View source for Dick Tracy (1990 film)

{{short description|1990 action crime film directed by Warren Beatty}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Dick Tracy
| image          = Dick tracy1.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Warren Beatty]]
| producer       = Warren Beatty
| writer         = [[Jim Cash]]<br/>[[Jack Epps Jr.]]
| based_on       = {{Based on|[[List of Dick Tracy characters|Characters]]|[[Chester Gould]]}}
| starring       = Warren Beatty
| music          = [[Danny Elfman]]<!-- Not for songwriters -->
| cinematography = [[Vittorio Storaro]]
| editing        = [[Richard Marks]]
| studio         = {{ubl|[[Touchstone Pictures]]|[[Silver Screen Partners IV]]|Mulholland Productions}}
| distributor    = [[Buena Vista Pictures Distribution]]
| released       = {{Film date|1990|6|14|Lake Buena Vista|1990|6|15|}}
| runtime        = 105 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 104:58--><ref>{{cite web | url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/dick-tracy-1970-3 | title=''Dick Tracy'' (PG) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=July 2, 1990 | access-date=November 22, 2016}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $46 million<ref name=Jones/>
| gross          = $162.7 million<ref name=box/>
}}
'''''Dick Tracy''''' is a 1990 American [[action crime film]] based on the [[Dick Tracy|1930s comic strip]] created by [[Chester Gould]]. [[Warren Beatty]] produced, directed and starred in the film, whose supporting cast includes [[Al Pacino]], [[Madonna]], [[Glenne Headly]] and [[Charlie Korsmo]], with appearances by [[Dustin Hoffman]], [[James Keane (actor)|James Keane]], [[Charles Durning]], [[William Forsythe (actor)|William Forsythe]], [[Seymour Cassel]], [[Mandy Patinkin]], [[Catherine O'Hara]], [[Ed O'Ross]], [[James Caan]], [[James Tolkan]], [[R. G. Armstrong]] and [[Dick Van Dyke]]. ''Dick Tracy'' depicts the detective's romantic relationships with [[Breathless Mahoney]] and [[Tess Trueheart]], as well as his conflicts with crime boss [[Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice]] and his henchmen. Tracy also begins fostering a young street urchin named Kid.

Development of the film began in the early 1980s with [[Tom Mankiewicz]] assigned to write the script. The screenplay was written by [[Jim Cash]] and [[Jack Epps Jr.]] The project also went through directors [[Steven Spielberg]], [[John Landis]], [[Walter Hill (director)|Walter Hill]] and [[Richard Benjamin]] before the arrival of Beatty. It was filmed mainly at [[Universal Studios Lot|Universal Studios]]. [[Danny Elfman]] was hired to compose the score, and the film's music was featured on three separate soundtrack albums.

''Dick Tracy'' premiered at the [[Uptown Theater (Washington, D.C.)|Uptown Theater]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] on June 10, 1990, and was released nationwide five days later. Reviews ranged from favorable to mixed, with positive comments on the performances (particularly Pacino and Madonna), production design, make up effects, music, and Beatty's direction, but negative ones on the screenplay and characterization. The film was a success at the box office and with several award committees. It garnered seven Academy Award nominations, winning in three of the categories: [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]], [[Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling|Best Makeup]] and [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]].<ref name=oscars>{{cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991 |title=1990 (63) Academy Awards |work=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=April 27, 2009 }}</ref> ''Dick Tracy'' is remembered today for its [[Style (visual arts)|visual style]].

==Plot==
In 1938,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2015/6/17/8790397/dick-tracy-movie-25|title=Dick Tracy was unlike any other movie made in 1990 — and any movie made today|first=Emily Todd|last=VanDerWerff|date=June 17, 2015|website=Vox}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Garyn G|title=Dick Tracy and American Culture: Morality and Mythology, Text and Context|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-OCBcT1O4UC&pg=PA277|year=2003|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, N.C|isbn=978-0-7864-1698-1|page=277|oclc=27977131}}</ref> a young [[Street children|street kid]] witnesses the massacre of a group of mobsters at the hands of Flattop and Itchy, two hoods on the payroll of Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, who leave a bullet-riddled message for police detective Dick Tracy. After catching the Kid in an act of petty theft and rescuing him from a menacing tramp, Tracy temporarily adopts him with the help of his girlfriend, Tess Trueheart.

Meanwhile, Big Boy coerces rival mobster Lips Manlis into signing over the deed to Club Ritz, then kills Lips with a [[Cement shoes|cement overcoat]] and steals his girlfriend, the sultry singer Breathless Mahoney. Interrogating Flattop, Itchy, and fellow hired gun Mumbles, Tracy arrests Big Boy but the evidence against him proves inconclusive. Big Boy goes free, and District Attorney John Fletcher threatens Tracy's job.

Breathless, the only witness to Lips' murder, is unwilling to testify against Big Boy and unsuccessfully attempts to seduce Tracy. He follows her to the club, where Big Boy presents the city's head criminals with a plan to unite them all under his leadership. Mob boss Spud Spaldoni refuses and is killed with a [[carbomb]], and Tracy narrowly escapes. The next day, Big Boy and his henchmen capture Tracy and attempt to bribe him, but he rebuffs them. The criminals leave Tracy to die in a boiler explosion, but he is saved by the Kid, who receives an honorary detective certificate.

The corrupt Fletcher is revealed to be in Big Boy's pocket, while Breathless visits Tracy in another attempt to seduce him, and Tess witnesses them kiss. "The Blank", a mysterious figure with no face, uses the club's piano player 88 Keys to bring Big Boy an offer to eliminate Tracy for a cut of Big Boy's profits. Tracy leads a seemingly unsuccessful raid on Club Ritz, which is actually a diversion to hide Officer "Bug" Bailey inside with a [[covert listening device]]. Listening in on Big Boy's criminal activities, Tracy and the police all but wipe out the unified criminal organization.

However, Big Boy discovers the bug and lures Tracy into an ambush, but Tracy rescues Bailey and is himself saved by the Blank. A furious Big Boy accepts the Blank's offer, while a heartbroken Tess leaves the city. In love with Tracy, Breathless agrees to testify if he gives in to her advances, but Tracy cannot bring himself to betray Tess, who has a change of heart and returns home. Tess is kidnapped by the Blank, who subdues Tracy and, with the help of 88 Keys, kills Fletcher and frames an unconscious Tracy.

With Tracy behind bars, Big Boy terrorizes the city in a lucrative crime wave. Taken to the city orphanage, the Kid adopts the name "Dick Tracy, Jr." and reunites with Tracy, who is released by his colleagues on New Year's Eve. Interrogating Mumbles again, Tracy and the police surround Club Ritz, where the Blank has left Tess to frame Big Boy for her kidnapping. In the ensuing gun battle, Big Boy's men are killed while Big Boy takes Tess hostage and escapes to a drawbridge.

Tying Tess to the gears, Big Boy is confronted by Tracy, and they are held at gunpoint by the Blank, who offers to share the city with Tracy once they kill Big Boy. Distracted by Junior, the Blank is shot by Big Boy before Tracy sends Big Boy falling to his death. Rescuing Tess, Tracy unmasks the Blank to reveal a mortally wounded Breathless, who kisses Tracy before dying. Later, Tracy proposes to Tess but is interrupted by a police dispatch, and leaves her with the ring as he and Junior respond to the call.

==Cast==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2024}}
'''Main characters'''
* [[Warren Beatty]] as [[Dick Tracy (character)|Dick Tracy]]: a square-jawed, fast-shooting, hard-hitting, and intelligent police detective sporting a yellow overcoat and fedora. He is heavily committed to breaking the hold that [[organized crime]] has on the city. In addition, Tracy is in line to become the chief of police, which he scorns as a "[[White-collar worker|desk job]]".
* [[Al Pacino]] as [[Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice]]: the leading crime boss of the city. Although he is involved with numerous criminal activities, they remain unproven, as Tracy has never been able to catch him in the act or find a witness to testify.
* [[Madonna]] as [[Breathless Mahoney|Breathless "The Blank" Mahoney]]: an entertainer at ''Club Ritz'' who wants to steal Tracy from his girlfriend. She is also the sole witness to several of Caprice's crimes.
* [[Glenne Headly]] as [[Tess Trueheart]]: Dick Tracy's girlfriend. She feels that Tracy cares more for his job than for her.
* [[Charlie Korsmo]] as The Kid: a 10-year-old, scrawny [[Runaway youth|street orphan]] who survives by eating out of garbage cans, and is a protege of Steve the Tramp. He falls into the life of both Tracy and Trueheart, and becomes an ally. He becomes Tracy's protege then, adopting the name "Dick Tracy, Jr.".

