Upcoming Animated Films - My Thoughts (Part 5)

Alrighty, part five. Summer 2013 is packed with animated films. It's going to be one big battle at the box office.

Monsters University

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Studio: Pixar Animation Studios

Release Date: June 21, 2013

• Since Pixar surprised audiences with Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, proving that you can make a great sequel or three-quel that lives up to the original, it was possible that they would do it again with last year’s Cars 2. Unfortunately, when Cars 2 turned out to be a disappointment, it somewhat cost Pixar their reputation. There seems to be more passion going into this prequel than there was for Cars 2. The film is being directed by Dan Scanlon, making this his first time directing an animated feature at Pixar. I just hope it doesn’t end up like Cars 2. That film’s original director, Brad Lewis, had trouble with the project and John Lasseter had to come in and save the sinking ship. Look how it turned out, it was a mess. Aside from those issues, Monsters University has a lot going for it. I was hoping that we could see more of the monster world, because we only saw Monstropolis in the first film. Back when I was young, I wondered what the rest of the monster world would look like. Perhaps Monsters University might explore more of the monster world. The best thing about this film is that it’s a prequel, because to me, how could you make a second one? Monsters, Inc.’s ending is just wonderful. A sequel would ruin it, so I’m glad they’re taking the prequel route with this project.

Despicable Me 2

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Studio: Illumination Entertainment

Release Date: July 3, 2013

• Despicable Me was a pleasant surprise, being Illumination’s first animated feature. There are so many fun opportunities with a sequel, but the film can’t be a mere rehash of the first film. Hopefully the folks at Illumination come up with something different for this sequel.

Turbo

Distributor: TBA

Studio: DreamWorks Animation SKG

Release Date: July 19, 2013

• I’m going to be completely honest here, the plot to this film sounds ridiculous. Yet, there are several ideas for films that make you say “That’s not going to work” and then it ends up working. Turbo is about a garden snail who acquires super speed after a freak accident. Now that sounds like something a kid would come up with, but maybe this will be one of DreamWorks’ “fun” films as opposed to more serious films like How to Train Your Dragon.

Phineas and Ferb

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Studio: DisneyToon Studios / Mandeville Productions

Release Date: July 26, 2013

• I’ve never seen an episode of the Disney Channel series of the same name, but I’m told it’s brilliant and one of the few good things on the Disney Channel. The show itself was created by Dan Povenmire (along with Jeff Marsh), who I think is an incredibly talented writer. (He’s written several episodes of The Simpsons, various Nickelodeon shows and Family Guy episodes) The movie is going to be a live-action and animation hybrid, so it could this decade’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film could be a whole lot of fun, since the show is such a success for Disney. Again, I can’t say too much because I’ve never seen an episode of the show. (I guess I don’t know what I’m missing)

The Smurfs 2

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Studio: Sony Pictures Animation

Release Date: August 2, 2013

• I remember back when The Smurfs was announced back in 2005 for a 2008 release, the announcement said that it was the first film in a planned trilogy. When the film finally opened last summer, it was a smash hit worldwide. This is the new Alvin and the Chipmunks, little kids will eat this sequel up like candy. If one takes a look at Sony Pictures Animation’s upcoming slate, it seems like these films will be mere safety nets in case any of their original projects don’t go over well.

Upcoming Animated Films - My Thoughts (Part 4)

Now that I've discussed the animated films of 2012, I will now look at 2013's animated crop. Things might change over the next few months, such as films getting different release dates or new films being added. Here's the schedule for 2013's animated films so far.

Monsters, Inc. 3D

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Studio: Pixar Animation Studios

Release Date: January 18, 2013

• Disney is re-releasing Pixar’s 2001 classic to get people geared up for Monsters University, which opens in the summer. They did the same thing for Toy Story 3, re-releasing the first two films as a double feature for a limited time in 3D. Like the first two Toy Story films, Monsters, Inc. does look a bit outdated compared to today’s powerhouses, so I can only imagine what it will look like in 3D. This is the very film that got me into Pixar, and computer animation in general, when I was young, but that was when it hit home video. I don’t remember much of when I saw it in theaters, so I’ll probably re-experience it the right way when this re-release comes around. I don’t see crowds flocking to see it though, since the film has always been available on home video, unlike The Lion King, which wasn’t on Blu-ray when the re-release came.

