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!"

The World of Frozen

The official logo for Frozen

     Looks like Disney is slowly releasing more and more material for their next animated film, Frozen. First came the official logo with the news that Jennifer Lee was coming onto the film as co-director. Jennifer helped write Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen and is now joining Chris Buck as director. Very interesting move and I wonder why Disney decided to make that change.

     Next, Disney released the first official concept art image. Very beautiful and magical, also showcasing the two leads Anna and Kristoff. As you can see Anna has light reddish blond hair and Kristoff has blond hair. These character models are pretty close to the models I saw at the D23 convention.

     IMDB also listed some very interesting casting news. They reported that actor Josh Gad was to voice Olaf and that Johnathan Groff was rumored to play Kristoff. Josh Gad recently voiced the character Louis in Ice Age 4, so if you want to get and idea at what Olaf might sound like check that film out. Johnathan Groff is an amazing singer best known for his role as Jesse St James on the TV show Glee. However none of this casting has been confirmed, IMDB normally knows what's going on in the film business.


   

Official concept art from Frozen

So what do you think about all the Frozen casting news and photos? I personally think this film is coming along amazingly and will turn out to be one of Walt Disney Animation Studios finest films. If you haven't already, check out their latest film Wreck-It Ralph. This was my favorite animated film of the year and I can't recommend it enough! What was your favorite? Sound off in the comments below! "Goodbye! Goodbye now! Goodbye! Are they gone yet?"

News, Glorious News!

Wreck-It Ralph Logo.

     There hasn't been too much news around the world of animation recently but I have a few very interesting tidbits for you including photos from Frozen! Let's start off with Wreck-It Ralph, shall we? Opening to a fantastic 49.1 million, Ralph has continued to gain steam with a 10 day total of 93.7 million domestically! It held up well against Skyfall this weekend and here's hoping it can do the same this weekend against the final Twilight film. As Rise of the Guardians approaches quickly, Wreck-It Ralph needs to earn as much money as it can. Dreamworks Animation Studios next films looks extremely good and is set for the Thanksgiving weekend. As a holiday film with strong marketing, it will give Wreck-It Ralph a run for its' money. If you haven't seen Wreck-It Ralph yet, go see it!! It was so amazing, funny, and heartfelt and this years best animated film yet!

Lego film directors and writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

     Next up we have some voice casting news on Warner Bros. Lego film. With Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, and Morgan Freeman already signed on for the film Warner Bros. just announced that Will Farrell, Liam Neeson, Nick Offerman, and Alison Brie will also be cast in the film. Lego will center on a character named Emmet (Pratt), your typical Lego figure who is mistaken for a great warrior and joins a eclectic group of rebels on a mission to bring down an evil warlord known as President Business. Farrell will be Business while Neeson will be his right hand henchmen. Offerman will play a pirate seeking revenge on President Business while Brie will play a member of Emmet's crew. Lego is set for release on February 7, 2014.

Sony Pictures Animation Logo.

     Sony Pictures Animation has announced release dates for both Popeye and Hotel Transylvania 2. Popeye is set for release on September 26, 2014 while Hotel Transylvania 2 is set for September 25, 2014. This comes in the wake of Sony moving Cloudy 2 from a February 2014 release to September 27, 2013 release. I guess Sony Pictures Animation is attributing part of Hotel Transylvania's success to it's release date. Coming out on September 28 of this year, Sony has set all three of there upcoming releases for the same Friday of each year! I don't know how much that date really had anything to do with Hotel Transylvania becoming their number one animated film, but I guess Sony believes there is some magic in it!

Ralph's hair was very different in the final film.

     Finally, the most exciting news of the day! Recently Disney released pictures of the Destination D event celebrating 75 years of Disney Animation. Included in these photos were two pictures from the presentation about Frozen! These photos were officially released by Disney and I did not take them or leak them online. One of them is a storyboard of when Elsa accidentally reveals she has ice powers. Now remember that the character sketches in storyboards in no way suggest the final character look. Just use this Wreck-It Ralph storyboard for example. The Elsa character design I saw had long hair that was put into a braid. It was a white-blue color and went down to her waist, however that could change as well!

Director Chris Buck with a storyboard of Anna and Elsa.