'''Law enforcement'''
* [[James Keane (actor)|James Keane]] as Pat Patton: Tracy's closest associate and second-in-command
* [[Seymour Cassel]] as Sam Catchem: Tracy's closest associate and third-in-command
* [[Michael J. Pollard]] as Bug Bailey: a [[surveillance]] expert
* [[Charles Durning]] as Chief Brandon: the chief of police who supports Tracy's crusade
* [[Dick Van Dyke]] as District Attorney John Fletcher: a corrupt district attorney who refuses to prosecute Caprice as he is on Caprice's payroll
* [[Frank Campanella]] as Judge Harper
* [[Kathy Bates]] as Mrs. Green: a stenographer

'''The mob'''
* [[Dustin Hoffman]] as Mumbles: Caprice's unintelligible [[henchman]]
* [[William Forsythe (actor)|William Forsythe]] as [[Flattop (Dick Tracy villain)|Flattop]]: Caprice's top [[hitman]]. His most distinguishing feature is his square, flat cranium and matching haircut
* [[Ed O'Ross]] as Itchy: Caprice's other hitman. He is usually paired with Flattop
* [[James Tolkan]] as Numbers: Caprice's [[accountant]]
* [[Mandy Patinkin]] as 88 Keys: a piano player at ''Club Ritz'' who becomes The Blank's minion
* [[R. G. Armstrong]] as [[Pruneface]]: a deformed crime boss who becomes one of Caprice's minions
* [[Henry Silva]] as Influence: Pruneface's sinister top gunman
* [[Paul Sorvino]] as Lips Manlis: the original owner of ''Club Ritz'' and Caprice's mentor
* [[Chuck Hicks]] as The Brow: a criminal with a large, wrinkled forehead
* [[Neil Summers]] as Rodent: a criminal with a pointed nose, small eyes, and buck teeth
* Stig Eldred as Shoulders: a criminal with broad shoulders
* [[Lawrence Steven Meyers]] as Little Face: a criminal with a big head and a small face
* Jim Wilkey as Stooge Viller, another criminal
* [[James Caan]] as Spud Spaldoni: a crime boss who refuses to submit to Caprice
* [[Catherine O'Hara]] as Texie Garcia: a female criminal who submits to Caprice
* Robert Beecher as Ribs Mocca: a criminal who submits to Caprice

'''Others'''
* Rita Bland, Lada Boder, Dee Hengstler, Liz Imperio, Michelle Johnston, Karyne Ortega and Karen Russell as Breathless Mahoney's dancers at Club Ritz
* Lew Horn as Lefty Moriarty
* [[Mike Hagerty]] as Doorman
* [[Arthur Malet]] as Diner Patron
* [[Bert Remsen]] as Bartender
* [[Jack Kehoe]] as Customer at Raid
* Michael Donovan O'Donnell as McGillicuddy
* Tom Signorelli as Mike: proprietor of the diner Tracy frequents
* [[Mary Woronov]] as Welfare Person

[[Estelle Parsons]] portrays Tess Trueheart's mother. Tony Epper plays Steve the Tramp. [[Hamilton Camp]] appears as a store owner, and [[Bing Russell]] plays a Club Ritz patron. [[Robert Costanzo]] has a cameo as Lips Manlis's bodyguard, and [[Marshall Bell]] briefly appears as a goon of Big Boy Caprice who poses as an arresting officer to ensnare Lips. [[Allen Garfield]], [[John Schuck]] and [[Charles Fleischer]] make cameos as reporters. [[Walker Edmiston]], [[John Moschitta Jr.]] and [[Neil Ross]] provide the voices of each radio announcer. [[Colm Meaney]] appears as a police officer at Tess Trueheart's home. [[Mike Mazurki]] (who played Splitface in the original ''[[Dick Tracy (1945 film)|Dick Tracy]]'' film) appears in a small cameo, as Old Man at Hotel. Ninety-three-year-old veteran character actor [[Ian Wolfe]] plays his last film role as "Munger".

==Production==
===Development===
Beatty had a concept for a ''Dick Tracy'' film in 1975. At the time, the [[film rights]] were owned by [[Michael Laughlin]], who gave up his option from [[Tribune Media Services]] after he was unsuccessful in [[pitch (filmmaking)|pitching]] ''Dick Tracy'' to Hollywood studios. [[Floyd Mutrux]] and [[Art Linson]] purchased the film rights from the Tribune in 1977,<ref name=week/> and, in 1980, [[United Artists]] became interested in financing and distributing ''Dick Tracy''. [[Tom Mankiewicz]] was under negotiations to write the script, based on his previous success with ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'' and ''[[Superman II]]''. The deal fell through when [[Chester Gould]], creator of the ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip, insisted on strict financial and [[artistic control]].<ref>{{cite news | first= Daniel|last=Dickholtz | title = Steel Dreams: Interview With Tom Mankiewicz | work = [[Starlog]] | date = December 1998 | pages = 53–57 }}</ref>

That same year, Mutrux and Linson eventually took the property to [[Paramount Pictures]], which began developing screenplays, offered [[Steven Spielberg]] the director's position, and brought in [[Universal Pictures]] to co-finance. Universal put [[John Landis]] forward as a candidate for director, courted [[Clint Eastwood]] for the title role, and commissioned [[Jim Cash]] and [[Jack Epps Jr.]] to write the screenplay. "Before we were brought on, there were several failed scripts at Universal," reflected Epps, "then it went dormant, but John Landis was interested in ''Dick Tracy'', and he brought us in to write it."<ref name=first/> Cash and Epps' simple orders from Landis were to write the script in a 1930s [[pulp magazine]] atmosphere, and center it with [[Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice]] as the primary villain. For research, Epps read every ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip from 1930 to 1957. The writers wrote two drafts for Landis; [[Max Allan Collins]], then-writer of the ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip, remembers reading one of them. "It was terrible. The only positive thing about it was a thirties setting and lots of great villains, but the story was paper-thin and it was uncomfortably [[camp (style)|campy]]."<ref name=first/>

In addition to Beatty and Eastwood, other actors considered for the lead role included [[Harrison Ford]], [[Richard Gere]], [[Tom Selleck]] and [[Mel Gibson]].<ref name=leading>Hughes, pp. 53-54</ref> Landis left ''Dick Tracy'' following the controversial on-set [[Twilight Zone accident|accident]] on ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'', in which three actors were killed.<ref name=first>Hughes, pp. 51</ref> [[Walter Hill (director)|Walter Hill]] came on board to direct, with [[Joel Silver]] as producer. Cash and Epps wrote another draft, and Hill approached Warren Beatty for the title role. [[Pre-production]] had progressed as far as set building, but the film was stalled when artistic control issues arose with Beatty, a fan of the ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip.<ref name=Reds/> Hill wanted to make the film violent and realistic, while Beatty envisioned a stylized [[Homage (arts)|homage]] to the 1930s comic strip.<ref name=week/> The actor also reportedly wanted $5 million, plus fifteen percent of the [[box office|box-office]] gross, a deal that Universal refused to accept.<ref name=Reds/>

Hill and Beatty left the film, which Paramount began developing as a lower-budget project, with [[Richard Benjamin]] directing. Cash and Epps continued to rewrite the script, but Universal was unsatisfied. The film rights eventually reverted to [[Tribune Content Agency|Tribune Media Services]] in 1985. However, Beatty decided to option the ''Dick Tracy'' rights for $3 million,<ref name=$101/> along with the Cash/Epps script. When [[Jeffrey Katzenberg]] and [[Michael Eisner]] moved from Paramount to the [[The Walt Disney Studios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]], ''Dick Tracy'' resurfaced, with Beatty as director, producer and [[leading man]].<ref name=Reds/> Katzenberg considered hiring [[Martin Scorsese]] to direct the film,<ref>{{cite news | author = Staff | title = Martin Scorsese to direct Dick Tracy | work = [[The Comics Journal]] | date = July 1985 | pages = 20–22}}</ref> but changed his mind. "It never occurred to me to direct the movie," Beatty admitted, "but finally, like most of the movies that I direct, when the time comes to do it, I just do it because it's easier than going through what I'd have to go through to get somebody else to do it."<ref name=Reds/>

