Marvel and Funko have collaborated to create the first-ever Funko animated shorts, which are just so charming, cute and fun that you’ll want to watch them over and over again. Each of the three shorts – Spellbound, Bait N Switch and Chimichangas (that last premiering December 14th) – are 90 seconds in length and feature some of Marvel’s most popular superheroes and villains, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Loki, Rocket, Groot, the Collector, Deadpool and Venom.

Of course, after viewing these shorts, we wanted to learn more about them and how they came about, so we got on the phone with Cort Lane, Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Animation & Family Entertainment. During the exclusive interview, we talked about how the idea for this collaboration evolved, how they decided on which characters to feature, which figures he’d like to see in future shorts, balancing the action and comedy, why they chose not to have any dialogue, and the future possibilities for these characters. He also talked about being a life-long Marvel fan, his journey to working at the company, and what’s it like to get to have a hand in developing and producing shows within the Marvel universe.

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Image via Marvel

Collider: These shorts are just ridiculously cute and so much fun!

CORT LANE: Well, I’m glad you think so. Obviously, we feel the same. I do feel there’s really something special here.

Who came up with the idea for this partnership between Marvel and Funko, bringing to life the Marvel Funko Pop! figures?                     

LANE: This is going to sound very corporate, but I have these big summits, once or twice a year, for Marvel Animation, with all of the lines of business that we engage with and collaborate with, and we talk about what we’re doing with our franchises and our strategic plan, over the next five years. And the products people mentioned that they’re really excited about Funko, as a partner, and the aesthetic is really popular and has a huge fan base. As part of the creative conversation, we said, “Is there something that we could do there?” It brings in a broad range of Marvel fans and Funko fans, and it’s a really unique aesthetic. We’ve had a lot of luck with Marvel/Lego animated content. It drives a really huge audience because it’s special, it’s humorous, it’s different, and it’s got a unique aesthetic. We felt there was something similar, but really different here, too. Funko is even more stylized and cuter and funnier. That was earlier this year in the spring, and Funk was not only game, but they were very excited to do it, so we made it happen. Rarely do things go that well.

Anybody who has or gets one of these figures knows that you can’t just have one, as they become a bit of an addiction. Do you have a big collection of them, yourself?

LANE: I’ve just started because I’m collecting the figures in the shorts. But I have a much more expensive collective hobby, so I have to limit myself. I collect original comic art, and I have a lot of really expensive stuff from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. That limits me on starting new collections, or I’d be living in my mom’s basement.

At least they don’t take up a lot of room.

LANE: They don’t, but then you have to decide whether to leave them in the box or take them out of the box. I like to display them all together and create these scenes.

Is there criteria for deciding when to do a feature-length animated movie, a full animated series, shorts for Disney XD, or web shorts, and how did you decide how this project would be presented?

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Image via Marvel

LANE: This was truly an experiment. The first one went live on November 30th, and so far, the reception is huge. It’s very timely because I have another one of those big animation summits, starting on December 7th, and I will tell all of the lines of business that we collaborate with how successful these are. And then, the conversation is really, what’s next? I think Funko is very open to it. I think there needs to be more, in some capacity. What that looks like, there’s a lot of work to do. The audience reception is phenomenal. If I’m ever having a bad day over the next several months, I’m just going to go back to the Facebook and read the comments because they’re so glowing. Fans love you, but they’re also your harshest critics, deservedly so. It’s rare when you work in a business where you create content for fans that the reception is so joyful, and that’s been kind of neat.

With so many characters to choose from, how did you decide which characters would be in these shorts?

LANE: It was really easy. It seems like it would be a hard choice, but we know the characters that are important to fans right now. As we were starting this, Deadpool had just hit really big. I love Venom and I know Venom is probably the favorite villain of most comic fans. We see that, in terms of the audience and the merchandise. Obviously, Iron Man and Spider-Man are really popular right now, and them teaming up seemed really organic because that’s a component of Civil War and everyone knows that Iron Man will appear in a new Spider-Man movie. So, those two connecting with each other and playing off of each other is important. And then, Rocket and Groot are so important for us. There’s the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel coming, and everybody loves those characters. Quite simply, it was very easy.

Are there any characters that you’re particularly looking forward to seeing or teaming up together, if you make more shorts?

LANE: That’s a really good question. I like the vibe between Hulk and Thor. That’s a big component of the next Thor film, so I think that’s one I’d like to see. I’m an old school Avengers fan, so I’m a big Hawkeye fan. I’d like to see Hawkeye playing off of either Captain America or Black Widow. I think Black Widow is the most kick-butt heroine out there, so I would like to see her, in some capacity. Those are some of my favorites, but obviously, I’m not the only decider. Funko has characters that they would like to elevate, and Marvel has characters that they would like to elevate, but there’s really no bad choices. It’s hard to pick, really. These first three shorts were the easiest to see opportunities. I think the next batch, if we do more, will be tougher choices.

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Image via Marvel

The animated shorts do a great job of bringing the cute, fun Funko Pop! figures to life, and the tone fits both brands perfectly. How difficult was it to balance action and comedy in these vignettes, especially in such a short amount of time?