     The next photo is even more exciting and shows the final character art work for the crazy snowman known as Olaf! This character was extremely funny when an animator came on stage with the puppet version shown. When Elsa runs away and builds herself a castle made of ice she also creates monstrous snowmen to keep people from coming to her castle. The very first one she made, however, was a mistake. The films director Chris Buck used an analogy of making pancakes. When you make that first pancake it's either too small or you burnt it or perhaps it splattered all over the place when you flipped it! Such is Olaf, the first snow creature Elsa created who turned out to be a goofy misfit rather than a terrifying monster.

Olaf's final character design.

     Well that's all the news for today! It will be interesting to see how Wreck-It Ralph can hold up and I wish it the best! In way of announcements, I will be posting an updated list of the 2013 animated film slate soon. Also, me and two of my friends will be starting a podcast. It won't talk exclusively on animation, but films, music, and games as well as anything else we can think of! However seeing as we will also talk about animation I figured I would post it here. If you have any suggestions of what you would like to hear us talk about, sound off in the comments below! Thank you so much for viewing and I hope you enjoyed! "Have some candy!"

Wreck-It Ralph - Review

     Wow! What an amazing film. Let me start out by saying this is a SPOILER FREE review. I won't ruin any of the film for you!! This film is so much better than I thought it was going to be and I had high expectations! This is the must see animated film of the year, I would be shocked if it doesn't win Best Animated Picture at the Oscars! The music was fantastic and fit all areas of the film perfectly. I find myself listening to Wreck-It Ralph's theme over and over again. Visually the film is absolutely gorgeous. You will not want to take your eyes off of the screen. Each world is distinctly different and even the way the 8-Bit characters move is fantastic and 8-Bit like. I would also recommend seeing it in 3-D. Normally I would tell you to save your money but this film was just so beautiful in 3-D and the effect was really amazing and added so much to the film.

     The story had me a little concerned at first jumping from world to world it was hard to really get attached to the characters. But once the film settles and progresses and there are more and more interesting things happening with our characters it just gets better and better. The ending of this film is absolutely amazing and I loved every minute of the film. Each one of the characters grow and I absolutely love that. Not only do they grow, but we can relate to them and see our selves in them and seeing them overcome trials that many people face everyday is truly inspiring. The film has such a good message!


     Speaking on the jokes, I know there was some concern. Fear not! This film is absolutely hilarious. I haven't laughed this hard in the longest time! For reference, let's talk about a gag that was in the trailer, "I bet you have to watch where you step in a game called Hero's Duty!" Hm... came off as a little childish duty humor, right? Well in the movie she keeps building on this joke! Coming up with more and more clever takes on it and it becomes really funny! Not a single joke fell flat and nothing was aimed at just kids. There are so many jokes that only adults will get! There are also jokes that only gamers will get, but fear not, this is not just a movie for gamers!! You will laugh at the jokes regardless, there are just some especially funny gags for people who play and know games.


     This movie was extremely imaginative and you can tell that so much thought and design went into these worlds and characters. Sugar Rush is absolutely beautiful and there are so many clever jokes and amazingly creative landmarks built from candy. It is incredible to think that everything in this world is made from candy in the most clever ways possible. I also want to say that Vanellope Von Schweetz is not an annoying character, nor is she what some may call an "annoying sidekick". She is everybit an important and main character as Ralph is and she is extremely relateble, adorable, and funny.

     I can't reccomend this film enough. This was seriously the best animated film of the year. It was absolutly amazing and I cannot wait to see it mulipule more times this weekend. You have to go see this film, it is that good. This film is destined to become a part of pop culture for a very long time, and you will probably be hearing jokes from this film being said for quite a while. Walt Disney Animation Studios certainly is proving that they have what it takes to be the number one animation company around, beating even Pixar. If they keep bringing films like this, Winnie the Pooh, and Tangled out then I truly believe that they could be going through another rennisance. Now a Golden Age requires all the studios to be A+, but I could see animation heading in that direction with Walt Disney Animation at the lead. "I'm gonna wreck it!"

News Update!

     Sorry for not updating very often! Lots of stuff to talk about! Let's start with Pixar, shall we? First up is Toy Story of Terror, one of the two 22-minute TV specials Pixar announced for the series! It shall premiere next October, most likely on ABC. Here is the official plot synopsis: 

     “What starts out as a fun road trip for the Toy Story gang takes an unexpected turn for the worse when the trip detours to a roadside motel. After one of the toys goes missing, the others find themselves caught up in a mysterious sequence of events that must be solved before they all suffer the same fate in this Toy Story of Terror.”