Beatty's reputation for directorial profligacy, notably with the critically acclaimed ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]'', did not sit well with Disney.<ref name=Reds>Hughes, pp. 52</ref> As a result, Beatty and Disney reached a contracted agreement, whereby any [[cost overrun|budget overruns]] on ''Dick Tracy'' would be deducted from Beatty's fee as producer, director and star.<ref>{{cite news | author = Staff | title = Big Shot | work = [[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] | date = July 1990 }}</ref> Beatty and regular collaborator [[Bo Goldman]] significantly rewrote the dialogue, but lost a [[Writers Guild of America|Writers Guild]] arbitration and did not receive screen credit.<ref name=week/>

Disney [[Greenlight|greenlit]] ''Dick Tracy'' in 1988 under the condition that Beatty keep the production budget within $25 million.<ref name="week">{{cite news |last1=Ansen |first1=David |author-link1=David Ansen |last2=Abramson |first2=Pamela |date=June 25, 1990 |title=Tracymania |url=https://www.newsweek.com/tracymania-206276 |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=[[Newsweek]]}}</ref> Beatty's fee was $7 million, against 15% of the gross (once the distributor's gross reached $50 million).<ref name=$101/> Costs began to rise when filming started, and quickly jumped to $30 million.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Greenwald |first1=John |last2=Natale |first2=Richard |last3=Simpson |first3=Janice C. |name-list-style=and |date=May 21, 1990 |title=Shooting The Works Lights! Camera! Money! |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,970168,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126125151/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,970168,00.html |archive-date=November 26, 2010 |access-date=April 20, 2009 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> Its total negative cost ended up being $46.5 million ($35.6 million of direct expenditure, $5.3 million in studio overhead and $5.6 million in interest).<ref name=$101>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 22, 1990|title='Tracy' cost put at $101 mil|last=Eller|first=Claudia|page=3}}</ref> Disney spent an additional $48.1 million on advertising and publicity, and $5.8 million on prints, resulting in a total of $101 million spent overall.<ref name=$101/> The financing for ''Dick Tracy'' came from Disney and [[Silver Screen Partners IV]], as well as Beatty's own [[production company]], Mulholland Productions. Disney was initially going to release the film under the traditional [[Walt Disney Pictures]] banner,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-27-fi-217-story.html|title=Disney Takes On Tradition With 'Tracy' : Entertainment: The upcoming movie, which features some violence and overt sexuality, is meant to show that the studio feels the time is right to broaden its appeal.|last=Citron|first=Alan|date=1990-04-27|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> but instead chose to release and market the film under the adult-oriented [[Touchstone Pictures]] label leading up to the film's theatrical debut, because the studio felt it had too many mature themes for a Disney-branded film.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/05/25/disney-opts-to-release-tracy-on-touchstone/|title=Disney Opts To Release 'Tracy' On Touchstone|newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|date=May 25, 1990|access-date=October 11, 2016}}</ref>

===Casting===
Although [[Al Pacino]] was Beatty's first choice for the role of Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, [[Robert De Niro]] was under consideration.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=David S. |date=June 6, 2007 |title=Al Pacino tackles each role like a novice |url=https://variety.com/2007/film/awards/al-pacino-tackles-each-role-like-a-novice-1117966394/ |access-date=April 20, 2009 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> [[Michelle Pfeiffer]], [[Kathleen Turner]] and [[Kim Basinger]] were too expensive to cast as Breathless Mahoney. [[Sharon Stone]] auditioned for the role, but she was turned down.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SqXAAAAQBAJ&q=BREATHLESS+MAHONEY+kathleen+turner+kim+basinger&pg=PA70|title = Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film by Film Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others|isbn = 9781476609768|last1 = Mell|first1 = Eila|date = January 24, 2015| publisher=McFarland }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/tracymania-206276|title=Tracymania|website=[[Newsweek]]|date=June 24, 1990}}</ref> [[Madonna]] pursued the part of Breathless Mahoney, offering to work for scale.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Madison |first=Ira III |date=August 17, 2016 |title=Dick Tracy made Madonna Pop Music's Femme Fatale |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2920167/dick-tracy-made-madonna-pop-musics-femme-fatale/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220507234456/http://www.mtv.com/news/2920167/dick-tracy-made-madonna-pop-musics-femme-fatale/ |archive-date=May 7, 2022 |access-date=May 7, 2022 |publisher=[[MTV]]}}</ref> Her resulting paycheck for the film was just $35,000.<ref name=week/> [[Sean Young]] claims she was forced out of the role of Tess Trueheart (which eventually went to [[Glenne Headly]]) after rebuffing sexual advances from Beatty. In a 1989 statement, Beatty said, "I made a mistake casting Sean Young in the part and I felt very badly about it."<ref>{{cite news | first= Lew |last=Irwin | url = https://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2004-07-22#celeb9 | title = Young Slams Lecherous Beatty | work = [[IMDb]] | date = July 22, 2004 | access-date = April 20, 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051102041033/http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2004-07-22#celeb9 | archive-date = November 2, 2005 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> [[Mike Mazurki]], who had appeared in the earlier ''[[Dick Tracy (1945 film)|Dick Tracy]]'' film, had a [[cameo appearance]]. Beatty approached [[Gene Hackman]] to do a cameo in the film, but he declined.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wi0qQ0FTe20C&q=Hollywood+Hellraisers:+The+Wild+Lives+and+Fast+Times+of+Marlon+Brando+gene+hackman+dick+tracy&pg=PA211|title = Hollywood Hellraisers: The Wild Lives and Fast Times of Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson|isbn = 9781616080358|last1 = Sellers|first1 = Robert|date = July 13, 2010| publisher=Skyhorse Publishing }}</ref>

===Filming===

[[Principal photography]] for ''Dick Tracy'' began February 2, 1989.<ref name=Studios/> The filmmakers considered shooting the film on location in Chicago, but [[production designer]] [[Richard Sylbert]] believed ''Dick Tracy'' would work better using [[sound stage]]s and [[backlot]]s<ref name=looks>{{cite magazine | author = Staff | url = https://ew.com/article/1990/06/15/dick-tracys-comic-book-look/ | title = Strip Show: The Comic Book Look of Dick Tracy | magazine = [[Entertainment Weekly]] | date = June 15, 1990 | access-date = April 21, 2009}}</ref> at [[Universal Studios Lot|Universal Studios]] in [[Universal City, California]].<ref name=Studios/> Other filming took place at [[Warner Bros. Studios Burbank|Warner Bros. Studios]] in [[Burbank, California|Burbank]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Richter |first=Larry |date=August 13, 1990 |title=A Soviet Film Re-creates History, But It Makes History in Hollywood |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> In total, 53 interior and 25 exterior sets were constructed. Beatty, being a perfectionist, often filmed dozens of takes of every scene.<ref name=Studios/>

As filming continued, Disney and Max Allan Collins conflicted over the [[novelization]]. The studio rejected his [[manuscript]]: "I wound up doing an eleventh hour rewrite that was more faithful to the screenplay, even while I made it much more consistent with the strip," Collins continued, "and fixed as many [[plot hole]]s as I could."<ref name=Studios/> Disney did not like this version either, but accepted based on Beatty's insistence to incorporate some of Collins's writing into the [[shooting script]], which solved the plot hole concerns. Through post-production [[dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbing]], some of Collins's dialogue was also incorporated into the film. Principal photography for ''Dick Tracy'' ended in May 1989.<ref name=Studios>Hughes, pp. 55</ref> The film's production also marks the last known use of the [[sodium vapor process]] (occasionally referred to as yellowscreen).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/2011/08/dick-tracy.html |title=Matte Shot – a tribute to Golden Era special fx |last=Cook |first=Peter |date=23 August 2011 |access-date=January 8, 2012 |archive-date=March 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307190544/http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/2011/08/dick-tracy.html |url-status=bot: unknown }} ''Archive.org''</ref>

