Nutty

This year's first wide-release animated film opens on Friday, the derivative-looking The Nut Job. It's a lower budget Canadian/Korean production directed by Pete Lepeniotis, an animator who worked on films like Toy Story 2 and Fantasia 2000. It looks like a run-of-the-mill kids film, but…

Dirty little secret, it could've been something different...

Both trailers for the film didn't do a thing for me, as it looked like a showcase of everything wrong with poorly-written animated family or kids' films these days. Toilet humor is everywhere, along with pop culture references and… PSY? Yeah, I have a feeling that this will be a turkey. Reviews are coming in too, and they're saying it's not so good.

So how could it have been different? If not possibly… Awesome?

This film is based on the director's 2005 short film called Surly Squirrel. It's the polar opposite of this romp, and it is definitely for adults. It takes place near a bank robbery and there's swearing, among other things. The lead character is not a cute, good guy squirrel, he's a selfish bastard. It definitely ain't kiddie.

Give it a watch, it's actually pretty decent…


With such a small budget and an opportunity to take a real risk, how come the studios behind The Nut Job couldn't make the film be like the original short? Seems like Lepeniotis and crew were probably controlled by execs looking to make moolah, assuming PSY cameos and fart jokes were going to bring in the crowds. Surly Squirrel isn't a children's short film, The Nut Job should've been just like it.

They could've made a risky, adult-oriented animated film with the same characters from the short film (yes, the squirrel and raccoon share the same name in the film, but they aren't the same characters), use the same tone and sense of humor. It would've beat something like Sausage Party to the punch and it could've possibly helped create a market for adult-oriented feature animation.

Ah, what could've been…

The Party is Coming

Party Central, a Monsters University short film, was set to be attached to what was going to be this year's Pixar event, The Good Dinosaur. That film was delayed to the autumn of next year, so it left us asking… What will happen to the short film?

I had suggested that it could be attached to either Muppets Most Wanted or Disney Animation's Big Hero 6, the former being the likely option since a Toy Story Toon was attached to The Muppets in 2011 plus Disney Animation makes their own shorts now, so we'll probably get something super cool (pun intended) before Big Hero 6.

Party Central is in fact playing before Muppets Most Wanted. Now we've got our first look, courtesy of Disney Insider!

First off, plot details…

When the Oozma Kappa fraternity brothers throw their first party and no one shows up, Mike and Sulley return to Monsters University with a plan to make sure it’s the most epic party the school has ever seen. It is directed by Kelsey Mann, the story supervisor from Monsters University, and features the following voice talent: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Peter Sohn, Julia Sweeney, Charlie Day, Nathan Fillion, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Bobby Moynihan, and Joel Murray.

Entertainment Weekly also got this intriguing tidbit of information...

Fortunately, they have some extra inter-dimensional doors handy, which they put to creative use (we won’t spoil how here) to get the party rocking.

Inter-dimensional doors, you say? Now that ought to be interesting! Maybe it means… Other monster universes! Speculating too much, perhaps! Human world doors? Well, humans aren't deemed toxic until after the events of Monsters, Inc., and that's roughly 15 years later. The Oozmas would've graduated by then, so that rules out the human world doors… Unless there's something else in play here. Secrets, secrets...

Judging by Nathan Fillion and Bobby Moynihan being listed, we'll be seeing Roar Omega Roar rivals Johnny Worthington and Chet Alexander as well. I guess the Oozmas, since no one comes to their party, are still unpopular despite their performances in the Scare Games and the fact that they are scare students after the events of the film. Will the RORs try to crash the party and get some kind of funny comeuppance? Or are they nicer to the Oozmas?

So much to speculate! Well, Muppets Most Wanted is not too far away so we won't have to wait too long. We may not be getting a Pixar animated feature this year, but I think this short will somewhat fill the void along with the announced Toy Story Toons and Cars Toons entries (at D23), and - if all went according to plan - the next Toy Story television special.

Are you looking forward to the short? Sound off below!

Big Changes

Another director has been added to Walt Disney Animation Studios' Big Hero 6, and a new producer has taken over…

Chris Williams, who was one of the directors of Bolt and a long-time story man who worked in the story department on several other Disney animated films (such as Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove and Brother Bear), is now co-piloting the ship with director Don Hall. Roy Conli has been named producer, replacing long-time effects producer Kristina Reed. Reed also produced the wonderful Paperman, in fact she was the poor soul who got kicked out of the Oscar ceremony for throwing paper airplanes! Those killjoys…

Why was she replaced? We'll probably never know. (Cue the Lasseter micromanagement comments…) Conli seems like the kind of guy for this project, though, since I see it as a risky experiment much like Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet, the latter of which he produced. Still, it's sad to see Reed go. Maybe she'll handle producing duties on another Walt Disney Animation Studios project. Hopefully.

