Bruce Timm is a name that has become synonymous with animated Batman productions over the last couple of decades, but writer Alan Burnett has been equally responsible for keeping the Dark Knight alive and kicking in ink and paint. After cutting his superhero teeth on Super Friends in 1983, he got involved in the Emmy-winning 1991 show Batman: The Animated Series, and has stayed involved in the various series and movies that have followed, including the upcoming direct-to-DVD feature Batman Gotham Knight. In addition to serving as story editor, Burnett wrote the segment that anchors the six different stories that make up this unique addition to the DC Universe series of PG-13 movies. Warner Bros. Animation was kind enough to supply us with the following interview.
‘From a visual point of view, this is the most stylized Batman that’s come out of Warner Bros.,’ says Burnett. ‘What they’ve done is really eye-catching, and it truly expands his world. 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 segment of Batman Gotham Knight, ‘Deadshot,’ is the sixth and final chapter in the epic adventure and it serves to tie together the other five stories. He says he was drawn to the challenge of bringing to the screen a villain that previous Batman productions shied away from. Since television standards prohibit the use of actual bullets in children’s programming, the gun-toting Deadshot has been sidelined in the kid-friendly shows and movies.
‘I’ve always liked Deadshot as a villain, and I really like stories with assassins,’ Burnett explains. ‘The fact that they’re killers, and what they do has impact, automatically heightens the energy of the story. 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.’
A four-time Emmy Award winner, Burnett has served a producer on Batman and Superman and Batman Beyond, and most recently was supervising producer and story editor for Warner Bros. Animation’s Emmy-winning series The Batman. He also co-produced and co-wrote the acclaimed animated feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and was a producer on the direct-to video movie Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker. After jumping between half-hour installments and feature-length adventures, he was given a chance to dabble in a whole different format with Gotham Knight.
‘I like the short-form for Batman, because it feels almost like a 22-page comic book story,’ he notes. ‘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.’
As the overall story editor on Gotham Knight, Burnett got to work with acclaimed comic book writers Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello, as well as screenwriters Josh Olson, Jordon Goldberg and David S. Goyer. Each scribe told his own Dark Knight story, which was given the anime treatment by some top Japanese animators.
‘I thought it was important to keep the integrity of each writer’s words,’ says Burnett. ‘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.’
Burnett will join fellow writers Brian Azzarello and Josh Olson, and producer Bruce Timm on the panel following the world premiere of Batman Gotham Knight at Wizard World Chicago in late June. The movie 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 a collaboration between DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation.
