Box of Brilliance

A new trailer for LAIKA's The BoxTrolls has unexpectedly arrived!

This is no ordinary trailer either, and I must say, distributor Focus Features made something truly cool here! Rather than going for a stupid trailer that is a hodgepodge of antics and kid-centric jokes (like ParaNorman's near-disastrous trailer), they instead decided to craft something that could help audiences appreciate the beauty of stop motion animation and LAIKA's work in general. No dialogue or announcers, just a song and footage of the animators and artists at work… What more could you ask for?

Anyways, it's always staggering to see how much goes into their films and it's also a nice callback to the days when Disney would put behind-the-scenes footage in their trailers for their films in the 1990s. Showing the audience small bits of what goes into making animated features is such a great idea for trailers, and the fact that they're doing this for a stop motion film makes me very happy.

Now hopefully the full trailer, which should explain the story and whatnot, will make the film look like something worth seeing and not a bogus kiddie flick that's too scary for kiddies but yet too silly for adults. ParaNorman would've been the hit it should've been had it not been advertised that way, so hopefully The BoxTrolls is LAIKA's deserved box office break out. It's high time a film like this does well and changes the game for mainstream feature animation.

What did you think of the trailer? Great idea? Or would you have preferred to have seen more story-based stuff? Sound off below!

September Animation Tidbits

More tidbits for ya... Some rather interesting ones, too...

Aardman's next feature-length stop motion animated film finally has a release date...

As confirmed by writer/director Richard Starzak on his Twitter, Shaun the Sheep (based on Aardman's long-running television series of the same name) will hit theaters on March 20, 2015...

Now first thing's first, is that the UK/Europe-only date? Or is this when it's supposed to open in the US as well?

Here in the states, DreamWorks' The Penguins of Madagascar opens the weekend after March 20th. Columbia essentially dumped Aardman's last film, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, in a spot where it would be eaten up by both 3D and family-friendly competition (shame on them) so if that's the US release date, I won't be surprised. I had last predicted that the film would hit theaters in April, but it looks like they're going for the mid-March spot.

I have a feeling that it will be an April release here in the states, what do you think? Either way, it's great to know that they finally have an idea of when it will be completed. Hopefully we get dates on other planned 2015 animated films, such as Ratchet & Clank, soon.

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It was announced today that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are currently working on an R-rated animated comedy called Sausage Party.

Get this, it's about a sausage who goes on a journey to discover the "truth about his existence"... Where does this journey take place? In a supermarket... And the main sausage must get back to his aisle before the Fourth of July sale...

DreamWorks stalwart Conrad Vernon will direct with Greg Tiernan (bizarre choice, considering that his background is only direct-to-video Thomas the Tank Engine movies), and the film will be released by Columbia Pictures presumably sometime in 2015.

I'm not too sure about this one just yet. While it's nice to have a mainstream R-rated animated film come around, I have a feeling that this one will be no different from all of the "adult" animation that catches on in America. You know, the Family Guy and South Park variety. When are we going to start getting real "adult" animated films? Films that are mature to begin with, not ones that are raunchy and juvenile.

Then again, I loved This Is The End so this could be very, very funny. The concept though... Talking food? That's... New...

Well, for an animated feature-length film that is...

Update (9/25/13): Cartoon Brew confirmed that the film is being produced by Canadian animation house Nitrogen Studios, and the film will be computer animated.

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Europe got four Frozen posters today... And boy do they beat the domestic one. Well not by much, but still...

The UK one on the left? Sven seems too front and center here. The one on the right is a bit better, even though it still makes the film look like a goofy comedy.

The one on the left? Great! Finally, some focus on Elsa for a change! The one without Elsa? Ehhhhh...

Oh, and I already saw the trailer that we're getting on Thursday. It's no great shakes, though the footage looked beautiful. I do anticipate seeing it in good quality this come Thursday but it doesn't come anywhere close to the short Japanese teaser. Typical of Disney's North American marketing...

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And that's it... Some animation tidbits. What do you think of the international Frozen posters? What's your take on Sausage Party? Are you excited about Aardman's next film - a stop motion one no less? Sound off below!