This is from the newly-launched Big Hero 6 Tumblr...

But the bigger question is, why all of this at the last minute? Well, if you remember way back in November 2012, it was announced that Wreck-It Ralph scribe Jennifer Lee was going to direct Frozen alongside Chris Buck. With that film's success (it's on track to top $300 million at the domestic box office), maybe Disney feels that adding another director to the project this late in the game will bolster it.

Williams hadn't directed a finished film at Walt Disney Animation Studios since Bolt, which was released five years ago. Back in 2010, he was going to be the one to bring the once ill-fated King of the Elves to the screen, but the project was apparently rife with story problems so he backed out. The elves got shelved again, they are still waiting to be re-evaluated.

Maybe the studio just wants to give him some directorial work right now, since Elves didn't really go over too well. Or maybe there are some last-minute issues with this picture - it happens a lot with animated features and most films in general - with the story and whatnot, and maybe that's the reason why Reed got the boot.

Either way, I'm still excited for the film. Do you think the changes were necessary? Or do you think they came too late in the game? Sound off below!

Twenty Fourteen

And so in a matter of hours, a new year comes… Another batch of assorted animated entertainments will be making the waves from the cold January to the equally cold December. Our big studios, minus three, are ready to roll their work to the cinemas.

Disney Animation will take us to the action-packed streets of San Fransokyo in their first Marvel film, Big Hero 6. DreamWorks will take us back in time with two classic characters that were seen on the small screens in the late 1950s with Mr. Peabody & Sherman, revisit Berk for more fiery action with How To Train Your Dragon 2 and then introduce us to the alien Boov of distant planet Smekland in Home. Blue Sky will head on over to the Amazon with their fun feathered friends for Rio 2.

Pixar, Illumination and Sony Pictures Animation don't have any trips to take us on in 2014. Pixar pushed their prehistoric epic The Good Dinosaur back to late 2015, Sony Animation shuffled Genndy Tartakovsky's cool-sounding take on Popeye to the "to be determined" section of their slate, Illumination moved the Minions to summer 2015.

It's a shame in some ways, but given many circumstances, it's easy for me to swallow. Again, I'm used to waiting for Pixar films and I know that the "one a year" thing may be detrimental to the development of their productions. I'd rather them take their time than rush out a film, so we don't get a not-so-great film and hear more doomsday naysayers crying. Minions does not really intrigue me, so I could care less that it's been moved. (I'm more interested in Illumination's upcoming original film that they have slated for 2016!) Sony has two films I am not interested in coming in 2015; The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania 2.

Thankfully, others will be there to fill the void.

Reel FX, makers of Free Birds, are going to do a complete 180 from their goofy turkey movie and give us the potentially awesome The Book of Life. A fantasy-adventure about a young man who must face his fears while traveling through three fantasy worlds that's told through a plethora of songs, it's said to be unlike any computer animated film we've seen over the years. Warner Bros. finally makes a return to feature animation after years of duds, bad decisions and one-trick ponies, thanks to the hilarious-looking The Lego Movie, which offers a lot of promise thanks to its fun trailers, the fact that Phil Lord and Chris Miller are directing and the fact that it's… Well… Lego! Then LAIKA also comes to save the day with another stop-motion masterpiece in the making, The BoxTrolls, which will plunge us into a Victorian setting and take us to a world beneath ours, a world full of quirky little trolls.

We also have the North American releases of Hayao Miyazaki's swan song The Wind Rises and the French traditionally-animated charmer Ernest & Celestine arriving soon. Hopefully these two films are modestly successful, and help motivate studios to invest in unique smaller-scale animation and animation from all around the world.

No Pixar? No Sony? No Illumination? No problem. We have others to make up for that, and they'll return in 2015. Other than these mainstream releases, there's The Nut Job, which looks derivative as hell. Planes: Fire & Rescue, I can do without. Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return? Eh.

That's only the theatrical front… Hopefully a majority of the films have good writing and character work, and are at least unique. Of course, this passing year is teaching a lesson. Diversity wins, and you need to give audiences something new if you want to get ahead. Copying Pixar or Disney or the family-friendly formula can only get you so far, so hopefully a good amount of people take note!

Television animation should more or less be the same; Cartoon Network will probably continue investing in weird, surreal shows while Nickelodeon will continue to try following in their footsteps. Disney seems to be on-and-off with television animation, but they'll keep their successful entries going whilst trying to launch new ones. Maybe we'll see more Wander Over Yanders next year, and see them do well. Adult Swim will give us the usual that they've been giving us for nearly a decade, Fox will continue with Seth McFarlane derivatives and "throw 'em against the wall and see if they stick" experiments. Netflix and other venues will expand television animation, as DreamWorks' TV unit already jumped in with their Turbo F.A.S.T. and tons of other content that'll soon arrive.