Escape from Planet Earth

Distributor: The Weinstein Company

Studio: Rainmaker Entertainment

Release Date: February 14, 2013

• The Weinstein Company has never really scored a hit in the animation field, releasing cheap animated films by unknown studios. This film is from Rainmaker Entertainment, who have worked on several direct-to-video films and video games. It’s being directed by Cal Brunker, who worked on Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! and Despicable Me, so it could be a fun sci-fi comedy. The title does imply that the film might have a 1950s’ sci-fi style, much like DreamWorks’ Monsters vs. Aliens.

The Croods

Distributor: TBA

Studio: DreamWorks Animation SKG

Release Date: March 22, 2013

• This film has been in the works for a while, originally it was going to be a claymation film from Aardman called Crood Awakening. It has been reworked into a computer animated film, and one of its directors is none other than Chris Sanders, who directed Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. The other director, Kirk DeMicco, doesn’t have such a hot track record: Quest for Camelot, Racing Stripes and Space Chimps. Also, no distributor is listed for this film. It’s possible that Rise of the Guardians is DreamWorks’ last film to be distributed by Paramount. Where will they go after Paramount? Will they be on their own? Or will they join forces with someone else? Anyways, from the image revealed, it does look like it’ll have nice animation and fun character designs.

Leaf Men

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Studio: Blue Sky Studios

Release Date: May 24, 2013

• Based on a book by William Joyce (whose books were adapted into Disney’s Meet the Robinsons and DreamWorks’ forthcoming Rise of the Guardians), Leaf Men is Blue Sky's offering for 2013. The plot sounds interesting, and it’ll probably be another Rio, a very fun film made for half of what Pixar and DreamWorks spend on their films. One thing to look forward to is the fact that Chris Wedge is directing it, who hasn’t directed an animated film since Blue Sky’s 2005 film, Robots. This film, however, is opening during a highly competitive month, so who knows how it will perform.

VES Awards 2012: Stan Lee Honored.

Last night, while the Visual Effects Society presented their awards for this year, Visual Effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull and Stan Lee (left) received special honorary awards: Stan Lee was awarded with the VES 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award while Douglas Trumbull was honored with the Georges Méliès Award.

A you may know, Méliès was a famous French illusionist and film maker, best known for two prominent movies featuring early visual effects: 'The Impossible Voyage' (1904) and 'A trip to the Moon' (1902), which became famous for it's iconic image of the moon, having a human face and receiving a bullet like space capsule in the right eye (which is also the VES society's official logo).

Trumbull was responsible for special effects on Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey', Spielberg's Close Encounters of the third Kind' and Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'. Trumbull, not a fan of computer generated effects, recently returned to work after a 30 year hiatus to contributed to Terrence Malick's 'The Tree of Life', which is currently up for three Academy Awards. Working with chemicals, paint, fluorescent dyes, smoke and liquids, all the scenes in outer space were created by hand, giving the film a special feeling and resembling Kubrick's epic classic from 1968.

Paramount's first full length CG animated feature 'Rango' (animated by George Lucas' ILM) became the big winner and received four awards, followed by 'Rise of the Planets of the Apes' which won in two categories. The cinematic trailer for Blizzard Entertainment's Video Game 'Diablo III: The Black Soulstone' was favored above Framestore's work on Coca Cola's 'Siege' commercial in the category 'Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated commercial or VG trailer'. The creative team of Nicholas S. Carpenter, Graham Cunningham, Chris Thunig and Taka Yasuda won the prestigious award for their incredible work (check it out that the bottom, including the full 'making of').

Below: from storyboard to fully rendered final scene. 'Rango' won 4 awards in the categories 'Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture', 'Outstanding Animated Character' (for the character of 'Rango'), 'Outstanding created environment' ('Main Street Dirt') and 'Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Morion Picture' 

ILM also scored In the category 'Outstanding models in a  feature Motion Picture'. The Special Effects team of Tim Brakensiek, Kelvin Chu, David Fogler and Rene Garcia won with Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon' for the creation of their 'Driller' Decepticon character. ILM's other team consisting of Giles Hancock, John Hanson, Tom Martinek and Scott Younkin received an award for 'Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature motion Picture' for their extensive work on the Chicago location '155 Wacker Drive' for Transformers DSOTM.