     Pixar also has a new movie scheduled for release on November 25, 2015. This would be the first year that Pixar released two films in one year. I find this very interesting and wonder if they will continue with this trend. I personally feel like it is harder for a studio to make two quality films every year. I guess we will have to see! Walt Disney Animation also has scheduled a new film for November 7, 2014. I'm really hoping that this will be John Musker and Ron Clements new film but who knows! 

     Blue Sky Studios has some very interesting news; they will be releasing a movie adaptation of Charles M. Shulz' Peanuts comic strip! Set to be released on November 25, 2015 (The same day as Pixar's new film, someone WILL change and my bets are on Pixar) it will be directed by Steve Martino (Ice Age 4) and written by Charles son, Craig Shulz. I'm super excited for this project, being a huge fan of Peanuts, and I'm really excited to see what Blue Sky can do with the property. They did an amazing job of adapting Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who and the visual style stayed true to Dr. Seuss' drawings. I feel like the same will be said for this Peanuts film.

     Sony Pictures Animation moved Cloudy 2 up from February 2014 to September 27, 2013. This is a welcome change to get the movie sooner, which is most likely due to Hotel Transylvania being such a huge, and Sony Pictures Animation's biggest, success, already making $187,300,000 at the box office. 

     Warner Bros. Animation is bringing Tom and Jerry back with a new TV show on Cartoon Network entitled The Tom and Jerry Show. I am thrilled for this project because I love Tom and Jerry and seeing them come back in a traditional way is very exciting. 

     And in closing I have some very exciting news! I will be seeing Wreck-it Ralph on Thursday, October 25! This means a spoiler free review will hopefully be posted on Friday! For any of you wondering how good this film is going to be, come back Friday to read my full review! "I'm Gonna Wreck it!"
      

Paperman

The Paperman logo

     Yes. I have seen Paperman and it is one of the most amazing shorts I have ever seen. Heck, probably the BEST short I have ever seen! Paperman is such a beautiful short and I can not wait to see entire films animated in this fashion. Not only that, but the music and the plot was amazing. Emotional, magical, and fun, this is what Disney is all about. Everything worked about it, and even though not a single word was said, I cared about these characters. I laughed, I was sad, I was happy, I was nervous, I felt everything these characters were going through, even though they never spoke! What a powerful piece of artwork, visually and emotionally.

     I have nothing but praises to say about Paperman. The entire short is about an ordinary man whose boring life is suddenly hit with a splash of color, quite literally, in the form of a girl he meets at the train station. The entire film is in black and white save for the girls red lipstick. His entire life is changed as he tries to get her attention, and through the power of magic and hope, anything can happen! This short alone would be worth the price of admission of Wreck-It Ralph, however that film as well looks absolutely amazing. After seeing all of the trailers and ten minutes of footage I cannot wait for November 2nd. If Wreck-It Ralph isn't a success it truly will be a shame for both films. Hopefully Paperman will win the Academy Award because it deserves all of the attention it can get. I know this is a short post but I just had to tell everyone just how amazing Paperman really is. Don't miss out on seeing it! Sorry for the lack of posts, I will try harder!

A Matter of Sequel

The horror, but...

        Sequels. In the world of animation, rarely is it a good idea to make a sequel to a film. Animated films aren't set up to be franchises, and while in some cases it works really well, Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story, Ice Age, for the most part it's purely a cash grab. The worst offender has to be that of the DisneyToon studios making poorly made sequels to hit films purely to make a cheap buck. The Walt Disney Animation Studios has only produced 4 sequels in all their 52 films, however the Disney corporation created the DisneyToon Studio to produce many a sequel, around a total of 35, to the Walt Disney Animation Studio's successful films. 

     Out of DreamWorks Animation's 25 films, 8 are sequels and out of Blue Sky Studios 7 films, 3 are sequels. Sequels are something that Pixar had only done once in the form of Toy Story 2, but there schedule is now becoming littered with them. The Toy Story Trilogy is amazing and I love every film, but a Toy Story 4 is absolutely unnecessary and would purely be to cash in on the billion dollar revenue the 3rd film pulled in. Similar to Ice Age 4, which was one of the worst animated films of the year, cashed in on the third film being so successful! Did it work? Yes, but a crappy film that tarnishes the franchise and the company. So what's more important, money or quality? 

