Earlier this year, after Disney and Fox announced their big animation slates, Sony Pictures Animation quietly put it out there that they had two untitled films scheduled for release in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Since they have so many projects in development, one could've only wondered which one would move forward. Would it be something safe like ALF or Manimal? Or would it be something surprising and unexpected? Would they have put an original story like Instant Karma in the 2016 spot?
For a while, I thought that the film in question would be the abruptly delayed Popeye, the one that Genndy Tartakovsky was supposed to direct. With Sony Animation having two animated films - The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania - ready for release in 2015, it seemed likely. But word on Popeye is scarce nowadays, though it is possible that it'll show up sometime soon. However, I think we now have a good idea of what Sony Animation's September 2016 release is going to be…
Kazorn & The Unicorn…
An original film directed by Kelly Asbury, longtime animation veteran who was the director of Gnomeo & Juliet and Shrek 2, it was announced a year and a half ago. It seemed like it would be one of those projects that would just sit there, because a few of the big studios are announcing that all of these projects are in development and yet many of them just don't move forward. Look at DreamWorks. They announced stuff like Dinotrux and Maintenance way back in 2009/2010-ish, no word on what's going on with them. They just secure these things for the future, meaning we'll see those movies sometime in… I don't know, 2019? 2020? 2021? 2022?
My Rotoscoper comrade Morgan Stradling found this when perusing Sony Animation's website…
She also pointed out that Asbury was now part of the filmmakers page on the site. Notice how Kazorn is next to Hotel Transylvania 2, the latest film to have a release date set in stone on Sony's slate…
But also… Popeye is on there, and it's before The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania 2, so apparently it's still holding up. It's not in limbo, it's not nearing cancellation. After all, they wouldn't want to screw Tartakovsky out of a potential smash. Tartakovsky is an animation mastermind, and he salvaged Hotel Transylvania and it was a big hit - their biggest at the domestic box office, actually. Popeye, especially under his wing, would be too good to throw out. Cartoon Network screwed him over twice, first canceling Samurai Jack and then pulling the plug on Sym-Bionic Titan nearly a decade later; Sony better not make that same mistake! Having Tartakovsky on board to direct features for you is nothing to take too lightly.
Now I wonder…
Will Sony release two films - Popeye and Kazorn - in 2016? Or will Sony have Kazorn ready for 2016, and Popeye ready for 2017? Or vice versa?
It's also interesting to note that Kazorn & The Unicorn will be produced by Sam Raimi, and its co-director is Troy Quane, longtime animator and storyboard artist who has worked on films such as Osmosis Jones, Enchanted and 9. It intrigues me because it's their first all-original film (not counting Aardman's Arthur Christmas) since 2007's Surf's Up… Wow! Color me excited, I'm glad Sony is willing to step out of the sequel/Smurfs pool for a minute and try out something cool. Hey, it worked for Surf's Up and Cloudy!
Hopefully we'll see some of the more off-the-wall stuff on their development docket move forward as well. What do you think?
It's that time again, people. The studios have submitted their animated features to the Academy Awards… 19 to be exact... The players, and they chances they have at being nominated:
The Apostle - No, not the world's very first animated feature film ever made (it's lost forever) that happened to be unearthed, but rather a Spanish stop-motion (!) animated film from last year, a visually interesting one to boot. But it being an awesome film does not guarantee a nomination that easy. 30% chance… Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - While it wasn't as warmly received as the first film, it still got good reception thus it has a chance to get a nomination. The first didn't get one, though - 2009 was a very, very strong year for animation. 40% chance... The Croods - Reviews were generally positive but mixed for this film, audiences and animation fans on the other hand really seemed to love it. (The acclaim it's getting from those circles truly baffles me.) It has a good chance at getting a nomination, since competition isn't that strong this year. Rise of the Guardians and Madagascar 3 had a lot to go up against last year. This year, one of those two definitely would've gotten in. 40% chance... Despicable Me 2- The first film was shut out of the 2010 race because of the amount of nominations, I'm not sure if this will make the cut either. It could make it, because it did get good reviews and was a really big success. 40% chance... Epic - One animated film of quite a few that got middling reception this year. Blue Sky only had one nominee in their history, Ice Age. I don't think this will make the cut. 20% chance... Ernest and Celestine - This will be the Cat in Paris/Chico & Rita of 2013. It's gotten a lot of acclaim, but there is one thing… The Academy didn't nominate a single non-US/UK film last year, despite some strong entries like The Rabbi's Cat and The Painting… But the offerings on the American front are mostly underwhelming, so this does have a very, very good shot. 85% chance... The Fake - A South Korean-produced drama (hand-drawn, obviously), but the Academy is picky when it comes to foreign films. 35% chance... Free Birds - Fat chance, given the film's poor critical reception. 0% chance... Frozen - Very high chance, given Disney's recent streak of good films (Tangled would have definitely been nominated in 2010 had their been five slots) and the very positive early reception. Pretty much a guarantee at this point. This may be the one to take it home, if it's better received than Monsters University, the best-received American animated film of the year. 100% chance... Khumba - The studio behind Zambezia made this film (that was a runner last year), it's actually their second film. Again, given the Academy's picky ways of choosing foreign films if choosing any at all, this probably won't make it in. I will say, the character design is nice. 10% chance... The Legend of Sarila - A Canadian-produced computer animated film about Inuits trying to find a new home so they don't starve… The story seems okay, but the animation looks very dated. I got an Ice Age vibe from seeing the human characters. 10% chance... A Letter to Momo- The second feature-length film from Hiroyuki Okiura, who worked on many well-known anime films from Ghost in the Shell to Paprika to Metropolis. But no Japanese animated film outside of Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli has a chance at getting nominated, but with the rule changes, it could sneak its way in. 40% chance... Monsters University - It's Pixar and it got positive reception (the best of an any American animated film released this year so far), enough said. Winning chances are also very high. 100% chance… Planes - Definite no. The polar opposite of this year's Disney and Pixar offerings. Received as a mediocre film, and it's a film that was meant to be a direct-to-video release. 0% chance... Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part III: The Rebellion Story - That title is a mouthful, but this is an anime film based on a magical girl series. 10% chance... Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury - This adult-oriented offering expectedly comes from Brazil. Visually interesting, that's for sure. 25% chance... The Smurfs 2 - As the old saying goes, "When pigs fly…" 0% chance... Turbo - It got okay critical reception, but I think the Academy would prefer The Croods if they wanted to pick one DreamWorks film. 20% chance... The Wind Rises - Being Hayao Miyazaki's swan song, a definite yes. It may even just win given the rather underwhelming critical reception given to most of the American animation released this year, but it's not certain just yet because Frozen may be the best-received American animated film of the year. Anyways, this was a weak year in general so this is definitely landing itself in the nomination pool. 100% chance...
In all, I think this is what will end up happening…
Ernest and Celestine
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises
A Letter to Momo
The winner? Right now, I think it's down to two films: Frozen and The Wind Rises. Monsters University, if you ask me, won't easily win because the rules have changed. It's possible that the voters will have actually watched the non-Pixar films before the ceremony; if that were the case last year, Brave would not have won.
Ernest and Celestine could possibly get it, but when's the last time the Academy gave the little gold statue to an animated film released outside of the US and UK? Spirited Away got it for 2002, and that's it. But with them actually watching it, it could… It could…
A Letter to Momo is the least likely to win, it's there because a lot of the American competition was weak. I can see them choosing that over other 40% chance nominees like The Croods and Cloudy 2.
What do you think? What are your animated Oscar predictions? Sound off below and cast your vote in the poll!
Sony Pictures Animation has a computer animated film based on Popeye in the works, I'm sure you've read about it somewhere. This film was originally scheduled for a fall 2014 release, September 26th to be specific. Genndy Tartakovsky, animation genius and director of the studio's highly successful Hotel Transylvania, is directing it. With how successful Hotel Transylvania was - a project that he salvaged with very little time - it seemed like this film would definitely hit theaters next autumn, right? Wrong.
This past May, Sony Animation announced that film was delayed. To what date? All they said was 2015, so the exact date is to be determined. Sony Animation has two films coming out in 2015: The Smurfs 3 (which was recently moved from July 24 to August 14) and Hotel Transylvania 2 (September 25). Sony Animation has never had three films ready for release in a calendar year, only DreamWorks has achieved that feat.
This initially lead me to believe that Popeye would be Sony Animation's currently untitled fall 2016 release, but... It's also possible that Popeye will end up making one of the 2015 releases move. Plans always change when it comes to feature animation and scheduling.
Popeye will take The Smurfs 3's August 2015 spot and send that unnecessary sequel to August 2016. Sony Animation may have only one film announced for a 2016 release right now, but they can always add another one. Not like anyone really wants The Smurfs3 anyway...
Hotel Transylvania 2 may end up moving, because Popeye is apparently far enough along to be completed in time for a fall 2015 release. Hotel Transylvania 2? We've heard very little about it; a director hasn't even been attached yet.
None of the 2015 films will move. Popeye will end up coming out sometime in 2016 - either fall or late summer.
Sony will go big and release Popeye in 2015 alongside The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania 2. 3 in a year!
The project is in real trouble, and Sony won't have it completed for a long while. After all, The Familiars - once set for early 2014 - has been off of their slate for a while with no sign of it being completed any time soon since the director is handling another project somewhere else.
What do you think? Cast your vote in the latest poll!
So movie press, is there an "animation curse"? Are audiences getting tired of animated feature films? Nope... Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 did well - as expected - over the weekend... Taking in an estimated $35 million, this start was $2 million higher than the adjusted opening weekend total of the first film. It didn't decrease from the original like some animated sequels tend to do, but it didn't make a whole lot more either (I had predicted somewhere around $45 million).
It has all of October to itself to grow legs and gross over $100 million domestically - the first animated film since Despicable Me 2 to do so. Of course, we all know that Turbo, The Smurfs 2 and Planes missed that threshold for multiple reasons. Of course, our press bends over backwards and just assumes that there's a glut of animated features, or that audiences are tired of animation and that it's becoming box office poison. Of course, they probably never really considered animation to be anything more than kids stuff so they wouldn't know...
Anyways, it's a decent opening and the film will make back that $78 million budget in no time. Win-win for Sony, win-win for the American animation industry at the box office and win-win for those who saw it and enjoyed it.
I just find it surprising that it couldn't outgross non-sequel Hotel Transylvania's opening weekend take. That film keeps the crown for biggest September opening, I was thinking that this would easily beat that. Regardless, $35 million is still a solid start for this film.
Update: The actual gross is $34 million. Still solid...
Not too long after Disney and Fox announced the upcoming slates for their animation studios, Columbia has now secured two dates for Sony Pictures Animation: September 23, 2016 and September 22, 2017. I pretty much saw this coming, since Sony always nabs the late September spot for their films.
If you ask me, the 2016 film should be Popeye. No way that film comes out in 2015, since Sony has two films coming out that year: The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania. There's a possibility that they may do 3 films a year, but for now, I think Popeye should be the 2016 film. As for the 2017 film? It could be anything... The fan of original ideas in me hopes it's Doug Sweetland's The Familiars (he's currently directing Storks for Warner Bros. Animation), but it'll probably be a sequel or a film based on a well-known property. The studio has been rather gung ho about the likes of ALF and Manimal...
What do you think the 2016 and 2017 films will be?
Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming animated film based on the legendary sailor man Popeye has been removed from their release schedule, leaving 2014 blank. The film was initially pegged for a September 26th release, which seemed perfect since they tend to occupy that spot each year when it comes to a non-Smurfs release.
I'm bummed about this because I was actually curious about this one. I know I tend to be critical of animation studios that take beloved characters from the past and modernize them, but I didn't think this was going to happen with Popeye. Genndy Tartakovsky is going to direct it, as he had salvaged Hotel Transylvania, a film that could've been much worse than it was. He successfully made the animation good and the film certainly was frenetic, I was curious to see what he would bring to the table for the Popeye film. Tartakovsky, of course, is the man who created Dexter's Laboratory and Samuari Jack and he also heavily contributed to Craig McCracken's The Powerpuff Girls.
Tartakovsky wanted to go against the grain with Hotel Transylvania, going for cartoony slapstick and exaggerated takes that you would see in a Tex Avery cartoon. He respects classic Hollywood cartoons and what made them great, which was I wasn't worried about Popeye. He would definitely make it worthy of the original Fleischer Brothers cartoons while also pushing the boundaries for what you can do in computer animation. I fully believe that the medium can do the things that the classic hand-drawn cartoons did, contrary to what some might think. A lot of recent films show that you can do that with the medium.
Anyways, now that Sony Pictures Animation doesn't have a film set for release in 2014, will they add one to the line-up? The Smurfs 3 could be moved to late July/August 2014 since that slot is free, but it's already mid-2013 and it hasn't been worked on so they can't just hastily move it forward out of nowhere... Or can they? Hotel Transylvania 2? Probably not, but you never know. Maybe they'll just sit this one out. After all, they didn't have a film ready for release in 2010.
It's not off the schedule for good though, as Box Office Mojo simply has a 2015 date next to it, not TBD. I doubt that they'll release it in 2015 since The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania are already opening that year, and I don't see Sony Animation having three films ready for 2015... Heck, even DreamWorks doing that was a big feat. Popeye may end up coming out in 2016 unless one of the 2015 films is moved to either 2014 or 2016.
That's right... Two new posters for two animated films coming out this year. Both of them are lovely.
I love the Monsters University one already. From time to time, we'll often get posters for Pixar's films which contain almost all of the main cast plus minor characters on them. Finding Nemo had an excellent one, ditto Cars and Toy Story 3. Also, ComingSoon.net confirmed that a new trailer for the film has been classified!
The question is, when will we get that said trailer? I think we'll get it sometime next month, not before Disney's own Oz the Great and Powerful, but maybe before DreamWorks' The Croods. Here's hoping it's a decent trailer that gets audiences fired up for the film, and maybe even win over the skeptics who keep telling themselves that Pixar is no longer good.
The Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 poster is also unexpectedly nice, but at the same time, we knew it was going to look good because the concept art was pretty and the few images we got and this poster do boast some very nice work.
The tagline reminds me of the film's working title: Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers. I don't know why they changed the title, because the tagline implies that the film will be about these "leftovers" getting their revenge. Anyways, the food creatures look great and the color work is nice, so I have no doubt that this will be a colorful bonanza like its predecessor.
Some quick bits of animation new from this past week and then some... Stuff I didn't go over and such...
Relativity Media's first animated release, Turkeys, is apparently very far into production. Far enough that the release date moved up a year. Originally slated for a November 14, 2014 release, the Reel FX production will hit theaters on November 1, 2013. In its original spot, it was scrunched between Disney's untitled animated film and DreamWorks' Happy Smekday!; here it has room to breathe. That being said, I was never looking forward to this long-in-development picture. A story about two turkeys going back in time to stop the Thanksgiving tradition of eating turkey does not appeal to me at all... Though it may just play with that idea and make for a fun comedy. After all, director Jimmy Hayward co-directed Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, so it has potential.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2's trailer is coming on the 27th. It's about time we see a little something pertaining to that film. It seemed like it didn't even exist until some very pretty concept art showed up not too long ago. Will it be a good follow-up to the original? Or a mediocre cash-grab sequel?
Rio 2, though we knew it was coming, is officially on track for an April 11 release in 2014. Some other countries get it first a few weeks earlier. The cast has been announced and new plot details have emerged. In the sequel, Blu and Jewel have settled down with three kids. But when it's time for them to fly, they take them on a trip to the Amazon. However, Blu must fit in with the new neighbors, as he fears that he'll lose his wife and children to the "call of the wild". It certainly sounds like it'll be harmless fun, just like the first one. I expect nothing more, plus we'll probably get a trailer before Epic this spring.
Illumination is going forward with their planned re-imagining of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A release date has not been set, but I think it'll probably show up for the holidays of 2015 or 2016. How it will compare the 2000 Ron Howard film is up in the air, but the Chuck Jones classic will never be touched. Expect it to be sugary-sweet, packed with hit-or-miss humor and loaded with lots of padding. Illumination also announced an untitled, original project for July 3, 2015. What a shocker... Between Despicable Me and Dr. Seuss, it'll be nice to see what the original concept is. Maybe it's that untitled cryptozoology project they mentioned a while back... Or maybe something new.
DreamWorks seems to see a lot of potential in their upcoming summer release Turbo, that questionable story about a snail becoming a racing champion after a freak accident. A series based on the film called Turbo F.A.S.T. (which stands for Fast Action Stunt Team) will debut as a Netflix exclusive series this autumn. It'll be a new addition to Netflix's recent original programming plan. It'll also be the first family-friendly original show for them. This is no different from DreamWorks' TV spin-offs of Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon (the latter of which has gotten a lot of praise), so it seems reasonable that they'd create a TV series based on this film, but perhaps a bit premature.
The best news concerns Walt Disney Animation Studios' Frozen. Christophe Beck, the man who composed Disney's beautiful Paperman, will be providing the score for the upcoming fairy tale adaptation. Color me excited once more, and hopefully we'll get some real posters and promo artwork that'll wash those horrid fake ones away.
~
Out of all these of announcements, which one excites you the most? What are your thoughts on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Turkeys? Do you think DreamWorks is counting their chickens before they hatch with their planned Turbo Netflix series? Or do you think it'll pay off? Are you anticipating Illumination's Grinch? Or not?
Though these dates for the following four animated films were announced a while back, it seems like the studios behind them aren't sure where to put their upcoming films. Mainly DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Animation and Laika... Sony Pictures Animation's computer animated Popeye film is scheduled for release on September 26, 2014. They got that date first, but all of a sudden, Laika's next film (currently untitled) was announced. It's also slated to open the same day.
The same situation will occur at the same timeframe in 2015. DreamWorks' B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations was originally given a November 6th release date, but the company wisely moved it to September 25th in order to get it out before Halloween. Guess what else is opening that day: Hotel Transylvania 2 from Sony Pictures Animation.
I have a feeling that there will be some movement soon. Who will move? Here's my theory.
Laika's untitled project will end up being given an August 2014 release, since ParaNorman was an August release. ParaNorman might not have done so well at the box office, but I don't think this will deter Focus Features from releasing the next film in August. It's still a lucrative time of year, and it's away from all the heavy competition. Sony Pictures Animation always settles for the late September release date since Open Season, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania were all late September releases.
In 2015, I think Sony Pictures Animation will also keep the late September spot. Again, Sony usually has that date and Hotel Transylvania 2 opening that day would make perfect sense since it has Halloween-themed material in it. DreamWorks' B.O.O. is of course about ghosts, where will that go? September 25th seemed like the perfect day to release it, unless they decide to pull a Don Bluth and go head-to-head with Sony's film. That would make it the first big duel in feature animation since All Dogs Go To Heaven opened against The Little Mermaid in 1989.
Animated films opening weeks away from each other is the norm nowadays given the amount of competing studios, but two films from rival studios opening on the same day? That probably won't happen, but where else will B.O.O. go? DreamWorks could release it in early-to-mid October and still score a hit. Maybe they'll move it to the beginning of September, so it has time to breathe before Hotel and then the two can go head-to-head before Halloween arrives.
That all being said, I think Sony will keep the late September weekend for both 2014 and 2015. What do you think will move? And where will these films be moved to?
Yesterday, 21 titles have been confirmed for this year's animation Oscar race. Though I'll always be against the idea of "Best Animated Feature" (an animated feature is a motion picture, don't separate it from live action), this is actually the fun part: Predicting! With twenty-one films, that means there will be five slots for Best Animated Feature. There is also a possibility that one of these films may get nominated for Best Picture (that should have happened last year with Rango), so it will be interesting given this year's batch.
The Players: - Adventures in Zambezia A South African computer animated film, also simply known as Zambezia. The film debuted earlier this year in South Africa, but no stateside release is planned yet. I have a feeling this one will have a limited run just in time for the Oscars. I believe, though, it'll have a very small chance at getting nominated.
- Brave This one has a big chance at getting nominated, being a Pixar film and the fact that it got good critical reception. Cars 2 was left out, but we all know why. This'll be nominated.
- Delhi Safari An Indian computer animated feature that apparently got some good reception at film festivals. The film opens here in the states on December 7th. Like Zambezia, I don't think this one has much of a chance though it is said to be a good film.
- Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Environmental themes aside, this probably won't get nominated.
- Frankenweenie Being a well-received Tim Burton film, this has a great chance at getting nominated.
- From Up on Poppy Hill Directed by Hayao Miyazaki's son Goro Miyazaki (Tales from Earthsea), this 2011 Studio Ghibli production has a good chance though Ponyo was not nominated in 2009. It could surprise, you never know. The film will be given a limited run in the US on March 15th.
- Hey Krishna Another Indian animated feature. Has a slight chance.
- Hotel Transylvania This one probably won't get nominated, since this film is more of silly fun comedy than anything.
- Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted This one has a decent chance, being a well-received film and one that did make quite a splash at the Cannes Film Festival though it may not be one of the finalists.
- The Mystical Law A Japanese animated film. Not sure if this one has much of a chance.
- The Painting A 2011 French animated film. Like A Cat in Paris, this may have a very good chance.
- ParaNorman This will definitely be nominated. If it isn't, there will be an uproar amongst most animation fans.
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits Aardman's Arthur Christmas didn't get nominated last year (though it should have been nominated), I can't see this one making the cut either. It does have a chance, though.
- The Rabbi's Cat A French/Austrian animated film released a year ago. This one has a chance at getting nominated, just as much as The Painting.
- Rise of the Guardians Has a great chance, unless it gets mixed-to-negative reviews. Still, I can see it getting nominated.
- Secret of the Wings Why is this even qualifying?It's another Tinker Bell direct-to-video movie. I mean, doesn't Disney realize that something like this will never get nominated?
- Walter & Tandoori's Christmas Apparently this is based on animated television series, and this one also came out last year. I can't see this one getting nominated.
- Wreck-It Ralph Personally, I'd like this one to take home the Oscar. It's definitely getting nominated.
- Zarafa A French/Belgian animated film. This one has a slight chance.
Remember Aardman Animations' recent film, The Pirates! Band of Misfits? Chances are, you may not unless you are in the know of what's going on in the animation industry. Yes indeed, this little film happens to be another one of those animated films that came and went at the domestic box office. Why is that? Instead of being a poor animated film (in fact, it was a really good film), The Pirates! was actually another victim of executive meddling and misguided decisions. Columbia Pictures' attempts to help get the picture to sell ultimately sunk this high seas romp. First off, Columbia Pictures probably had no idea what they were going to do after Aardman Animations joined forces with Sony Pictures Animation. First, the studio gives them the conventional Arthur Christmas and then this: A film based on a series of books that isn't well known in the United States, that has humor that may go over American audiences' heads, which is about science in Victorian England and features Charles Darwin as a main character. Science? Charles Darwin? Hot buttons here in the states, in addition to the concept potentially not being too appealing to American audiences. Columbia was probably worried that there would be controversy, given the amount of flack recent animated films tend to get. Remember how Cars 2, The Secret World of Arrietty and Dr. Seuss' The Lorax were supposed to be "liberal propaganda" for children?
With all due to respect to people's political and religious views, this most likely got Columbia Pictures worried. Since animation is viewed as "kiddie stuff" here in the states, people will suggest that anything with a slight agenda is propaganda for children, sometimes without having seen it. The original title of this film was The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, since that's the name of one of the books it's based on. Of course, that's the name of the original UK version of the film. So what did they do? They changed the title to The Pirates! Band of Misfits, which is such a bland and boring title that says nothing of film's story. Hey, it's more marketable to Americans, right? It's also marketable to kids, too! What could go wrong? Because, you know, animation is for kids!
Okay, there's nothing wrong with a title change. As long as we get Aardman brilliance on the big screen, that's all that matters. They did not stop there. The film was altered for American audiences and young children. Now I'm not going to talk about the whole leprosy joke controversy, since Aardman themselves re-wrote the joke and it plays that way in both the UK and US versions. Since it's a big issue, I won't comment on my thoughts on the change.
The Pirates! Band of Misfits is not the same film as The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! The voice cast was slightly changed. The Albino Pirate is voiced by Anton Yelchin in the US version. In the original UK version, he's voiced by Russell Tovey. In the US trailer for the film, they use Tovey's voice, so these changes must've been done at the eleventh hour. Al Roker provides the voice of "the pirate who likes kittens and sunsets", who had a different name in the original and might have been silent. The changes make no sense, why re-dub one pirate's voice to sound American? The rest of the cast is British, so why change one? It makes no sense, and the voice sticks out.
It's a minor problem, but it's the first of a few. Some of the more adult-oriented humor was removed, such as lines that were a bit suggestive. The film was given a PG, and one the reasons was "some language", another indicator that these changes were done at last minute. Since I have no access to the British original, from what I've heard, the lines aren't too bad. They're a little more noticeable, such as the scene where the Pirate Captain says airships are for looking down women's tops. Still, I think a joke like that would go over kids' heads. In the US version, the Pirate Captain says airships are good for attracting women. Not as funny. This is one of a few changes, but they're still unnecessary. (If I get my hands on a region free UK Blu-ray of this film, I'll make a rundown of what's been changed)
So they changed the title. Check. They edited out certain things to make it suitable for children, because they believe animation is for children first and foremost. Check. What did they do they next? They began marketing the film. The first US trailer showed up in August, pretty early, so apparently Sony was ready to launch this film. Apparently they were confident in this...
This was not a great trailer, typical for an animated family film, but it passed the film off as a sort of kids' spoof of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. This trailer was obviously trying to appeal to American audiences, and it conveniently shuffles Charles Darwin's role in the film out of sight, only using him for a few parts. The trailer was alright, but it was certainly not as good as the brilliant UK trailer.
This trailer is a much more confident one, since Aardman films normally do very well in the UK and the books are of course more popular there. Plus that song is so catchy, the fact that us Americans didn't get that song in any trailer or ad is just... Wrong...
Columbia planned on releasing this film on March 30th (the same day as the UK), but there was a lot of competition and several releases were shuffled such as the family friendly Mirror Mirror and a few other films. The film was later delayed to April 27th, another big mistake and the final nail in the coffin for this film. Columbia also screwed Arthur Christmas by releasing it amidst several family films last November: Happy Feet Two, The Muppets and Hugo. Opening with just $12 million domestically, it had to climb its way to $46 million. How did it do in the UK? $33 million tops, and it was the 10th highest grossing film of the year, beating out films like Tangled, Fast Five, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, Cars 2 and even The Smurfs, Columbia and Sony Pictures Animation's big success story that year. Once again, an Aardman film did poorly here and did well in the UK.
I was hoping, when Aardman would finally get back to animated features, they would find some form of success here in the states. Chicken Run was a big hit back in 2000. In fact it was the highest grossing non-Disney animated film until Shrek came along. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away had great word of mouth despite poor opening weekends. Arthur Christmas seemed like the perfect film to re-launch themselves as a viable name in the states alongside the likes of Pixar, Disney and DreamWorks, since it wasn't too quirky or different. Arthur Christmas came and went, and it's a real shame. So would The Pirates! do better? Most likely not...