Pixar will still be around throughout the year. Even though they don't have a feature film for the big screen coming, they'll have a short film out in Party Central, a Monsters University-based film that oddly doesn't have a release date for some reason. Another Toy Story television special is definitely coming, it was announced back in 2012 that a second special would show up sometime around springtime 2014. An Easter special, perhaps? Or will we wait till late 2014 and end up getting a Christmas special? In addition to these productions, we'll see more Toy Story Toons and Cars Toons.

But of course, what was going on this year - with more independent animation slowly rising and things like Kickstarter helping projects get off the ground - should make this year even better. Glen Keane's Motorola project should be out, too. We'll see a lot of unique things make the waves as well, alongside the big stuff.

I think this year will be a pretty good one. What do you think? Does what 2014 have in store excite you? Or are you disappointed? Sound off below!

Waiting… Waiting...

In March, three Disney animated classics arrived on Blu-ray alongside new release Wreck-It Ralph and non-canon film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. You could say it was "Disney Blu-ray Month", because we got a boatload of titles within a few weeks. Disney Blu-ray was release-happy again in June, giving us three more Disney animated classics. In August, four more!

So, it seemed like Disney would do the same this coming March, right? Apparently they aren't.

Two titles are scheduled for release in March, both are direct-to-video films: The Jungle Book 2 (since the first one's Diamond Edition comes out in February) and Springtime with Roo. Ermmm… Ummmmm… Okay? Disney, any animated feature-length films? Apparently they'll save those films for the summer.

For a while, I had predicted that Disney would repeat what they did this past March and finally give us Hercules and Tarzan on Blu-ray (the former hit Blu in Europe two months ago, the latter in May 2012) this coming March. Maybe even throw The Black Cauldron in there, because that's the only other non-package feature that they need to release on the format. I figured they'd bang those out in March, and then release all six of the package features in the summer. They'd get it all done right away, but that doesn't seem like that's in the cards.

If anything, the earliest we'll get Hercules and Tarzan is in the summer, mid-June to be exact. Disney may surprise us and release them in a spot that we wouldn't have expected them to pick, but who knows at this rate.

What do you think?

The 3 Best Long Curly Hair Styles For Women 2014

For those who have naturally long curly hair and hardly confident enough to handle it ,don’t panic ! There’s something so sexy and classic about naturally curly hair that we consider you need to be extremely pleased to have it.

   Fashionable long curly hair familiar to indicate flat , smooth ,and also stick-straight . However a lot more women—celebrities included—are enjoying their organic texture rather than combating it .
There are many variations on these kinds of fast appears so take a look at these pictures. 

Long Curly hair styles

Long , Wavy Layers

Due to the long length as well as layers , people who have by nature wavy or even loose curls similar to Kate Hudson may reach this appearance very well , says Willhite . 

•  The lower improves the hair's all-natural smoothness . 
•  Always keep the layers below the chin as a result curls don't gain simply too bouncy .
•  As reported by the Massey , females with fine , less-textured hair probably have a difficult time using this cut  except if they're ready to occupy their mornings with a curling iron .
• A light spray gel , gives texture without considering strands down .

Long , Curly Layers

 

Length is answer while your own curls are restricted , like Annalynne McCord's— long layers allow them down .

•  If you would like a gentle , face-framing appear , look for layers that begin with no larger than the chin or even collarbone , therefore curls get as much as necessary load to hang down . 
• To secure McCord's springy trend and also volume , wring the water away from your current hair after showering and also run a mild cream ,as a result of wet hair to control the curls .

Perfect Long Curls

Taylor Swift's curls are effectively designed for long fine ,wavy hair . 

• Look for a long , layered hair cut with small , angled layers at your jaw to generate a side-swept appearance in the front . 
• In case your waves are sliding level , apply an enhancing gel , when locks is damp . To manage frizz , use the diffuser with your blow dryer.

BluWorks

It looks like an older DreamWorks animated film is coming to Blu-ray this spring…

According to Amazon, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is going to hit the format on March 11, 2014. This makes it the first DreamWorks hand-drawn film to get a Blu-ray release, as it is one of four hand-drawn films produced by the studio. This implies that DreamWorks is intending to release everything else in their library that isn't on Blu-ray yet all throughout next year.

Currently, the following DreamWorks films aren't on Blu-ray in North America: Antz, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Shark Tale and Over the Hedge. The three Aardman films - Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away - also aren't on Blu-ray in North America. It made me ask a couple times, "What's taking them?" You can rent all of them on iTunes or Vudu or whatever… Except Over the Hedge. That film seemed to fall off the face of the Earth. Nowhere to be found… Could it be a rights issue? It is based on a comic strip.