===Design===
Early in the development of ''Dick Tracy'', Beatty decided to make the film using a palette limited to just seven colors—primarily red, green, blue and yellow—to evoke the film's comic strip origins. Furthermore, each of the colors was to be exactly the same shade. Beatty's design team included production designer Richard Sylbert, set decorator [[Rick Simpson]], cinematographer [[Vittorio Storaro]] (with whom Beatty had worked on his previous film, ''[[Ishtar (film)|Ishtar]],'' as producer and lead actor), [[visual effects supervisor]]s [[Michael Lloyd (special effects artist)|Michael Lloyd]] and [[Harrison Ellenshaw]], prosthetic makeup designers [[John Caglione Jr.]] and [[Doug Drexler]], and costume designer [[Milena Canonero]]. Their main intention was to stay close to [[Chester Gould]]'s original drawings from the 1930s. Other influences came from the [[Art Deco]] movement and [[German Expressionism]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Beckett-Young |first=Kathleen |date=June 10, 1990 |title=The Movie's Creators Used the Strip To Tease |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

For Storaro, the limited color palette was the most challenging aspect of production. "These are not the kind of colors the audience is used to seeing," he noted. "These are much more dramatic in strength, in saturation. Comic strip art is usually done with very simple and primitive ideas and emotions," Storaro theorized. "One of the elements is that the story is usually told in [[vignette (graphic design)|vignette]], so what we tried to do is never move the camera at all. ''Never''. Try to make everything work into the frame."<ref name=leading/> For the [[matte painting]]s, Ellenshaw and Lloyd executed over 57 paintings on glass, which were then [[optical printer|optically combined with the live action]]. For a brief sequence in which The Kid dashes in front of a speeding locomotive, only {{Convert|150|ft}} of real track was laid; the train was a {{convert|2|ft|cm|-1|adj=on|spell=in}} [[scale model]], and the surrounding trainyard a matte painting.<ref name=looks/> The film was one of the last major American studio [[blockbuster (entertainment)|blockbuster]]s to have no [[computer-generated imagery]].<ref>{{cite magazine | author = McCarrick, Michael | url = https://www.cbr.com/warren-beatty-dick-tracy-forgotten-pioneer-comic-book-movies/ | title = Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy Is a Forgotten Pioneer of Comic Book Movies| magazine = [[Comic Book Resources]] | date = October 1, 2020 | access-date = September 16, 2024 | archive-date = June 27, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230627123101/https://www.cbr.com/warren-beatty-dick-tracy-forgotten-pioneer-comic-book-movies/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

Caglione and Drexler were recommended for the [[prosthetic makeup]] designs by Canonero, with whom they had worked on ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]''. The [[rogues gallery]] makeup designs were taken directly from Gould's drawings,<ref name="make">{{cite magazine |last=Thompson |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Thompson (film critic) |date=July 6, 1990 |title=Making up is hard to do |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317682,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206213634/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317682,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 6, 2007 |access-date=April 21, 2009 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref> with the exception of [[Al Pacino]] (Big Boy Caprice), who improvised his own design, ignoring the rather overweight character of the strip.<ref name=looks/> His makeup took 3½ hours to apply.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Corliss |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Corliss |last2=Bland |first2=Elizabeth L. |date=June 18, 1990 |title=Extra! |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,970390,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023081705/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,970390,00.html |archive-date=October 23, 2007 |access-date=April 20, 2009 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>

===Music===
{{see also|I'm Breathless|Dick Tracy (soundtrack)}}
{{quote box|align=left|width=25em|quote="Directors don't know anything about music really, and if they do, it's not necessarily a help. Warren Beatty is a pianist and knows much more about music than almost any director, but when he and I started on ''Dick Tracy'', communicating on a musical level was getting us nowhere because it is all so interpretive. We started having much more success when we started talking on a strictly gut level."|source=— Danny Elfman<ref name=Bart/>}}

Beatty hired [[Danny Elfman]] to compose the [[film score]] based on his previous success with ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''. Elfman enlisted the help of [[Oingo Boingo]] bandmate [[Steve Bartek]] and [[Shirley Walker]] to arrange compositions for the orchestra. "In a completely different way," Elfman commented, "''Dick Tracy'' has this unique quality that ''Batman'' had for me. It gives an incredible sense of non-reality."<ref>{{cite magazine | author = Staff | url = https://ew.com/article/1990/02/23/danny-elfman-rise/ | title = The Elfman Cometh | magazine = [[Entertainment Weekly]] | date = February 23, 1990 | access-date = April 20, 2009 | archive-date = January 7, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080107120918/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C316794%2C00.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In addition, Beatty hired acclaimed songwriter [[Stephen Sondheim]] to write five original songs: "[[Sooner or Later (Madonna song)|Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)]]", "More", "Live Alone and Like It", "Back in Business" and "What Can You Lose?". "Sooner or Later" and "More" were performed by Madonna, with "What Can You Lose?" being a duet with Mandy Patinkin. [[Mel Tormé]] sang "Live Alone and Like It," and "Back in Business" was performed by Janis Siegel, Cheryl Bentyne and Lorraine Feather. "Back in Business" and "Live Alone and Like It" were both used as background music during montage sequences.<ref name=opening>Hughes, pp. 56-58</ref> "Sooner or Later" and "Back in Business" were featured in the original 1992 production of the Sondheim revue, ''[[Putting It Together]]'', in [[Oxford]], England, and four of the five Sondheim songs from ''Dick Tracy'' (the exception being "What Can You Lose?") were used in the 1999 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production of ''Putting It Together''. A short opera sequence in the film was composed by [[Thomas Pasatieri]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099422/soundtrack |title=Dick Tracy (1990) - IMDb |website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>

''Dick Tracy'' is the first film to use [[digital audio]].<ref name=Col>Hughes, pp.59-60</ref> In a December 1990 interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'', Elfman criticized the growing tendency to use digital technology for [[sound design]] and [[dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbing]] purposes. "I detest contemporary scoring and dubbing in cinema. Film music as an art took a deep plunge when Dolby stereo hit. Stereo has the capacity to make orchestral music sound big and beautiful and more expansive, but it also can make sound effects sound four times as big. That began the era of sound effects over music."<ref name="Bart">{{cite news |last=Richter |first=Larry |date=December 9, 1990 |title=Batman? Bartman? Darkman? Elfman |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

==Marketing==
{{see also|Dick Tracy (video game)}}
[[File:NowImFollowingYouUnderGround (cropped and landscape).jpg|thumb|Madonna's 1990 [[Blond Ambition World Tour]] was seen as a way of promoting the film. Here she is seen performing "Now I'm Following You", from her album ''[[I'm Breathless]]'', with a dancer dressed as Dick Tracy.]]
Disney modeled its marketing campaign after the 1989 success of ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]'', which was based on [[high-concept]] promotion. This included a [[McDonald's]] promotional tie-in, and a Warren Beatty interview conducted by [[Barbara Walters]] on ''[[20/20 (US television series)|20/20]]''. "I find the media's obsession with promotion and demographics upsetting," Beatty said. "I find all this anti-cultural." [[Disney–ABC Domestic Television|Buena Vista Television]] aired a half-hour syndicated special beginning June 13, 1990, titled ''Dick Tracy: Behind the Badge...Behind the Scenes'', with details about the making of the film.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://d23.com/a-to-z/dick-tracy-behind-the-badge-behind-the-scenes-television/|title= Dick Tracy: Behind the Badge...Behind the Scenes (television)|publisher= D23: The Official Disney Fan Club |access-date=July 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7YUAQAAIAAJ&q=Dick%20Tracy|title=Disney A to Z: The Updated Official Encyclopedia|page=141|publisher=[[Hachette Books|Hyperion Books]]|access-date=July 23, 2023|isbn=0786863919|first=Dave|last=Smith|date=August 19, 1998 }}</ref>

In attempting to increase awareness for ''Dick Tracy'', Disney added a new ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit|Roger Rabbit]]'' cartoon short ("Roller Coaster Rabbit"), and made two specific [[television advertisement]]s centered on The Kid ([[Charlie Korsmo]]). In total, Disney commissioned 28 TV advertisements.<ref name=week/> [[Playmates Toys]] manufactured a line of 14 ''Dick Tracy'' figures.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Carol |date=February 15, 1990 |title=Magic and Money: Show and Sell at Toy Fair |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

