DC Announces New Batman & Justice League Animated Features & Shorts

DC Entertainment has revealed a new line of cartoon feature films and shorts based off of their two toy lines: Batman Unlimited and DC Superfriends.

The animated output begins this May with a direct-to-DVD feature called Batman: Animal Instincts. Featuring the Mattel toy line's unique visual interpretation of The Dark Knight and his allies, the film will team Batman with Red Robin, The Flash, and Green Arrow in a caper against the Penguin. A sequel to the film will hit in the back half of 2015.

But that's not the only place viewers can see Batman wearing a chin-guard. The Batman Unlimited brand will also extend into series of 22 two-minute shorts, which will be available digitally and on an exclusive app.

The rest of the Justice League, as filtered through the Fisher-Price Super Friends Toy Line, will get a series of 15 three-minute animated shorts. Those will launch later this spring on digital platforms and another exclusive app.

The animated shorts come from a collaboration between DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, and each toy line's respective manufacturers, Mattel and Fisher-Price.

"We are thrilled to be working with our Warner Bros., Mattel and Fisher-Price colleagues to create new Batman and DC Super Friends kids' content," DC Entertainment's president Diane Nelson told Variety. "These new animated projects will offer all new Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman adventures that seamlessly jump from toybox to screen."