     Now I understand that it is very hard for a company to survive financially so bringing in a lot of money to keep them a float isn't a bad thing, you have to do what you have to do. But was Blue Sky in such a bad situation that they had to force a fourth Ice Age out just to bring in almost a billion dollars? Or is that just 20th Century Fox telling them they have to make it because that's all the corporate heads care about? What about when a studio genuinely has a good idea for a sequel, is that appropriate? I think that is such a delicate situation, because you have to ask yourself as a film maker, "Why does this story need to be told with these characters?". Sequels tend to pose the question, "What can we make these characters do next?", and that is not putting the most important thing first, the story. 

...not as bad as this.

     In the case of DisneyToon Studios 35 sequels, it was purely for money and searching for what they could do with already established popular characters. The same thing happened with Shrek. The first movie? Great! The second one? Still great! The third one? I had to take a break halfway through I was so bored. I didn't even go see the fourth because it was ridiculous! There comes a time when you have to know when to quit. All 35 of those Disney sequels could disappear and I wouldn't particularly miss any of them. Did some of them turn out really well? Yes, they did. Were 30 disappointments worth it? No. 

     Now I know I was hatting on Ice Age 4 a little to harshly, it wasn't that bad, but it is a great example of pushing a franchise to far. DreamWorks Animation has a similar problem with sequels as they do churning out films. It's not a race! Why aren't they taking there time on these films? Two a year is plenty, three is down right unbearable. Not only does the quality of the films go down, but you feel like you are on an overload of DreamWorks and it almost becomes cluttered. This has kind of been a random jumble of thoughts on sequels but I needed to update the blog and the whole subject of sequels has been bugging me! I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what you think below! And whoever thinks a bunch of sequels is a good idea? "You fired!!!"

Frozen

     Recently I had the amazing opportunity to attend D23's Destination D event celebrating 75 years of Disney Animation. It was the most amazing thing in the world and I have plenty to talk about. I have seen Paperman in it's entirety, and I have seen LOADS of Frozen art work, character models, story details and even heard a song from the film. Let me just say one thing, you should be extremely excited for this film. Now I'm not going to spoil everything I saw and heard there, but I will shed some light on some questions.
   
     The actually Snow Queen, Anna's sister, is NOT your typical, evil villain. Anna and her sister Elsa get along just fine, however Elsa has kept a secret her entire life, she has the power to control ice. She doesn't want people knowing this because there is a prophecy about a queen with a "heart of ice" who is going to destroy the kingdom. However when Anna messes up big time when Elsa is supposed to be becoming queen, Elsa unleashes her powers. Elsa runs away to the top of the mountain because everyone was so shocked at her powers. Elsa then curses the kingdom and puts it in everlasting snow.

Idina Mezel and Kristen Bell

   
     The song was absolutely amazing and I wish I could listen to it over and over again. The artwork is beautiful and the character designs all look fantastic. The song, entitled "Let It Go", really shows how Elsa just wants to get away from prophecies and people judging her and finally be free, so she wants to just let her old life go. Elsa is a wicked witch, she isn't a jealous sister, she is simply a girl who has feared she will be evil her entire life and now just wants to live on her own to avoid becoming the villain. This creates such a bigger dynamic than your typical villain and will make for a much more interesting plot.
   
     For those of you wanting some more traditional evil, fear not. Elsa creates snowmen monsters to guard her castle of ice atop the mountain. However these hideous beasts get out of control and are going to attack the kingdom. Worried about the design of these snowmen monsters? Fear not, they are absolutely fantastic. The entire audience gasped when the art work of the snowmen came up on stage. Huge snow beasts with spikes coming out of there bodies, all snarling with vicious growls.
   
     Overall Kristoff and Elsa have the best character design. Kristoff isn't your typical mountain man, he's blond, attractive, and muscular. Elsa has beautiful long, blue hair and is very stunning. Anna and Olaf look great as well, with Anna having red hair and freckles and Olaf being a goofy snow man with a bent carrot nose. This seems like it will have a great cast of characters, beautiful visuals, fantastic songs, and an amazing story that will be an emotional sister story.
   
     I will write another post about Paperman but for now let me just say this, best short film ever. The emotion, music, and art style are the best I have seen from any short and parallel that of full length films. Oh and uh, Big Hero 6? I wouldn't count on that coming from Walt Disney Animation Studios... "Let It Go."

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!"