A Look at 2014! Part 1

   

Frozen's U.S. Poster

 Greetings Everyone! I have a lot of updates for you today on 2014’s animated schedule. But first, let us talk about Frozen! The film was released this holiday weekend here in the States and it was amazing!! Apparently word of mouth got out because the film shattered box office records with an amazing $93 Million opening! The previous Thanksgiving opening record was $80 Million from Toy Story 2 14 years ago. Analysts didn't think Frozen would be able to beat Tangled's $68 Million haul from Thanksgiving 2010, yet it complete blew that out of the water! This is also the biggest opening for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and with no family competition it has a chance of breaking $300 Million at the domestic box office. That is a huge milestone for animated films with only six films having crossed that milestone. I would highly recommend Frozen to all of you as it was my favorite animated film of the year by far!

     The next animated film to come out is The Nut Job releasing on January 14.... Films like this are why people think animation is only for little kids being chock full of fart jokes and a series of gags where a character falls repeatedly landing on his crotch. The idea behind it doesn't seem that bad and I'm sure the film will have its good moments, but I'm sure the awful jokes will interrupt every good moment. Not to mention that Will Arnett, as much as I love him, does not seem like a good voice actor at all. It seems like they just wanted big names to plaster over advertisement to try and draw people in. Check it out for yourself in the trailer below.

     

     After The Nut Job we get The Lego Movie assembling on February 7. This one looks a lot better than The Nut Job and the trailer actually got some good laughs from me. The animation is beautiful and looks like a stop-motion film! I think there will still be a lot of stupid jokes that will fall flat, and I'm sure that it will cater to the little kids a bit too much but I also think it will be a good one for adults as well. Probably not the best film animated film of the year, but not the worst either. Looks like a cute one that anyone can enjoy. If you have a family and looking to take them to the movies, I would save your dollars till The Lego Movie. Don't waste it on The Nut Job, especially with movies costing as much as they do! Here's the latest trailer for The Lego Movie.

     Probably the best animated film releasing this year will be The Wind Rises, coming February 28th. Be warned this is rated PG-13 and does not appear to be for little kids, although should still make a good family film. This is famed Hayao Miyazaki's final film, he previously directed My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and many more Studio Ghibli films. This film looks beautiful, and should be a moving, emotional, and inspiring tale for years to come. Check out the trailer for yourself!

     Then on March 7th Dreamworks Animation releases their first film of the year, Mr. Peabody & Sherman. I would say the same for this one as The Lego Movie, funny and cute but might have some jokes that are dumb. However I do think that this will probably be better than The Lego Movie and with The Muppets coming out on March 21st it might be hard to decide what to go to if you can only afford one. As of right now I personally am extremely excited for The Muppets while Mr. Peabody & Sherman looks just like any other animated film that has been released within the past year. Your best bet might be to see The Lego Movie and then The Muppets but if you can wait until March to see a movie in the theater I would highly recommend seeing both Mr. Peabody & Sherman and The Muppets. Here are trailers for both of those films!

     

     And that's it for Part 1 of A Look at 2014! Honestly I'm most excited for The Wind Rises, it truly looks like it is going to be amazing. Then, even though it isn't animated, I think The Muppets Most Wanted should be the go to choice for families this coming Spring! Followed by Mr. Peabody & Sherman. So there you have it! I hope this helped you in deciding which films you should see! Look forward to Part 2 and come back to see me reflect back on 2013. What movies are you most excited for? What do you think about the trailers? Have you seen Frozen? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments below! "B-bye now!"

The Return!!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I haven't updated in over six months!! I know that is forever but life got a little complicated for a while! I want to re-launch the blog in a big way. Expect a podcast, reviews, TONS of news, a new look for the blog, and more! Life is still crazy, especially with the holidays coming up, but I want to dedicate as much time as I can to the blog. So prepare yourself for the coming of the re-launch! I'm going to do one quick update by the end of the week with some news you all should know while also announcing in detail when the full re-launch is happening! So stay tuned! Thanks for being so loyal and checking the blog even without the updates you guys are the best! Maybe I'll do a giveaway for the re-launch...

Frozen Footage!!

