Dominic von Riedemann's Blog
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Here's another exclusive for all you Suite 101 readers: Animation Boy™ recently sat down with actor Anika Noni Rose, who voices Tiana in Disney's upcoming animated film The Princess and the Frog.
In this exclusive interview, Rose chatted about what it was like voicing the role of the first black princess in Disney's first cel animated film of the 21st Century, her input into the character, and her feelings about the controversy surrounding the film.
Look for this interview coming to Suite 101 in the next few days, plus a review of The Princess and the Frog when it opens on December 11th.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Good news for those of you who have been patiently waiting for a Samurai Jack feature film: creator/director Genndy Tartatovsky (Star Wars Clone Wars), along with Frederator Animation Studios, has hooked up with writer/director/producer J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias) to get your favourite sci-fi samurai onto the big screen.
"J.J. Abrams, a huge Samurai Jack fan, had agreed to be my co-producer on the picture (a 2D/stereoscopic 3D production) through his company Bad Robot Productions at Paramount Pictures," Frederator head Fred Seibert said in a message on his site. "We knew that with JJ and his producing partner Bryan Burk we’d be in more than good hands and improve our chances tremendously of actually seeing the movie on the big screens."
Abrams is, of course, riding high on the success of his Star Trek reboot, which means his producing muscle will be strong indeed. Unusually, the Samurai Jack movie will likely be distributed by Paramount; Frederator also has a development deal in place with Sony. It's not known as yet what animated films those studios will be developing together.
There's also no further word on when Samurai Jack will come to the big screen, or whether Phil LaMarr (whose death by John Travolta in Pulp Fiction was the cause of some consternation) will return to voice the title character. Unfortunately, Mako Iwamatsu, won't be returning to voice Aku, since he died in 2006.
As always, stay tuned for further details as they develop.
Fun Fact: J.J. Abrams was an uncredited writer for the 2006 Avatar: The Last Airbender episode 'The Drill.' Mako voiced the role of the deceptively plump Uncle Iroh on the show.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Talk about your roller-coaster rides: as soon as Robert Zemeckis raised fanboy hopes by announcing that he was working on a script for a Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel – with original writers Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman, no less – he dashed them by talking about using motion-capture technique for the non-cartoon roles.
"All the other characters that (the cartoon characters) would sort of have fun with would be magnificent in performance capture technology," he told MTV News on Tuesday.
Magnificent? Hardly: all the mo-cap characters in his films, from The Polar Express through to the upcoming A Christmas Carol, look waxy, unappealing and have dead eyes.
The idea is understandable, especially if Zemeckis wants to bring back Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant yet keep the sequel in the original Roger Rabbit's 1947 time period. But rendering his human actors as inexpressive mo-cap mannequins will look horrendous, especially when compared to the hyper-expressive Roger and Jessica Rabbit, plus those other old-school toons. As good-looking as his films are, Zemeckis simply hasn't cracked the code of how to convey emotional nuance through motion-capture, and his movies suffer for it.
It's also a disservice to the excellent actors who appear in them. Watching the behind-the-scenes footage in The Polar Express DVD, I was struck by Tom Hanks' incredible work in the film (he played 5 roles) and how much of his performance was lost in the transition to mo-cap animation.
Granted, Zemeckis' technique has improved since then, but Beowulf and A Christmas Carol (as per Disney's request, the movie review will go up tomorrow) suffer from the same problem: his mo-cap style is simply not up to the task of rendering human characters in an appealing, expressive way.
Bringing back Roger Rabbit is a wonderful idea, but keep the human actors human, please.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Who da Man? Me da Man!
(Or is that Rie da Mann? Okay, that was pushing it.)
Why am I so giddy? Well, today I'll be interviewing two major players in the animated world. First up is director Henry Selick, the stop-motion maestro behind such classic films as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and this year's Coraline. I'll try to restrain my fanboy excitement on this one, but it won't be easy.