Trolls and More Shadows

Despite mass audiences' continuing resistance to stop motion animation films; projects are still in production. Two mainstream stop motion films, one from LAIKA and one from Henry Selick, are on their way...

Remember that untitled film that LAIKA announced a while back? Well it it has a title and a premise... The name? The Boxtrolls...

ComingSoon revealed the premise that's already getting me geared up for this exciting new project...

Set in the Victorian-era town of Cheesebridge, the Boxtrolls are creatures living under the streets that wear discarded cardboard boxes as shells. The wealthy and cheese-loving people of the town fear them, but the monsters are truly good creatures that don't steal children and cheese like the town's legend claims. The eccentric creatures raised an orphan human boy named Eggs. The boy and a wealthy girl named Winnie might be their key to finally help their world come together with the one above their home, though an evil exterminator named Archibald Snatcher wants to obliterate all the Boxtrolls so he can become accepted by the town.

From the sound of it, it'll be another quirky and unique story from the famed animation house. Proving their prowess with Henry Selick's excellent Coraline and the very bold ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls has instant masterpiece written all over it. The kind of animated film we need amidst the other films.

LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight has mentioned that the film combines absurdist comedy, detective story elements and a steampunk vibe. He also touted that it's "Dickens by the way of Monty Python". The picture is being directed by Anthony Stacchi (visual effects veteran who also worked on Aeon Flux, Antz and co-directed Sony Pictures Animation's Open Season) and Graham Annable (who was a story artist on both Coraline and ParaNorman). The cast consists of Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Elle Fanning, Isaac Hampsted-Wright, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade and Tracy Morgan.

All I can say is... Color me excited. This may very well be my most anticipated animated film for next year. I mean... Steampunk, the usual LAIKA flare, Monty Python-esque humor and a compelling, heartwarming story. This may be LAIKA's biggest and most ambitious film to date.

The film will also be a hybrid of stop motion and computer animation, so it'll definitely be something different in the visual department. It's slated to hit theaters on October 17, 2014. Originally, the film was scheduled for September 26, opening against Sony Animation's Popeye. Focus Features and LAIKA made a smart move but pushing this to October, so now the film will have some time to breathe before Halloween and November animation competition.

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Now in other stop motion animation news, Henry Selick's formerly canceled project is back on track...

The partially-completed The Shadow King, a film he was originally making for Walt Disney Pictures for an October 2013 release (then titled Shademaker), was unexpectedly shut down last year by Chairman Alan Horn because Selick and his crew were apparently behind schedule. I was saddened by this news, and was hoping that LAIKA would take the project from there - but they shockingly turned it down! It seemed like Selick's project was dead in the water.

The Shadow King is currently being backed by K5 International and should be completed sometime soon since they are going to be able use what was completed when they were working for Disney. An image and the film's premise have been revealed.

The Shadow King is the story of Hap Dagger, a nine-year-old New York City orphan who can't show his hands to a world that won't understand. A shadow war is being waged against a monster who can destroy all of New York, but a Living Shadow Girl teaches the boy how to weaponize his hands in order to take on the beast and save his city.

Like the LAIKA film, it's a very different premise and one that's positively Selick. Whenever it'll be completed, who knows. Reportedly a good portion of it is completed, so we can expect this film to come out some time next year. This does bring up an interesting question: Could the recent cancellation of DreamWorks' similar Me and My Shadow be linked to the resurrection of this project? Or is that a stretch?

That being said, it's great to see the film back in the works. I expect nothing short of brilliance from Selick and his team. It's just a shame that Disney dropped it, they had a potential winner with this one.

Are you anticipating these two films? When do you think The Shadow King will hit theaters?

"ParaNorman", A New Height for Stop Motion Animation

QUICK FLICK REVIEW

ParaNorman

Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell

Written by Chris Butler

Produced by Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner

Distributor: Focus Features

Studio: Laika

Stop-motion animated films tend to go for material that is far beyond what most of our mainstream animation studios like to tackle, and its truly a gain for that medium. Stop-motion animation's inherent charm is what makes it suitable for like ParaNorman's wonderfully dark and often surreal story. It's no surprise that it worked for Henry Selick and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and Aardman's Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Stop-motion adds a whole new level of uniqueness to these kinds of stories, and ParaNorman was destined to be another film that benefited from this. After all, the film is from Laika, the stop-motion masterminds behind Henry Selick's Coraline.

ParaNorman takes a seemingly simple tale of a misunderstood boy who can talk to the dead and blows it up into this really elaborate adventure that is not short on the laughs and wit. Like Coraline and other spooky-themed stop-motion films, it does have some potentially frightening sequences, ones that have already garnered controversy amongst parents (typical of these kinds of animated films). What surprised me more than anything was that they actually went for some great themes. Aside from issues like bullying and accepting others for who they are, we also get some very meaningful insight on death itself. You know a family film is succeeding when it tackles this material, rather than relying on a joke-riddled script.

The twist that occurs in the last fifteen minutes was what really got me, it was so unexpectedly emotional and it added a new level of depth to the already solid story. How it ties to what Norman goes through in his life tops it off, it's brilliance. While its first act takes its time and has some familiar tropes (the bullies being punk-like, the older sister being the shallow "OMG" girl), it really starts moving once the zombies rise. The animators and writers have fun with this, giving the zombies distinct personalities, mixing gruesome designs and a comic coating. The balance between the darker underbelly and the sense of fun is also never off, though from time to time early on, we do get some toilet humor and immature "pseudo-adult" jokes. In terms of the comedy, ParaNorman succeeds. The references to classic horror films and B-movies was also a nice plus.

ParaNorman's greatest strengths lie in the heart of the story, and the themes of fear, death and tolerance of others' quirks. It's all handled well without ever being heavy-handed or preachy, but at the same time the story soars to emotional heights while also keeping the audience entertained with a healthy amount of humor. When you do what Pixar does, or classic Disney, you get an animated winner. Nothing's better than a strong emotional core to your story and fantastic characters. No matter what style you go for, it'll always be important. ParaNorman does that, and then goes all out with its visual zeal. It's truly the best of both worlds, and an unforgettable experience on top of that.

A+

- Visually beautiful and captivating, but told with honesty while journeying to a dark side that's lacking in many non-Pixar family films. A decidedly quirky and experimental tour de force, one that shouldn't be missed.

Trailer Recap

I saw this in 2D, the theater had a few people in it, and all of them seemed to genuinely enjoy it. It even got some applause at the end. Lots of laughs throughout too, and the theater went dead silent on two particular moments.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Yep, that same damn trailer. Will they ever give us a new one? - Opens December 21st

Life of Pi - Now this looks very interesting. I like how this trailer only gave flashes of the plot and what happens, as opposed to exposition. - Opens November 21st

Frankenweenie - As I've said before, I'm looking forward to it but I'm in no hurry. - Opens October 5th

Despicable Me 2 - If only my theater swapped this with the new Wreck-It Ralph trailer, then I would've been a happy camper. Every time I see this trailer, everyone cracks up at the bit at the end. - Opens July 3rd, 2013

"The Pirates!" Doesn't Go Over Like Gangbusters

Columbia/Sony Pictures Animation and Aardman Animations' The Pirates! Band of Misfits opened at #2 this weekend, which is good for an Aardman or stop motion animated film, but... It opened with just $11 million, making it the smallest opening for an Aardman film (even below Arthur Christmas) and it's now among the smallest opening weekend totals for a wide release animated film. It's just another indicator that Aardman's films don't really explode on opening weekend, along with stop motion films in general.

What held this back from doing well on opening weekend? Arthur Christmas was a much more accessible film, but that too did not score a good-sized opening weekend probably due to when it was released and whatnot. The Pirates! didn't have much competition from other family films, and it basically has opened in the quiet month before the summer blockbuster typhoon. Could it be that audiences just don't care for stop-motion? Well that doesn't seem right, given how well Chicken Run did not to mention the huge following that The Nightmare Before Christmas has. Coraline had a very small opening weekend but strong legs helped it pass $75 million stateside. It can't be that it's stop-motion.