      We finally have our first look at Frozen! A couple of days ago, a promotional video for Frozen was leaked online with completed animation!! Who knows when we will get our first real trailer for the film, but I am hoping the latest it will be is in June! But to tide us over, check out the video below! It has director Chris Buck telling us a little bit about the film. We also get a sample of the score by the wonderful composer of Paperman, Christophe Beck! I absolutely loved the score of Paperman and I think it really helped make the film. It looks like Christophe has another beautiful score for us with Paperman! If only he were doing the songs that the characters sing as well. Oh well, I'm sure they will still be amazing! I love the concept art and the animation style. I think this film will be one of their bests yet! If you pause on Anna, you will also note that she doesn't look like Rapunzel!! So I am very excited for this film! What do you think? Does it look good? Let me know in the comments!

It's Official, Finding Dory

   

The film's official logo!

     Well we all knew that Finding Nemo 2 was coming and that it would be Pixar's 2015 release but Pixar still had a big twist thrown in. Instead of being Finding Nemo 2, the movie will officially be titled Finding Dory, set for release on November 25, 2015, will star Ellen DeGeneres as the Dory again and Alan Brooks is set to play Marlin again!

     Director of the first film, Andrew Stanton, is also back to direct Finding Dory. "One thing we couldn't stop thinking a bout was why she was all alone in the ocean on the day she met Marlin. In 'Finding Dory', she will be reunited with her loved ones, learning a few things about the meaning of family along the way." Stanton also said that Finding Dory will take place about a year after the first film and will feature Marlin, Nemo, the Tank Gang and other returning favorites! The story is set in part along the California coastline and will welcome a host of new characters, including some who will be very important in Dory's life.

     I wonder if Alexander Gould will be returning to voice Nemo? He was nine years old when the first film was released and by the time Finding Dory will be released he will be 21! With the film taking place only a year after the first one, it makes me worried they will find a new younger actor who has a little kid voice. Another thing that has me worried is the sequel craze Pixar has been on. I really don't like sequels and I don't understand why they are making one to nearly every one of their films! Don't get me wrong, I am extremely exciting for Monster's University and Finding Dory but I want to see more original works from Pixar! I don't know, maybe sequels aren't such a bad thing? What do you think? Are you excited for Finding Dory? How do you feel about all the sequels out there? Let me know in the comments and "Keep on swimming, swimming, swimming...."

New Mickey Mouse Shorts Are Coming

The new Mickey Mouse

     Wow, I did not see this coming! Today Disney announced that they have ordered a series of 19, 2D cartoons for Disney Channel, Disney.com, and WATCH Disney Channel. These shorts are aiming to make Mickey relevant and popular again by sticking to the classic feel of the old cartoons, with a new contemporary look. Each episode will see Mickey in a new place around the world; the first one taking place in France. The director for this project is Paul Rudish, who previously worked on Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls. The project is coming by way of Walt Disney Television Animation and will start rolling out the new episodes starting June 28! Daisy, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto will all make appearances and you can watch the entire first episode at this link right now!

http://video.disney.com/watch/croissant-de-triomphe-4d7b3aae690a98650d776d97

Disney is growing up with their audiance by moving away from this...

     Personally, I think this is all amazing news. At first I was very shocked by the art style, the direction of the short, and the immense change from old cartoons. The quality of animation is clearly not as good as the theatrical cartoons, the story not as solid, and the humor not as effective. But don't dismiss this short, for this is truly nothing but a love letter to the Mickey Mouse of old! The time and care that has been put into his new design is amazing; pulling from all of his many looks. The humor and action is in the same style of the old Walt Disney cartoons. The changes are pretty jarring at first, but once you begin to accept it and enjoy it, the short is actually very good! It's beautiful, funny, and great to see Mickey back in action! It threw me off that the entire short was spoken in French, and while being a very cool idea, I felt like I was watching the French version of the cartoon. The cartoon was also a little on the short side, but other than that was absolutly fantastic and a great new direction for Mickey.

.... and more towards the adventureous, brave
Mickey we know and love!

     I think all fans of Mickey Mouse should be very excited for this new series of shorts. Not only are we getting a Mickey who isn't domesticated to home life, but a Mickey of old who is ready for adventure and is always getting himself in trouble! Not only that, but Disney is moving Mickey away from being strictly a preschool teacher. For the longest time Mickey has been stuck as a corporate icon and a character used only for baby and toddler shows. This is the perfect step to make Mickey relevant and popular again. The show's main focus is 6 to 14 year olds, perfect for kids who have grown up with Mickey as their preschool pal for the past couple of years. That also makes Disney Channel the perfect home for these shorts to air! These cartoons are going to please everyone, but the people that are going to get the most out of this are it's target demographic, the 6 to 14 year olds. Clearly Disney has a very long term plan of making Mickey famous once more. Hopefully these beautiful cartoons will be successful and everyone will love them.

