime movers must be hydraulic. "At the time, it was the largest and heaviest moving prop in film history," notes Mark Yuricich, an independent special effects engineer who worked on Batman and Robin. "The only way to move it accurately was with fluid."
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