Blartiverse/Bunnyverse

Paul Blart: Mall Cop and The House Bunny are the touchstone movies for a theoretically shared universe within which numerous cinematic characters co-exist: the Blartiverse a.k.a. Bunnyverse. What follows is a resource guide for the future creation of a movie that will exist within this shared universe.

Blartiverse/Bunnyverse movies require a minimum investment of intellectual resources (both in the development and in the viewing), but often yield maximum returns at the box office. The main characters have a *quality* that makes them lovable, but somehow detached from reality. They're not insane (necessarily) or stupid (necessarily) but they have a warped perspective about some aspect of their lives that keeps them from totally fitting in. To some degree, they are pitiable. There is also always a goal that a B-verse hero wants to achieve that is, for all intents, improbable. Still, they pursue it with gusto and the viewer roots for them. If their struggle becomes heart-touching even as its absurdity escalates, they are probably a main character in the B-verse.

Other aspects of their backgrounds are mutable. For instance, their self-delusion doesn't always have an impact on them professionally or on their interpersonal relationships. Their mania sometimes prompts high proficiency at their careers, and they usually have very normal friends and loved ones. However, the personal delusions protagonists suffer from are obvious even to their supporters, who are mostly logical characters, and there comes a reckoning in the protagonists' work lives.

B-verse lead actors tend to be good-natured, sometimes even goofy. Mean-spirited and/or sarcastic actors don't lend themselves well to bringing out the endearing traits of a B-verse protagonist. On principle, none of the following actors qualify: Rob Schneider, Adam Sandler (with one exception -- see next paragraph), David Spade, Martin Lawrence...

While it's possible for a leading actor to star in more than one qualifying B-verse movie, including more than one of their movies is discouraged. In most cases, that actor's most notable B-verse movie will be included. (Adam Sandler's The Wedding Singer, for example.) However, if there is a significant difference in their protagonists, multiple inclusions are permissible.

As contradictory as it seems, considering the degrees of premise absurdity and unrealistic physical comedy displayed in B-verse movies, the more believable the setting is the more likely it takes place in their shared world. The B-verse is not an inherently fantastical world, though there *might* be fantastical elements that intrude on the characters' lives. Such elements should be contained and, ideally, invisible or unknown to most of the logical characters. As a rule of thumb, when the logical characters are made aware of any fantastical element, they resist accepting it until the point where not accepting it would be illogical.

Most B-verse movies are rated PG-13, although a few are R rated.

B-verse movies always have happy endings. The protagonists always get a version of the thing they covet, and the antagonists are always thwarted.


CRITERIA:
- Released from the mid-1990s onward.
- Usually has a single protagonist, but can sometimes be more. (Stepbrothers; Be Kind, Rewind)
- Not an ensemble film. (Napoleon Dynamite)
- Not originating from existing franchise. (Night at the Roxbury; Blues Brothers 2000)
- Not based on a real-life story (unless there is enormous exaggeration).
- Not overly profane.
- Has a high degree of farcical elements and physical humor.
- Typically, the antagonist has egregious animosity against the protagonist.
- Lead character always has an outsized goal or predicament that strains credulity.
- They are always live-action movies.


MOVIES:
Paul Blart: Mallcop (2009) 1hr, 31min
The House Bunny (2008) 1hr, 37min
Uncle Drew (2018) 1hr, 43
Central Intelligence (2016) 1hr, 47min
Be Kind, Rewind (2008) 1hr, 42min
The Nutty Professor (1996) 1hr, 35min
The Jerk (1979) 1hr, 35min
*Stepbrothers
*Mallrats
*Beverly Hills Ninja
*Legally Blonde
*Norbit
*The Wedding Singer
*Spy
*Let's Be Cops
*Nacho Libre
*Dumb and Dumber
*Biodome
*Dude, Where's My Car?
*Van Wilder
*The Pink Panther and Shot in the Dark

*Movies with an asterisk have only been strongly suggested and not yet viewed or are subject to secondary review.

Outside of the B-verse Movies:
Blues Brothers 2000
Night at the Roxbury
Wreck-It Ralph
The Three Stooges (2012)