by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea with Animation Celebration is to take a look at some underseen gems — so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
When you think sci-fi auteur writer-directors today, two names probably come straight to mind. The first is Denis Villeneuve, but right behind him is likely Alex Garland.
Ever since his directorial debut (well, at least officially) with Ex Machina, the Civil War director has produced some of the most thought-provoking sci-fi around. However, back when he was still just a writer, he worked on some animated projects. While I’d love to give a deep breakdown of his writing work in the Devil May Cry games, I neither have the time nor the hardware to pull that off.
Thankfully, that’s not my only option.
What if I told you Dredd wasn’t the first time he dipped his toe in to writing for a comic book character? Instead, 15 years ago, he wrote for an episode of a motion comic series, Batman: Black and White. Produced by Sequence Post, the company that also produced… an Inception prequel motion comic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and co-written by Christopher Nolan?! (Definitely not writing that down for a future entry). The series is a two-season anthology with 10 shorts per season following the Caped Crusader around Gotham City.
The style nails the idea of bringing a comic book to life. Its dotted texture is reminiscent of what the recent Spider-Verse films have been aiming to replicate. The way the animation is handled really makes it feel like a pop-up book come to life — not unlike the animated section of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.The way that depth is used helps the images pop and the movement, though stilted, eventually became part of the charm. In fitting with the black-and-white conceit, there’s a noir feel threading the whole project together, which I enjoyed.
Garland’s episode, entitled “Sunrise,” sees an ailing Batman under the care of an elderly woman. With the short being three minutes long, when it comes to Garland’s writing, there’s not much to glean. It’s cute as both characters get to learn a little bit from the interaction, but I couldn’t help thinking as it ended somewhat abruptly, that it could have used the extra minute or two that the other shorts got in the season.
Speaking of those other episodes, since the two-part episodes were available either for $.99 apiece or $3.99 for the season on Amazon Prime, I bought the whole second season. Here’s a quick thought about the other, non-Garland episodes.
“I’ll Be Watching” — This is an interesting take on a henchman trying to live up to a deal with the vigilante to turn his life around, a real Attack of the Clones “You want to go home and rethink your life” kind of moment. Not necessarily something you think about often in comic book stories, but a fun exercise about the downstream effect of the good Batman does.
“The Call” — This is interesting for a couple reasons — it shows Batman asking for help (though I wasn’t a huge fan of the characterization of the helper), and the collateral damage that can occur as part of criminal rampages.
“Monsters in the Closet” — A question I’ve seen posed a lot recently in animation concerning who we view as the monsters in society. Also, who doesn’t love a quick mad scientist tale?
“A Game of Bat and Rat” —As the episode title would suggest, there’s a fun cat-and-mouse aspect to this one as, henchmen figure out that killing Batman might take a little more than they thought.
“Hands” — Oof. This one’s dark. Unnecessarily so. Can’t all be winners.
“In Dreams” — When kids show up in a Batman property, it’s usually to show how much they idolize him. This one tackles how terrifying witnessing something where you need him to rescue you might be, and its potential impacts down the road.
“Heroes” — This one’s pretty simple: Batman, but in at the dawn of the World War II era. Doesn’t have to be any more complicated for a few minutes of fun.
“Legend” — From the past, to the future. Takes the myth making that’s very much a part of the present and asks how it would be viewed as Gotham got further and further away from his era. Another simple but effective thought exercise.
“Blackout” — Moving from pre-World War II to actual World War II time period makes the comment from “Heroes” even more true. What can I say? I’m a mark for alternate history storytelling — even if it’s just in a bite-sized package.
Look, Batman: Black and White is a project where you have to set your expectations going into it because of its limitations. The animation can be a little janky and the scripts a little melodramatic, and the voice acting won’t win any awards, but it’s a unique way to get a variety of different takes on the character, all in the time it would normally take you to watch an episode of television.
Is it cheesy? Yeah, but if you can lose yourself in the vibe, it’s an experience worth trying at the least and one I had some fun with.
I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. For next month, I’m hoping to find a way to connect things to the last releasing Oscar nominee.
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd