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Animation

He’s a Titan of Kung Fu!

Nov 20th, 2015
by rodney.
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Back in 2011 Kizoic Comics created a tie-in comic book line for Kung Fu Panda, anticipating the release of the Kung Fu Panda 2 animated film that year. Well now in anticipation of next January’s upcoming release of Kung Fu Panda 3, Titan Comics are having a go with their own full-color Kung Fu Panda comic, written by Simon Furman and illustrated by Lee Robinson. “Po has been a busy Kung-Fu Panda! He’s had 2 hit movies, a successful TV show, and there’s another exciting movie on the way! And now he’s set to get even busier in his own brand new comic! Join Po, The Furious Five and Shifu – and all their enemies – for their own comic strip adventures! This issue kicks off a  special two-part story: Wake Me Up Before You Po-Po!” Seriously. It’s on the shelves now!

image c. 2015 Titan Comics

image c. 2015 Titan Comics

Wolves in Mongolia

Nov 16th, 2015
by rodney.
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More interesting news from Cartoon Brew: Rob Minkoff (The Lion King,  Stuart Little, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, etc etc…!) has signed a two picture deal with Le Vision USA, the American wing of China’s Le Vision Pictures. The first is for a live-action comedy called Silkworms (which we know nothing about, so far). The second, of more interest here, is for an animated adaptation of Chinese author Lu Jiamin’s semi-autobiographical novel Wolf Totem.  Earlier this year the book was adapted into a Chinese-language live-action film, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud from France. The story tells of “…a Chinese student who is sent to Inner Mongolia to teach shepherds and instead learns about the local wolf population, which is under threat by a government apparatchik”. (Shades of Never Cry Wolf, anyone?) At this point we do not know if Mr. Minkoff will simply be producing the animated version, or if he will direct. Nor have we gotten any word as to a projected release date. Guess we’ll find out!

image c. 2015 Forbidden City

image c. 2015 Forbidden City

Sing For All Species!

Nov 14th, 2015
by rodney.
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And the embarrassment of riches for anthropomorphic animal movies that is 2016… continues! Once again Cartoon Brew brings us big news: Illumination (home of the Minions and the upcoming Secret Life of Pets) have announced a new CGI film called Sing, coming to theaters in December of 2016. “Of all the animal kingdom films, Sing might be the quirkiest of the bunch. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri explained during an Annecy keynote earlier this year that conceptually ‘The starting point for the movie was, for me at least, looking at what the role of a producer is’. The producer in Sing will be a koala named Buster Moon, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, who runs a vaudeville-style theater. ‘He creates wonderful entertainment out of nothing’ Meledandri said at Annecy. If a paean to producers sounds like an unusual topic for an animated film, so does the fact that the movie will have over 85 songs in it. Here’s the set-up which allows that to happen: Buster’s theater has fallen on hard times, and he comes up with an idea to save it by staging a singing competition. Eventually, five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Reese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family’s felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life. John C. Reilly will also lend a voice as Buster’s black sheep pal Eddie.” Got all that? Whew! We’ll keep you informed as we learn more.

image c. Illumination Entertainment

image c. Illumination Entertainment

It’s A Catastrophe!

Nov 10th, 2015
by rodney.
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[We are so, so sorry for that one…] Earlier this year you may recall we mentioned an upcoming animated feature called Blazing Samurai. Well now thanks to Cartoon Brew we have a lot more information about it! “Arriving stateside August 4, 2017, from AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment’s Open Road Films, Blazing Samurai stars Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Aasif Mandvi, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Sandra Tsing Loh, Mel B., Heavenly Joy Jerkins, and Mel Brooks himself as a madcap array of cats and dogs comedically battling for samurai supremacy not in the Wild West but the faraway Japanese East. Co-directed by Alvin and the Chipmunks and Garfield animation supervisor Chris Bailey and veteran Disney animator Mark Koetsier, Blazing Samurai also features art direction from New Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show and Steven Universe’s Kevin Dart. Toronto, Canada-based CG animation and visual effects shop Arc Productions (Gnomeo & Juliet) is the lead animation house.” What’s more, Lion King / Mr. Peabody & Sherman director Rob Minkoff is on board as one of the producers. Quite a lot of big names attached to this project!

image c. 2015 Open Road Films

image c. 2015 Open Road Films

More Stop-Motion Canines from Wes

Oct 11th, 2015
by rodney.
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The animation community has been a-buzz following the announcement on several sites that Wes Anderson, direction of the Oscar and Ursa Major nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox, is developing another stop-motion animated feature film. About dogs. According to Cartoon Brew, “Details about his new canine cartoon are unavailable at this point. All we know is that it will be stop motion, and like Fantastic Mr. Fox, the production will take place in the UK. The Playlist pointed out the irony that Anderson would choose dogs as subject matter considering his fraught cinematic history with pooches. Dogs have been harmed so frequently in Anderson’s movies that the New Yorker once published a tongue-in-cheek commentary asking, ‘Does Wes Anderson hate dogs?’ Audiences may find out the answer soon.” We’ll have to hope that in this case he treats dogs more like he treated their foxy cousins.