After that, I'll be interviewing David Silverman. Who's that, you ask? Well, David Silverman is one of the senior animators behind one of the most important animated television shows of all time, a show that has touched the hearts of millions and a cultural touchtone that has influenced countless imitators . . . Mr. T!
Oh yeah, and he's worked on some show and movie based around . . . The Stimpsons? ;)
OIAF is still ongoing so I'm not sure when these interviews will go live (You must learn patience, Ed Gruberman. Yeah, yeah, how long's that going to take?) but rest assured, I'll be moving as quickly as possible to get these exclusives to you, the Suite 101 reader. So stay tuned to this space for this, and other exclusives.
P.S. - No tubas were hurt, injured or burned during the production of this blog.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
As I've probably mentioned once or twice before, next week I'm taking off to cover the Ottawa International Animation Festival for Suite 101. One of the most prestigious animation festivals in the world, the OIAF is a week's worth of animation awesomeness. And I'll be there – bright-eyed and psychotic from lack of sleep – to give you the goods.
So don't be surprised if my contributions will be a little spotty next week (with 7 feature films, at least 5 nights of competition shorts, plus countless interviews, I'm gonna be runnin' silly to write many stories!), but I will more than make up for it when I get back.
Look for exclusive interviews with Pixar's Peter Sohn (the director of 'Partly Cloudy,' the voice of Emile in Ratatouille, and the reported inspiration for Up's Russell) and Up story supervisor Ronnie Del Carmen, who also directed the Up DVD bonus short 'Dug's Special Mission.' There are a couple of other things that I'm not currently at liberty to talk about, but I think you'll enjoy what I'm gonna bring to these pages.
So sit tight, think relaxing thoughts, and enjoy the upcoming news, reviews and interviews, just for Suite 101 readers.
Cheers,
Dominic
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
On October 6th, Disney will release its first animated feature film, 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, on Blu-Ray. The first – and some would argue the greatest – animated feature of all time,
To celebrate the Blu-Ray reissue of this classic film, Suite 101 chatted with 3 people who are either associated with the film, or who were touched by it in some way.
Disney historian J.B. Kaufman discusses Snow White's importance in the history of animated film, some of its technical achievements and offers insight into how the movie came together.
Senior animator Andreas Deja offers his professional perspective on Snow White, his favourite sequences, the many different animation styles and Maurice Noble, the artist who painted the beautiful watercolour backgrounds featured in the film. Oh yeah, and I snuck in a question or two about Deja's current project, The Princess and the Frog.
Finally, we talked with Marge Champion, the live-action reference for Snow White. What's a live-action reference, you might ask? A live-action reference mimes a performance for the animators, who film her actions and refer to it when animating the character, so that they get the body, hair and clothing movements right on film.
Marge must have done pretty good: she continued to do the same job for Disney, providing the movements for the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio, and the ballet-dancing hippo in Fantasia, among others. We get her perspective on working for Disney back in the 1930's, her relationships with some of the animators, and her thoughts on Snow White.
Look for these interviews, coming soon to Suite 101.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
I just got off the phone with documentary director Theodore "Ted" Thomas (Frank and Ollie), where we had a "wonderful" (his word) discussion about his upcoming film Walt & El Grupo.
In this interview, Thomas – the younger son of legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas – talks about the documentary, which followed Walt Disney and his animators as they went on a "goodwill tour" of South America in 1941. The trip not only was an extension of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy – to counteract the rise of Fascist influence within Latin America – but served as an artistic rebirth for Disney, who had been battered by the box office failure of Pinocchio and Fantasia, plus a bitter Animators' Strike.
This South American tour not only inspired two of Disney's classic films, Saludos Amigos! and The Three Caballeros, but had larger artistic implications for the studio, which reached as far as Mary Poppins.