I blame the marketing, again. Now to be fair with Columbia Pictures, this was probably a pretty hard sell here in the United States. Are the books well known here? Or is it just something that's more popular in the UK and elsewhere? Again, regardless of whether it was based on books or not, this probably came off as a Pirates of the Caribbean spoof for kids to American audiences. The trailers and commercials didn't mention the books, and just made it look like another silly kiddie romp. Now look at the UK trailers, much funnier. The first trailer alone makes you want to see it. The title change probably didn't help either. In the UK, the film is called The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! since that's the name of one of the books it's based on. The Pirates! Band of Misfits is such a misleading title, and the trailers conveniently downplayed Charles Darwin who is a major character in the film. What, were they afraid of offending those who are against Darwin's theories? The film doesn't even make much mention of evolution or whatever, but since it's such a huge issue here, the marketing pretty much obscured Darwin and the whole idea that it's about science in nineteenth century England. Band of Misfits makes it sound like some kind of kids' film... Because you know, animation is totally for kids, right? What a shame.

In fact, Sony did try to make it more accessible to American audiences and kids. The Pirates! Band of Misfits is not the same film as The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! Some of the more crude humor was toned down (not counting the leprosy joke, that was cut by Aardman themselves), and a few characters were recast, even though a majority of the characters have British accents. What... The... Hell? It's not as bad as what happened to something like The Magic Roundabout (a very British animated film based on a British children's show, that was completely re-dubbed and re-written for American audiences and released as Doogal), but come on! These studios need to stop pandering to kids. Aardman's original film was clearly a much more adult-oriented film that could still appeal to kids with its wacky hi-jinks and fun character designs, but they had to alter it for American audiences. I'm an American and I am offended, because this is a condescending practice that is ruining the animation industry while stifling creativity and also treating American audiences like they are dumb. Why couldn't Sony just give us what Aardman originally set out to do and market it as the wildly fun and quirky animated film that it is? Why does it have to be for kids? Why? Why? Why?!? The original version probably would've been more successful! Had they marketed it as a more adult-oriented film, maybe not too many people (and no offense to anyone's religious beliefs) would freak out and say "It's science-loving Darwinists trying to corrupt our children! Oh noes!" Fortunately, the cuts don't really affect the story in any way and the overall quality of the film, but still, it didn't need to be altered for the sake of a certain audience!

Not all is doom and gloom, though. The film has a chance to score great word of mouth, which Aardman films always get. However, with a 4x multiplier and a sub-$50 million gross, that won't look impressive alongside other animated films. Something subpar like The Lorax had no trouble making more than that on opening weekend. Losing 3D screens next weekend won't be a problem, since family films do better in 2D anyways. It'll need to pull some very strong legs in order to pass $50 million, because $100 million is probably out of reach by this point. A real shame, because this is another very good animated film that needs to do well, cuts or no cuts.

I was hoping that this year would be some sort of stop motion renaissance and be what 2009 wasn't. Well, with this film underperforming, we now have to see how ParaNorman and Frankenweenie will do. Stop motion films have a chance to perform well alongside the heavy-hitters, but poor marketing and the whole "animation is for kids" belief is what's holding them back. We need nice alternatives to the CGI films and family friendly films. These films, along with several independent animated films, are the alternatives. They'll never do a thing though, because many people still assume that "animation is for kids". Well guess what? It's time for them to wake up.

Anyways, did you see The Pirates! Band of Misfits? Or if you live in Europe, did you see Aardman's original unaltered film? Do you think stop motion animated films are just not marketable? Or do you think that non-CGI/non-family friendly films are marketed terribly and thus don't score? If you saw the original UK version of the film, are you upset that it had to be altered for American audiences? Sound off!

"The Pirates!" is Another Winner from Aardman

QUICK FLICK REVIEW

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

Distribution: Columbia Pictures

Studio: Aardman Animations / Sony Pictures Animation

Update: Turns out, the original British version of the film is different than the version we Americans got. In my original review, I referred to it by the original British title: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, so I'll be going by the American title, the dreadful The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Irreverent, funny and at times innovative, The Pirates! Band of Misfits is another home run hit for Aardman Animations. The film, based on the first two books in Gideon Defoe's The Pirates! series (he also wrote the screenplay), follows the adventures of the Pirate Captain (played by Hugh Grant) and his wily crew. The Pirate Captain desires to become the Pirate of the Year, but he's not that good of a pirate. The first act establishes this in a really fun way, as we see how the other contenders are so much better than he is. This plot is essentially the back bone to a much bigger plot, once the pirates wind up with Charles Darwin and his pet chimp, Bobo.