It was Madonna's idea to include the film as part of her [[Blond Ambition World Tour]].<ref name=week/> Prior to the June 1990 theatrical release, Disney had already featured ''Dick Tracy'' in [[musical theatre]] stage shows in both [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]] and the [[Walt Disney World Resort]], using [[Stephen Sondheim]] and [[Danny Elfman]]'s music. ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in June 1990 of [[Disney Store]]s "selling nothing but ''Tracy''-related merchandise".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/22/business/a-real-blockbuster-or-merely-a-smash.html|first=Richard W.|last=Stevenson|title=A Real Blockbuster, Or Merely a Smash?|date=June 22, 1990|work= [[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 23, 2023|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Max Allan Collins lobbied to write the film's novelization long before Disney had even greenlighted ''Dick Tracy'' in 1988. "I hated the idea that anyone else would write a ''Tracy'' novel," Collins explained. After much conflict with Disney,<ref name="leading"/> leading to seven different printings of the novelization,<ref name="opening"/> the book was released in May 1990, published by [[Bantam Books]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Max Allan |author-link=Max Allan Collins |url=https://archive.org/details/dicktracynovel00coll |title=Dick Tracy (Mass Market Paperback) |last2=Cash |first2=Jim |publisher=Bantam Books |year=1990 |isbn=0553285289}}</ref> It sold almost one million copies prior to the film's release.<ref name="opening"/> A [[graphic novel]] adaptation of the film was also released, written and illustrated by [[Kyle Baker]].<ref name="Col"/>

Reruns of ''[[The Dick Tracy Show]]'' began airing to coincide with the release of the film, but stations in Los Angeles and New York pulled and edited the episodes when Asian and Hispanic groups protested the characters Joe Jitsu and Go Go Gomez as offensive [[stereotype]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Heffley |first1=Lynne |last2=Smaus |first2=Robert |date=July 5, 1990 |title=Disney's KCAL Comes Under Fire |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-05-ca-339-story.html |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref name="Benjamin Svetkey">{{cite magazine |last=Svetkey |first=Benjamin |date=July 27, 1990 |title=News & Notes |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317818,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729184444/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317818,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |access-date=December 19, 2007 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref> A [[theme park]] ride for [[Disneyland]], [[Disney's Hollywood Studios|Disney-MGM Studios]] and [[Disneyland Paris|Euro Disney Resort]] called ''Dick Tracy's Crime Stoppers'' was planned but ultimately never built.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com.au/2008/04/disney-mgm-studios-celebration-part_11.html |last=Fan |first=Max |date= April 11, 2008 |title= A Disney MGM Studios celebration&nbsp;— Part Four&nbsp;— The Dick Tracy Crime Stoppers attraction that never was&nbsp;— original artwork |publisher= blogspot.com.au |access-date= April 21, 2014}}</ref> Another tie-in for the movie was an ingenious plan in which 1,500 movie theaters were shipped t-shirts with the film's title art on them, which fans could buy for $12 to $20 and wear to the movie, in lieu of buying tickets at the box office.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=7|last=Eller|first=Claudia|date=June 13, 1990|title=Should 'Tracy' t-shirt tix tally into the total take?}}</ref> According to ''[[Jornal do Brasil]]'', more than 100 companies sold merchandise related to the film, with [[Macy's]] reporting 1.5 million t-shirts sold,<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Jornal do Brasil]]|page=6|last=Brito|first=Manoel Francisco|date=June 21, 1990|title=Marketing também é cultura|language=pt|url=https://memoria.bn.br/DocReader/DocReader.aspx?bib=030015_11&pesq=Madonna&pasta=ano%20199&hf=memoria.bn.br&pagfis=13565}}</ref> and according to ''New York'' magazine, it was perhaps McDonald's largest promotion up to that point, backed by $40 million in cash and prizes.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjQtw7f_7TIC&q=I%27m+Breathless&pg=PA20|title=On Madison Avenue/Bernice Kanner: Will Crime Pay For 'Dick Tracy'|page=20|date=June 25, 1990|access-date=February 12, 2024|magazine=New York}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Release===
[[File:Disney Springs Ariel View.jpg|thumb|right|[[Disney Springs]] in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, where ''Dick Tracy''{{'}}s U.S. premiere took place June 14, 1990.|alt=Exterior of Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World resort.]]

''Dick Tracy'' had a benefit premiere at a small 300-seat theater in [[Woodstock, Illinois]] (the hometown of Tracy creator Chester Gould), June 13, 1990,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35785561/|title= Woodstock welcomes home Dick Tracy |newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=June 14, 1990|last=Dellios|first=Hugh|access-date=September 9, 2019}}</ref> while the production premiere occurred the next day at the [[Disney Springs|Walt Disney World Village]]'s [[Pleasure Island (Walt Disney World)|Pleasure Island]] in [[Lake Buena Vista, Florida]].<ref name=week/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/06/15/a-night-atop-the-movie-world-premiere-of-dick-tracy-comes-on-like-gangbusters/|title= A Night Atop The Movie World Premiere Of 'Dick Tracy' Comes On Like Gangbusters|newspaper=The Orlando Sentinel|date=June 15, 1990|last=Hinman|first=Catherine|access-date=December 13, 2018}}</ref> The film was released in the United States in 2,332 theaters June 15, 1990, earning $22.54 million in its opening weekend,<ref name=box>{{cite web | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dicktracy.htm | title = Dick Tracy | work = [[Box Office Mojo]] | access-date = April 20, 2009}}</ref> including an estimated $1.5 million of t-shirt sales.<ref name=shirts>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|last=Cohn|first=Lawrence|title='Tracy' and t-shirts grab solid $22.5-mil; 'Another 48 HRS,' 'Recall' staunch|date=June 20, 1990|page=8}}</ref> This was the third-highest opening weekend of 1990,<ref name=dom>{{cite web | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1990&p=.htm | title = 1990 Domestic Grosses | work = [[Box Office Mojo]] | access-date = April 20, 2009}}</ref> and Disney's biggest ever.<ref name=shirts/> The film would hold the record for having the largest opening weekend for a live-action Disney film for six years until 1996 when ''[[The Rock (film)|The Rock]]'' surpassed it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-cruz-sentinel-the-rock-rolls-int/157084202/ |title='The Rock' rolls into first place at the box office |date=June 11, 1996 |access-date=October 14, 2024  |page=10 |publisher=[[Santa Cruz Sentinel]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref> ''Dick Tracy'' eventually grossed $103.74 million in the United States and Canada, and $59 million elsewhere, coming to a worldwide total of $162.74 million.<ref name=box/> ''Dick Tracy'' was also the ninth-highest-grossing film in America in 1990,<ref name=dom/> and number twelve in worldwide totals.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=1990&p=.htm | title = 1990 Worldwide Grosses | work = [[Box Office Mojo]] | access-date = April 20, 2009}}</ref>

Although Disney was impressed by the opening weekend gross,<ref name=opening/> studio management was expecting the film's total earnings to match ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''.<ref name=opening/> Prior to its overseas release (and other revenue streams), the film was estimated to have generated a $57 million deficit for Disney.<ref name=$101/> Studio chairman [[Jeffrey Katzenberg]] expressed disappointment in a studio memo that noted that ''Dick Tracy'' had cost about $100 million total to produce, market and promote. "We made demands on our time, talent and treasury that, upon reflection, may not have been worth it," Katzenberg reported.<ref>{{cite news |last=Richter |first=Larry |date=February 2, 1991 |title=Hollywood Abuzz Over Cost Memo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/02/movies/hollywood-abuzz-over-cost-memo.html |access-date=April 21, 2009 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

When released, it was preceded by the [[Roger Rabbit]] short ''[[Roger Rabbit short films#Roller Coaster Rabbit|Roller Coaster Rabbit]]''.