LANE: One of the earliest conversations was about whether they’d talk because Funko figures don’t have mouths. There was a very short but heated debate, and the decision was no. We can have character reactions, but no actual talking. When you take out dialogue, then you get to tell a story that moves really quickly, with a lot of physical humor and action to carry the story. We were clear that we wanted to have an action-adventure story with lots of humor. Funko is a cute, funny brand. And truly, all Marvel content has some level of irreverence. A key part of our brand is that, no matter how serious and how big the stakes, there is humor because life is full of those moments. Those are the elements of Marvel storytelling that help people really relate to and like the characters. So, yes, it is a mash-up of how wacky Funko Pop! figures are and how exciting Marvel action is, and I think we’ve bridged it nicely.

These shorts also really convey the personality of each character without having any dialogue.

LANE: Without dialogue and with very simple faces, which is a tribute to the people at A Large Evil Corporation, who delivered really expressive animation with very simple figures. They did a fantastic job of expressing characters. We communicated with them what we wanted and what the characters’ personalities were, but they did such a great job, even in boarding, of getting across a lot of nuance and emotion.

The short with Rocket and Groot is so cute because you really do get to see the friendship between them. Why do you think it is that so many people took to that bond so quickly?

LANE: It’s interesting, it’s a case of opposites attracting, in terms of friendship. It’s a classic buddy movie dynamic. Rocket is a little crazy and likes to blow stuff up, and Groot is a more gentle soul. Their scales are so opposite, too. In this short, they’re reversed because Groot is so tiny, but playing that scale between them is fun. We’re doing a series of shorts just about Rocket and Groot, that will be coming out this spring with the director and the production team who worked on the Gorillaz music videos, and we’re really excited about those. That is all about that buddy dynamic, and the conflict and the humor between their different personalities, but the fact that they’re always there for each other. So, get ready for a lot of that.

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Image via Marvel

What can you say about what we can expect from the short with Deadpool facing off against Venom?

LANE: It’s even more goofy and violent than the other two because of the nature of the two characters. Quite a bit of action actually takes place in a chimichanga truck on a freeway overpass, and it’s just so very Deadpool. Before this call, I was watching a close to final render and laughing my butt off, the whole time. It’s very much that Deadpool sense of humor, but in this cute way. And then, Venom is just over the top Venom. Everybody loves Venom.

What are the chances that you might do a more traditional animated series, or even features, with these Funko characters? Is that something you’re talking about or thinking about, at all?

LANE: To be honest, not yet. Would I love to? Absolutely! We literally just launched these and we had no idea how good or big the reception would be, and it’s been phenomenal. While I am open to different lengths, I am really, really pleased with how well this length works. Part of me doesn’t want to mess with the success of it, but obviously, there’s something magical about this execution with these characters animated in this way.

You’ve said that you’re a life-long Marvel fan. When and how did that start for you? Was there one thing that sent you on that path?

LANE: Yeah, and it’s actually really vivid. When I was a kid, I’d read a few comic books, but then I read an issue of The Avengers called “Attack of the Ant-Man,” and it had really amazing character stories. The characters were super complex. Wasp is really upset that her husband has gone insane, and Scarlett Witch has this very interesting dynamic between Vision and Wonder Man. And Beast was feeling really sorry for himself because he’s so grotesque looking. The characters had guilt and they were complex. I remember it so well because I was absolutely stunned. From that moment on, I read The Avengers, and I have all of those issues. And then, of course, I collected back to Issue #1 and branched out into the rest of the Marvel universe. That was it for me. I’m still very connected to the characters of those era. Scarlett Witch, in particular, is one of my favorites.

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Image via Marvel

At what point did you go from being a fan to realizing that you could actually work for the company?

LANE: Well, that happened quite by accident. I was working at Mattel and making Barbie movies, which was a really fun job. But I got a call from Marvel, and I went in the next day and had my interview. I left my interview oddly confident that I had the job and was absolutely certain I was going to take it, no matter the terms, because I’m such a Marvel fan. And they called me the next day. It was really that simple. It was transformative for me. My whole life, I’ve been creative, but it wasn’t with things that I was truly and deeply passionate about, so it was such a great opportunity.

When did Marvel realize that kid and family-targeted productions were growing to the point that it was necessary to have someone who has that as their focus?

LANE: I would say that it started ten years ago, even before me. They had these Lionsgate films and they were starting to develop some shows. At the same time, the studio was starting production on Iron Man. Marvel understood that it needed to take ownership of its IP, outside of publishing, and create film and television because they were certain they could do it better than partners that had licensed the characters. They could not only do it better, but it would just be more true to the DNA of each character and capture all of the correct beats that the audience loves and connects with, and they were right. So, they started creating some shows. And then, Jeph Loeb came in and he had an even bigger and stronger vision, and he brought in a lot of really creative folks to expand animation at Marvel into a larger team and actually built an animation studio. Then, as Jeph migrated and became so busy with all of the live-action productions, they moved me into a leadership role in animation and family entertainment.

As someone who is such a fan of Marvel, what’s it like to get to have a hand in developing and producing shows within the Marvel universe?

LANE: It’s really good. Every day, I come into work excited about some project. And the volume of projects has increased, year over year, to the point now that it’s getting a little scary. We’re doing some very exciting things, reaching out to audiences that are not our typical animated series audience, so that excites me, as well. It’s very cool. The only negative is that you have to be careful – and this is true with everybody we work with – not to apply your fan sensibility to the storytelling and make sure that, as much as you love the characters and their history and their sense of continuity, you tell stories that are digestible and appealing and right for the audience that you’re creating them for.

You can view the Marvel/Funko shorts on the Marvel YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/user/MARVEL.

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Image via Marvel