As for Spirit, I'll pick it up. I happen to like it, I like the fact that it's mostly dialogue-free and does have a pretty decent story. There are a few things about it that kind of irritate me, but I look past that and admire some of the great animation, the surprisingly effective use of Bryan Adams' songs and some genuinely good moments. I liked what they tried to achieve with it: A mostly silent story set during the Old American West of a lost horse trying to get back home and having quite the adventure. While a money loser when it opened, I'm sure it probably got a bigger fan base later on. I think it's a solid, good film.

Anyways, do you think DreamWorks will release a lot of their films on Blu-ray this coming year? Or not? Sound off below!

December Animation Tidbits

Bits… From awards to Disney Animation news to Minions...

A few days ago, the Annie Awards have revealed the nominees for the 41st ceremony!

Earlier, I had predicted that Ernest & Celestine, Frozen, A Letter to Momo, Monsters University and The Wind Rises would be the five nominees for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature… Well, those five have also been nominated for the Best Animated Feature Annie! Looks like my predictions may all come true…

The other two nominees are The Croods and Despicable Me 2, kind of a short list… But let's face it, this was a very weak year for animation. How come other foreign films didn't make the cut if the American output was lacking?

I have a feeling that the award is either going to go to The Wind Rises or Frozen, though I think The Wind Rises has the advantage since Disney cleaned house (deservedly so) with Wreck-It Ralph last year. I liked Frozen, thought it was solid, but not great nor the masterpiece others say it is. To be honest, I'm not really rooting for it at the Oscars. Sorry folks…

By contrast, the Best Animated TV Show lists is impressive. On the "for children" front, Disney Television Animation's Gravity Falls is one of the nominees, since its first season concluded this year, I say give it to Disney. Either that, or The Legend of Korra. The rest of the competition? Well, it's mostly shows that have been around for a while (Adventure Time, Regular Show) or okay-ish newer entries. Teen Titans Go!, for example, is at times funny and quirky - but it leaves me wanting a real new Teen Titans show. You know… A serious one that's not a parody.

The "general audience" television show line-up has TRON: Uprising sitting alongside adult-oriented fare like Archer and Bob's Burgers. Another win for Uprising would sure serve Disney right for moving it to midnights - why they aren't kicking themselves over that, I don't know. Futurama could also win since it concluded on a high note this year, MotorCity could also get some love - another show that Disney mishandled greatly.

Either way, this is kind of "meh" all around. The individual animation and effects categories all have strong nominees, so it'll be fun to see which ones win. Again, I think that this was a weak year for animation and that the offerings we had here in the states mostly aren't up to snuff.

~

Walt Disney Animation Studios' Moana - presumably not due out until spring 2018 - has gotten its composer!

Mark Mancina confirmed on his website that he'll be handling the music. Mancina also scored Tarzan and Brother Bear, arranged the songs for The Lion King and also handled some DisneyToon fodder. We'll see what he brings to the table for this film, since his scores for Tarzan and Brother Bear are quite memorable, the former's in particular.

Since the picture is said to be a musical, it's possible that he'll arrange the songs for whomever is writing them - that is, if he isn't writing the songs. Who will write the songs is the bigger question? Will it be Alan Menken? Or will it be someone that hasn't taken a crack at writing Disney songs before? I'm leaning on the latter, because Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez scored a huge hit with Frozen's soundtrack and everyone's praising the individual songs. Heck, they might be the ones to do it, though I suspect they won't because I just can't see Frozen's musical style fitting in with this kind of story. Perhaps they won't go the Broadway route, which is what I'm hoping for. How about a different kind of musical?

I've been backing this idea for a while, as it will be nice to see fresh new talent handle future Disney songs. What do you think?

~

The Minions are finally heading to China…

Various reported issues held Despicable Me 2 back from opening in mainland China, but as confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter a couple days ago, it'll hit the country in January. To date, Despicable Me 2 has grossed $918 million at the worldwide box office off of a robust $367 million domestic gross. It's possible that the film will be the second ever animated film to cross the $1 billion mark, the first one being Toy Story 3.

Do you think it could do it?

~

What do you think of the Annie nominations overall? Does the idea of Mark Mancina providing Moana's score excite you? Do you think Despicable Me 2 will score a huge gross in China? Sound off below!

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!

GKIDS: Distributor with a Plan?

Ernest & Celestine, a hand-drawn animated feature produced in France and Belgium from last year, will be getting a general release in North America this coming spring.