The next trailer and the ads showed up, which were worse than the first trailer. April 27th was not the right time to release it, being the weekend before the little movie about the superheroes teaming up opened. Yes, releasing The Pirates! the weekend before The Avengers was an incredibly idiotic move. Why not early April? Mirror Mirror was pushed forward to March 16th, and The Lorax was beginning to lose momentum. What about mid-April? They could've started small and word of mouth could've helped it. The film scored a solid "B" on CinemaScore, so it could've reached a certain total off of a lousy opening weekend. It's like Columbia had no faith in this film, at all.
The Avengers essentially pulled everything out of it: The family audiences and the 3D screens. It washed the swashbuckling comedy away like a hurricane. But how did it do in the UK? #12 right now with $25 million, not too bad. Here, it seems to be stopping at $31 million, making it Aardman's lowest grossing film in the states. Luckily, the $55 million film took in a final total of $118 million worldwide. Arthur Christmas took in $147 million worldwide against its $100 million budget, making it more of a dud for the studio.
It's all a shame, because Aardman seemed to be going the right path with a new partner after their troubles with the pre-2008 DreamWorks atmosphere. Arthur Christmas certainly feels more American audience-friendly than their other films without feeling forced. Again, lazy marketing and a terrible release date killed it. It had no room to breathe no matter where it was placed, but perhaps good marketing could've helped, right? Nope, it had to stand on its own. And I thought Disney marketing under Rich Ross was bad. The Pirates! shared a similar fate, and it was obviously not going to be a massive hit to begin with, but it didn't have any chances at all plus it wasn't as accessible as the previous Aardman films. If Arthur Christmas was their most accessible, The Pirates! was their least.
Quite unfortunate, but The Pirates! sunk and was tampered with before release in the US in a dunderheaded move to make the film appeal to children. Aardman clearly made a much more adult-oriented film that could still delight children with its silly action scenes and appealing characters. But the more American audiences assume animation is for children first, the more this kind of thing will happen to these animated films.
Whether it's studio powers needlessly trying to improve a film's chances at gaining at the box office or just getting something they don't want off their back, a lot of these animated films just can't stand a chance in today's overly competitive market. Animation has been lucrative since the Second Golden Age, so why can't the executives give non-conventional films a chance in addition to the ones that are obviously going to be huge? Look at Rango, something that was clearly more adult-oriented than most fare and incredibly risky. Paramount backed that with decent marketing, and the box office performance indicates that the controversy over the film's content didn't harm it as much as one would assume. It broke $100 million stateside and finished up with $242 million worldwide against a $135 million budget. Not bad, Paramount has started its own animation studio because of how well it did (plus the fact that their last DreamWorks films hits theaters this autumn).
So with that, you'd think Columbia would go for a tidy profit since The Pirates! wasn't so expensive. Nope, they just threw it out there and that was it. It's just what Fox did with Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, a $40 million stop motion animated film that could've been a small hit had they not released it against heavy competition with little to no fanfare. The Pirates! is sure to get new fans when it hits Blu-ray and DVD, but it could've been a good-sized success and help Aardman's works get an audience in the states.
Well it looks like we have a new entry for the "let's see what classic show/cartoon/comic from the good ol' days we can reinvent" trend. ALF...
Yes, that's right. Sony Pictures Animation has acquired the rights to ALF, as they're already developing a live action/CG hybrid film. The show's creator, Paul Fusco, will produce the film alongside episode producer Tom Patchett and The Smurfs' producer Jordan Kerner.
What do you think? Do you think it'll be another terrible half-CG schlockfest like The Smurfs? Or something that's faithful to original source material, like The Muppets? I can't say at the moment, I'm just tired of most of these animation studios trying to modernize childhood icons and classic shows from the past, though I will give Sony Pictures Animation a lot of credit, since they have a lot of upcoming projects that do sound promising. Only time will tell with this one.
With Blue Sky's Ice Age: Continental Drift kicking off the second half of the year (grossing an estimated $46 million on its opening weekend), now is the time to grade what we got in the first half. We only got four animated features of course (not counting The Secret World of Arrietty, being a 2010 film), while the second half will give us six. These are just short reviews, as you can read the individual quickie reviews I did when I saw these films. The only one I did not do a quickie review for was Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, which I just saw. The full review of that film will be saved for Part 8 of "Moving Forward". Some of the grades may also be different from the original Quick Flick Reviews.
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda Written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul Produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healey Distributor: Universal Pictures Studio: Illumination Entertainment
Dr. Seuss’ classic has been updated into something that panders more to children than anything. The Lorax boasts some great colorful visuals and cute designs that are true to Dr. Seuss’ original illustrations, but the film is cut from the same cloth as Illumination’s debut feature, Despicable Me. It’s a sweet, saccharine romp with a message that’s not too heavy, it’s just rote and ironically almost out of place. It also has musical numbers which feel forced, and humor that is hit-or-miss. The Lorax himself and the Once-ler make the film worth it, while everyone else is just there to pad out the story and provide comic relief. For a film about the dangers of corporate greed and artificial things, it kind of felt artificial. C-
The Pirates! Band of Misfits Directed by Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt Written by Gideon Defoe Produced by Julie Lockhart, Peter Lord and David Sproxton Distributor: Columbia Pictures Studio: Aardman Animations / Sony Pictures Animation
The Pirates! Band of Misfits is a clever, sometimes wacky ride with a lot of work and effort put into it. Sometimes the blending of computer animation and stop-motion didn’t work, but overall, it’s loaded with eye candy and even some traditional animation for the great map montage scenes. The characters are fun, although they aren’t as memorable as the characters from the past Aardman films, but there’s enough charm to elevate it. The American version of this film tones down some of the more adult-oriented humor in the British original (The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!) and re-dubs a few voices for some characters, but that’s never too distracting. Minimal the plot may be, it’s really just a base for the crazy antics that follow when the pirate characters get entangled with Charles Darwin in London. Mayhem and wit ensues, making for an unexpected and fast-paced romp.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath Written by Eric Darnell and Noah Baumbach Produced by Mireille Soria Distributor: Paramount Pictures Studio: DreamWorks Animation SKG / Pacific Data Images
Coming off of two entertaining but otherwise problematic films, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted actually ends the trilogy (well I sure hope it’s the end) on a high note. While the first two films had a hard time figuring out what they wanted to be, Madagascar 3 knows exactly what it wants to be: An over-the-top cartoon that’s loaded with ridiculous action, slapstick and zany characters. While some pop culture jokes and the use of pop songs from the past and present rear their ugly head a few times, most of the comedy is hilarious. The new characters are great, and the zoo gang is actually a much more interesting band of characters than they were in the first two films. Noah Baumbach spices up what could’ve been a by-the-numbers screenplay with a lot of wit, clever writing and even some heart. The animation is exciting, colorful and eye-popping, with a great circus finale that’s like a psychedelic explosion. It’s pure fun at its best. B
Brave Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman and Steve Purcell Written by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Irene Mecchi and Steve Purcell Produced by Katherine Sarafian Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar goes for a more traditional route with Brave, a fairy tale-like story rooted in Grimm Brothers traditions while also drawing from the classic Disney book and putting some new spins on them. Like Pixar’s other films, it has a story that resonates with a beautifully written mother-daughter relationship that echoes the great father-son relationship in Finding Nemo. Also, the animation, character designs, art direction and lighting are peerless, as per usual with Pixar. The Scottish highlands look beautiful and epic. Patrick Doyle’s score is breathtaking and captivating, and the cast gives it their all. The film does have some issues, such as the pacing (it could’ve been longer) and a strange imbalance, where the comic relief sometimes overshadows the more serious side of the narrative. Fortunately, it never pulls punches and again, it plays to adults like every other Pixar film. It’s beautiful, moving and engaging.