In this wide-reaching interview, Thomas discusses making Walt & El Grupo, some of the technical breakthroughs featured in the film, his favourite moments, and its role within the larger issues of cultural imperialism, "Coca-Cola diplomacy," and the myths and legends surrounding Disney himself.
So stay tuned for yet another exclusive for Suite 101 readers.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Suite 101 will return to the Ottawa International Animation Festival, having just been accredited as media to cover the fest from October 14th to the 21st. That means a plethora of news, reviews and interviews for all you animation fans.
What sort of stuff can you expect to read in upcoming weeks, you ask? (I'm glad you did)
Well, nothing's been set in stone yet, but I have been in touch with Pixar and – barring any last-minute mayhem – I'll be bringing you exclusive interviews with "Partly Cloudy" director Peter Sohn plus Up story supervisor Ronnie del Carmen. Studio scuttlebutt claims that Peter was the inspiration for the character of Russell, and Ronnie has a special role in the Up Blu-Ray/DVD, so I'll be sure to ask them both about that.
This year's OIAF will feature a stunning 7 feature-length animated films in competition, including Coraline, My Dog Tulip, $9.99 and the previously reviewed Canadian stop-motion film Edison and Leo. I'll certainly do my level best to chat with the directors of all these animated films, and get their perspective on their work.
So stay tuned for my extensive coverage of the 2009 OIAF, telling you about the best – and the worst – of the festival.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
A reader recently asked me about my occasional habit of giving a movie a 10/10 (funnily enough, they were all Pixar flicks).
"Is there really such a thing as a perfect movie?" he asked. There was also a discussion of how WALL-E was symbolic of everything wrong with American cinema, but that's another story.
Let's leave aside the argument over whether perfection is attainable on this imperfect planet: what does it mean (to my demented mind, at least) to give a film a perfect score? It means that I think this film is a modern classic, one that will be revered long after the filmmakers are dead and gone.
This is how I rank movies, on a scale of 1 through 10:
- This movie is probably on continuous loop in Hell.
- A miserable waste of time.
- Pathetic.
- More wrong with this flick than right.
- Mediocre.
- More right with this flick than wrong.
- Not bad. I had a good time.
- A few flaws but still worth it.
- I wholeheartedly recommend you see this movie.
- In the future, film school students will study sequences from this flick.
A film that gets a 10/10 may not be perfect, but I can't think of any way it could be improved.
Finally, these reviews are my opinions: my attempt to put words to a visceral reaction I have when viewing a film.
Like Roger Ebert says in his wonderful book Your Movie Sucks, my reviews are to be read not as gospel, but as an indicator: to give you an idea whether or not you want to see this flick. If you read about a movie I've panned, and decide it's the type of film you want to see, I've done my job. If you see the film and decide you like it, I've still done my job.
Ultimately, it's all good. Here endeth the rant.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
In the past couple of years, there have been some pretty intense discussions in the articles comments section here at Animated Films. I generally consider this a good thing: if you're discussing an article, it means you're reading it, which means you're interested in what I have to say on this site. Everybody wins.
However, there are certain rules about posting here. Posts that contain "spam, sales pitches, libelous, multiple postings, or posts which contain abusive language" are not acceptable. It's basic courtesy: you don't want other people calling you names simply because you disagree with them, accusing various celebrities of living a "bizarre alternative life style" or trying to sell crap we don't need. So why inflict it on other people?
Unlike other sites, we don't banhammer those who step out of line. But we do have another method of maintaining order: we delete your post. Don't bother trying to troll these boards; you won't get any reaction to your hateful rants . . . they simply disappear.
And PM'ing me won't help, trolls. I either:
- Laugh
- Shake my head in disgust
- Mock you mercilessly
- Laugh
- Show it to friends who mock you mercilessly
- Laugh
- Use the accumulated bile on the next pathetic product that I review
- All of the above
So feel free to express your thoughts and feelings in the comments below each article. Like or dislike my take on a particular story/movie/TV show? Let me know, and why.