The film is qualifying for a nomination for this year, and it most likely will get a nomination at this rate given distributor GKIDS' track record, the Academy's tendency to sometimes nominate a foreign feature, the film's critical reception and the fact that it's a very bright spot in a rather weak year.

We'll be getting a dubbed version, though… On March 14, 2014. The release will expand from there, GKIDS may be on to something here. Disney is releasing Hayao Miyazaki's swan song The Wind Rises in American theaters after the Oscars, hoping that the Oscar buzz helps it do well at the domestic box office and actually be a modest hit. For once. The highest grossing Japanese animated film here in the states is the first Pokemon movie… That says quite a lot, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be nice if a Studio Ghibli film could gross north of $50 million here?

GKIDS may be attempting to do the same for this film, maybe they hope that a more experimental or foreign animated film could catch on and start a new trend. If so, then it's high time we see a slow rise in these films here in the states. A good chunk of this year's family-friendly computer animated stuff underperforming might be signaling a chance; audiences may want more diversity in animation now. Pixar-lites and family-friendly comedies obviously aren't enough, and maybe audiences may be thinking the same thing...

What do you think?

(via Cartoon Brew)

Take Off

The poster for How To Train Your Dragon 2 is finally here!

To be honest, I thought those teasers that were unveiled yesterday were for individual posters. Maybe one with just Hiccup, and one with just Toothless, but no - both are on here. It's a nice poster, one that implies that the sequel will be much more action-packed and perhaps a little more serious. After all, Kung Fu Panda 2 was just that in comparison to the original. The plot synopsis hints at something epic, now that the dragon has been… Ahem… Trained. It should do what a good sequel does: Go all out now that you've established everything in the first one.

Now let's hope that a new trailer is coming soon…

Tease, Tease, Tease…

DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox are going about marketing How To Train Your Dragon 2 in some pretty interesting ways. First off, they unleashed a teaser that was a full sequence rather than a selection of parts from the film, doing what Disney used to do for trailers (think The Lion King and Pocahontas); though it's possible that the sequence won't be in the movie itself and that it's just a custom-made bit for the teaser, much like what's used in Pixar's teasers.

Still, it was a nice change of pace and the teaser did its job right, it made the movie look good. I have a feeling that this film's marketing will be the antithesis of the first film's shoddy marketing (the very marketing that brought in a $43 million gross as opposed to $60 million), coupled with the fact that many people saw the original and are anticipating the sequel.

Now, DreamWorks continues to go the mysterious route… Today they have released three teasers…

Of posters…

Yep, much like Marvel's "teaser of a teaser" strategy, DreamWorks is doing this with posters.

I assume the full posters will be unveiled tomorrow or sometime this week, and maybe a trailer is right around the corner! That would be awesome…

(via fellow Rotoscoper comrade Max de Hartog)

Another Year, Another Race

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!

Super Fun Trailer for "The Lego Movie"

A new trailer for The Lego Movie is finally here… And boy is it a lot of fun!



Yep, this film is going to be huge. The trailer's jokes, however, are hit-and-miss for me. The funny jokes, fortunately, are really funny. The others? Kind of "eh" on those at the moment, but the action looks great and the world they've built… Everything just looks amazing. It'll make up for any lame jokes in the finished film, but like I said, the funniest parts of the trailer were really, really funny. I especially loved the end bit with the Batmobile and Wonder Woman's invisible plane. (On a side note, this will probably be better than the actual Justice League movie, sadly…)

It also just amazes how they did this in computer animation, yet it has a stop-motion look and feel to it. I remember people were noting this when the teaser came out earlier this year, but I have to say, Animal Logic and Warner Bros. Animation outdid themselves here. This is Warner Bros. Animation's "restart" film of sorts, and it looks like it'll finally rocket the distributor into the feature animation world. It makes one wonder, "Why didn't they think of this before?"

Thankfully they didn't in some regards, because a Lego movie could've gone either way, say, 5-10 years ago. It seems like they got the perfect team to pull this off. Of course, I was already looking forward to this and the cool teaser only gave us a fraction of what kind of potential this thing has… This trailer outright shows how big and awesome this film can be.

What do you think of the trailer? Sound off below!

Where's The Party At?

Pixar's The Good Dinosaur was to have a Monsters University short film attached to it. Problem is, that Pixar film had been delayed from its planned summer 2014 release to the autumn of 2015. Of course, we all know this happened and why it had to happen, but…

What will happen with the short?

The short in question, Party Central, must be somewhere near completion at this point. At one point it was intended to be the obligatory short on the film's Blu-ray and DVD. It was unveiled for the first time at this year's D23 Expo during the Good Dinosaur presentation. However, was Party Central a Pixar Canada production? If so, then either the production is no more or it has been moved back to Emeryville so it can be completed.

