Poker Night

Runtime: 06:20
Genre: Superhero / Comedy

Directed by
Aaron Brown

Story by
Mike Wytrykus

Screenplay by
Aaron Brown &
Mike Wytrykus

Produced by
Mike Wytrykus
Aaron Brown

Associate Producer
Dave Velez

Production Designer
Mike Wytrykus

Director of Photography
Aaron Brown

Animation
Mike Wytrykus

Edited by
Mike Wytrykus
Aaron Brown

Music
"The Gambler"
by Kenny Rogers

Theme from
Superman: The Movie
by John Williams

"Let's Get it On"
by Marvin Gaye

Special Thanks

Aaron's Dad
for allowing us to use the awesome mini-dv camera

Aaron's Mom
for not throwing away any
of our stars or props

Aaron's Nieces
for loaning us the barbie stuff

Steve
for pulling double duty

Dave
for not always sticking
to the script

Velez
for giving us money
and not killing us

Rich
for being the funniest
Dr. Doom ever

God
for not smiting us down

Zeb Wells
for not entering this
year's contest

Pat McCallum
for quoting our other flick
and believing in us

Kevin Smith
for being an inspiration to us all

Pinnacle Systems
Adobe Software
K*B Toy Works
Hobby Lobby
Menards

"He'll need all his crimefighting skills
to defeat these five foes."

Synopsis

The sky's the limit in this wild and wacky piece of superhero comic gold from the creators of How Superman Got His Groove Back.

Batman (Steve Wigsmoen) is the world's greatest detective and has defeated scores of dastardly villains in his long career. But tonight, he will face his greatest challenge ever. The Dark Knight squares off against five of the world's greatest superheroes in a high stakes, winner-takes-all game of poker! It will take all his crimefighting skills to defeat the combined might of Superman, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Aquaman and the Hulk. When the chips are down and everything's on the line, who will be the victor?

Featuring the music of Kenny Rogers and an all-star cast of the filmmakers' closest friends, Poker Night is a hysterical comedy that leaves nothing to chance.

Production Notes

• Poker Night is the third entry in the Rabid Mongoose toymation series, and the second attempt at winning the Wizard Direct-to-Video contest.
• Superman and the Hulk are the only two characters that appear in all three Toymation films, and the only characters voiced by the same actor (Mike Wytrykus).
• Original notes had the story continue well beyond the outcome of the poker game. Batman made several other attempts to regain his fortune including working as Iron Man's butler and robbing Superman's apartment.
• Most of the plot points and jokes were conceived over coffee one night at the Muse Cafe in Lansing, IL.
• Produced for a budget of about one hundred dollars, split three ways among the producers.
• Used many of the same figures, props and production equipment as How Superman Got His Groove Back.
• Pre-production was more elaborate than the other toymation films, and involved a lot more writing, storyboard drawing, set design and construction, as well as several trips to Menards, Hobby Lobby, and K*B ToyWorks.
• Dialogue was once again completed before filming and involved many long hours of recording multiple takes. With a larger cast, several recording sessions were required to get all the necessary dialogue done properly.
• Dave Velez was originally cast as Batman, but was replaced by Steve Wigsmoen after filming was completed. Velez can still be heard as the voice of Robin.
• Principle photography took several weeks to complete and required many long days of filming as the crew was only able to meet once or twice a week.
• Poker Night was filmmed at a letterboxed 16:9 ratio on a high quality miniDV digital camcorder. Approximately two and half hours of footage was shot.
• Post-production lasted several weeks but was not begun immediately after filmming. Final editing and rendering of the Hulk Smash Everybody VideoCD had to be completed before editing on Poker Night could begin.
• Video was captured digitally using Pinnacle Studios DV500 Plus.
• Editing was done on the same Dell Dimension XPS T500 used for Hulk and Superman but with Adobe Premiere 6.0 instead of Vegas Video.
• Total production of Poker Night took several months to complete. Final rendering of the project occured in May of 2002.
• Surprisingly did not receive even runner-up status in the Direct-to-Video contest. Lost to a film called Becoming Superman, which had little, if anything, to do with its title character.
• Two clips were featured in the "best of the rest" reel (edited by two-time winner Zeb Wells) at the Wizard World Chicago 2002 Fan Awards. The first was a shot of Spider-Man swinging away, the second was the final scene with Iron Man.
• The version submitted to the Wizard contest was five and a half minutes and did not contain the end credits. An eight and a half minute version with a longer credit sequence timed to Kenny Roger's "The Gambler" was included (in DVD quality) on a CD-ROM that was available for free from the Rabid Mongoose table in Artists' Alley at Wizard World Chicago 2002. The six and a half minute version found on this webite has a shorter credit sequence with no music. The longer version can still be found on YouTube and other viral video sites.