AWARD-WINNING WRITER ALAN BURNETT
DISCUSSES “BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHT,”
THE THIRD DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED ORIGINAL MOVIE
Alan
Burnett has spent more consecutive years “in the Batcave” than
anyone in animation history.
Not counting his stint on “Super Friends” in 1983, Burnett has
constantly helped bring the Batman’s legacy to animation since
1991 – when he began scripting episodes of “Batman: The Animated
Series,” the Emmy®-winning production widely considered a
pivotal moment in American animation.
This summer, the latest animated venture into the Dark Knight’s
mythos takes an altogether different approach than anything
produced during Burnett’s 17-year association with the
character. Burnett served as movie story editor and the writer
of the anchoring segment of “Batman Gotham Knight,” the third in
the ongoing series of DC Universe animated original PG-13
movies.
“Batman Gotham Knight” is a fresh and exciting new film weaving
six interlocking stories that reveal Bruce Wayne’s journey to
The Dark Knight, each with stylish art from some of the world’s
most revered Japanese animation visionaries. The film features
stories written by several of the most talented scribes of film,
comic books and animation, including Burnett, Academy
Award®-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson (“A History of
Violence”), David S. Goyer (“Batman Begins:), Jordan Goldberg
(Associate Producer, “The Dark Knight”), and award-winning
comics writers Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello.
Burnett, Azzarello and Josh Olson, along with producer Bruce
Timm, have already confirmed their participation on the panel
following the world premiere of “Batman Gotham Knight” at Wizard
World Chicago in late June. “Batman Gotham Knight” will arrive
July 8, 2008 on DVD and Blu-Ray disc, and will also be available
that day On Demand via digital cable and for download through
broadband sites. The film is produced as a collaboration between
DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros.
Animation.
An anime fan, Burnett said he was very intrigued and inspired by
the idea of allowing Japanese directors to have relatively free
reign on the animated look of Batman.
“From a visual point of view, this is the most stylized Batman
that’s come out of Warner Bros. -- what they’ve done is really
eye-catching, and it truly expands his world,” Burnett said.
“Their visualization of Gotham City is stunning, and it’s very
interesting to see how they’ve envisioned Batman, his
environment and his action and movements.”
Burnett’s stellar talents have merited four Emmy Awards, three
Annie Awards and two Humanitas Prizes. His work within the
Batman realm includes as a series producer on “Batman and
Superman” and “Batman Beyond,” and most recently as supervising
producer and story editor for Warner Bros. Animation’s four-time
Emmy Award-winning series “The Batman.” In the direct-to-DVD
arena, Burnett co-produced and co-wrote the animated feature
film “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm,” was supervising producer
and writer for “Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman,” and served as
producer on the feature-length “Batman Beyond: Return of The
Joker.”
For “Batman Gotham Knight,” Burnett served as story editor for
the entire film, and writer of the sixth and final segment,
“Deadshot.” The segment ties together threads from all the
film’s chapters as Batman must thwart an unerring assassin whose
love of guns and disregard for human life lets him cross lines
that even a Dark Knight shies away from.
Burnett said having the opportunity to finally bring the
villainous Deadshot to the screen was instant motivation to pen
the script. First, “Batman Gotham Knight” provided the perfect
vehicle for a villain associated solely with guns – an attitude
that flies in direct opposition to Batman’s anti-gun approach to
heroism. The anti-gun theme is prevalent throughout the film.
Moreover, because television standards do not allow the use of
“real” bullets in children’s programming, Deadshot has been kept
out of Batman’s animated legacy. For Burnett, this was the first
opportunity to portray Deadshot as he is known in comics.
“I’ve always liked Deadshot as a villain, and I really like
stories with assassins,” Burnett explained. “The fact that
they’re killers, and what they do has impact, automatically
heightens the energy of the story.”
In addition to writing the script “Deadshot,” Burnett also
story-edited the film, ensuring all six scripts – from six
different, widely-acclaimed writers – worked fluidly together to
interconnect into one story. The ever-modest Burnett said his
job entailed little more than a few alterations for flow and
continuity while he attempted to maintain each writer’s
individualism.
“I thought it was important to keep the integrity of each
writer’s words,” Burnett said. “The writers all pretty much had
the same voice for Batman, so I had to change very little
dialogue – just small fixes to tie up loose ends, and reinforce
transitions and connections between the stories. But I did as
little editing as I could because I respected what the writers
wrote, and I thought it was important that their voice was
heard. Just as the artists made their segments their own, so
should the writers.”
Overall, Burnett is pleased with the final product, and excited
to see the fans’ reactions to the film – particularly the use of
shorter segments to tell great Batman stories.
“For my segment, I think the first Deadshot murder is quite good
– there’s a lot of eye candy within the cityscape. The artists
added fireworks and balloons and a lot of interesting elements
to what ultimately is a cold-blooded murder,” Burnett said. “I
like the short-form for Batman, because it feels almost like a
22-page comic book story. In short form, the stakes are elevated
from the beginning, and it gives you a chance to really heighten
the action quickly – so you can make your points hard and fast
and get out.
Interview and images provided by Warner Bros. Animation.
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