image c. 2015 CartoonBrew.com

image c. 2015 CartoonBrew.com

Pandas from Can(a)da

Oct 8th, 2015
by rodney.
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There’s a new animation production partnership starting up in Canada between Corus Entertainment (home of Nelvana Animation) and Bento Box Entertainment (home of Bob’s Burgers and more). From the press release, thanks to Animation World Network: “Canadian-based media and entertainment company Corus Entertainment and Los Angeles animation studio Bento Box Entertainment have announced the creation of Bento Box Canada, an animation production company based in Toronto. The venture follows last year’s announcement of the multi-year, co-development deal between the two companies. As part of the agreement, Bento Box Entertainment and Corus will work side-by-side to develop and produce a slate of original, primetime animated series for Corus networks, to be distributed internationally by Bento Box Entertainment. This fall, production will begin on the first Bento Box Canada series, The Pandas.  From creators Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler, The Pandas is an irreverent, animated family comedy full of hard jokes, whimsical wonder, biting satire and just the right amount of heart.” We’ll certainly see when it premiers.

image c. 2015 Bento Box Canada

image c. 2015 Bento Box Canada

And the Little Mice Shall Dance

Oct 5th, 2015
by rodney.
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This comes to us straight from ComingSoon.net: “Academy Award and Grammy Award winner Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) has signed on to voice the lead character “Biggz” in the new CGI animated family film Groove Tails. He will also produce the movie with Michael Becker of Imprint Entertainment and AMBI principals Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi (Septembers of Shiraz, In Dubious Battle). The script was written by Johnny Mack (Real Husbands of Hollywood), who will also serve as an executive producer. Groove Tails will be directed by Cameron Hood, who began his career at Warner Bros. studying under animation legend Chuck Jones. Hood soon moved to DreamWorks Animation where he has worked on films like The Prince of Egypt, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Megamind. Hood then segued to Illumination Entertainment, where he added his talents to Despicable Me 2 and the recent worldwide box office hit Minions. Groove Tails is set in the world of competitive street dance competitions… for mice that is. This is a place where cheese is currency and dance is king. The story follows Biggz, as he tries to regain his confidence for dance, pay off his debt to a club, clean up the streets from the alley cats and win the love of a girl. Life is not easy when you are at the bottom of the food chain.” There’s no word yet on a target release date, but we promise you’ll know as soon as we do!

image c. 2015 Older Rose

image c. 2015 Older Rose

This Will Take You Back. Way-Back.

Oct 3rd, 2015
by rodney.
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You might recall that last year Dreamworks Animation’s CGI take on Mr. Peabody & Sherman was rather a disappointment at the box office according to some analysts. Evidently though that didn’t dampen Dreamworks’ interest in the characters as now they bring us The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show. It’s coming to Netflix this Friday, this time in a more traditional 2D animated version. According to the article at Cartoon Brew, “In the new series, Mr. Peabody (voiced by Chris Parnell) and his boy Sherman (Max Charles) host a talk show from their New York City penthouse, in which they interview historical figures like George Washington and Edgar Allen Poe. They also embark on time travel adventures in their WABAC machine visiting the likes of Cleopatra, Mozart, and Marco Polo.” There are also musical numbers to be had, and Cartoon Brew has a preview of one of them — as well as the show’s opening.

image c. 2015 Dreamworks Animation

image c. 2015 Dreamworks Animation

Boy and Talking Snake. Film at Eleven.

Oct 1st, 2015
by rodney.
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Sanjay and Craig is a popular animated TV series on Nickelodeon, following the adventures of (you guessed it) Sanjay (a human boy) and his pet snake, Craig (who talks — but only Sanjay is supposed to know that). Well now Paperkutz (home of Geronimo Stilton and family) have released the first Sanjay and Craig tie-in graphic novel, Sanjay and Craig: Fight the Future with Flavor! “Does your neighbor have butt implants and a blueberry obsession? Can your best friend do ANYTHING without barfing? Welcome to Lundgren, where Sanjay Patel and Craig Slithers have the most rad-awesome adventures imaginable. From their collection of fart jars to their shared love of chicken wings, Sanjay and Craig are more than a boy and his pet snake… they’re family! Ready for the ride? Buckle up your fart baby and grab some napkins because Sanjay and Craig are about to douse you in awesome-sauce. NOICE! See you at the Frycade!” Did any of that make sense to you? Then you might want to have a look at the Paperkutz preview page. Fight the Future with Flavor! is out now in hardcover and trade paperback.

image c. 2015 Paperkutz

image c. 2015 Paperkutz

 

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