===Critical response===
On the review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 62%, based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "''Dick Tracy'' is stylish, unique, and an undeniable technical triumph, but it ultimately struggles to rise above its two-dimensional artificiality."<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1029314-dick_tracy/ | title = Dick Tracy (1991)| work = [[Rotten Tomatoes]] | access-date = September 15, 2024}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dick-tracy |title=Dick Tracy Reviews|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=May 9, 2020}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B+" on a scale of A+ to F.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |url=https://m.cinemascore.com |title=CinemaScore |work=cinemascore.com}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film four stars out of four in his review, arguing that Warren Beatty succeeded in creating the perfect tone of [[nostalgia]] for the film. Ebert praised mostly the [[matte painting]]s, [[art direction]] and [[prosthetic makeup]] design. "''Dick Tracy'' is one of the most original and visionary fantasies I've seen on a screen," he wrote.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=June 15, 1990 |title=Dick Tracy |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dick-tracy-1990 |access-date=December 18, 2023 |via=rogerebert.com}}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "''Dick Tracy'' has just about everything required of an extravaganza: a smashing cast, some great Stephen Sondheim songs, all of the technical wizardry that money can buy, and a screenplay that observes the fine line separating true comedy from lesser [[camp (style)|camp]]."<ref>{{cite news | author-link = Vincent Canby | first=Vincent|last=Canby|title =A Cartoon Square Comes to Life In 'Dick Tracy' | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = June 15, 1990 }}</ref>

[[Owen Gleiberman]] of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' gave a mixed review, but was impressed by Madonna's performance. "''Dick Tracy'' is an honest effort but finally a bit of a folly. It could have used a little less color and a little more flesh and blood," Gleiberman concluded.<ref>{{cite magazine | first = Owen | last = Gleiberman | author-link = Owen Gleiberman | url = https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317575,00.html | title = Movie Review: Dick Tracy | magazine = [[Entertainment Weekly]] | date = June 15, 1994 | access-date = April 23, 2009 | archive-date = April 21, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090421095629/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,317575,00.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In his heavily negative review for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[Desson Thomson]] criticized Disney's hyped marketing campaign and the film in general. "''Dick Tracy'' is Hollywood's annual celebration of everything that's wrong with Hollywood," he stated.<ref>{{cite news | first=Desson|last=Thomson|author-link = Desson Thomson | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/dicktracypghowe_a0b285.htm | title = Dick Tracy | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | date = June 15, 1990 | access-date = April 23, 2009}}</ref>

[[Peter Travers]] of [[Rolling Stone (magazine)|''Rolling Stone'']] wrote that Warren Beatty, at 52 years old, was too old for the part. He also found similarities with ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]'', in that both films involve "a loner hero, a grotesque villain, a blond bombshell, a marketable pop soundtrack and a no-mercy merchandising campaign", Travers continued. "But ''Batman'' possesses something else: a psychological depth that gives the audience a stake in the characters. ''Tracy'' sticks to its eye-poppingly brilliant surface. Though the film is a visual knockout, it's emotionally impoverished."<ref>{{cite magazine | first=Peter|last=Travers|author-link = Peter Travers | url =https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/dick-tracy-19900615 | title = Dick Tracy | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | date = July 12, 1990 | access-date = March 10, 2011}}</ref>

Although [[Max Allan Collins]] (then a ''Dick Tracy'' comic-strip writer) had conflicts with Disney concerning the [[novelization]], he gave the finished film a positive review. He praised Beatty for hiring an elaborate design team, and his decision to mimic the strip's limited color palette. Collins also enjoyed Beatty's performance, the prosthetic makeup, and characterization of the [[rogues gallery]], as well as the Stephen Sondheim music. However, he believed the filmmakers still sacrificed the storyline in favor of the visual design.<ref name="Col"/>

===Accolades===
The film was nominated for seven [[Academy Awards]] (winning three). The film is currently tied with ''[[Black Panther (film)|Black Panther]]'' for having the most wins for a comic book or comic strip movie.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="7"| [[63rd Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[Al Pacino]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="7"| <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991 |title=The 63rd Academy Awards (1991) Nominees and Winners |access-date=October 20, 2011 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020005240/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991 |archive-date=October 20, 2014}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]
| Art Direction: [[Richard Sylbert]]; <br> Set Decoration: [[Rick Simpson]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Vittorio Storaro]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]
| [[Milena Canonero]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling|Best Makeup]]
| [[John Caglione Jr.]] and [[Doug Drexler]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]]
| "[[Sooner or Later (Madonna song)|Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)]]" <br> Music and Lyrics by [[Stephen Sondheim]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
| [[Thomas Causey]], [[Chris Jenkins (sound engineer)|Chris Jenkins]], <br> [[David E. Campbell (sound engineer)|David E. Campbell]], and [[Doug Hemphill]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[American Comedy Awards#1991 awards|American Comedy Awards]]
| Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
| Al Pacino
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://mubi.com/awards-and-festivals/acas?year=1991 |title=1991 American Comedy Awards |publisher=[[American Comedy Awards]] |website=[[Mubi (streaming service)|Mubi]] |access-date=July 26, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[American Society of Cinematographers|American Society of Cinematographers Awards]]
| [[American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases|Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases]]
| Vittorio Storaro
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theasc.com/asc_news/awards/awards_history.php |title=The ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography |publisher= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802060537/http://www.theasc.com/asc_news/awards/awards_history.php |archive-date=2011-08-02}}</ref>
|-
| [[Casting Society of America#Artios Awards|Artios Awards]]
| [[Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Big Budget Feature (Comedy)|Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Comedy]]
| Jackie Burch
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/1991 |title=1991 Artios Awards |publisher=[[Casting Society of America]] |access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref>
|-
| [[BMI Film & TV Awards]]
| BMI Film Music Award
| [[Danny Elfman]]
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1990|Boston Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| Vittorio Storaro {{small|(also for ''[[The Sheltering Sky (film)|The Sheltering Sky]]'')}}
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://bostonfilmcritics.org/past-winners-1990s/ |title=BSFC Winners: 1990s |publisher=[[Boston Society of Film Critics]] |date=July 27, 2018 |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="7"| [[44th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role|Best Actor in a Supporting Role]]
| Al Pacino
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="7"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1991/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1991 |publisher=[[British Academy Film Awards]] |access-date=September 16, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]
| Milena Canonero
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]]
| [[Richard Marks]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair|Best Make-Up Artist]]
| John Caglione Jr. and Doug Drexler
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Production Design]]
| Richard Sylbert
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
| Dennis Drummond, Thomas Causey, Chris Jenkins, <br> David E. Campbell, and Doug Hemphill
| {{nom}}
|-
| colspan="2"| [[BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects|Best Special Visual Effects]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[British Society of Cinematographers#Award categories|British Society of Cinematographers Awards]]
| [[British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film|Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film]]
| Vittorio Storaro
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://bscine.com/media/uploads/awards/bsc-cinematography-feature-film.pdf?v |title=Best Cinematography in Feature Film |publisher=[[British Society of Cinematographers]] |access-date=June 3, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 1990|Chicago Film Critics Association Awards]]
| [[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| rowspan="2"| Al Pacino
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://chicagofilmcritics.org/awards-blog/archives |title=1988-2013 Award Winner Archives |publisher=[[Chicago Film Critics Association]] |date=January 2013 |access-date=August 24, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association|Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards]]
| [[Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| 
|-
| [[Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| Vittorio Storaro
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="4"| [[48th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="4"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/dick-tracy |title=Dick Tracy |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=July 28, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture]]
| Al Pacino
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song – Motion Picture]]
| "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" <br> Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
| {{nom}}
|-
| "What Can You Lose?" <br> Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[33rd Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]]
| [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television]]
| ''[[Dick Tracy (soundtrack)|Dick Tracy]]'' – Danny Elfman
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="3"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/33rd-annual-grammy-awards |title=33rd Annual GRAMMY Awards |publisher=[[Grammy Awards]] |access-date=May 1, 2011}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media|Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television]]
| "More" – Stephen Sondheim
| {{nom}}
|-
| "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" – Stephen Sondheim
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Nastro d'Argento]]
| Best Foreign Director
| [[Warren Beatty]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[1990 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Al Pacino
| {{draw|3rd Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |publisher=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |date=December 19, 2009 |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="7"| [[17th Saturn Awards|Saturn Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film|Best Fantasy Film]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="7"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html |title=Past Saturn Awards |publisher=[[Saturn Awards]] |access-date=May 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914184217/http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html |archive-date=September 14, 2008 |df=mdy}}</ref>
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Warren Beatty
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| [[Madonna]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Al Pacino
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor|Best Performance by a Younger Actor]]
| [[Charlie Korsmo]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costumes]]
| Milena Canonero
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Make-up|Best Make-Up]]
| John Caglione Jr., Doug Drexler, and Cheri Minns
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[12th Youth in Film Awards|Young Artist Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Most Entertaining Family Youth Motion Picture – Comedy/Horror
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms12.htm |title=12th Annual Youth in Film Awards |publisher=[[Young Artist Award]]s |access-date=2011-03-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716012652/http://youngartistawards.org/pastnoms12.htm |archive-date=2015-07-16}}</ref>
|-
| [[Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film|Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture]]
| Charlie Korsmo
| {{nom}}
|}