From there, the film becomes delightfully over-the-top. It's lot of fun, and best of all, the film itself knows it's ridiculous. It throws aways the rulebook and just simply goes out of its way to entertain, much like other irreverent films like Aladdin, The Emperor's New Groove and Shrek. It pretty much makes fun of several cliches while also poking fun at other films. The screenplay isn't spectacular by any means, but it does its job. It bombards you with silliness and humor that works. When I saw it, I noticed that the humor went over the heads of the audience members, both young and old. What a shame. Oh, and the cast? Most of them seemed to have a great time with this film, they give it their all. Hugh Grant shines as the lead. Unfortunately, the actors who re-dubbed the voices for this version didn't seem as enthusiastic.

The animation? Wonderful. Aardman's return to stop-motion animation is no dud, and the amount of work that went into making the film is astounding. This was probably a very tough project to tackle, and I'm guessing that this was in development for a while. CGI is used, which was inevitable, but it blends well although at times it didn't. (i.e. the sea monster that devours the ship) The film also makes use of (gasp!) traditional animation! That's right! The map montage scenes use classic hand-drawn animation, and trust me, the map scenes are very funny. The character designs are a return to the classic Aardman designs but with a few differences, something I missed in Arthur Christmas since their first CGI film (Flushed Away) still stuck to the classic designs. The character designs are fun, eye-catching and unique. They still have the Wallace and Gromit look, but they also look different in some ways.

If I had any problems with the film, it would've probably been the pacing. At times it really slowed down, but at other times it picked up and ripped through its runtime. At other times, the plot isn't anything special. It picks up significantly in the film's third act, which is wild and hilarious. By that point, the story's shortcomings don't matter. Another problem I had was that the version of the film we got was cut, apparently a few lines were re-dubbed to keep the PG rating and the Albino Pirate's voice was changed. In the original British version, he's voiced by Russell Tovey. In this version, he's voiced by Anton Yelchin. I noticed that his voice sounded different. A few other voices were changed as well. What a bummer. These changes were not necessary, but I'll save that for a rant.

B+. Another good film from Aardman that is significantly different from their earlier films, which is a good thing. Fine animation, a fun story and great performances make this film a riot worth seeing, despite the alterations made to this version of the film. Everything else works. Highly recommended.

Trailer Recap
I saw this in 2D in the afternoon. There weren't too many folks in the audience, and most of them didn't seem to enjoy it. It was pretty much the same reaction Arthur Christmas got when I saw that film a few months ago. The trailers we got? More of the same, but a few new ones... But no Brave trailer! Bummer.

Diary of Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - Ehhhh, not another one of these, but unlike most live-action children's films (yes, I consider these films children's films, not family films), this series is profitable. Thank goodness Judy Moody wasn't. - Opens August 3rd

To the Arctic 3D - This opened 9 days ago. Why did they show the trailer for this? We could've gotten the Brave trailer instead. Dang it!

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - This trailer wasn't as bad as the last one, but I'm probably going to pass on this one. It just looks so silly and over-the-top, and not in a good way. Oh well, the animation is nice and colorful. - Opens June 8th

Despicable Me 2 - This trailer got laughs from everyone in the audience, something the main attraction unfortunately did not. Again, this is only the teaser. I can't say much. - Opens July 3rd, 2013

ParaNorman - The same trailer that was attached to Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. It looks really good, but here's hoping we get another trailer that doesn't focus on the comedy and more on the ghoulish stuff. - Opens August 17th

Hotel Transylvania - It looks alright at best, not too crazy about the fact that it has a star-studded cast. Still, Genndy Tartakovsky is the director and the animation looks nice. - Opens September 28th

Next Up: The Avengers!