According to Hollywood lore, Tim Burton never wanted to include pop music in his 1989 film “Batman,” starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. The director preferred the symphonic score of composer Danny Elfman.

Burton thought that pop tunes not only would clash with his “Batman’s” darker vibes, but also would date his movie years later. Yet while Elfman would score the film, Warner Bros. executives pressed their point and won: They had Prince signed to their music label, and so the “Purple Rain” star would be brought into this creativity of this “movie event.”

As a result, viewers were treated not only to the “Batdance,” but also to a couple of Prince tracks that made it into the movie itself: some of them snippets that temporarily paused Elfman’s score, but that were tied to key moments involving Nicholson’s Joker.

Surprisingly, these Bat/Prince moments hold up fairly well. Sure, the film feels dated more than a quarter-century later; the hair and fashion — even the boom box one of the Joker’s henchmen uses to blast these Prince jams — feel utterly of their era. Not so, though, the experience of hearing these great songs.

Prince and the Joker were an odd combination that worked surprisingly well. Could it have been their mutual love of purple? Perhaps.

For whatever reason, when the Joker tries to wine and dine a scared Vicky Vale (Kim Basinger), the Prince tunes perfectly enhance that brilliantly campy Nicholson performance. (And there’s just something about watching Nicholson’s Joker dancing to Prince.)

Then there’s the scene that leads to the final confrontation between Batman and the Joker. The Clown Prince is pouring money from the sky and watching the citizens of Gotham get swept up in his madness. Then another Prince track blares until, when it ends, the Joker is dancing along to the final few guitar riffs. (Nicholson showed some rhythm as he danced to those final musical beats. Was that a part of the script? Improvising on the spot? Maybe Jack — who turned 79 Friday — just got caught up in the funkiness that is Prince at his best.)

Looking back now, in the hours after Prince’s death at 57, there are elements that don’t seem dated, Instead, Prince’s music — like Nicholson’s performance — feels timeless.

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