‘Merry Little Batman’
Streaming on Amazon Prime

Unless you’re paying close attention to the streaming services, chances are you haven’t seen the best comic book movie of the year. No, unlike many other reviewers, I’m not suffering from “superhero fatigue”: I truly enjoyed “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “The Marvels,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “Blue Beetle,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” and even the much-panned “The Flash.” Come to think of it, that is a lot — were there any non-superhero movies worth mentioning in 2023?

Yet the animated “Merry Little Batman” is the most original and entertaining production of the entire bunch. That’s possibly because of all the major superhero franchises out there, Batman is at once the darkest and the one with the greatest possibilities for humor. For most of the character’s history, his most famous on-screen incarnation was the highly camped-up “Batman” TV series of 1966-’68, and the spinoff theatrical feature film. The most consistently excellent Batman vehicle was, I think most fans would agree, “Batman: The Animated Series” of 1992-’95, which struck a perfect balance of seriousness and humor.

Then, too, there have been other Batman efforts that were primarily for laughs, like the underappreciated “Lego Batman Movie” (2017) and the ongoing Harley Quinn animated series — and with it, the entire Harley sub-franchise, which was reviewed here a few months ago. Director Tim Burton’s two Batman features also brought a lot of humor to the character.

“Merry Little Batman” is unlike any other entity in all of Batmania: It’s a superhero movie and a comedy, a kids’ film and a family film, a story with a lot of chases, explosions, action, and violence as well as sentiment and even tenderness. And yes, it’s also a Christmas story, with echoes throughout of classic holiday movies like “Home Alone” and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.”

To telegraph their intentions, the vice president of Warner Bros. Animation, Sammy Perlmutter, and director and co-writer Mike Roth decided to give this venture a completely different look from any other Batman or superhero project. This is in distinct contrast to the 1990s animated Batman, which was directly inspired by the pioneering Max Fleischer “Superman” theatrical cartoon series of 1941-’43, as well as the “Spider-Verse” films, which take their visual cues from the great artists who lent their talents to that character, like Steve Ditko and John Romita. 

“Merry Little Batman,” though, was conceived as an homage to the British illustrator and cartoonist Ronald Searle (1920-2011), and is done in a highly whimsical, very cartoony style that’s quite the opposite of such ultra-serious Batmen as Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy and the more recent “The Batman” (2023).  

The visual style suits the story perfectly. The title “Merry Little Batman” refers to Bruce Wayne’s son, Damian. In the comics, he’s notably the third individual to become Batman’s sidekick Robin, following the original Dick Grayson, who grew up to become Nightwing, a character who’s cinematic possibilities have yet to be sufficiently realized; and Jason Todd, who was murdered by the Joker in what might have been the franchise’s single darkest moment. (And yet, in other continuities, Jason Todd survives and goes onto become an antihero, The Red Hood.)

Rather than serving as Robin here, the 8-year-old Damian Wayne (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) takes over the role of Batman when his father is trapped out of town during the holidays. In his overenthusiastic zeal to become a superhero, Damian amusingly blunders his way across Gotham City, and runs up against a consortium of supervillains led by the Joker (David Hornsby), as always Batman’s no. 1 nemesis, and including the Penguin (Brian George), Poison Ivy (Therese McLaughlin), a mostly mute Bane (Chris Sullivan), and Mr. Freeze, played by Dolph Adomian with a  comically pronounced German-Dutch accent that suggests Lew Lehr. 

In the central role of Batman pere, Luke Wilson is the latest of a long number of major leading men to play the Caped Crusader, from Michael Keaton, George Clooney, and Val Kilmer to Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and, most recently, Robert Pattinson. The voices are all excellent and they contribute to a soundtrack that’s as stylish as the visuals, with a fine score by Patrick Stump. There are also some well chosen deep cuts for needle drops: “Donde Esta Santa Claus?” by  Augie Rios and “Sweet Gingerbread Man” by Sammy Davis Jr., are from the predictable holiday fare.

And, as a running joke, Bruce and Damian repeatedly fist-bump each other while humming Neal Hefti’s theme for the 1966 “Batman.” This is one of many Easter Egg-style gags placed in the screenplay, as when the Joker addresses Damian as “Bat-Mite,” a reference to a vintage Batman family character few would care to remember. James Cromwell, as the Wayne family Butler “Alfred,” also leads the cast in a robust singalong of “Jingle Bells / Batman smells,” which some of us remember from Robert Goulet on “The Simpsons” in 1993. 

This fast-moving 96-minute delight is, so I have read, so well-received that Warner Bros. Animation is already developing a companion TV series to be titled “The Bat-Family.” Hopefully that will make it into production, and fingers crossed that it will be in the same whimsical style, both story-wise and visually. And with any luck, if that show lasts long enough for Damian to turn 13, just maybe he’ll have a Bat-mitzvah. Until then, have yourself a merry little Batman.