The Lego Batman Movie

The Lego Batman Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2017 computer-animated film The Lego Batman Movie, which is the second instalment in The Lego Movie franchise. The film is based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, and other primary characters from the DC Universe and the Lego DC Super Heroes' Batman toy line. This is the first and only film in the franchise not to be scored by Mark Mothersbaugh, instead Lorne Balfe scored for the film. The soundtrack to the film was released by WaterTower Music, through two-disc CD formats and for digital download, on February 3, 2017, a week prior to the film's release. A vinyl edition of the soundtrack was released on May 19, 2017. Background Lorne Balfe was hired to score for the film in June 2016. He previously assisted Hans Zimmer on the music of The Dark Knight trilogy, which is also based on the DC Comics character Batman. The film's director Chris McKay, described the film "as a mixture of how About a Boy, meets director Michael Bay" for which he agreed to be a part of the film. While working on the score Balfe did not think the film as a Batman film, but a "live-action film with Lego characters", and took the approach of a serious film, rather than writing "typical animated film music". Balfe did not use any musical references from previous Batman films, but instead he used Neal Hefti's original theme from the 1960's television series, as he thought "it would be great to hear in the film". The first of the few themes he had written for the film, is the theme for Robin, who plays a pivotal appearance, as, according to Balfe, "a principal leitmoif or theme was not featured for the character". He had written a song "I Found You" for the character. Balfe used a different approach for the music for other characters, including Joker, where "he has a traveling band with him, the same way in which Henry VIII would have a lute player following him around…" The theme for Joker incorporate sitars, harpsichords and rock guitar. Red Hot Chili Peppers band's principal drummer Chad Smith, played drums for the score. Speaking about Smith's inclusion Balfe had said "it brought a whole different dimension to the score [...] It’s not banging drums; it’s the attitude behind playing them. And he brought the whole opening sequence alive." Chris McKay initially planned The Lego Batman Movie as a musical film.