He’s been on the job since 1943, faithfully sharpening Batarangs and mending capes for billionaire vigilante Bruce Wayne, but Alfred Pennyworth has finally run out of patience. In “The Problem With Being Batman’s Butler,” a new animated short from Dorkly, the normally reserved Alfred totally loses it after Batman gives him an impossible to-do list including “Go down to the orphanage and pick me up another kid, preferably one scheduled in martial arts, maybe a girl this time.” That bizarre request finally breaks poor Alfred, and he threatens to quit. “I’ve gone overworked and unappreciated for far too long,” he tells Batman. “It ends here.” The Caped Crusader initially shrugs off these complaints, but Alfred makes a strong case on his own behalf. The desperately overtaxed butler had to raise Bruce, don’t forget, and now has to maintain a huge household on his own. And that’s in addition to doing crazy, completely off-the-books Batman-related stuff, like synthesizing smoke bombs. Perhaps the only person in the world who could understand Alfred’s predicament is Woodhouse from Archer.
Like previous Dorkly videos about Batman, this one is animated in a pixelated style reminiscent of ’90s video games. It also uses a bit of the iconic Danny Elfman theme music from the 1989 Batman movie. So in addition to exploring the interpersonal dynamics of a famous employer-employee duo, the video also provides Bat-fans with a little dose of nostalgia along the way. For his part, Batman does manage to come up with what he feels is a solution to Alfred’s grievances, but his plan turns out to be impractical for a number of reasons.
[via Laughing Squid]