Halfway through the year, we have gotten four animated films: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Brave. Brave was pure Pixar brilliance once again with fantastic visuals and a heartfelt emotional core, whereas Dr. Seuss' The Lorax was more of a kid-pleasing romp (albeit with some funny bits and colorful animation) with a rote environmental message. Madagascar 3, which I have yet to see believe it or not, was called the best in the series and another good film in DreamWorks' recent line-up. The Pirates! was more inventive quirkiness from Aardman.
So, what's next? Here we are, halfway through this year. We have less features than last year, which is for the better, and not too many low quality films spamming up the market. The second half of the year, however, brings six more animated features. Based on the trailers, promos and stills that we've gotten over the months, I'm going to analyze what we are getting this year which might be another strong year for the medium.
Ice Age: Continental Drift opens four days from now. From what I’ve gathered, this film looks like it isn’t ashamed of being of a cash grab. While it does aim to look like a fun entertaining romp for the family (I didn’t mind the most recent trailer), it’s just that the adventures of these prehistoric characters aren’t cutting it anymore. I got a Pirates of the Caribbean vibe from some of the scenes, since those films explode overseas. Combine Ice Age, which is already huge around the world with Pirates, and you get this. Blue Sky will probably take home more than a one billion dollars, but it’s so obvious that this was cobbled together to give foreign audiences what they want. Pirates and Ice Age, sounds like a marketing pitch.
However, the point of this series now is just an easy way for Blue Sky to get the dough to make films like Epic, which comes out next spring, which looks like a much more ambitious film than anything they've made. That said, will they make another Ice Age? Who knows...
This year, we are also getting a trio of Halloween-themed films. The first of which is Laika’s ParaNorman. Laika entered the animation scene with Henry Selick’s fantastic Coraline. It was a beautiful film that of course drew inspiration from the Nightmare Before Christmas book while also being a colorful, surreal endeavor on its own. Its use of 3D was quite something for its time (imagine that, 3D being good, before the onslaught of terrible post-conversion films) and the story was very strong.
ParaNorman looks a bit similar, as the plot involves zombies and ghouls. While I am certainly looking forward to this film, I do think that some of these studios tend to go for the Halloween theme a little too often. Tim Burton knocked it out of the park early on with The Nightmare Before Christmas and other works like Vincent. I don’t want to compare these films to Burton’s masterpiece, because it’s unfair. I just can’t help but notice that the Halloween theme is often used for animated feature films.
ParaNorman, however, looks pretty imaginative. The trailers apparently don’t give us a good idea of what this film is like, instead opting for constant jokes and editing that makes your head spin. I love the designs of the characters and sets, they are very jagged and unique. Everything is delightfully asymmetrical. The movements are very smooth too. Most of the humor surrounding the creatures is good, everything else? Not so much. I couldn’t help but also think that Norman’s everyday life seemed a bit cliche, with the dialogue and how the bullies treat him and such. I'm also not too sure what I think of the film having the adults being fools, since that's another trope that tends to get tiresome as we've seen it before in television cartoons many times. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.
Sony Pictures Animation will serve up Hotel Transylvania after that, which was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. The recent trailer pretty much tells us that this will be a fun treat. The humor isn’t as hit-and-miss as one might think, as I myself found myself cracking up during the trailer. Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) is going to be a hoot. Early on, when I saw that this would have a star-studded cast, I wasn’t enthusiastic. The first trailer appeared, I was disappointed, but not surprised at the same time. With this trailer, I’m more interested. Adam Sandler basically parodies the “I vant to suck your blood” voice, but it’s hilarious when you actually hear it.
Dracula builds Hotel Transylvania to keep his daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) and other monsters safe from humans. The monsters fear humans (which reminds me of Monsters, Inc.), but it’s all played for laughs. All goes wrong when a human finds the hotel and falls in love with Mavis. That said human, named ---- (voiced by Andy Samberg), seems rather obnoxious. He has a laid-back “hey man” attitude, but he seems all too talkative for my tastes.
What shines is the animation. It’s got a fun, somewhat colorful look that affectionately pokes fun at the Halloween monsters we all know (DreamWorks’ Rise of the Guardians could be interpreted as the anti-thesis of this film). Other than that, the film looks like fun.
The last of the Halloween-themed films is from Tim Burton himself, Frankenweenie, a re-imagining of his 1984 short film of the same name. From the trailers, it’s clear that he definitely expanded the story (we see a dinosaur in the final seconds). Visually, it’s pretty much him doing another Nightmare-style film. At the same time, however, I think more of Vincent, his brilliant 1982 short film.
The decision to shoot it in black and white certainly adds to it, reminding me of the 1930s monster classics. What really makes it for me, though, is the emotional content. When we see the scenes of the deceased Sparky and Victor trying to revive him, they draw an emotional response. They’re quiet and effective, so I can imagine them being tearjerkers in the finished film. However, things seem a bit giddy after said dog is resurrected.
Of course, knowing Disney’s marketing, the story won’t be as chaotic as the trailers make them out to be, but you never know. Frankenweenie looks like a good ride at the theaters. Out of the three Halloween-themed films, it doesn’t interest me as much as ParaNorman, but the writing is less gabby than Hotel Transylvania’s.
This trio of treats are still on my “most anticipated” list. From what’s been revealed, they look like they have strengths and weaknesses. ParaNorman has the best style, but the writing isn’t catching my interest despite some very imaginative visuals. Frankenweenie looks like typical Tim Burton, but the writing is a bit stronger. Hotel Transylvania looks like fun, nothing more. That said, I’m looking forward to all of them.
In November, we'll be getting two films from Walt Disney Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation. Both of which excite me the most: Wreck-It Ralph and Rise of the Guardians.
Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph comes on like Despicable Me and Megamind in a video game setting. At first, it may seem like Disney is trying to use the same magic trick. Not likely. Something about it already seems unique on the surface, not because it’s a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, but rather an experience that you’ll remember for years. Despicable Me, by all accounts, is a very fun film. I personally love it, but it’s really nothing more than a fun crowd pleaser.