However, calling me "gay and ingorant" (yep, someone actually called me that!) just because I dissed your favourite cartoon will only get your post deleted, and the wife giggling at your sorry ass.
So, happy posting . . . but keep it clean, okay?
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Animation Boy™ just got off the phone with Disney and Pixar animator Jason Boose, where we talked about his contributions to the new Disney/Pixar film Up, which has been receiving rave reviews from both critics and moviegoers, earning a 98% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
A veteran of the 1990's Disney animation factory, Boose jumped to Pixar just in time to work on Cars, Ratatouille and WALL-E. In addition to being a lead animator on Up (he worked on the storm sequence in the first third of the film), he also created The Chemist for Image Comics.
Stay tuned for an in-depth interview with Boose coming to this space.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Lionsgate Films is releasing the Snoot Entertainment/Menithings LLC film Battle for Terra this Friday, May 1st. Aristomenis Tsirbas directed the flick from a script by Tsirbas and Evan Spiliotopoulos.
I saw and reviewed this film (when it was simply called Terra) back when it screened at the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Film Festival. To say I – and the audience of animation enthusiasts and professionals – was unimpressed with the movie would be an understatement. Several festival goers even went so far as to start heckling the film during the screening.
Despite the audience hostility towards the film, Terra still won the Best Animated Feature Film award at the OIAF. It's currently receiving a 53% rating on review compilation website Rotten Tomatoes.
Will Battle for Terra get out from under the weight of summer films, or will it become another Delgo, playing to empty theatres before being put out of its misery? Stay tuned and find out.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
(Once again, I'm using this space for a news story that doesn't have enough information to warrant a full article)
In a recent interview with Empire, Tom Hanks discussed his voice work on the upcoming Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 3, which will be the Emeryville studio's big offering for 2010.
"I have been in and done three big complete recording sessions and will probably have at least one more to do, possibly in about eight months," Hanks told the magazine. "Then eight months after that I'll do a mop-up and have three more sessions after that. Those movies are beasts"
Original director John Lasseter will not be helming this installment: Toy Story 2 co-director Lee Unkrich is taking sole control of the reins for this one, working from a script by Oscar-winning writer Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine).
"They did an interesting thing on this one," Hanks revealed. "They did not send us a script. They showed us a complete story reel of the entire movie, with storyboards moving from one to the next, and the people up at Pixar recorded some voices with some music and sound effects. Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear) and John Ratzenberger (Hamm the Piggy Bank) and I went in a movie theatre, watched the reel and said, 'This is great, let's get to work!'"
Back when Disney and Pixar were on the outs (mainly due to then-CEO Michael Eisner trying to play hardball), Disney was trying to develop a Pixar-less Toy Story 3 through its Circle 7 imprint. When Eisner was ousted and Disney bought Pixar, new creative chief Lasseter tossed the Circle 7 script and got the Pixar brain trust to work generating a story.
Toy Story 3 comes out on June 18, 2010.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
According to the Disney website, the Motion Picture Association of America has decided that the Disney/Pixar film Up is too perilous and action-packed to get a G rating.
The film, directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc.) has been rated PG (Parental Guidance suggested) with an advisory for "peril and action."
This isn't too surprising, considering that some early reviews were pointing out the film's darker elements, which include one or two of the main characters actually bleeding during the course of their adventures.
This makes Up the 2nd Pixar film to ever get anything other than a G rating. The first was 2004's The Incredibles, which got a PG rating for "action violence." Funnily enough, no one at the MPAA called the film on its sizable body count, which included a number of superheroes foolish enough to wear capes.
Up comes to theatres on May 29th. Look for a review, plus interviews with some of the principles, coming to this site.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
As previously suspected, the Walt Disney Company will bring Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea, to North American cinemas this summer.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the the elder Miyazaki's 9th film for anime factory Studio Ghibli will come to theatres on August 14th.
