Blocks magazine archive: Uniting LEGO Batman and Robin
Posted by Huw,
With more than 80 issues now published, Blocks magazine has a huge archive of content – and it’s being made available to print subscribers. The digital back catalogue contains more than 9,000 pages of LEGO features, reviews, build guides and more.
All of the information on getting a Blocks subscription, including the extra subscriber benefits, is available here.
Each day this week Brickset is exclusively sharing one feature from the archive. Issue 28 was The LEGO Batman Movie special, going behind-the-scenes on the film and sharing exclusive, epic bat-builds. This interview with actors Will Arnett and Michael Cera, talking about their experience playing Batman and Robin, is from that edition of the magazine.
With his deep, gravelly tones, it is almost as if Will Arnett was genetically engineered to voice Batman. It is hard to imagine anyone with a naturally more appropriate cadence for the role, and with his significant experience in comedic roles, he was an obvious choice to Phil Lord and Chris Miller when casting their LEGO Batman.
‘As a child I was a big LEGO fan, I don’t think I used that term back then, I just liked LEGO,’ the actor recalls. ‘It was a big part of my growing up experience. I even had an extended time playing with them because I have a much younger brother so I’d use that as an excuse to build a lot of his LEGO sets for him.
‘With regards to Batman, I wasn’t a huge comic book guy as a kid, I went through stages where I read a lot and collected a few here and there. I always thought Batman was really cool because he had a real sort of sense of purpose. It was really cool that he wasn’t born with super powers, but he was able to, because he was so smart, turn himself into a super hero.
‘In The LEGO Movie he was the guy who’d come and save them from certain things, be the super hero,’ The LEGO Batman Movie’s star explains. ‘But also start to show a lot of his vulnerability, and once we got hold of the idea we ran with it. For the first few sessions we were still working out what we wanted to do with the character, what the voice was going to be exactly.’
A great scene that highlights this duality is when Batman is throwing a batarang to activate a switch in The LEGO Movie – despite the multiple throws it takes, he declares on completion, ‘first time’. ‘We found a really great sweet spot of this guy who outwardly has everything in control, very much the Batman that we all know. But beneath that there’s a whole life, a lot of vulnerability from unhealed wounds. I love the idea of taking an iconic character like Batman and playing with the rules of what we know about him. That to me is funny and interesting, I think that we were able to start to create a very unique Batman and we found a lot of humour and a lot of heart.
‘Batman provided a lot of comic relief throughout The LEGO Movie. But it was also kind of cool that in tandem with that you had people responding positively to Batman showing vulnerability,’ Will says. ‘He’s troubled, but it was important that he not be a jerk. Batman is a super hero and that’s sort of one of his saving graces – he’s not a jerk at all, he’s just troubled, dark and brooding. When at the end of The LEGO Movie he acknowledges that Wyldstyle wants to be with Emmett, I thought it was a really great moment. Once we started to get on to the things that interested us about Batman it became evident that there may be more stories to tell.’
The next story, of course, being The LEGO Batman Movie. By putting the character centre stage, a supporting cast had to be built around him – and with such a wealth of characters to draw upon, the movie is packed with recognisable Batman faces. None better known of course, than his sidekick Robin – voiced by comic actor Michael Cera, reuniting with Will Arnett after their career defining roles in Arrested Development.
‘In my experience of recording an animated feature I have never once read a script before beginning work on the project,’ Michael says, illuminating the process. ‘They present you with an overview of the movie, a sense of the basic story and character dynamics. They showed me a minute-and-a-half clip that they had put together. I still remember that because that gave me a very strong sense of the tone and the pace of the movie, that’s been important to have that in mind throughout. Then you go in and start finding it, recording as you go.’
Different performers have different takes on voice acting compared to live action, with Michael making the former sound like a liberating experience. ‘With this, you just go in on a given day at a given time, you haven’t memorised anything or even really seen what you’re going to be working on. You just have a working understanding of this character that you’ve been shaping over the course of a couple of years.
‘So for that reason you have to have total faith in who’s directing the movie and there’s no reason not. You go in and just experiment, it’s not like there’s a lot of people around, it’s not like there’s a whole crew watching you try and succeed. You can fail a lot because there aren’t a lot of resources that have been rounded up to try and capture something worthwhile from you as an actor, you just hit record and experiment.’