Since there is no Pixar film coming out next year, what will Party Central be attached to?

First, let's rule out all of Disney's live action blockbuster releases. No way this thing is attached to something like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Maleficent, obviously. Let's rule out all the PG-13 stuff along with the smaller-scale live action stuff… Only one live action release in 2014 is a legitimate possibility… Muppets Most Wanted.

Why Muppets Most Wanted? It's the closest release to The Good Dinosaur's original date (May 30th). Also, the Toy Story toon Small Fry was attached to The Muppets, so I can definitely see that Pixar/Muppets double-whammy happening again.

I can't see them attaching it to Planes: Fire and Rescue, because that film is really for kids only unlike Muppets Most Wanted and the other animated release for 2014. Adults and teens like Pixar, but they are the least likely audiences to pay to see something like the Planes sequel. Pixar wants everyone to see the short, so why attach it to a kids-only flick?

The other big possibility, and the last of Disney's animated and/or family-friendly releases for 2014, is Walt Disney Animation Studios' Big Hero 6. A Cars Toon was attached to Bolt in theaters back in 2008, plus, Big Hero 6 has the biggest box office potential of the three G/PG films Disney is releasing next year. However, Big Hero 6 might possibly be Disney Animation's first PG-13 film considering that it's based on a Marvel comic. Also, according to Blue Sky Disney way back in 2011, Wreck-It Ralph almost got that rating, believe it or not. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney Animation broke the tradition and made a PG-13 film, but that's pure speculation at this point.

If not those three films, then it will be a home media exclusive. I can imagine it popping up on a Blu-ray for something like Toy Story of Terror (if that gets a release next autumn, which would be nice), since it is about monsters and that would fit in with the Halloween theme of the special.

What do you think? Theatrical? Or home media only? What film could it possibly be attached to next year?

October Animation Tidbits [#4]

Another round of tidbits…

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An adaptation of Captain Underpants has been on DreamWorks' docket for a long while, and given its commercial potential, it's understandably moving forward. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that a director has been attached, and a writer. Rob Letterman, who co-directed Shark Tale and Monsters vs. Aliens - will helm it, Nicholas Stoller (writer of The Muppets and its upcoming sequel) will pen the screenplay. Seems like the right duo for this kind of film.

Of course, when I was young, the books were a staple at my elementary school's annual book fairs and I imagine they were huge with every other school too. While I didn't really bother with the series back then, it'd be interesting to see how it's pulled off in feature-length form. It will be DreamWorks' first potty humor-loaded flick since the Shrek 2 days, which will make it a draw for kids and fans... Anyone else? Maybe not, making it kind of a gamble for DreamWorks.

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Even though this film is not out until next summer, a teaser is already up... Yep, Planes: Fire and Rescue...

I will admit, it's nice that this won't be Cars with airplanes like the first film was (I didn't see Planes and I don't really plan to), plus the animation does look like nice for a roughly $50 million DisneyToon production.



Yeah, surprisingly, it doesn't look half bad. Yes, the Planes films are mostly for kids, they are pretty harmless as a result. I thought the first one looked positively lame, this one just looks... Okay. Not that I plan on seeing it or anything, but please oh pretty please Disney, this stuff shouldn't be theatrical. Keep it out of the cinemas!

Other than that, its existence doesn't really bother me in the slightest. What bothers me, personally, is how furious and enraged some people are getting over this franchise. Listening to some people, you would've thought that the Cars series is the worst thing since cancer or something...

Whoever is angry needs to consider that Pixar isn't making these films, neither is Disney Animation. They've both got cool stuff in the works, these little cash grab flicks aren't really affecting them or animation that much; why worry about this when you can anticipate something like Big Hero 6 or Inside Out?

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Well, whaddaya know? More Frozen stills, straight from Stitch Kingdom...

All fine-looking, and they give you a good idea of what this film is like. That, and the current trailer that's out. That being said, the stills showcase the fine animation and art direction. It does have a bit of a Tangled-esque look, but of course it'll be different in the story department and what not.

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Some reviews for Reel FX's debut film Free Birds are in… And they are unfortunately not so positive… (Though it'll be interesting to see where it lands, I thought the first teaser had some pretty funny bits.)

Rotten Tomatoes holds three rotten reviews, plus recent screening results have been pretty negative. A real shame, because I'm rooting for Reel FX and I do hope this one makes them enough so that they can embrace the risky stuff that they have in their pipeline.

I figured for a while that Free Birds was meant to be a sort of safe film, one that would do well enough and secure them enough financial backing to make The Book of Life, which sounds intriguing from what I've been hearing. Of course, as you all may know, they have two other films in the works: An adaptation of the not-so-family-friendly Beasts of Burden and a rather dark-sounding film called W.I.S.H. Police, the latter appropriately being from the directors of Nocturna.