The acclaimed anime – the 4th Miyazaki flick that Disney has brought to this side of the Pacific – was Japan's highest grossing film of 2008, making the equivalent of $165 million. One of Miyazaki's previous movies, Spirited Away, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003.
The English cast for Ponyo includes such names as Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White, plus celebrity siblings Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus (younger sister of Miley).
Disney animation creative chief (and hardcore Miyazaki fan) John Lasseter is producing the flick, along with frequent Steven Spielberg collaborators Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. Scritpwriter Melissa Mathison (E.T. the Extra Terrestrial) handled the English translation.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Yes, even fearless animation reporters need some downtime, and I'm disappearing into the wild blue yonder for the next week. I'll try to post regular updates when I can (mostly DVD reviews) but access to Cyberland may be a bit spotty.
Never fear, I'll be back on April 13th to chronicle the trials, tribulations and occasional silliness that is the animation industry. Hope to see you then.
Cheers,
Dominic
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Get any group of hardcore Star Trek fans to discuss which of the original cast film is the best and you'll get one of two things:
- Lots of Klingon insults and people hitting each other with plastic phasers
- The general consensus that the even-numbered Star Trek movies were the better ones, and the odd ones were the bad ones.
After the combatants have been separated and the Vulcan blood cleaned off the walls, you actually might get the consensus that 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was the best of the bunch. While the special effects were decent for the time (and look pretty dated now), the combination of taut plotting, finger-clenching tension, and the fact that the late Ricardo Montalban (reprising his role of überhuman Khan Noonian Singh from the 1967 episode "Space Seed") actually managed to chew more scenery than famed ham William Shatner, added up to a pretty entertaining sci-fi flick.
Oh yeah, and in one of the most poignant and gutsy sequences of the entire series, Spock sacrificed himself in order to save the crew. Star Trek would never again have the courage to kill off a major character until 1994's Generations (one of the weaker "odd" ones).
So what does this have to do with animation? Thirty Seconds Bunnies Theatre, one of our favourite Flash animated series, has spoofed The Wrath of Khan by condensing it down to 30 seconds and having the characters portrayed by bunnies.
While it doesn't reach the highs of creator Jennifer Shiman's best work (the 30-second parody of Rocky Horror Picture Show is my fave), it's a lot of fun.
You can check it out over here. To find out more about Jennifer Shiman and Thirty Seconds Bunnies Theatre, you can read Suite 101's exclusive interview with Shiman by clicking here.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Once again, I've managed to score another exclusive for Suite 101 readers: an interview with Chris Williams, the senior director of the Oscar-nominated Disney animated film Bolt (A DVD review of the film is also incoming).
In a wide-ranging conversation, Chris and I discussed how he ended up directing the project, his inspirations for the film, some character concepts, how Bolt withstood the dreaded Twilight effect, his wonderful animated short "Glago's Guest" and why didn't screen in front of Bolt in theatres.
So keep your eyes on this site, and check out this exclusive interview with director Chris Williams, right here on Suite 101.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
I've made no secret that I thought Nina Paley's independent animated film Sita Sings the Blues (click the link to read a review) was one of the best films of 2008, even though copyright issues kept it from being released into theatres.
In my wrap-up of The Best and Worst Animated Films of 2008, I called it a "highly personal juxtaposition of ancient tragedy and modern comedy. Director/writer/sole animator Paley crafted a film that found humour through heartbreak and vice versa. Proof that a great story will overcome any obstacle.
"This film deserves to be seen, and it's a tragedy that it likely won't."
Now you can discover if I was right: Sita Sings the Blues has now found its way online. You can check out the flick for free by going over to Nina Paley's website and clicking the links from there. You can either scope out a highly-compressed streaming version at channel13.org, or you can score a higher quality download at 480p QuickTime H.264 at archive.org.