The actor has only positive feelings to share about his experience playing Robin. ‘I felt from the beginning that everyone was very encouraging about making sure I feel good about what I’m doing and have a sense of ownership, it’s been a really collaborative experience. I’ve had a great time working on this movie.
‘It’s fun when you are just really leaning into your voice and that’s your whole performance,’ he elaborates. ‘Then the animators are bringing an entirely different realm to the performance. So it’s liberating as an actor to go in and just work with your voice because you don’t feel ridiculous going that big, especially when it’s a movie going for this kind of comedy which can be completely over the top with this kinetic, non-stop bombardment of jokes.’
The dialogue is not recorded in one session, the cast are required to check back in to the process regularly as the script develops. ‘Over the last couple of years it has changed, it’s evolved,’ says WIll. ‘Chris encouraged me from day one to, if I was inspired to, go off script and we did that a tremendous amount. I think of it more as writing without a pen than adlibbing. It’s only funny or vital if you’re telling the story, so it was rare that I would say something in the room while recording that was kind of an offhand remark, it was always informing the character and the story. But every session I would spend probably half the time going off script and creating new material.’
Will is keen to share the credit for the film and highlight the importance of the director’s expansive vision. ‘Chris McKay… I can’t say enough about how incredible he is and what sort of vision he has. He is such a pure, massive fan of Batman and having him at the helm is like letting a kid who really loves Batman and who really embraces the idea of just everything that you want. The Batcave, and all of it, is just a function of how big and fantastic his imagination and creativity is.’
The character of Robin has ended up being absolutely key to The LEGO Batman Movie, as Michael explains. ‘The main crux of my character that you’ll see in the movie is that I’m a giant fan of Batman. Bruce Wayne separately is another hero of mine, because he is an orphan who’s really made something of himself, who being an orphan myself I emulate and worship. Then I have a chance to meet him and I do everything I can to attach myself to him.’
‘I’m really excited for people to see the dynamic between Batman and Robin,’ says Will. ‘There is a great paternal element to it. What’s great about it is that Robin comes in at a time in Batman’s life when it became more and more apparent that he doesn’t really have a family.’
Although the film does have a strong emotional arc running throughout, it is of course focussed on providing as much comedy as can be fit into the 90-or-so minutes. ‘Most comedy is in one way or another, in a very surface way or a very rich way, dealing with the complexities of people, of human nature, and making light of it,’ Michael suggests. ‘This movie’s main priority is to be funny, to be a good time, and that just kind of goes hand in hand with how we can poke fun at Batman’s exterior to see what’s going on.’
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17 comments on this article
I always thought LEGO Batman was very similar in attitude and in tone to HISHE Batman, to the point that I consider them almost the same character. I'm saying this as a good thing, because they are both hilarious and my favorite interpretation of the character. This movie was huge fun, still LOVE the intro sequence with the song.
Love reading interviews like this! Thanks Blocks and Brickset!
I always welcome interviews on Brickset. Thanks! Very nice for Blocks to give us this. I love the movie and I thought it was very funny.
My bank account may be weeping with relief that it fell through, but my brain really would like to see what they would have done with a sequel.
@Gatanui said:
"I always thought LEGO Batman was very similar in attitude and in tone to HISHE Batman, to the point that I consider them almost the same character. I'm saying this as a good thing, because they are both hilarious and my favorite interpretation of the character. This movie was huge fun, still LOVE the intro sequence with the song. "
I think you've hit the nail on the head with that one. They've got a great balance of making Batman a joke, but clearly coming from a place of being fans.
@Gatanui said:
"I always thought LEGO Batman was very similar in attitude and in tone to HISHE Batman, to the point that I consider them almost the same character. I'm saying this as a good thing, because they are both hilarious and my favorite interpretation of the character. This movie was huge fun, still LOVE the intro sequence with the song. "
I love HISHE.
I'm waiting for TLBM2!!!
Now do a story on the voice actor for the Flemmish version of the Lego Batman Movie. If you think the original was great, try the Flemmish version. "Superman is geen slechterik! Ah jongen, dan heb ik op dit moment geen echte slechterik. Dan vecht ik gewoon met wat ander volk.... Wow, luister eens heel goed Jokertje, Batman doet niet aan ties. Zoals in relaties". Lego Batman + Flemmish voice actors = best animated movie ever made!