It’s got some heart, yes. The characters are very likable, yes. That’s about it, though. It’s like a live action comedy film, it’s really funny and enjoyable to watch, but that’s about it. It has some cartoony antics that couldn’t be done in live action, as it adds to the goofiness of the whole film. Nothing wrong with that, but Wreck-It Ralph looks like something a bit beyond that. The idea has been in the works for a while, but I have no clue when the writers ever decided to make the story about a bad guy trying to be a good guy. Even if they did after seeing Despicable Me, it shouldn’t matter, as long it’s pulled off right.
As for Megamind comparisons, Megamind was already compared to Despicable Me before it hit theaters since Megamind himself tries to be the hero for a change. It’s executed differently, but Megamind also lacked a punch. There wasn’t much heart or appeal, it just felt like a mindless comedy that didn’t know whether it wanted to be an all-out spoof of the superhero genre or an intriguing story about a bored supervillain with an identity crisis.
Ralph’s (who is voiced by John C. Reilly) quest to become a hero will probably be born out of a desire he’s had his whole life, being assigned to be the bad guy. In the trailer, it is implied that he is aware of people not liking him for his job. “It sure must feel great to be the good guy...” he quietly says at the “Bad-Anon” meeting. There’s already more emotion there than what I saw in the other two films. Knowing the Disney tradition of adding heart to a story, even a non-serious one (think The Emperor's New Groove), it’s possible that there will be more meat to this entire story than in those two similar films.
So what’s the best thing he could do? Go to another video game and be the hero for once, but what he does ultimately causes disaster for the entire arcade (a family fun center called “Litwak’s”). The trailer doesn’t show us what he could’ve possibly unleashed, though it could be the “Cy-bugs”, the robotic bug-like enemies he encounters in the game Hero's Duty. Since Wreck-It Ralph is a story that involves multiple video game worlds (Ralph’s own game Fix-It Felix, Jr., Hero's Duty and Sugar Rush), I was wondering how Disney would pull that off. The recent Disney animated features have scenes where the animation and art are a radical departure from the look of the rest of the films. In The Princess and the Frog, it was for the magnificent “Almost There” scene, where Tiana sings about her dreams of owning a restaurant. It’s all told through an Art Deco style that is very reminiscent of the Harlem Renaissance artwork. That’s just one of many great examples.
From the trailer, it looks like all the worlds will be done in computer animation. However, from a color and lighting standpoint, they are all unique. Fix-It Felix, Jr. is minimal in its design, with people who look like Little People-esque toys. Since it’s from the early 1980s, it would look like that. Hero's Duty on the other hand is more akin to Halo, Gears of War and most of today’s video games. It’s very realistic with lots of details. The lead character from that world, the no-nonsense Sergeant Calhoun (voiced by Jane Lynch) doesn’t look like a character you’d see in a Disney or Pixar film. She’s not overtly caricatured or anything, she looks like something you’d see in today’s games.
Sugar Rush on the other hand is more like a Nintendo game. It’s detailed much like Hero's Duty but it’s very colorful, bright and fun to look at. It’s basically Candy Land meets Mario Kart. It’s certainly creative, as the set designers had a field day designing forests and mountains out of candies while still trying to make it look fresh and original. The character designs here are less lifelike than the ones seen in Hero's Duty. Weird shapes and cute designs, all based off of sweets. Aside from Candy Land, the setting also reminds me of a Sega Dreamcast game called Pen Pen TriIcelon, a quirky kid-oriented game which had a level made of candies and sweets. Some may remember that title, some may not.
As for the arcade itself, everything is connected through Game Central Station, which is located inside the arcade’s power strip. I went over the details there before, like how the portals to others games are the insides of the electrical sockets (look closely and it says “Moore USA”, a reference to director Rich Moore). We’ve seen a good deal of that, but this brings up an interesting question: What about other arcades? What about other Fix-It Felix, Jr. machines across the world? Imagine a joke in the film where Ralph actually meets another Ralph. That could be the source for a ton of good jokes, since this is supposed to be a comedy adventure.
What about Fix-It Felix himself? The trailers show that he does care about Ralph, but we don’t see much of him. We don’t even see the game itself, just what it looks like to the player in the arcade (The details on the game cabinet are spot-on). We get brief glimpses of the interior of the arcade (look for a Pac-Man machine, to the left of Fix-It Felix, Jr.), which looks like your typical amusement center.
As for music, who knows what kind of score this will have. Henry Pryce Jackman is composing it, but what intrigues me about him is that he actually worked with Mike Oldfield, the man behind the legendary Tubular Bells album. Not to say I'm thinking this film will have a soundtrack like that, but I am hoping for one that weaves 8-bit sound effects into the typical lush Disney-esque score. Perhaps the score will change radically to suit the different video game environments, such as Hero's Duty having a more epic, perhaps electronic action film tone (a la Tron: Legacy) while Sugar Rush can be a bit on the whimsical side. The trailer gives us no hint of what this film will sound like, since it prefers to assault our ears with Flo-Rida.
So from an adventure comedy that’s a love letter to fans of classic video games (like myself), what can we expect from the dialogue? Luckily none of it is cringeworthy. First off, the cameos. This is the most talked about part of the trailer, and it seems as if this trailer has been getting very good reception. This bodes very well for Disney, who spent several years struggling to interest audiences due to several setbacks. Potential critical and commercial performance aside, Wreck-It Ralph seems like its jokes are not going to misfire. Those who have seen the film (which is of course a work-in-progress version), such as the minds behind the brilliant animation podcast The Rotoscopers, have confirmed that the humor does indeed work. Rich Moore, having directed several episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama (which coincidentally had a “what-if” episode where life was like a video game), probably littered the film with clever jokes, along with scribes Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston.
Will all that said, Wreck-It Ralph looks like a game changer (no pun intended) for Walt Disney Animation Studios, as I’ve said many times before. I was always looking forward to this one, and the trailer only made me more excited.
An equally interesting and colorful film, Rise of the Guardians, looks like it'll be a new kind of film for DreamWorks. When DreamWorks announced that they were going to tackle William Joyce’s The Guardians of Childhood for an animated feature, I didn’t know what to think. Having been skeptical of DreamWorks’ output up until I saw How To Train Your Dragon for the first time on Blu-ray in October 2010 (which motivated me to check out their recent crop), I was expecting it to be another one I’d reject.
Having seen How to Train Your Dragon and not everything else around it at the time of the first trailer’s premiere earlier this year, I was surprised. For the first time, it was a trailer for a DreamWorks film that actually impressed me. The mood was great, it was all about the lovely visuals, the characters and surprisingly, no annoying jokes. I knew that DreamWorks was now serious about stepping up their game, the likes of Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon were only the beginning.
Rise of the Guardians (which is not a good title, The Guardians of Childhood is much more interesting and intriguing) is about the fictional heroes of childhood that we looked up to once in our lives: Santa Claus, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost. Now when I read this synopsis for the first time, I was only imagining how these characters would look. Being based on William Joyce characters, their designs could not be predicted. At least they weren’t going to look like their other characters.