Paley plans to sell a limited edition of signed DVD packages, which includes a free pre-downloaded DVD, but the film itself will be available for free online.
There is however, one request from the author: "If you want a copy, please wait for the higher quality formats instead of capturing the very compressed channel13.org streaming version," Paley says on her site. "As the artist, I want the highest quality versions to circulate; it’d be sad if a super-compressed capture started torrenting first. Together, we can keep quality high!"
Also, if you enjoy the flick (and I'm sure you will), please send Paley some token of your appreciation. As she says on her site, "I still need another $43,000 to pay off loans to get Sita out of copyright jail, so please donate if it feels right."
Do yourself a favour and check out this excellent animated film.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Given the news that Dimension Films is planning to remake Clive Barker's 1987 flick Hellraiser, using a couple of writers from the Saw franchise, what better time to remember that classic horror flick via a troop of bunnies?
Yep, Jennifer Shiman and her rabbit pals have spoofed the flick, which centered around a mysterious puzzle box that opened a gateway into Hell, and boiled it down to a 30-second running time. It's just as funny as previous Bunnies recreations but be warned: some of the images herein might disturb more sensitive viewers.
You can check out 30-Second Bunnies Theatre's version of Hellraiser by clicking the link.
So what's next for the bunnies? According to Shiman's website, "The bunnies are finishing their re-enactment of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Plus, stay tuned for a two-part Harry Potter medley."
Watch 30-Second Bunnies Theatre or I'll tear your soul apart!*
*(Just kidding! However, if you don't watch it I will come to your house at 3 am, trample your begonias, eat your ice cream and stare luridly at your cat)
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
For the 2nd year in a row, the best reviewed film of 2008 had to content itself with winning Best Animated Feature Film at this year's Oscars.
Despite earning a place in most critics' "Best of 2008" lists, and winning The Golden Tomato Award for best reviewed film of the year in wide release, Disney/Pixar's WALL-E ended up winning the Best Animated Feature Film Award. The Andrew Stanton flick easily won the category, topping both DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda and Disney Animation's Bolt.
This is the 4th Pixar film to win the category, joining 2003's Finding Nemo, 2004's The Incredibles and 2007's Ratatouille. Toy Story won a special Oscar in 1996 for being the first CGI animated film.
As presenter Jack Black presciently pointed out: "I act in DreamWorks movies and I bet on Pixar."
However, that was WALL-E's only trip to the podium. It lost Best Original Song to Slumdog Millionaire's "Jai Ho" and Best Original Screenplay to Milk.
Disney/Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull also won the
If I can be allowed a quick moment of gloating: this makes it the 3rd year in a row that I've correctly called the Best Animated Film category. I also correctly called the winner of the Best Animated Short category: Kunio Kato's "La Maison en Petits Cubes" which moved people to tears when it played at various festivals last year.
So who's going to win at the 2010 Oscars?
I feel confident enough to make my prediction right here and now: despite the bumper crop of animated films coming this year, and worthy entrants such as Coraline, Up, Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea and Monsters vs. Aliens, the 2010 Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film will go to Disney Animation's The Princess and the Frog.
Given Disney's history with the medium, AMPAS will want to salute the studio's return to cel animation with at least a nomination. If the film's early buzz is any indication, and the fact that it also features the directing team of Ron Clement and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin), The Princess and the Frog will take the prize at next year's Oscars. You heard it here first.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
(Writer's Note: Not for the last time will I use this space to showcase news that doesn't have enough information to warrant a full article)
Actor Dan Fogler (Kung Fu Panda) will appear in the upcoming film Mars Needs Moms!.
According to Coming Soon, Fogler announced at the Fanboys press junket that he has joined the cast for the Robert Zemeckis movie.
Zemeckis plans on producing the film – based on the children's book by Bloom County creator Berke Breathed – in his motion-capture style. Zemeckis has made 4 other films using motion-capture: 2004's The Polar Express, 2006's Monster House, 2007's Beowulf and the upcoming A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey. As with A Christmas Carol, the Walt Disney Company will distribute the flick.