As digital subscriber (for years now) because of their outrageous shipping prices and my unwillingness to pay $15 at Barnes & Noble I have nothing to say but WTF?!?! Perhaps DIGITAL subscribers should have been given the DIGITAL treatment first being we literally cost less and you profit more off of us to begin with. Checking my Pocketmags account as we speak........
@gsom7:
The deal with WB was ended, I believe because The LEGO Ninjago Movie and The LEGO Movie 2 didn't do so well. Now they have a new movie deal with Universal, which pretty much ends the chances of seeing another LEGO movie based on any DC characters. Heck, even the LEGO Movie characters are co-owned by WB, so you've probably seen the last of Emmet and Wyldstyle as well.
Lego Batman Movie > Lego Movie > Lego Movie 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lego Ninjago Movie
@Norikins:
As much as I'm all about Batman, The LEGO Movie was a better film. The opening of TLBM was the best part of all four movies, absolutely. And then the movie dragged to a crawl for about half an hour before things kinda picked up again but never really achieved the same level of greatness as the opening fight scene. It's kinda like how Wall-E is an absolutely fantastic first half of a movie, and then feels like they hired a completely new production team to take care of the back half.
Ah, The Lego Batman Movie...an underrated/under appreciated classic...:
-Bruce Wayne having has, what 90th birthday...which was the character's age at the time; and no one questioned how he hasn't 'aged'...nor Alfred:)
-Hearing Barbra Gordon graduating 'Harvard for police', and thinking: 'so...Harvard, then...'
-And hearing that Conan O'Brian did the voice of the Riddler:D "Riddle me this...What just happened". Or Billy D Williams voicing Two-Face: a perfect 'throw-back' to what could/would have been Burton's Bat-film...
@deejdave said:
"As digital subscriber (for years now) because of their outrageous shipping prices and my unwillingness to pay $15 at Barnes & Noble I have nothing to say but WTF?!?! Perhaps DIGITAL subscribers should have been given the DIGITAL treatment first being we literally cost less and you profit more off of us to begin with. Checking my Pocketmags account as we speak........"
The way we’ve been able to offer this new service is by providing Blocks digitally via Exact Editions, where you will also have full back issue access. So next time you are looking to renew, consider switching to Exact Editions rather than Pocketmags – then you’ll have full back issue access too.
We actually don’t profit more from digital issues, the way the pricing works means we end up with a smaller cut of each sale. We do appreciate your support though, everyone who subscribes to the mag, be it physical or digital, is important to us.
We appreciate that the magazine is more expensive in the USA as it’s printed in the UK, the additional cost is shipping the mag overseas. We are investigating ways to improve our offering to fans in the US – it’s the same with this new back catalogue, we’re always looking for ways to give as much to our readers the best offering we can.
@brick_r:
The first Batman story was given a publication date of May 1939 (in all likelihood it hit stands in April). TLBM released in late winter/early spring 2017, so he was approaching his 78th birthday when it premiered. Did they address his publication age? I don’t really remember that.
No more WB LEGO movies?
That’s a very bad decision. I very much enjoyed The LEGO Batman Movie and both LEGO Movies. Ninjago was good but not great. Three out of four isn’t bad.
@MutoidMan:
TLM made 468.1 million on a budget of 60-65 million. TLBM made 312 million on a budget of 80 million. TLNM made 123.1 million on a budget of 70 million. And TLM2 made 192.3 million on a budget of 99 million. It’s those last two that are critical to the fate of the franchise, as both returned less than twice their budget. Traditionally, you double the production budget to WAG the break-even point, as that number just gets you a master print that’s ready to view. After that they have to generate any physical copies that need to be distributed to theaters, and run a marketing blitz to make sure theaters are as full as possible during the critical first few weeks when studios get the largest cut of box office revenue. The gross then gets split t between the studio, any partner studios, all the theaters that screen the film, all the cast and crew who may have profit-sharing worked into their contracts, and so on. So, for TLM to return over 7x it’s budget, TLBM to drop to less than 4x it’s budget, and the last two films to both underperform with less than twice their budget really shows that the franchise was in trouble.