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."
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!"
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?"
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!"
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!"
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!"
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!
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.
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.
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! 
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. 
