Super_Neumanns_Solidarity_IG - S 2016
@thesuperneumanns/InstagramOne of the most ambitious superhero projects of the year has just concluded — and it never broke box-office records or wowed Comic-Con with a splashy trailer.
Every day for a year, action figure historian Danny Neumann has been releasing carefully staged photos chronicling the mundane (and surprisingly touching) adventures of a family called the Superneumanns. Over 365 shots, he introduced a cast of characters who populate the world of Mr. and Mrs. Superneumann — from mainstays like Batman and Wonder Woman to Lex Luthor and Bizarro — and even Donald Trump.
Through it all, Neumann was able to incorporate elements of his own life and also mark happy moments (holidays) and pay tribute to national tragedies.
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Here’s how it all began one year ago, with the family moving into their home:
He initially conceived of the shots taking place largely within a dollhouse acquired for the project, but the family quickly outgrew it — forcing Neumann to search Ebay for props and sets he could use.
“They needed to go exploring and go elsewhere and go on adventures,” Neumann tells Heat Vision. “Because of the relentless schedule, concepting ideas is a big part of it. But once I have the ideas, then I have to figure out, ‘Do I have enough props to pull that off?’ And if not, ‘Do I have enough time to make it?’ and if not, ‘Can I order it and get it here on time so it all works?”
Early on, he established that the Superneumann’s favorite neighbors are a gay couple, who are first introduced bringing over some food as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. It’s a touching nod to the modern sensibilities of the project, which in other ways looks like it was created 50 years ago.
“It was important to me to include that small bit of diversity early on to set a tone for this,” he says.
Because of the grueling schedule, much of what Neumann did was preplanned, with him generally having a week of photos already in the bank. But he’d adjust when momentous events happened that he couldn’t ignore. One such event was the untimely passing of music legend David Bowie in January.
“I remember waking up that morning, and I already had a shot for that day, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh,'” he recalls. “My wife said, ‘You need to do a tribute.’ I said, ‘I’m late for work already,’ but I dropped everything and did this simple tribute and it turned out to be one of my most popular shots. I am glad to have done that.”
Another tragedy struck six months later, when a gunman killed dozens of people at Pulse, a gay club in Orlando. That inspired the most arresting image of the entire series, one which initially was very different — and involved Mr. and Mrs. Superneumann hugging their neighbors in a show of solidarity.
“It was OK, but there was something not right about it and I didn’t feel comfortable,” says Neumann. “It didn’t feel good enough or something. So I went back to the drawing board. I woke up in the morning and I looked out the window and there are these beautiful clouds, which is unusual for Phoenix [where he lives with his wife, Meagan]. I just got the idea of a very simple shot of Superman flying back to the camera and to make his cape a rainbow cape and make that be the simple tribute.”
Those types of tributes were a hallmark of the series, with endearing shots of the Superneumanns at picnics with DC heroes intercut with Mr. Superneumann with his arm around a G.I. Joe for Memorial Day or the couple looking at a Abraham Lincoln statue for President’s Day.
Another mainstay of the series is a young boy Mr. Superneumann is mentoring via the Big Superheroes/Big Superheroines program, which was inspired by Neumann’s real-life experience in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. (His Little Brother of 10 years recently began college.)
One of the most challenging shots came when he sent the Superneumanns to watch Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (how could they not?) — because he had tracked down individual chairs from a 1960s-era theater set, buying each online, one at a time.
“Batman and Wonder Woman are a couple in this little universe,” Neumann says. “That’s something that was established in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, which I’m a huge fan of.”
Given the immense amount of work he put into it (with the help and support of his wife), Neumann is understandably emotional as he thinks about the project’s end (we spoke to him on Tuesday as he prepared the final shot).
“I’m emotionally attached to these inanimate objects. I’m half on the verge of tears shooting this shot,” he admits.
For the final shot, he and his wife looked at iconic endings of classic films, but ultimately went for something simple: an elderly Mr. and Mrs. Superneumann looking back at a photo album. To make it work, he went back to his friend who designed the original figures, and asked him to create new heads for the characters.
“Maybe this past year has been them looking through a photo album at old memories,” says Neumann. “I think it will create a little bit of a double take. You’re used to seeing them with black hair and now they’ll have white hair and he has a mustache. ‘Wait what is going on here?’ As soon as you figure it out it’s kind of endearing.”
Head over to the Superneumanns Instagram account to see all 365 photos.
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