     With the success of these cartoons, where do you think Disney would go from there? I believe that these shorts are just the stepping stones to the biggest reintroduction yet, a return to theatrical Mickey Mouse shorts headed by the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Disney is growing their fan base for Mickey so if and when he reappears in theaters, there will be more people ready for him. What did you think of the new short? Are you excited? Do you think this is all part of a bigger plan to reintroduce Mickey? Let me know in the comments below! I can't wait to see more and I couldn't be more excited! "Oh boy!"

Slow News Month

     Sorry I haven't updated in a while, it's been kind of a slow news month! But let's take a look at what has happened shall we? The first animated film of the year was released and it was a success! . . . Well, sort of. Escape From Planet Earth was released on February 15 and it didn't bomb! I thought for sure this film was going to be a gigantic failure and that Weinstein would back out of it's three other animated films it has in production currently. While it didn't light the box office on fire, it didn't tank either. As of today the film has taken in a world wide total of $49,199,308 on a budget of 40 million. Not bad! It will continue to make a little bit more money, but not much. So if you were to add in advertising fees, it probably still lost a little money but not a lot! I'm waiting for the dollar theatre to see this one so you will have to wait a little longer to hear what I think of it.
   
     Sony Pictures Animation released the first trailer for Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2! It looks beautiful and funny and should be charming just like the first one. There are a lot of food jokes but there were a lot in the first one as well!! I think this movie will be really funny, cute, and charming but won't quite be amazing or film of the year. Check out the trailer below!

     On the Blue Sky Studios front, Epic has a new trailer. i think this film looks really awesome and that it will be a fun, exciting adventure with a good story. The jokes are what are going to really hit this film hard. A lot of them feel really forced and thrown in to make the kiddies laugh; The slug characters are a great example of that. Blue Sky's last film, Ice Age 4, wasn't very funny either. A lot of the jokes were aimed towards kids and made the film hard to sit through. I think Epic looks like an amazing film, that will be brought down heavily by it's childish jokes. Watch the trailer to see what you think!

      Dreamworks Animation continues to struggle as they have announced 350 layoffs will occur this year. That is not good news for the company and their future isn't looking bright. The Croods is to be released in 12 days and I can't see it making that much money. The film looks beautiful, it has a star studded voice cast, they've had a pretty heave advertising campaign, but the jokes are hit and miss. With Oz The Great and Powerful doing so well, families aren't desperate to go see a movie like they were when Escape From Planet Earth came out. However the movie looks pretty good and I'll wager it will be a mild success for the company. Turbo is set to release in a crowded summer and I think it looks awful. Dreamworks better get things figured out over there or things will continue to look bleak. That's all I have time for today, but I will be updating more frequently so "Stay frosty!"
   

Frozen Characters Revealed!

     Well it appears that someone had access to the character models of Anna and Elsa from Frozen and decided to make a fake poster for them! Keep in mind that the posters them selves weren't made or released by Disney but the characters themselves are the actual character designs straight from Disney!! It's exciting to see our first look at the characters and I think that they look fantastic!
   

Ralph then...

     Some have complained that Elsa doesn't look "evil" enough, but if you know anything about Frozen you would know that she isn't really evil! Elsa is actually a good, kind sister to Anna but is scared of her ice powers, and a prophecy that says she will be the downfall of their kingdom. When Anna messes up Elsa's coronation type ceremony, Elsa gets mad and reveals her ice powers in front of everyone. Scared that everyone will lock her up or fear her, she runs away and creates her own ice castle.
   

and now.

     Anna is a bit like Rapunzel, but keep in mind that these early models could undergo a little minor tweaking. Notice the leaked photo of Ralph and how he looks a little different in his final form. As far as I'm concerned I think she looks original and just great! Definitely possesses that young, immature quality she is supposed to posses. She is so carefree and she always messes things up for Elsa and I think their character models reflect that perfectly!! I love how Anna looks warm and Elsa looks cold and looks like she could still have quite an icy evilness to her.

     So what do you guys think? Are you pleased or disappointed by the character designs? Let me know in the comments below! Keep coming back for more info on all things animated! Because remember, "Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive."

A Bundle of News For the New Year!