===Legacy===
The film is recognized by [[American Film Institute]] in these lists:
* 2003: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains]]:
** [[Dick Tracy (character)|Dick Tracy]] – Nominated Hero<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains Nominees |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/handv400.pdf |url-status=dead |access-date=2016-08-13}}</ref>
* 2004: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs]]:
** "[[Sooner or Later (Madonna song)|Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)]]" – Nominated<ref>{{cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/songs400.pdf |url-status=dead |access-date=2016-08-13}}</ref>
* 2006: [[AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals]] – Nominated<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/musicals_ballot.pdf |title= AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees |access-date=2016-08-13}}</ref>

Retrospective reviews called the film exceptionally unique. Writers for [[Vox (website)|''Vox'']]<ref>{{cite web |last1=VanDerWerff |first1=Emily |title=Dick Tracy was unlike any other movie made in 1990 — and any movie made today |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/6/17/8790397/dick-tracy-movie-25 |website=Vox |language=en |date=17 June 2015}}</ref> and ''[[The Atlantic]]''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sims |first1=David |title=30 Movies That Are Unlike Anything You've Seen Before |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/05/30-singular-films-watch-quarantine/611956/ |website=The Atlantic |language=en |date=23 May 2020}}</ref> asserted that it was one of the most unique movies ever. Multiple authors contrast it with newer [[Film adaptation#Comic book adaptation|comic book movies]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Comic-Book Movie Peaked 30 Years Ago, When "Dick Tracy" Came Out |url=https://www.insidehook.com/article/movies/dick-tracy-1990-movie |website=InsideHook}}</ref> One article calls it a "road not taken" in comic book adaptations. The author praised [[Popeye (1980 film)|''Popeye'']], ''Dick Tracy'' and [[Hulk (film)|''Hulk'']] for their use of comic techniques, such as "[[Masking (illustration)|masking]], [[Glossary of comics terminology|paneling]], and [[Glossary of comics terminology|page layout]]" in ways the [[DC Extended Universe]] and [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] do not.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hassler-Forest |first1=Dan |editor1-first=Thomas |editor1-last=Leitch |title=Roads Not Taken in Hollywood's Comic Book Movie Industry |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199331000.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199331000-e-23 |website=The Oxford Handbook of Adaptation Studies |access-date=5 July 2021 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199331000.013.23 |date=25 May 2017|isbn=978-0-19-933100-0 }}</ref>

==Home media release==
The film was released on [[VHS]] December 18, 1990. It was first released on [[DVD-Video|DVD]] in [[Europe]] in 2000, but domestic release in the U.S. was delayed until April 2, 2002, and without any special features. Shortly after the U.S. DVD release, rumors circulated on the Internet that Warren Beatty had planned to release a director's cut under Disney's "Vista Series" label; including at least ten extra minutes of footage.<ref name="cool"/> As of 1992, ''Dick Tracy'' sold 1&nbsp;million copies in the U.S., according to ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Material mogul Madonna a Maverick at Time Warner: Video|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EycIAQAAMAAJ&q=Blonde+Ambition+laserdisc|journal=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|access-date=July 11, 2023|date=1992|url-access=limited|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The [[Blu-ray]] was released in the U.S. and Canada December 11, 2012. This release lacked special features, save for a digital copy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dick Tracy Blu-ray |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Dick-Tracy-Blu-ray/25241 |via=blu-ray.com}}</ref>

==Possible sequel and legal issues==
Disney had hoped ''Dick Tracy'' would launch a successful franchise, like the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' series, but Disney halted plans.<ref name=Jones>Stewart, pp. 111-115</ref> In addition, executive producers [[Art Linson]] and [[Floyd Mutrux]] sued Beatty shortly after the release of the film, alleging they were owed profit participation from the film.<ref name=Col/>

Beatty purchased the ''Dick Tracy'' film and television rights in 1985 from [[Tribune Media Services]].<ref name=Outlaw/> He took the property to [[The Walt Disney Studios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]], which optioned the rights in 1988. According to Beatty, Tribune attempted to reclaim the rights in 2002, and notified Disney—but not through the process outlined in the 1985 agreement.<ref name="judge">{{cite news |last=Irwin |first=Lew |date=August 12, 2005 |title=Beatty Wins First Round in 'Dick Tracy' Battle |work=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-08-12#celeb2 |access-date=April 27, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060428001414/http://imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-08-12/#celeb2 |archive-date=April 28, 2006}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=IMDb is not a reliable source per WP:UGC.|date=February 2024}} Beatty, who commented he had "a very good idea"<ref name=quote/> for a sequel, believed Tribune violated various notification procedures that "clouded the title"<ref name=quote/> to the rights, and made it "commercially impossible" for him to produce a sequel.<ref name="quote">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=May 17, 2005 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-05-17-beatty-sues_x.htm |title=Warren Beatty sues Tribune over Dick Tracy |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=April 27, 2009}}</ref> He approached Tribune in 2004 to settle the situation, but the company said it had met the conditions to get back the rights.<ref name=Outlaw/>

Disney, which had no intention of producing a sequel, rejected Tribune's claim, and gave back to Beatty most of the rights in May 2005.<ref name=com/> That same month, Beatty filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court, seeking $30 million in damages against Tribune and a declaration over the rights. [[Bertram Fields]], Beatty's lawyer, said the original 1985 agreement with Tribune was negotiated specifically to allow Beatty a chance to make another ''Dick Tracy'' film. "It was very carefully done, and they just ignored it", he stated. "Tribune is a big, powerful company, and they think they can just run roughshod over people. They picked the wrong guy."<ref name="quote"/>

Tribune believed the situation would be settled quickly,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fleming |first=Michael |date=May 22, 2005 |title=Tracy walks; Beatty balks |url=https://variety.com/2005/biz/news/tracy-walks-beatty-balks-1117923299/ |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=April 27, 2009}}</ref> and was confident enough to begin developing a ''Dick Tracy'' live-action television series with [[Lorenzo di Bonaventura]], [[Robert Newmyer]] and Outlaw Productions. The TV show was to have a contemporary setting, comparable to ''[[Smallville]]'', and Di Bonaventura commented that if the TV show was successful, a feature film would likely follow.<ref name="Outlaw">{{cite magazine |last=Fleming |first=Michael |date=May 16, 2005 |title=Outlaw, Tribune team for Tracy |url=https://variety.com/2005/biz/markets-festivals/outlaw-tribune-team-for-tracy-2-1117922981 |access-date=July 8, 2024 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> However, an August 2005 ruling by federal judge [[Dean D. Pregerson]] cleared the way for Beatty to sue Tribune.<ref name="com">{{cite magazine |last=Cohen |first=David S. |date=August 10, 2005 |title = 'Tracy' star makes case |url=https://variety.com/2005/biz/markets-festivals/tracy-star-makes-case-1117927333/ |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=April 27, 2009}}</ref> The April 2006 [[hearing (law)|hearing]] ended without a ruling,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title = No Ruling in Beatty Lawsuit over Dick Tracy Rights | work = [[Fox News]] | date = April 4, 2006 | url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,190507,00.html | access-date = April 27, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090328180815/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,190507,00.html | archive-date = March 28, 2009 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> but in July 2006, a Los Angeles judge ruled that the case could go to trial; Tribune's request to end the suit in their favor was rejected.<ref>{{cite news |author=Stax |date=July 19, 2006 |title=Beatty Still Following Dick |work=[[IGN]] |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/719/719642p1.html |access-date=April 27, 2009}}</ref> The legal battle between Beatty and Tribune continued.<ref name=bank/> By March 2009, Tribune was in [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]], and lawyers for the company began to declare their ownership of television and film rights to ''Dick Tracy''. "Mr. Beatty's conduct and wrongful claims have effectively locked away certain motion picture and television rights to the ''Dick Tracy'' property", lawyers for Tribune wrote in a filing.<ref name=bank/> Fields responded that it was "a nuisance lawsuit by a bankrupt company, and they should be ashamed of themselves."<ref name="bank">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=March 21, 2009 |title=Tribune Company Tries To Secure Rights To Dick Tracy |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