Above: 'Driller' character conceptualised by Josh Nizzi for Dreamworks. Go for his official site to have a look at his amazing robotic designs or check out his tuts on robot design at Gnomon.

Fox's prequel to their 1960's 'Planet of the Apes' franchise 'Rise of the Planets of the Apes' received an award twice: the team of Daniel Barrett, Florian Fernandez, Matthew Muntean and Eric Reynolds received the award for 'Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture' (for the character of 'Ceasar') while Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Cyndi Ochs and Kurt Williams received their award for 'Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-driven Feature Motion Picture'.

Above: the creation of 'Caesar' from motion capture (done by Andy Serkis) to CGI. 'Tintin' and 'Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows' did not win anything while Martin Scorcese's 'Hugo' also won two awards.

For the full list with all the winners go to the VES Awards offical site. Below you can check out the winning cinematic trailer for Diablo III The Black Soulstone, which won over Coca Cola's 'Siege'. It is followed by the 'making of', which will shave an hour off your life, so be warned!

Upcoming Animated Films - My Thoughts (Part 3)

Part three. The rest of 2012’s animated batch.

Hotel Transylvania

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Studio: Sony Pictures Animation

Release Date: September 21

• With its interesting plot and a neat art style, Hotel Transylvania could work as a very fun animated comedy. The cast, however, is star-studded like most of the post-Shrek 2 DreamWorks films. If the film’s story is good enough, and the cast gives it their best, then it should be a good film. There isn’t a trailer out for this, but I assume we’ll be getting the trailer before Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax or The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Genndy Tartakovsky is directing, so that’s a plus.

Frankenweenie

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Studio: Tim Burton Productions

Release Date: October 5

• Another stop-motion animated film. It looks like 2012 might be the year of the stop-motion revolution, if the three stop-motion films do well. Frankenweenie is Tim Burton remaking his 1984 short film. This could go either way. Here’s hoping it’s a classic. I can’t say much about this one either, because there’s no trailer.

Wreck-It Ralph

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios

Release Date: November 2, 2012

• Out of all the animated films coming out this year, this one excites me the most, even though we don’t even have a trailer yet. The plot sounds cool, a video game bad guy goes on a journey through several different video games to become a good guy, although it does sound a bit like Despicable Me and Megamind. Some really cool stills were revealed recently. The idea does sound ambitious, and apparently, the film is going to feature different art styles. Now Disney has been experimenting with this recently, when the art style and animation changes completely. We saw it in Bolt, The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh, so we’ll probably see more of it here. Rich Moore is directing the film, as he directed several episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama. It seems like this film will aim more to adults, the audience Disney should be aiming for. Their attempts at animated sci-fi (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet) went over badly, but that was due to executive meddling and poor marketing. Here’s hoping this film, if it delivers in the storytelling department, will be the ambitious blockbuster Disney has been waiting for. If this risky film goes over well, Walt Disney Animation Studios might take more risks in the future. That’s what Walt would want.

Rise of the Guardians
Distributor: Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks SKG

Studio: DreamWorks Animation SKG
Release Date: November 21, 2012

• This is DreamWorks’ first non-sequel film since Megamind in fall 2010, and it’s based on an upcoming series of books by William Joyce. (The author of A Day with Wilbur Robinson, which Disney adapted into Meet the Robinsons) While it does have the usual DreamWorks star-studded cast, it might just be another Arthur Christmas, a great Christmas classic that will be a film watched every holiday season. The images revealed look very nice, as DreamWorks’ is beginning to really experiment with different character designs. The only thing I’m not digging is the title. The title of the books, The Guardians of Childhood, is a much better title. Rise of the Guardians sounds a little too generic and a little too similar to Legend of the Guardians, unless audiences forget that film by the time this comes out. They might’ve already forgotten about it. Anyways, it doesn’t matter if the title is bad or the cast has too many stars, what matters is the storytelling. If DreamWorks delivers another How to Train Your Dragon-style success, then it’ll be a winner.

Upcoming Animated Films - My Thoughts (Part 2)

Part two!

