New News You Wish You Knew!

Poster for the original Finding Nemo

     Time for another News Round-Up! Again, I'm sorry I haven't been posting a lot; I shall try harder! To kick things off, reports are coming in about a Finding Nemo sequel. Oh boy, looks like I will have to write a post about sequel crazy studios! For example, I just saw Ice Age: Continental Drift and it wasn't that good! Sequels dry up great movies and run them into the ground. Making a sequel to one of the best animated films around is kind of setting them up for failure. Andrew Stanton is slated to return to direct and Victoria Strouse is set to write the script based on Stanton's idea. While Stanton has tweeted not to believe everything you read, I still think this is in the works.


     Lot's of news coming from DreamWorks Animation. First off, they released a new trailer for Rise of the Guardians and it looks fantastic! There is just something about this trailer that makes me extremely excited for this film! The magic of all our favorite holiday characters is put in an action like film with beautiful, mystical worlds and lovable, funny characters! It brings the imagination of our childhood to the screen in an amazing action movie and looks like it is going to be one of DreamWorks best! If you have not seen the trailer for yourselves, check it out below.

 
     Some more news has finally been coming out about which studio DreamWorks Animation is going to be partnering up with to distribute its films next year. There deal with Paramount ends with Rise of the Guardians and it appears that Sony Pictures. Personally? I think that is a big mistake. Sony already has there own animation studio and they have partnered with Aardman Animations. They don't need to juggle another animation studio, they would just be competing with themselves! 

DreamWorks Animation Logo

     It's been reported that DreamWorks has also been talking to Fox and Warner Bros. I think that Warner Bros. is their best option because Warner Bros. hasn't been doing well with animation at all. DreamWorks would have a company that wouldn't be competing with them and Warner Bros. would finally have an animation studio. There is also the option of Paramount continuing their deal, or for DreamWorks Animation to self distribute.

Casper the Friendly Ghost logo

     In even more DreamWorks news, it appears that they will be making quite the acquisition by buying Classic Media. Classic Media owns suck properties as Casper The Friendly Ghost, Felix the Cat, Dick Tracy, Archie, and many more famous cartoon characters. I would love to see a studio like DreamWorks Animation take all these old characters and introduce them to audiences today. I think they are just the studio to bring life back to these famous icons and would handle them perfectly. They have reportedly offered $150 million for the studio and is reportedly more than anyone else has offered, scaring away competitors.


     Thought the DreamWorks news stopped there? Think again! Recently at Comic-Con, Madagascar 3 director said that the studio was working on a Penguins of Madagascar film for 2015. I find this really interesting, and while I am excited as a fan of the penguins, I am worried how it will tie into the other three films. Bill Damaschke, Chief Creative officer, also announced that Kung Fu Panda 3 was in the works. I am a huge fan of the Kung Fu Panda films and I can't wait to see where the third one takes us! 

The Me and My Shadow logo

     Also at Comic-Con we got some more information on Me and My Shadow. Alessandro Carolini will be directing the film about Stan, a shadow who longs for a more exciting life than being attached to a wallflower named Stanley Grubb. When a crime in the shadow community puts both of their lives in danger, Stan is forced to take control of Stanley, thrusting both of them into an adventure featuring a dark villain, who intends to lead a rebellion to take over the human world. Stan, the shadow, will be voice by Bill Hader while Stanley, the real flower, will be voiced by Josh Gad with Kate Hudson voicing Stanely's love interest.

A drawing of American Dream theme park

     I think the film sounds really interesting and I am excited to see more! The film will be a mix of CG and hand-drawn animation so I am especially excited to see what the film looks like! I think everything about the film is turning out great so far! Finally in DWA news, it looks like they are getting ready to build there own theme park titled American Dream! It would be indoors and located only 10 miles west of New York City, featuring the characters of DWA films.


      Everything sounds pretty cool, but I'm not too thrilled about anything. I would never travel all the way to New York to go there as right now it doesn't sound to interesting. I really do see why DreamWorks Animation needs a theme park, it seems kind of like a cash grab to me. I guess we  shall see more as development continues! 

A Spiritual enemy in Book 2: Spirits

     In other news, The Legend of Korra has been picked up for 26 more episodes! That brings us through four seasons and 52 episodes total! I am extremely happy to hear this news as I absolutely love this show. It definitely deserves all of these episodes and I can't wait for the show to return in Book 2: Spirits. Book 2, as the title suggests, will heavily involve the spirit world, even featuring villains from it. It will also show more locations besides republic city and introduce new characters to us! I can't wait to hear more about it.


      Finally, Sony Pictures Animation has signed a deal with Hotel Transylvania director Genndy Tartakovsky  to have him develop and direct his own projects at Sony Pictures Animation, including Popeye. I think it's great that he has finally found a new home where his wonderful contributions can be enjoyed at one place! I am really excited to see what he comes up with next.


     Well I think that is all of the most recent news! I hope I didn't miss anything, and if I did I will post another news post! In the meantime, look for reviews of both Brave and Ice Age: Continental Drift! A lot of exciting things are happening in the world of animation, and everything is looking fabulous! Again, I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately and I will really try to get on top of things! "Go, confront the problem. Fight! Win!"