{{anchor|Dick Tracy Special}}In 2010, [[Turner Classic Movies]] broadcast the ''Dick Tracy Special''. Shot in late 2008, Beatty enlisted cinematographer [[Emmanuel Lubezki]] and film critic [[Leonard Maltin]] to make the 30-minute television special, which featured Beatty as Tracy in a retrospective interview with Maltin.<ref name="tvspecial">{{Cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/our-option-atlas-shrugged-expires-two-days-6-plus--212280 |title=Our Option on Atlas Shrugged Expires in Two Days: 6-Plus Copyright Extensions Disguised as Movies |last=Vishnevetsky |first=Ignatiy |author-link=Ignatiy Vishnevetsky |date=December 1, 2014 |publisher=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref><ref name=tracyweird>{{cite web|title=Remembering That Weird TCM Dick Tracy Special|url=http://blogs.disney.com/insider/2015/06/29/remembering-that-weird-tcm-dick-tracy-special/|website=Disney Insider|publisher=[[The Walt Disney Company]]|access-date=July 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703150940/http://blogs.disney.com/insider/2015/06/29/remembering-that-weird-tcm-dick-tracy-special/|archive-date=July 3, 2015|date=July 2015}}</ref><ref name=vanityspecial/> Maltin explicitly asked the fictional Tracy if Warren Beatty planned to make a sequel to the 1990 film, and he responded that he had heard about that, but Maltin needed to ask Beatty himself.<ref name=tracyweird/>

On March 25, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Dean D. Pregerson granted Beatty's request for a summary judgment, and ruled in the actor's favor. Judge Pregerson wrote in his order that "Beatty's commencement of principal photography of his television special on November 8, 2008 was sufficient for him to retain the Dick Tracy rights."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-55893220110325 | work=[[Reuters]]| title=Warren Beatty prevails in Dick Tracy lawsuit | date = March 25, 2011 | access-date = April 21, 2021}}</ref> Beatty's lawyer said the court found that Beatty had done everything contractually required of him to keep the rights to the character.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/03/25/dick-tracy-warren-beatty-finally-gets-his-man/ | work=[[Los Angeles Times]]| title=Dick Tracy: Warren Beatty finally gets his man | date = March 25, 2011 | access-date = October 19, 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110822202947/http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/03/25/dick-tracy-warren-beatty-finally-gets-his-man/ | archive-date = August 22, 2011}}</ref>

In June 2011, Beatty confirmed his intention to make a sequel to ''Dick Tracy'', but he refused to discuss details. He said, "I'm gonna make another one [but] I think it's dumb talking about movies before you make them. I just don't do it. It gives you the perfect excuse to avoid making them." When asked when the sequel would get made, he replied, "I take so long to get around to making a movie that I don't know when it starts."<ref name="cool">[https://www.aintitcool.com/node/49986 Warren Beatty Speaks from The Hero Complex Fest! Dick Tracy coming to Blu-Ray! A sequel is in the works!] - Ain't It Cool News, June 10, 2011</ref>

In April 2016, Beatty again mentioned the possibility of producing a sequel when he attended [[National Association of Theatre Owners|CinemaCon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/warren-beatty-dick-tracy-howard-hughes-movie-1201752997/|title=Warren Beatty Eyeing 'Dick Tracy' Sequel, Howard Hughes Movie Gets Release Date|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|last=Rainey|first=James|date=April 13, 2016}}</ref>

In February 2023, Turner Classic Movies aired ''Dick Tracy Special: Tracy Zooms In'', a 30-minute television special similar to the 2010 ''Dick Tracy Special''. The special consists mostly of a [[Zoom (software)|Zoom]] interview, featuring Beatty appearing as both Tracy and himself, opposite [[Ben Mankiewicz]] and a returning Leonard Maltin. In it, Tracy criticizes aspects of the 1990 film adaptation to Beatty's face, and suggests that a younger actor should take over the role of Tracy. It concludes with Beatty and Tracy meeting in person, and suggesting that ''Dick Tracy'' will return in the future.<ref name=vanityspecial>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/02/warren-beattys-dick-tracy-battles-his-toughest-foe-copyright-lawyers|title=Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy Battles His Toughest Foe: Copyright Lawyers|magazine=Vanity Fair|last=Hoffman|first=Jordan|date=February 11, 2023|access-date=February 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cecchini |first=Mike |date=February 11, 2023 |title=New Dick Tracy Movie Once Again Teased by Warren Beatty in Bizarre Fashion |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/new-dick-tracy-movie-once-again-teased-by-warren-beatty-in-bizarre-fashion/ |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=Den of Geek}}</ref>

Although there have not been any sequels in either television nor motion picture form, there have been sequels in novel form. Shortly after the release of the 1990 film, Max Allan Collins wrote ''Dick Tracy Goes to War''. The story is set after the commencement of [[World War II]], and involves Dick Tracy's enlistment in the [[U.S. Navy]], working for their [[Military Intelligence Division (United States)|Military Intelligence Division]] (as he did in the comic strip). In the story, [[Nazi]] saboteurs Black Pearl and Mrs. Pruneface ([[Pruneface]]'s widow) set up a sabotage/[[espionage]] operation out of Caprice's old headquarters in Club Ritz. For their activities, they recruit B.B. Eyes, The Mole and Shaky. Their reign of terror, culminating in an attempt to bomb a weapons plant, is averted by Tracy. A year after ''War'' was released, Collins wrote a third novel, titled ''Dick Tracy Meets His Match'', in which Tracy finally follows through on his marriage proposal to Tess Trueheart.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Film}}
* [[List of 1990 box office number-one films in the United States]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

'''Further reading'''
* {{cite book |last=Bonifer |first=Mike |title=Dick Tracy: The Making of the Movie |publisher=[[Bantam Books]] |date=June 1990 |isbn=0-553-34900-7 |location=New York City}}
* {{cite book |last=Hughes |first=David |title=Comic Book Movies |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |year=2003 |chapter=Dick Tracy |isbn=0-7535-0767-6 |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Stewart |first=James B. |author-link=James B. Stewart |title=[[DisneyWar]] |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-684-80993-1 |location=New York City}}
* {{cite book |last=Collins |first=Max Allan |title=Dick Tracy |publisher=[[Bantam Books]] |date=May 1990 |others=[[Novelization]] of the film |isbn=978-0-553-28528-4 |author-link=Max Allan Collins |url=https://archive.org/details/dicktracynovel00coll}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q1209853|c=Category:Dick Tracy (1990 film)|q=Dick Tracy (1990 film)|n=no|b=no|v=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|s=no|wikt=no|display=''Dick Tracy''}}
* {{IMDb title|0099422|Dick Tracy}}
* {{AllMovie title}}
* {{Mojo title|dicktracy|Dick Tracy}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|1029314-dick_tracy|Dick Tracy}}

{{Dick Tracy}}
{{Warren Beatty}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick Tracy}}
[[Category:Dick Tracy films]]
[[Category:1990 films]]
[[Category:1990 action comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s crime action films]]
[[Category:1990s crime comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s police procedural films]]
[[Category:American action comedy films]]
[[Category:American crime action films]]
[[Category:American crime comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on comic strips]]
[[Category:Films directed by Warren Beatty]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Bo Goldman]]
[[Category:Films produced by Warren Beatty]]
[[Category:Films scored by Danny Elfman]]
[[Category:Films set around New Year]]
[[Category:Films set in 1938]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1930s]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films that won the Academy Award for Best Makeup]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award]]
[[Category:Live-action films based on comics]]
[[Category:Mafia comedy films]]
[[Category:Saturn Award–winning films]]
[[Category:Touchstone Pictures films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:English-language crime comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language crime action films]]
[[Category:English-language action comedy films]]