Brave

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Studio: Pixar Animation Studios

Release Date: June 22

• We all know Pixar disappointed many critics, movie-goers and fans with Cars 2, but I see that film as a gap filler of sorts. Apparently it's a franchise that will fund future projects at Pixar. Ambitious projects like this. This film is the first original non-sequel production from Pixar since Up. The teaser trailer for this film is one of Pixar’s best teasers, but the trailer itself was a bit underwhelming. Like most of the trailers for Pixar films, it was a bit of a mess. I have high hopes for this film. It’s cool to see Pixar taking on the fairy tale genre. As always, they try something new rather than repeating themselves. The animation looks wonderful, as always. Pixar’s character designs have always been flawless, and the character designs in this film prove it. Anyways, what matters most is the story. There are complaints that the film looks too similar to the Disney fairy tales. I have a feeling this film will have a fresh take on the fairy tale genre, and it's supposed to be dark and gritty. Pixar isn't afraid of injecting dark moments into their films, so Brave will probably be no different. I expect this one to garner a PG rating, something Pixar films don't normally receive. If this film turns out to be a classic like the other Pixar films, then Pixar won’t be going away any time soon. Cars 2 will just be a minor bump in the road.

Ice Age: Continental Drift

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Studio: Blue Sky Studios

Release Date: July 13

• This fourth installment in Blue Sky’s Ice Age franchise exists for a reason. It’s most likely going to top $800 million at the international box office since this series is so popular around the world. It should be an enjoyable if not forgettable romp, or maybe it’ll be something worth checking out.

ParaNorman

Distributor: Focus Features

Studio: Laika

Release Date: August 17

• The premise of this film sounds like a lot of fun, and the trailer was decent. I can’t say too much about this film because there’s not much that has been revealed. It’s the second film from the studio who brought us Henry Selick’s brilliant Coraline in 2009. The art direction looks very cool with a pinch of Tim Burton. If this is a success, we’ll see more stop-motion animated films like this. Stop-motion really works for these kinds of stories. Again, I can’t really comment on it.

Finding Nemo 3D

Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Studio: Pixar Animation Studios

Release Date: September 14

• I decided to include this re-release because if this re-release goes over well along with the re-releases of Monsters, Inc. and The Little Mermaid, then we’ll see more classic Disney films coming back to theaters, the way they should be seen. I’m not too fond of them re-releasing the Pixar films, as I believe they should bring back the Golden Age classics to theaters like Pinocchio and Bambi, but not in 3D. I thought the post-conversion 3D for The Lion King was impressive, but I saw that re-release because I wanted to experience the film on the big screen. Since Finding Nemo is computer animated, I can only imagine how the 3D conversion will look. It’s a film with elaborate art direction, so if the 3D is done right, the re-release will do incredibly well. One major complaint I have is the fact that these classics are being re-released in 3D. All I will say is, converting these films to 3D is unnecessary. They should just re-release them as is, without using 3D to get people to see them. Anyways, this re-release indicates that the film will finally debut on Blu-ray sometime this year. It’s about time! Now all of the Pixar films will be available to own on Blu!

Upcoming Animated Films - My Thoughts (Part 1)

Hello folks, the following posts will be my thoughts on this year's upcoming animated films plus animated films scheduled to come out in 2013 and 2014. The only film I left off of this list is The Secret World of Arrietty, the US release of Studio Ghibli's The Borrower Arrietty (2010), but if I get around to seeing it, expect a review. So anyway, here's part one.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Studio: Illumination Entertainment

Release Date: March 2

• Another adaptation of one of Dr. Seuss’ beloved stories, but this one seems to be following the same routine as the previous Dr. Seuss film adaptations. With its colorful animation and light-hearted tone, it looks like it’ll be a deviation from the original story. The film looks like it could be a genuinely fun film. Illumination gave us a fun romp with Despicable Me, but they can’t keep repeating that formula. I’m still a bit skeptical about this one, but it’s sure to be a smash hit with kids and family audiences.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Studio: Sony Pictures Animation / Aardman Animations

Release Date: April 27

• The real title of this stop-motion adaptation of Gideon Defoe’s The Pirates! book series is The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, a much better title in my opinion. They probably changed the title to make it more marketable to family audiences in the states, and to avoid any possible controversy. (You probably know what I’m talking about) Anyways, from the trailers, this looks like classic Aardman. Wit, hilarious situations and the traditional look of their films. It’s nice to see them return to stop-motion animation. Will it be a success? It depends on how American audiences react to it. The marketing is trying its hardest to convince audiences that this going to be something worth seeing, but it’s possible that audiences might reject this as a silly spoof of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, even though it isn’t. It’s possible that this film will be miles better than those films. Aardman's films normally don't do so well in the states, with the exception of Chicken Run. Anyways, the film looks like it’ll be a fun, witty flick with plenty of laughs.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

