PRINTAnimation variations
Tie-ins offer fans something extra
Courtesy of Warner Home Video
Batman: Gotham Knight is the latest animated film to supplement a blockbuster.
May 1, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
This summer, before he returns to wipe the smirk off the Joker’s face in the sure-to-be blockbuster The Dark Knight, Batman is turning Japanese.
Batman: Gotham Knight, out July 8, depicts the caped crusader’s adventures between Batman Begins and the upcoming sequel. The direct-to-DVD anthology of six short films is the character’s first foray in Japanese animation, or anime. Movie and anime message boards across the Internet are buzzing with a level of anticipation that rivals that of its theatrical successor.
Zac Bertschy, the executive editor of the Anime News Network, a Web site for fans of the genre, says he’s looking forward to seeing it: “It’s a nice piece of marketing and looks to be a great tie-in to The Dark Knight.”
Although anime features might be new for Batman, the past five years have seen several similar small-screen tie-ins to other big-budget franchises.
About a month after The Matrix Reloaded hit theaters in May 2003, Warner Home Video released The Animatrix — a direct-to-DVD companion with nine short anime films.
The following summer, the Vin Diesel sci-fi action debacle The Chronicles of Riddick spawned its own single anime short, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, which quickly followed its sibling into obscurity. Later this year, the first anime-inspired 3-D Star Wars film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, debuts in theaters and kicks off a Cartoon Network TV series of the same name.
“The strategy for most of these projects appears to be the same,” says Bertschy. “Get a whole bunch of different directors, writers and artists together and see what new things they can do with these properties.”
Batman: Gotham Knight and The Clone Wars both have cult followings, and in that same vein, these products are appealing to that core base of fans.
“The consumer would be there even without the live-action film,” says Ryan McLelland, a contributing editor for the movie Web site Latino Review.
Both McLelland and Bertschy agree that these movies are aimed at one of the film industry’s most-targeted demographics: males ages 18-35, whose interest in animated storytelling often began as children.
These recent animated projects exude a higher level of maturity, especially with the inclusion of graphic violence, rough language and risqué conversations. Animated heroes and films have grown up with their fans.
“There’s a whole generation of animation junkies out there that are not just watching Scooby Doo,” says McLelland. “Cartoons have finally gone from being a dorky thing to being something that’s cool.”
