Synopsis
In Merry Little Batman, rambunctious eight-year-old Damian Wayne (charmingly voiced by Yonas Kibreab) has one wish this Christmas. He wants to be a superhero like his famous dad, Bruce Wayne, aka BATMAN (Luke Wilson). Unfortunately, a few obstacles stand in his way. For one thing, he’s a little too short to reach the Batmobile’s gas pedal. For another, Bruce has completely cleaned up the streets of Gotham City to make it safe for his son. There’s simply no crime left to fight. Finally, Bruce thinks Damian still has things to learn about what it truly takes to be a hero. To encourage him, however, Bruce gives Damian the ultimate Christmas gift. His very own Utility Belt.
When the Justice League calls Batman away on Christmas Eve for an emergency mission, Damian tricks Alfred Pennyworth (the wonderful James Cromwell), the family’s devoted butler, into running an errand, dons a hilarious DIY Batman costume, and practices his Super Hero skills by chasing his pet cat Selina (the first of many winks and nods to Batman’s rich lore) up and down Wayne Manor’s holiday decorated halls.
But when two bumbling burglars (Michael Fielding, and Natalie Palamides) break in, Damian springs into action for real and heroically defends his home against the dastardly duo. Although he outwits the clumsy criminals at every turn, they escape with his beloved Utility Belt. Desperate to retrieve this new prized possession, Damian borrows one of his dad’s genuine Batsuits, hops on a Batcycle, and races off to Gotham.
Standing in his way, however, are an array of iconic Super-Villains. These include Poison Ivy. Bane. The Penguin. And the Clown Prince of Crime himself, The Joker (David Hornsby). Although technically “retired” from the business of evildoing, these fiendish foes quickly realize they can manipulate the pint-sized would-be superhero for their nefarious purposes. Luckily, Damian’s Batsuit comes equipped with an amazing Bat-Dad AI program. One that contains all the knowledge and algorithms of the real Batman. Still, even that might not be enough to save Christmas in Gotham City from The Joker and his odious entourage.
Will Damian finally discover what it takes to be a true hero? Will Bruce learn to trust his courageous son? Or will The Joker have the last laugh? Will Alfred ever return with that bag of marshmallows he went out to buy? Find out in Merry Little Batman. A warm-hearted animated family action comedy that’s destined to become a seasonal classic!
About The Production
Like countless fans around the world, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Mike Roth fell in love with Batman as a child. He first encountered Gotham City’s masked crime fighter on the Saturday morning TV cartoon series “Super Friends.” His adoration was cemented even further by watching reruns of the campy live-action ’60s TV series starring Adam West. But it was Tim Burton’s 1989 blockbuster, starring Michael Keaton as brooding billionaire Bruce Wayne, that proved to Roth once and for all that Batman was, in his words, “the coolest Superhero ever.”
When Sammy Perlmutter, Vice President of Longform & Specials at Warner Bros. Animation, pitched Roth the idea of an original animated Batman feature set at Christmastime. The filmmaker was instantly drawn to the project. Roth stated:
“Sammy’s concept was what if burglars broke into Wayne Manor on Christmas Eve, and you had Batman as a little kid trying to stop them? That’s how Merry Little Batman started”
As if Perlmutter’s pitch wasn’t enticing enough, Sam Register, President of Warner Bros. Animation, suggested the film be animated in the style of Ronald Searle, the legendary satirical cartoonist whose drawings influenced the likes of John Lennon, Matt Groening, and the animators of 101 Dalmatians, among others. Roth loved Searle’s unique style. He had already been researching the artist’s brilliant work for a different Warner Bros. project. Subsequently, he quickly signed on to direct Merry Little Batman.
Perlmutter introduced Roth to writer Morgan Evans, who had been working with him on the initial concept, and Evans and Roth immediately began fleshing out the film’s colorful world together. Gradually, the framework of the story changed from Batman as a child to Batman as a dad with a young son. Roth elaborated on Batman’s motivation to protect his young son:
“Morgan and I asked ourselves, what if Batman cleaned up all of Gotham to keep his little boy safe? What if he channeled his intense energy and focus into being a father? He’d be the ultimate helicopter parent.”
Meet “Little Batman”
“When we were writing the story, we thought he should be a real little kid, and all he wants for Christmas is to be Batman like his father…But his dad is so overprotective, that there’s nothing left for a superhero to do. The irony is that Bruce doesn’t think Damian is ready for any of that superhero stuff, but we see right away in the very first scene that he totally is. He’s super athletic and agile, and he’s got great dexterity, so it immediately sets up an interesting conflict between father and son.”
A Unique Animation Style
Although the idea of incorporating elements of Searle’s distinctive art style into the film’s animation design was an exciting concept, it turned out to be no easy task. Known for his stripped-down graphic caricatures and delicate line work, Searle’s singular vision has rarely been adapted to feature animation. Roth spoke about Searle’s unique style of animation:
“It was extremely complicated because his drawings are very sketchy. They’re more like fine art, so the challenge was translating that into something that could be drawn consistently and repetitively.”
“We wanted it to feel like a big world, and we wanted to show it through the perspective of an energetic little kid, so we needed a camera that could move around a lot, and that was tricky because the Searle-style designs don’t inherently turn and move easily in a three-dimensional world. So we had to figure out new ways to negotiate the shapes. Luckily, I had an amazing art team on this film.”
