In a UK broadcast first, the idea was to have Lego Batman take over the continuity announcements (in which an announcer reads out the up-coming TV schedule) on the UK’s Channel 4 for the entire weekend before the cinema release of The Lego Batman Movie. In a series of short, hilarious, animated films that aired in ad breaks around the biggest shows, Lego Batman would comment on what the UK public were watching. The films would integrate seamlessly into the fabric of Channel 4 with smart placements in various ad breaks, and scripts that were relevant to the scheduled programming before and/or after.

It was essential to the creative that the short films had the same tone, look and feel as The Lego Batman Movie. We delivered eighteen short films, 10-20 seconds in length. Having worked with Channel 4 to get unprecedented access to their schedules, the scripts captured the same pop-culture referencing humour as seen in the movie. Each film featured Batman in a yellow Lego brick sound studio speaking directly to the audience. We worked with Warner Brothers’ Animation team based in Burbank to create the films with bespoke animation in the same style as the movie. The comedy of the monologues was enhanced with Lego Batman’s energetic mannerisms, visual gags and a surprise appearance from his butler, Alfred. We also enlisted The Lego Movie’s star Will Arnett to bring his beloved and hilarious rendition of the character to life in our films.

Continuity Bat – which was supported by Channel 4 on Twitter – generated positive buzz on social media with high engagement levels across the weekend. Research showed that 81% of people who saw the films thought that the film was going to be funny, and 78% thought that it would be an entertaining film for the whole family, not just kids. The LEGO Batman Movie opened at No.1 in the UK Box Office and held this position for three weeks. Continuity Bat was seen by 40% of the UK population in just four days One-in-six viewers booked a ticket to see the movie as a result.Delivering an ROI of more than 17 pounds for every pound Warner Bros. spent.