October Animation Tidbits

Tidbits, tidbits...

We got our first official trailer for Rio 2, after two teasers...



Cute. Colorful. That's about it, really. No doubt the family audiences will eat it up next April, and the plot at least isn't a rehash of the original. I'm just on the fence about this one. Also, what's with Blue Sky's recent iPod product placement?

But oh well, Nigel is still funny.

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Evan Goldberg dropped some more details on Sausage Party, his upcoming R-rated animated collaboration with Seth Rogen...

First off, he says it's an "existential mock-Pixar movie".

"... We are very, very proud of it. It's our opus. It's like Mr. Holland's Opus! It’s our take on a Pixar movie. It is very, very R rated."

It's all in good fun, though, as he also said, "I wish there were fifty Pixar movies every year. But listen, someone should take those motherf*ckers down a notch. Those high and mighty bastards. We're mocking all animated movies, with a special eye on Pixar."

A mockery of the current American animated feature landscape sounds ideal for an R-rated animated film, but here's hoping that the film is a fun send-up and will also be really funny regardless of any lowbrow or juvenile humor. This will be what Shrek almost was, a great parody of what's big in animation right now.

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Also, Frozen images... Boy do they look stunning!

Elsa's kingdom... With a Mike Giaimo sky! He's the art director of this film, and he was originally going to direct it back when it was actually called The Snow Queen. It's much like Pocahontas' color scheme, which gravitated towards heavy blues, lavenders and purples.

This one is just stunning... It's my favorite of the bunch. The pointedness of everything combined with the icy atmosphere. It just perfectly sums up Elsa's character.

These images alone make me anticipate this film even more now, not some poorly-edited slapdash trailer that assumes that audiences can't sit through two quiet minutes of anything animated. Of course, we know that Disney marketing won't make Frozen look like a grand must-see event spectacle, instead opting to bombard you with jokes, silly snowmen and one-liners. Like I said in my post regarding spoilers in Pixar trailers, I'll just stick to images and the teasers for these films and quite frankly... I'm fine with that.

Where did these images come from? Disney Russia's Facebook page... Why not Disney's other pages for different countries? If they don't come the other pages (American, European, etc.), I'll only shake my head in disbelief. At this point, I believe Disney's ever-so-wise marketing department would do that.

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What's your take on the new Rio 2 trailer? What do you think of the Frozen images? What do you think of Sausage Party and the writers' plans to mock Pixar films?

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!