For this project we chose to present the article ‘Reanimating the Dark Knight: Superheroes, Animation and the Critical Reception of The Lego Batman Movie’ (1). We began by reading the article and discussing how we could present the journal, I enjoyed reading about ‘Batman’s True Identity: The Nostalgic Reinvention of a Children’s Icon’ so I decided I would base my research on this section of the article, specifically the connections between generations and the use of nostalgia to connect to longterm fans.

I began by writing down key points that I found within the section of the article, I found that things were over-explained quite dramatically, I’m not a strong reader so it did take a while for me to come to grasp what the journal was saying sometimes. An aspect of the article that I focused on was generations being able to connect through the Lego Batman film, it discusses how Chris Mckay, the director, wanted to create a film that ‘little kids could go see with their older brothers and sisters or their parents’ (2), I found points the writer made to prove this, that Ben Afllic who played Batman in the Batman vs Superman did not want his 4-year-old son watching the film because he ‘didn’t want him to have nightmares’ (3). I see this new craze for darker superhero films such as the suicide squad and Batman vs Superman and as much as I myself enjoy the horror aspect incorporated into superhero films I understand that it takes away from children and I found articles agreeing that ‘it’s fascinating to watch the trajectory this once kids-centred genre is taking’ (4), the new popularity takes the experience of superhero films away from children and takes the tradition of introducing your children to the characters. The article goes on to talk about Lorenzo Semple and his work on the 1966 Batman film and his opinion on the same matter. He wanted to ‘appeal on two levels, to kids and grown-ups’ (5), for children the film he created was ‘earnest and exciting, for adults it was comedic and parodic’ which was crucial for him to be able to create a film for ‘all demographics’ (1). I agree with this article and I think Chris Mckay’s adaptation was key to Batman lineage, a film for children was needed in the franchise after years of making the character cynical and negative. Being able to entice a whole new audience that can grow up with the same characters that their parents would have known from the comics was crucial in being able to keep the character of Batman alive. The ideology of passing down a character like Batman is somewhat like passing your childhood down to your own children and being able to connect one generation to another.

Another aspect that I honed in on was the use of nostalgia throughout the film. To be able to appeal to all levels of fans was very important to McKay and he didn’t want to forget the dedicated fandom that has kept Batman alive for so many years, keeping in mind ‘hidden pleasures to those fans who have supported the franchise through various cycles’. (6) When reading the article I found several ways McKay kept this in mind when creating the film and how he achieved the strong nostalgia through the film. A huge aspect of nostalgia was Batman’s costume, taking a direct Lego copy from Tim Burton’s 1989 adaptation. In my opinion, this was a very clever move on behalf of the creators of Lego Batman, taking such an iconic look and applying it to a completely different adaptation of the character allows for a nostalgic switch to be activated, seeing a beloved character reinvented was the goal of the film and by doing so it appealed to a whole separate audience. Another way of installing nostalgia in the audience was incorporating rare comic book characters into the film such as Condiment Man, ‘The Movie puts Batman fans to the test by inserting a number of the Caped Crusader’s most obscure and inane villains from over the years. The film does little to explain who they are’ (7) MkCay made sure to appeal to hardcore fans by doing this, making sure not to take away from the casual viewer’s experience but instead conveying the care they have for the die-hard Batman fans. McKay knew that by creating nostalgia he had to keep to the core elements that make Batman, Batman. Wealth, his costume, his obsessive connection to his past, his nature of origin and key members of the supporting cast. (8) By following these elements it creates Batman as a character that can be connected to any film or series he’s ever appeared in and it shows that McKay didn’t want to stray from those lines. By creating this sense of nostalgia in a completely new adaptation of Batman McKay was able to appeal to many audiences and allowed it to grow from just Batman fans to, children, adults, and Lego enthusiasts. The film allowed for ‘adult fans to reconnect with their own youth’ (9). In my opinion, Nostalgia is important when it comes to characters like Batman who has been around for over 80 years. It is so important to acknowledge fans who have kept this character alive and relevant and without them, we would not even have the Lego Batman movie. I agree with McKay when it comes to this and I feel that his adaptation has allowed for the character to live on for many more years, his ways of including nostalgia, in my opinion, has inspired other franchises to do the same, with Marvel bringing back old comic book characters to try and revive their films.

All in all, I enjoyed getting to learn more about the Lego Batman movie in this module and have learned so much about how much thought went into the making of the film, it wasn’t just a Lego version of Batman, it was a necessity to the franchise to grow its audience. It’s important to remember that children are why the character became so famous to begin with and I feel McKay knew this and wanted to take it a step back while still keeping those hardcore fans in mind.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Martin, D. (2020). Reanimating the Dark Knight: Superheroes, Animation and the Critical Reception of The Lego Batman Movie. Animation, 15(1), pp.93–107. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1746847719898785.
2. Freligh, T. (2017). Exclusive interview with Chris McKay on The LEGO Batman Movie and LEGO Universe. [online] Flickering Myth. Available at: https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2017/06/exclusive-interview-with-chris-mckay-on-the-lego-batman-movie-and-lego-universe/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2024].
3. ‌Associated Press (2016) Ben Affleck doesn’t want son to see ‘Batman v Superman’: ‘I don’t want him to have nightmares.’ New York Daily News, 20 March. Available at: https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ben-affleck-doesn-son-batman-v-superman-article-1.2571284 (accessed 14 Feb 2024).
4. Kaufman, D.A. (2023). Superheroes Were for Children – Cathode Ray Zone. [online] cathoderayzone.com. Available at: https://cathoderayzone.com/culture/superheroes-were-for-children/ [Accessed 16 Feb. 2024].
5. ‌Domsch, S., Hassler-Forest, D. and Vanderbeke, D. (2021). Handbook of Comics and Graphic Narratives. [online] Google Books. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=epc9EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA317&ots=vUc2YBFKzo&sig=SXQYyCq_knM7vYf4GIofecqLec4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 15 Feb. 2024].
6. ‌Proctor W (2017) Schrodinger’s cape: The quantum seriality of the Marvel multiverse. In: Yockey M (ed.) Make Ours Marvel: Media Convergence and a Comics Universe. Austin: University of Texas Press, 319–346. [Accessed 16 Feb. 2024]
7. Acuna, K. (n.d.). The 18 most obscure villains in ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ ranked. [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/villains-in-lego-batman-movie-2017-2?r=US&IR=T#18-clock-king-1 [Accessed 16 Feb. 2024].
8. ‌Uricchio W, Pearson R (2015) I’m not fooled by that cheap disguise. In: Pearson R, et al. (eds) Many More Lives of the Batman. London: BFI Palgrave, 205–236  [Accessed 16 Feb. 2024].
9. Geraghty, L. (2018). Nostalgia, Fandom and the Remediation of Children’s Culture. Nostalgia, Fandom and the Remediation of Children’s Culture, pp.161–174. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119237211.ch10  [Accessed 13 Feb. 2024].