... And they didn’t! Santa Claus is redesigned to look more like a tough guy but with a warm heart. Alec Baldwin gives him a pseudo-Russian accent that’s a little bit too hard to get behind, though it shouldn’t be much of an issue. They’re trying to keep him as far away from a jolly man going “Ho ho ho!” as possible. His workshop isn’t your typical Santa’s workshop, but then again, Aardman’s Arthur Christmas presented an interesting take on Santa’s workshop, though the character designs were much more traditional. In addition to being with a band of elves, he also has these strange fuzzy bipedal creatures. His workshop is high up on an icy mountain, but there’s a lot of imagination put into the building’s exterior. His sled? Not so conventional either.
The other childhood heroes come off as characters you’d see in an epic fantasy saga, and their designs are all very creative. The Sandman comes off as silly-looking gnome-like man. His trails of sand are like pixie dust. The world he comes from looks like a magical version of the Sahara. He will be a mute character who can apparently create things out of sand, such as a toy-like biplane that he uses to fly around. E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny (voiced by Hugh Jackman), has the most interesting design. Jack Frost even mistakes him for a kangaroo in the latest trailer. He isn’t presented as a friendly-looking bunny, cutesy or anything of the sort. In fact, he looks like he means business. I like it! His world is a bright, colorful forest with Easter eggs that can walk. Last but not least is Tooth, the Tooth Fairy (voiced by Isla Fisher), whose design is very colorful and coated in feathers. Her world is full of hummingbird-like creatures, but the rest of it isn’t clear. It looks like an enchanted forest from her character poster and some shots in the trailers, but we see an opulent castle in the new trailer, so that could be a part of her world.
The main protagonist of the film is Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine), who is from our world of course. He’s a mischievous teenaged boy who causes trouble with a magical scepter that freezes things. How he got it? Who knows. With that, he is chosen to team up with the guardians, as established in the latest trailer. Not much to say about him or his design. It’s fine, but he isn’t necessarily interesting. Perhaps over the course of the film, he’ll mature.
The worlds of the guardians are stunning, some of the finest you’ll see in a computer animated film today. DreamWorks’ animators knew that presenting these worlds would require a load of imagination, especially since countless other interpretations are rather basic and lack the magic seen in this film. Our childhood heroes go from what we know to something truly imaginative and breathtaking. It shows what you can do with this kind of story in the animation medium.
For many years, DreamWorks’ animation quality was always compared negatively to that of Pixar’s. Earlier, their style was simply competent. The crew weren’t aiming for visual thrills in fare like Shark Tale, Madagascar and Bee Movie. Shrek had some imagination, while its first two sequels were truly lacking in that area. Rise of the Guardians is DreamWorks unleashing all of that potential they had in the last six years. Comparing Pixar and DreamWorks negatively was never a good thing, but with this film’s look, it should rightfully be positively compared to the visually dazzling works of Pixar’s.
At the same time, Rise of the Guardians’ story seems to be right in line with a Pixar film. There’s characters you already like, an interesting execution of the good vs. evil story, and heart. The story is to involve a young girl who ceases to believe in the guardians, so it’s possible that the story will be very heartfelt. I definitely got this vibe from both trailers, but both trailers actually seem more fantasy adventure-oriented than anything. Comedy is (rightfully) downplayed in both, but heart is too. I’m not saying it won’t be heartfelt, it probably will be. Most trailers for Pixar’s films hide the heartfelt side of the story and go for haywire editing and pacing (with some exceptions of course, mainly BRAVE’s wonderful “Family Legends” trailer). Again, the film might possibly be a tearjerker since How to Train Your Dragon attempted to be one.
Aside from comedy and heart, this looks like DreamWorks’ darkest film to date. I never thought I’d put the two in the same sentence, given the unabashed comic nature of their older films. Kung Fu Panda had sheds of this, and so did How to Train Your Dragon. Kung Fu Panda 2 had some wonderfully dramatic scenes that were fairly dark. Rise of the Guardians goes all out due to its villain Pitch (Jude Law), the Bogeyman. I initially didn’t like the design as seen on his character poster, but in the trailers? Never mind...
Depicted as a tall, thin, dark and revolting figure, his world looks like a total nightmare. It’s a bleak and creepy medieval-like world, with empty cages everywhere. (For who?) He wants to bring total darkness to the world and ruin the dreams of children forever. Wow... DreamWorks had a convincing villain with Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2, but he ultimately fell victim to some villain cliches. Pitch doesn’t seem to. He’ll be one that’ll probably scare young children. Pixar and Disney were never afraid of this, as Disney villains have always frightened the younger set. Pitch looks like he can match up to those villains, as he doesn’t come off as the typical baddie: Hammy, over-the-top and comedic. In the trailers, we see him travel by the means of dark, shadowy horses. His voice is also very creepy and menacing. I think we have a great villain with this one.
Rise of the Guardians will kick off a new chapter for DreamWorks Animation, it'll show that the studio has more to it than silly comedies with childish humor. In the same month, Disney will widen their scope with their action-oriented Wreck-It Ralph while also preparing for an oncoming new Renaissance. Both of these November releases are my top picks for the year, now that Brave has come out. To see these two other studios trying to expand the medium in the world of computer animation (I didn’t call them the “Big Three” for nothing) is quite thrilling. The Third Golden Age has only gotten more exciting.
When Sony Pictures Animation first announced that one of their upcoming animated films was going to be a computer animated update of Elzie Crisler Segar's classic comic strip Popeye (though many people remember the original short subjects that were made by the Fleischer brothers), I was rather unhappy. There has been a rather unhealthy trend of updating classic comic strip or cartoon characters for modern audiences, but in CGI. Of course, the dreadful Alvin and the Chipmunks films kicked this off, then we got Yogi Bear and The Smurfs. I thought that this would be more of the same, since the Popeye cartoon short subjects were pure brilliance (some of which were rather groundbreaking for their time, too). However, Genndy Tartakovsky is going to direct the film, which gives me some hope. However, I can't really say much more until a trailer for this film actually premieres, whenever Sony plans on releasing this film. They've already got two films planned for release in 2014, so maybe 2015 at the earliest.
Genndy Tartakovsky, in case you did not know, created Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. He also worked on several other Cartoon Network shows in the 1990s such as Cow & Chicken and The Powerpuff Girls. He directed Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming fall release, Hotel Transylvania, which is looking better than before thanks to the recent trailer. The writers (David Ronn and Jay Scherick), however, also helped write the script for The Smurfs. That makes me a wee bit worried, but we don't know yet. The film will also be a co-production with Arad Productions (formed by Avi Arad, the well-known Marvel producer).
What do you think? Are you satisfied with Genndy Tartakovsky being the director? Do you think a CGI Popeye film was necessary? Or not? Sound off!
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