     Well a lot has certainly happened recently in the world of animation! Where to start? Why not take a look at Disney's three studios. To start things out, DisneyToon Studios have decided to release their up coming Cars spin-off, Planes, in theatres. It will be coming on August 9th, 2013 and will be DisneyToon Studios first theatrical U.S. release since Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2005. This move to theatres has been getting Disney a lot of crap but I don't really see why. DisneyToon Studios have stepped there game up recently and the quality of there films have been much better. No, I don't expect this to be a very memorable film, but it's sure to be a fun movie that many will enjoy! Why should DisneyToon Studios be relegated to just DVD releases? They work hard on these films and put a lot of heart into them! I see nothing wrong with them getting more well deserved attention.

     Pixar has been busy of late as well, releasing some fun concept art from their upcoming films. We have one image each from The Good Dinosaur, The Inside Out, and the Dia De Los Muertos film. All of the look beautiful and creative in typical Pixar fashion.

     Speaking of beautiful Pixar films, they have released a clip from their new short The Blue Umbrella. While it looks amazing and I'm sure it will be a very touching and original film, the description makes it sound a lot like Paperman... I'm sure it will be it's own film, but it is a small concern. Check out the life like animation and the description below. Simply stunning animation, right?

     

From Pixar Animation Studios, director Saschka Unseld and producer Marc Greenberg, "The Blue Umbrella" opens in theaters on June 21, 2013, in front of "Monsters University."

It is just another evening commute until the rain starts to fall, and the city comes alive to the sound of dripping rain pipes, whistling awnings and gurgling gutters. And in the midst, two umbrellas—one blue, one not—fall eternally in love.

      Something else that Pixar has released is some images from Monsters University, including a look at the new, and nerdy, Randall Boggs. I personally love the new design for Randall! It also appears that Randall was to have a similar job as Mike in being the bigger jock monster's assistant rather than a scarer. It will be interesting to see how that plays out!

     Not much has happened over at Walt Disney Animation Studios, however Jonathan Groff was confirmed to be voicing Kristoff! I am very pleased with this as I think Jonathan has an amazing and beautiful voice.

     Lastly, it looks like Disney has a very good chance of taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Picture, seeing as 3 of the 5 nominees are Disney Films. The official nominees are as follows:

Wreck-It Ralph

ParaNorman

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Brave

Frankenweenie

     A very interesting choice by the academy was to not include a foreign film. I thought for sure that a foreign film would be nominated, not only that but because of the environmental themes of The Lorax, I thought it had a pretty good chance of being nominated. Overall nothing to surprising and I am still hoping that Wreck-It Ralph will take home the award. Even though Brave won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Picture, I still think that Wreck-It Ralph will win.

     Another interesting thing is that no DreamWorks Animation films were nominated for best picture. And judging by there line up for the first half of the year we can expect the same at next years Oscars. Mr. Peabody & Sherman might have a chance depending on how good it turns out, but with nothing really released yet we will have to wait and see. As for DreamWorks Animation's two other films.... well, take a look for yourself.

     The Croods looks like it will have a fun, cute, meaningful story but the jokes in the trailer came off as stupid and it is a movie about cavemen.... so it looks like it could be an okay film with a good story, but jokes that fail and unlikeable characters. It was a beautiful looking trailer though! Turbo on the other hand just looks dumb all together. A snail who wants to race with humans? Again the jokes were dumb in the trailer and the premise of the story doesn't sound good. DreamWorks Animation HAS surprised me before so we will have to see!

     Finally we come to the announcement that Warner Bros. will be releasing one animated film a year. However instead of utilizing there animation studio, Warner Bros. Animation, they will be outsourcing their ideas to other animation studios to work on the film. Basically Warner Bros. put together a "Think Tank" of people, including Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy and Lego Movie Directors), Nicholas Stoller (writer of The Muppets), and Glenn Ficara and John Requa (writers of Cats & Dogs). So these people come up with ideas for animated films, they write them, direct them and what not, Warner Bros. Animation Studios helps come up with character designs and concept art, then Warner Bros. sends the project to another animation studio such as Animal Logic. What? It sounds very convoluted and messy to me. Why not just use their amazing animation studio that they already have? At least Warner Bros. is pushing for more animated films but I would have loved it if the house of Bugs Bunny were the ones actually making the films.

     Coming up on their slate is the Lego movie, set for February of 2014. After that comes Storks, which will be directed by Doug Sweetland (Presto) and is set for release in 2015. Then finally comes Smallfoot, based on an idea by Sergio Pablos (Despicable Me idea) and will be written by Glenn Ficara and John Requa, set for 2016. 

     Well that's it for now! What do you think of Warner Bros. new Animation plan? DreamWorks Animation's upcoming slate? Planes being released in theatres? Let me know in the comments below! Well isn't that enough news to say "OW! My giant blue head!"