The Killing Joke as an Animated Film

*Originally published on 11/25/09


DC has had its fair share of success with its slate of direct-to-video animated films. They seem to have pursued this in lieu of live-action adaptations. While I could comment on how it's not quite the same, all the DVDs (sans one) have been high quality, and it does give me my DC hero fix.
While providing a few new stories, a few of the movies have been adaptations of story arcs. It occurred to me that Alan Moore's classic The Killing Joke could work.

For one thing, it's short. As the movies only have 70 minutes to work with, it would give them ample time. Where the other adaptations had to cut things, they could flesh out elements that were only glossed over in the original story.

It's a pivotal story, as this is where Barbara Gordon is paralyzed and left wheelchair bound, a state she's still in to this day. The only downside is that it's pretty gruesome. Barbara is shot through the spine and then Joker takes pictures of her in an effort to break her father, Commissioner Gordon. The fact that these movies are all PG-13 does give them a little bit of leeway when it comes to gore, but it would be a hard PG-13, much like The Dark Knight.

While the comic is a bit on the disturbing side, I think they can work around it through implication. You don't need to show Barbara on the ground bleeding. Rather you can show things from her perspective as Joker undoes her shirt and begins to photograph her.

If this is adapted, be sure to get Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy to reprise the roles. I know, they've come back a couple of times now, but they are really good at bringing those characters to life. I read the comic recently and I have no doubt that those two could nail the dialogue used in the comic. In fact, when I read that comic, I hear those two in my head voicing the characters. Trust me, it will work magnificently.

Alan Moore has said that the Justice League Unlimited episode, For the Man Who has Everything was one of, if not the best adaptation of his work (this was pre-Watchmen, but I don't know what his thoughts on that film were). I'm certain that he would have no problem letting the same crew handle this work as well.

Given the success of these films, I doubt that they're going to stop anytime soon. There are tons of great stories out there that would be great as animated films and I think this is one of them. It might push the envelope a little, but sometimes it needs to be pushed. It would definitely draw discussion and get people talking.