Sure, director Chris McKay has been at the helm of such irreverent shows as "Robot Chicken," where there are no limits to the skewering of pop culture icons in stop-motion animation glory. Still, when it came to handing the keys of its monolithic superhero brand over to McKay for "The LEGO Batman Movie," Warner Bros. and DC Comics had nothing but trust in McKay to use LEGO's bricks to help build a wonderful story about the Dark Knight and several other DC superheroes -- even though it parodies them. "I think in some ways they knew I would be OK because I have a giant Catwoman tattoo on my arm," McKay said with a laugh Tuesday in a phone conversation from Los Angeles. "Plus, I've expressed my love for DC comic books and some Warner Bros. movies in general, like Richard Donner's "Superman" and Tim Burton's "Batman," as movies that made an impression on me as a kid. "Yes, the companies want to be very careful in how they present these characters and under what circumstances, but fortunately, they do have a lot of trust and faith in me," McKay added.
"I've been really lucky that let me do the things I've been able to do with this movie. Yes, we make jokes, but they are loving, affectionate jokes involving these characters." McKay is no stranger to the DC/LEGO universe, having served as an editor and animation supervisor on the 2014 blockbuster "The LEGO Movie." Of course, that film featured LEGO Batman (voiced by Will Arnett), who now -- along with his alter-ego Bruce Wayne -- gets his own adventure in Gotham City, where he takes on such nefarious criminals as the Joker (Zack Galifianakis) and Harley Quinn (Jenny Slate). The film, opening in theaters and on IMAX screens nationwide on Friday, also stars Rosario Dawson as the voice of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Michael Cera as Dick Grayson/Robin and Ralph Fiennes as Wayne's loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Behind-the-scenes footage from the film shows several of the actors in front their microphones, recording dialogue with their LEGO counterparts in hand, and McKay said they weren't the only ones who used the tiny characters to glean some inspiration.
"We had bowls of bricks in the conference rooms so people could play with stuff when we were having meetings, and if you look at the animators' desks, you'll see stuff they started collecting from the first movie that they used to work out animation or design problems, or just to have fun," McKay said. "I tried to promote that sense of play as much as possible and try to get LEGO to give us as many things as possible to do stuff. On the first movie, I had people doing building exercises with teams. We got a Death Star, Millennium Falcon and Star Destroyer, and split people up into teams to build stuff together. It was fun to see people get nerdy about all the details and geek out about it." Much like "The LEGO Movie," "The LEGO Batman Movie" has a distinct, stop-motion animated feel to it, And while the animation in both films is completely computer-generated, McKay - whose credits in addition to "Robot Chicken" include "Moral Orel" and "Titan Maximum" -- would love to somehow implement stop-motion into future LEGO movie projects.
In the meantime, he said, it's key to have people on the films that have stop-motion sensibilities. "One thing I try to do is hire stop-motion animators who know a little bit about CG," McKay said. "The rigs are simple enough for somebody who has a passing knowledge of CG to come in. On 'The LEGO Batman Movie,' I brought in one of my favorite stop-motion animators from 'Robot Chicken' -- her influence on the animation and her character animation was so great that I thought she was absolutely essential to making this movie." This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Lady Gaga to replace Beyonc�� at Coachella Mother Monster is taking over Coachella duties for expectant mother… 6 hours ago Do you know Oprah? How well do you know the queen of talk? 7 hours ago Birthday quiz: Big Ronnie style Will The Fonz and Potsie show up for today's party? Skip to main content Fox Host Lashes Out At Lego Movie: It Pushes "An Anti-Business Message To Kids" Charles Payne: Movie Villain "Looks A Little Bit Like Mitt Romney"
February 7, 2014 12:02 PM EST From the February 7 edition of Fox Business' Varney & Company: Loading the player reg... Fox Business' Follow The Money Unmasks The Muppets' Liberal Agenda: "Brainwashing" Your Kids! Bolling's Muppet-Bashing Just The Latest Right-Wing Attack On Kids' Programs More "Indoctrination" Paranoia: Fox Attacks Dr. Seuss' The Lorax We've changed our commenting system to Disqus. Instructions for signing up and claiming your comment history are located here. Updated rules for commenting are here.NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Steven Mnuchin had a pretty good weekend.First the treasury secretary pick advanced a step closer toward confirmation on Friday.Then his latest movie claimed the top spot at the box office.Mnuchin is an executive producer on Warner Bros.' "The Lego Batman Movie," which pulled in an estimated $55.6 million from U.S. audiences during its opening weekend.CNN, like Warner Bros., is owned by Time Warner.The kid-friendly spinoff of 2014's "The Lego Movie" handily beat its raunchy competitor, Universal's "Fifty Shades Darker."
The sequel to 2015's "Fifty Shades of Grey," based on a best-selling series of romance novels, debuted at $46.8 million in the United States.Mnuchin is listed as a producer or executive producer on 34 films in recent years, including last summer's "Suicide Squad," which brought in $786 million worldwide.He also produced "The Lego Ninjago Movie," another Lego franchise spinoff that will hit screens this fall.Mnuchin is widely expected to be serving as Treasury secretary by then.Following a 53-46 vote last Friday to break a Democratic filibuster, Mnuchin is scheduled for a final vote before the full Senate at 7 p.m. Monday.--CNNMoney's Frank Pallotta and CNN's Ashley Killough contributed to this story. Boys Basketball Playoff Results: Tuesday, Feb. 28 Here are your playoff results and girls state basketball pairings. 8 hours ago No Decision on Morton Again Richard Morton still the City Manager for another day. 9 hours ago Noel Elementary School Students Showcase Inventions at First Annual…