During the development of Merry Little Batman, Fesquet, Faidhi, and Roth came up with the idea of Gotham being a monochromatic environment. Where each color would represent a specific mood or feeling. As a result, they began creating various motifs around the concept of color. Roth would later state:
“Every time I went to the background meetings, I saw things that just absolutely blew me away. The line work, the detail, and the richness of the world were simply incredible. And then when it all got colored, I had to pinch myself to make sure it was actually happening…Since much of the story is told visually, the filmmakers painstakingly crafted each
environment, carefully choosing every object and color depicted on screen. “The little
details meant a lot to us”
“When you think of the traditional world of Batman, Gotham is, basically, New York City,” There’s a lot of parallels there, architecturally speaking. It’s all very gothic. So we wanted to honor some of that vintage imagery, but we didn’t want it to feel too old, so we added things like cell phones and other technology to make it feel like the present day. And that informed the costuming of the characters as well. The Penguin wears a ’70s jumpsuit, while The Joker has on a zoot suit, so there are vintage details and some futuristic things, too.”
Christmas Crime Fighting
“Christmas is all about light, happiness, and celebration, while Batman is about crime and darkness. Christmas almost feels a little vulnerable with Batman’s presence added to it, so there’s something poetic about the combination. It really is a great setting for a Batman adventure. In Batman Return’s, Batman’s dour spirit permeates a Christmas movie, while in Merry Little Batman, the merry spirit of Christmas permeates a Batman movie.
A Batman Like No Other
“He had to sound new, but not so new that he’s not Batman…Also, there’s a lot of humor in the script, which we had to consider. Then one of our casting people suggested Luke Wilson, whose work I’ve always been a huge fan of. He’s got such a great delivery, and as soon as we heard his Batman voice, we knew he was the guy. There’s a warmth to his voice, but he can also sound very strong, so he ticked every box for us.”
“Luke is naturally funny, so he ad-libbed stuff that we ended up using in the movie…Like when Bruce Wayne is talking to himself and he says, ‘Come on Brucey!,’ that’s Luke all the way.”
“We thought he needed to have a beard because he’s in full dad mode now. The idea was that he gave up his debonair fashion style and traded in his tuxedo for flannels, jeans, and comfortable sneakers.”
“I have three kids, and there’s a lot of my dad isms in Bruce. Like when Bruce and Damian bump their fists or give each other goodbye hugs, those are things I do with my own kids. So I pulled a lot from my life and put it into Bruce.”
A Joker to Die For
Every great superhero needs an equally great nemesis. In the Batman universe, no villain is more iconic than The Joker. Voicing the Clown Prince of Crime in Merry Little Batman is actor David Hornsby. He joins the pantheon of legendary luminaries that includes Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Hamill, and Cesar Romero. Each of them has played the cackling criminal in previous films and television shows. Roth spoke about the prerequisites for casting the iconic Joker.
“We wanted a Joker that had a lot of peaks and valleys, and we wanted him to be able to change quickly from super-happy to super frightening…The idea was to portray him as sociopathic and childish, and when we shared our ideas with David Hornsby, he understood the character immediately. He did an incredible job navigating those quick changes, from funny to terrifying. The way he plays The Joker, it almost feels fun to be around him for a second or two, but then he turns nasty in the blink of an eye.”
Hilarious Hidden References
“They were all really fun to include. We did it for the fans, and for ourselves, too. One of my favorites is when Bane falls over a ledge at the end of the movie and yells, ‘My back!’ Because, of course, he’s the villain who broke Batman’s back in the comics.”
– Mike Roth
Other examples include Damian’s cat named Selina, Bruce’s Talia chest tattoo, as well as Mr. Freeze’s Austrian accent, a direct quote from Tim Burton’s Batman, George Clooney’s nippled Batsuit, a glimpse of Thomas and Martha Wayne’s graves, a tribute to Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and the repeated use of the catchy ’60s TV show theme song.
In Conclusion: A Special Christmas Wish
“The character designs, the voice acting, the action, and the humor is something that kids everywhere are going to love,” he says. “I can see them really relating to Damian, and when you’re writing movies for families, that’s one of the ultimate goals.”
Reflecting on his journey to bring Merry Little Batman to viewers, Roth is enormously proud of and grateful for, the astonishing work each member of the team brought to the production. From the very beginning, he and everyone involved in the film set out to make a seasonal classic that could become a perennial favorite at Christmastime.
Merry Little Batman is directed by Mike Roth, with a screenplay by Morgan Evans (Teen Titans Go!) and Jase Ricci (Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure), from a story by Morgan Evans and Mike Roth (Phineas and Furb), and Art Direction by Guillaume Fesquet (Minions: The Rise of Gru). Based on legendary characters by DC, the film stars the voice talents of Luke Wilson (Legally Blonde), James Cromwell (Babe), and David Hornsby (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia).
Merry Little Batman began streaming globally on Prime Video on December 8.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://cinemascholars.com/merry-little-batman-the-making-of-the-new-animated-superhero-film/&media=https://cinemascholars.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/merry-little-batman-mlba_2023_spstatic_gargoyle2_1080x1350_pre_final_en-us_cps_rgb-1.jpg&description=Cinema%20Scholars%20reviews%20the%20new%20animated%20film%20"Merry%20Little%20Batman,"%20starring%20the%20voices%20of%20Yonas%20Kibreab,%20Luke%20Wilson,%20and%20James%20Cromwell.){kind=link}