Mars Needs Moms! is the story of a little boy who chases after his previously-unappreciated mother after she's been abducted by Martians. It's tentatively scheduled for a 2010 release.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
(Writer's Note: Once again, I'm using this space to announce news that doesn't have enough information to warrant a full article)
Isla Fisher is joining Rango as the female lead.
According to Variety, Fisher (Confessions of a Shopaholic) will join Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Abigail Breslin (Quantum Quest) in the voice cast of the Paramount animated film. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) is directing the flick from a script by John Logan (The Aviator). Verbinski thought up the idea for the flick, about a household pet that goes on a voyage of self-discovery.
Character actors Alfred Molina (Spider-man 2), Ray Winstone (Beowulf), Ian Abercrombie (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Harry Dean Stanton (Big Love), Hemky Madera (Weeds) and Ned Beatty (Deliverance) round out the voice cast
Rango is currently scheduled for a March 2011 release.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
This site has been a major fan of Jennifer Shiman and her Flash animated series, 30-Second Bunnies Theatre for a while now, and it's always great to post a reference to a new short in this space.
After parodying the vampires-rampage-in-Alaska flick 30 Days of Night, Shiman and her bunnies have now gone the other way in spoofing the teen vampire hit Twilight. Shiman's clearly having a hoot playing up the teen drama in this flick, as well as the vampire's bite as an analog for sex (Twilight author Stephanie Meyer is a Mormon, and the book promotes abstinence as a lifestyle).
Gotta love the Edward Cullen bunny initially seeing Bella as food, then quickly rubbing it out.
You can check out the bunnies of Twilight by clicking here. Shiman announced that the next 2 30-Second Bunnies Theatres shorts will spoof Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and then a two-parter on the Harry Potter series.
P.S. - To learn more about 30-Second Bunnies Theatre, click the link for my exclusive interview with Jennifer Shiman.
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Yes, folks, it's true: I'll be interviewing award-winning author Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods) to to talk about Laika Entertainment's upcoming film adaptation of his bestselling children's book Coraline.
In case I lost ya, director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) put together a stop-motion adaptation of Gaiman's Hugo Award-winning story about a little girl who discovers a fantastical world behind a door in her wall.
I've seen Coraline already (look for a review the day the flick hits theatres) and I'll be sitting down with Mr. Gaiman to discuss the movie, his experiences writing for Hollywood, and the status of some of his upcoming projects.
Stay tuned for further details as they develop, and look for a full interview sometime later next week.
Cheers,
Dominic
Posted by Dominic von Riedemann
Things have fallen off a little here in Animation Land, but fear not, dear reader, I haven't forgotten about you! (Wow, I really sounded like The Tick there for a second)
I've been reviewing a bunch of live-action flicks, such as The Wrestler and The Day the Earth Stood Still (that's two hours of my life I'm not getting back!). Now that my bro Dominic Messier (yes, we Dominics travel in packs) and I have successfully gotten our names out to the major studios, we've started getting press passes to upcoming films and posting our reviews on this site.
We pretty much have every major studio (and more than a few minor ones) on-side so that means we'll be able to give you more comprehensive coverage and let you know what flicks are worth checking out.
On the animation side, we've been chatting with Paramount Pictures, the parent company for Disney's biggest CGI competitor, DreamWorks Animation. You've probably noticed that I've been interviewing the cast and crew from Disney movies such as WALL-E and Bolt: with luck, we'll be able to get some interviews and insights from Paramount and DreamWorks animated films as well.
There are also a few other things that we've got going on: nothing that I can talk about but, rest assured, it's all about making your stop at Suite 101 more enlightening and entertaining. Stick around: things are only going to get better from here.
Cheers,
Dominic
P.S. - If you caught the reference in the headline, you win a virtual cookie.