Distributor: Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks SKG

Studio: DreamWorks Animation SKG / Pacific Data Images

Release Date: June 8

• This film looks like a disaster, to be honest. The first Madagascar was a fun if not inconsistent romp that had stylish animation, a fast and frenetic first half and enjoyable characters. The second film, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, toned down the fun and focused more on rather contrived character development. Both films were average and enjoyable. This one looks like they just said “Whatever”. From the trailer, this looks like a ridiculous, cartoonish romp that does have some occasional funny moments. It just looks over-the-top and silly. However, the screenwriter is Noah Baumbach of all people. This isn’t his first time writing a screenplay for an animated film (the first time he did so was for Wes Anderson’s impressive Roald Dahl adaptation, Fantastic Mr. Fox), but the fact that he’s writing the screenplay will make this film rather interesting. It’ll probably be a fun romp that’ll generate big bucks for DreamWorks which will probably be used to fund original projects.

Polar bears instead of dragons at Super Bowl XLVI: 'Siege' up for VES Award.

Just two more days to the biggest sports television event of the year in the US: The 46th NFL Super Bowl will be played this Sunday, the Championship game of the American National Football League. While most are anxiously awaiting this year's already classic rematch between Tom Brady's New England Patriots and Eli Manning's New York giants at the Indiana Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium, the final match of the season is also known to have the most expensive, and brilliantly created ad campaigns.

Okay, so normally I would agree that most commercials out there are just scrambling your brain, but there are certainly a few gems that can make your jaw drop and the Super Bowl has made a tradition of it to show some pretty impressing stuff. The huge amount of viewers (100.000.000 world wide) and the extremely high costs of air time during the match, makes the Super Bowl the perfect showcase for exclusive and expensive commercials. The average cost for a 30-second spot this year was $3.5 million to $4 million Dollars. Remember last year, Coca Cola had the brilliantly CG animated 'Siege', directed by FX&Mat and created by the multi Oscar nominated and winning studio 'Framestore'.

Above and below: 3D models for the dragon from 'Siege'. Framestore won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the BAFTA in 2008 for their work on 'The Golden Compass' and was nominated in 2007 for 'Superman Returns', in 2009 for 'The Dark Knight' and in 2010 for 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1'.

The London based CG house also worked on every Potter movie since the first one came out and has worked elaborately on the final one, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2' (the last of the eight movie franchise and the second based based on J.K. Rowlings seventh book) which became the third highest grossing film ever (worldwide a total of $1,328,111,219 Billion dollars). Framestore, along with Moving Pictures Company and Double Negative have collectively worked on the VFX for 'Hallows 2'. Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson are nominated for their work and are up for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects this year, but will have to compete with the extremely talented creative team behind 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (also nominated are Transformers: Dark of the Moon', 'Hugo' and 'Real Steel').

above and below: designs and 3D models for 'Balfour' the main character in Coca Cola's 'Siege' and the Orc general and his beast.

'Siege' is nominated for the 10th annual VES Awards, the awards for outstanding visual effects given by the Visual Effects Society. Framestore is among the nominees in the category 'Oustanding Visual Effects in an Animated Commercial or Video Game Trailer'.The ceremony takes place February 7th. The VES is the entertainment industry's only non-profit honorary society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of visual effects. It represents the full breadth of visual effects practitioners in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercial to music videos and games. It currently has 2300 members in 26 countries.

This week Coca Cola announced it would be trading the dragons for their regular Polar bear characters, as they would be part of a much larger campaign (they're having their own party at CokePolarBowl.com where you can watch the game live and comment on it through facebook, etc). So unfortunately no sequel to 'Siege'. If you've never been able to watch this brilliantly animated commercial, check it out below, (you can toggle 1080p HD) I've added the polar bears vid behind it (sure, they're cool too!). You can also head over to Pixologic who have the video up on their site, followed by some behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with the creators. If you want to read what Framestore's visual effects supervisor Diarmid Harrison-Murray had to say about it, you can also read his interview at FXGuide. Anyway, gonna have fun watching the game Sunday, so Cheers guys!