I have a feeling that Reel FX's future works will be more akin to Rango (especially The Book of Life) and LAIKA's films, rather than stuff from Sony Animation or Illumination. They seem to have that ambition, so we'll see how that all plays out - cute family-friendly turkey movie notwithstanding.

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What's your take on a Captain Underpants movie? What do you think of the Planes: Fire and Rescue teaser? Bad? Evil? Okay? Meh? What do you think of the Frozen stills? Do you think Free Birds will be a dud? Or surprisingly decent? Sound off below!

Poster Puzzle

Is this our first teaser poster for Pixar's The Good Dinosaur?

I'm going to say no. It would be weird for Pixar to release one this early, because the film is not even due out for another two years. Sure, Arlo and Spot's designs are very close to what we've seen in the concept artwork... But look at the way the title is integrated into everything, also all those jungle leaves and the sky background just seem like they were thrown in there. Something about it just seems fan-made, something like those Frozen posters where someone got the designs (or the prototype/near-finished designs) and built their own posters around them.

But I could be wrong, after all this could've been a teaser poster (or an early version of a teaser poster) that was prepared before the director removal and subsequent delay that happened to be released just now. It would be uncharacteristic of Pixar to release something this early for a film that they know won't be out for a while. Heck, I'm not expecting an Inside Out teaser poster until mid-2014 at the earliest! The delay was announced when physical production was beginning on the film, so I would assume that some designs were finalized. But I'm certain this is no different from those "leaked" Frozen posters. Some of my Pixarian friends think so as well...

What do you think?

Going Way Back

The trailer for DreamWorks' Mr. Peabody & Sherman has finally arrived!



It's a pretty decent trailer at best, no great shakes. That being said, I already like Mr. Peabody and I think Ty Burrell did a good job voicing him, judging by what we have been given. The design of the WABAC machine is great, and the brief glimpses at the time periods the characters will be visiting look nice. The animation works very well too, combining a simplistic, retro character design style with some good art direction.

Best of all, the film does not look like a stupid Alvin and the Chipmunks/Smurfs-style modernization of the original. Sure, it's a little amped up for today's audiences, but it looks to be fun rather than something that'll bombard you with toilet humor (save for the stupid Sphynx butt joke at the end) and pop culture references. I knew DreamWorks would do this film right.

Also, Patrick Warburton! Seems like it's been a while since he's been in an animated film! Well... A big one at least, he was in Space Chimps and the Hoodwinked! sequel, but yeah...

It looks like a fun little diversion, a nice little treat before the epics of How To Train Your Dragon 2. What did you think of the trailer? Sound off below!

Raising The Stakes... Again

The teaser trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the third installment of Marvel Studios' second phase of their cinematic universe, has surfaced...



It kicks off with a bang and a shred of humor, but then afterwards, it takes on the mood that the great but misleading Iron Man 3 trailers used. The trailer makes it quite obvious that the stakes are being raised, big time. Of course, they would have to do so for this film. Thor: The Dark World, on the other hand, "looks" like the further adventures of Thor with a pinch of darkness. Of course, I'm waiting for the film to prove me wrong, but for now the trailers surprisingly aren't doing a thing for me... And I loved the first Thor, and I guess I may be in the minority for loving it.

Anyways, what they are showing here looks fantastic. The final shot of the titular villain is great, the Helicarrier crashing into the ocean was a nice money shot, plus from the looks of it, the action will be pretty intense. I've heard things about the Comic-Con footage, and how those who attended the presentation felt that the action was on par with The Avengers. That'll probably work very well in its favor, considering that Iron Man 3's action was a mix of big blow-em-up thrills (particularly the third act) and clever, smaller-scale escapades (Stark sneaking into the Mandarin's mansion). Thor: The Dark World's action looks to be Thor's action, but amped up.

They also give us a taste of Rogers' unease with what S.H.I.E.L.D. is planning to do, which was mentioned in the Comic-Con footage descriptions. The glimpses at the Falcon, Cap's new suit and some of the new characters were also great additions. In all, it's a pretty solid teaser. Definitely Iron Man 3-like in a sense, except less "end-times" in its mood.

Iron Man 3's teaser was criticized by some for being more on the Nolan Batman side, since there wasn't a scrap of humor and the whole trailer was accompanied by descending music that suggested despair rather than fun. Personally, I liked that trailer a lot because it wasn't trying to be brooding or dark (everyone called it "The Iron Man Rises"), I thought it was basically saying, "Tony Stark is in big trouble this time!" The second trailer was more thrilling, and it ends with a funny bit.

This teaser, I feel, is like Iron Man 3's teaser except it suggests that the film will be more fun and more of a thrill ride than a bleak film - yet I still feel that things are going to get hairy in this sequel. So far, Cap in the modern world looks like it'll make for a damn good movie. Marvel knows what they're doing...

I'm really looking forward to this installment. What do you think of the teaser?

October Animation Tidbits [#3]

Tidbits on time-travel, three fantastical worlds

and shadows...

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USA Today gives us our first look at DreamWorks' Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which opens March 7th. The trailer, according to director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King), will be released just in time for the debut of Free Birds this come November. Check out the images and see what you think!

Personally, I like the design of the Egyptian setting and the WABAC Machine's interior, but I like that the film is going to have the character design style and simplistic charm of the original segments, but in the world of computer animation. The rest of it, art direction-wise, looks very nice. It's also nice to see that Ancient Egypt will be prominent setting, judging by the selection of stills they have picked.

Also, I think - going by what I've read and what I'm currently seeing - this will be a bounce back for DreamWorks. The Croods was a letdown for me, I have not seen Turbo but I'm not dying to see it either, this looks like it'll be DreamWorks' first good film since Rise of the Guardians. (Hey, with the pipeline they have, not everything will be up to par.) I know that's a radical opinion, because it seems like everyone adored The Croods. Oh well, I wasn't too fond of it.

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The big news today for me concerns Reel FX's second animated feature (their first is Free Birds), The Book of Life. Recently, distributor Fox moved it from October 3, 2014 back to the October 17th spot, as opposed to the film's original October 10th spot. My Rotoscoper comrade Morgan got this bit of news earlier today; the plot and the full cast!

"An animated comedy with a unique visual style, The Book of Life is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears. Rich with a fresh take on pop music favorites, The Book of Life encourages us to celebrate the past while looking forward to the future."

I'm surprised that there's no mention of the Day of the Dead backdrop (it's possible that it's been removed in order to not make it seem similar to Pixar's upcoming similarly-themed film) or the Romeo & Juliet-style story, but three fantastical worlds? I wonder if they'll come in different unique animation styles, the synopsis alone promises an animation style like no other. Aron Warner, who is producing Free Birds, also noted this a while back. Remember when I compared it to Rango? Yeah, I'm pretty it will definitely be the next Rango for the computer animation medium.

Also, a "fresh take on pop music favorites"? Are we talking pop classics? Or more recent stuff? I hope it's classics, and it'll definitely be interesting because, as Morgan pointed out, it could go a Moulin Rouge!-esque route or something of the sort. Crafting a story around many songs sounds like a great idea, I just wonder what songs they will use.

The cast consists of Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Diego Luna, Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Kate del Castillo, Ron Perlman, Cheech Marin,  Hector Elizondo Placido Domingo, Ana de la Reguera, Eugenio Derbez, Gabriel Iglesias, Ricardo (“El Mandril”) Sanchez, Danny Trejo...

Ice Cube? Channing Tatum? A bit star-studded, don't you think? Oh well, hopefully all of them are invested in their roles because I'm tired of animated films having casts with celebrities who are only in it for the paycheck (*cough* Epic *cough*) and sound so uninterested in the film itself. On the other hand, there's a lot of top talent here and unexpected faces. Quite the mix!

But I'm still excited nonetheless, it sounds wicked and wildly different... Just what I expected!

I'm glad they are hyping it now, which may mean that a trailer will be attached to Free Birds. Cross your fingers!

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Henry Selick's The Shadow King can't seem to catch a break...

Originally, this stop motion film was going to be released by Walt Disney Pictures this month, but after Alan Horn was named Chairman of the company last summer, the plug was pulled. Apparently Selick and crew were way behind schedule, though supposedly the film is actually halfway done. Selick then shopped it to LAIKA, since he directed Coraline for them, but they strangely rejected it! Earlier in the year, K5 International had picked up the film but we have not heard anything since...

Now, it seems like it's not on the schedule anymore. Selick is now off to direct a live action film based on Adam Gitwiz's A Tale Dark and Grimm, a Hansel and Gretel continuation where they enter eight other Grimm fairy tales. A pretty cool idea, but if you ask me, that should be an animated film - it screams animated. He also has an adaptation of The Graveyard Book in the works for Disney, so I assume that we won't be seeing his next stop motion film anytime soon. What a bummer...

That is, if someone picks it up... I hope it happens...

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What do you think of the Mr. Peabody & Sherman stills? Are you looking forward to the film? Or not? Does The Book of Life excite you? What do you think of the plot and the cast? Do you Henry Selick will ever get The Shadow King completed any time soon?

Sound off below!