In the spirit of Roadside Romeo — but with a completely different cast and crew! It’s Koochie Koochie Hota Hai, a new CGI animated film coming this summer from India’s Prana Productions. It’s a loose remake of the 1998 live-action film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of that year. This new cartoon feature follows the lives of three high school dogs — one guy, two girls — in a love triangle, and throws in the added plot element of a time travel machine. In a sly wink to the original film, lead actors Shahrukh Khan and Kajol play the lead voices in this new version, along with several well-known comedy and action stars in other roles. You can check out the trailer on YouTube.
CGI
Furry Vengeance
Hollywood does have its way of coming up with titles that make furry fans lift their ears and take notice…
Furry Vengeance is a new live-action comedy film starring Brendan Fraser, coming to theaters in April of 2010. Fraser stars as Dan Sanders, a real estate agent charged with helping a large property company tear down a huge section of a forest preserve to build a new residential community and shopping mall. Trouble is, the local animals have gotten wind of the project, and they decide to take it on themselves to see that it doesn’t happen — even if that means driving Dan and his family out of house and home. The animals are lead by a clever and very resourceful raccoon. Is it all starting to sound familiar to you? You’re not alone. The blog-o-sphere has been going crazy pointing out similarities of this movie to Dreamworks’ animated film Beyond the Hedge, and in general saying not-very-nice things about Furry Vengeance… and all of this after just seeing the first trailer! Still, if you check out the trailer for yourself, you’ll see that there is a huge variety of animals in the “cast”, and any film like that is going to catch Furry Fandom’s interest — for good OR bad. We’ll see what happens next April.
Until then, Merry Christmas everyone, and a Blessed Solstice to you all.
Awards Season Kicks Off
The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA) announced the nominees for the 37th annual Annie Awards, presented every year to the best in animated feature films, TV shows, commercials, short films, and more. Walt Disney Animation Studios dominated the nominees 2009 with 17, including eight for the traditional 2D film The Princess and the Frog. That film was nominated for Best Animated Feature, as well as earning individual nominations for animated effects, character animation, production design, and voice acting. Joining Princess in the Best Animated Feature category are Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Secret of Kells, and Up. Notice: Six nominees instead of the usual five. There’s a lot to choose from this year! Check out all of the 2009 Annie Awards nominees at the Annie Awards web site.
Did you also notice that all of the Best Feature nominees have anthropomorphic animals in either lead or supporting roles? There’s a lot to choose from for furry fans this year too! Especially when one looks further and finds numerous nominations for the Penguins of Madagascar TV series and Merry Madagascar special (both from Dreamworks Animation, of course), plus nominations for Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, Open Season 2, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, The Wonder Pets, Ponyo, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Monsters vs. Aliens, and more.
With that many to chose from this year, it’s time for furry fans around the world to get serious thinking about The Ursa Major Awards for 2009, too. Remember, this is the Peoples’ Choice awards for furry fandom! Visit the Ursa Major Awards web site to add items to the Recommended Reading and Viewing List, things that furry fans might want to remember and keep in mind when they’re getting ready to nominate — which, by the way, will begin in January of 2010!
More News From Boom! Studios
First up: It seems that the fans’ reaction to the various Farscape mini-series (plural!) put out by Boom! has been so positive that now it’s going to be an on-going full-color series. What’s more, it’s a series written by the original creator of Farscape, Rockne S. O’Bannon. With art by Keith DeCandido and Will Sliney.
For something completely different, Boom! lets us return to Radiator Springs. The World of Cars: Radiator Springs is a new full-color trade paperback written by Alan J. Porter and illustrated by Magic Eye Studios. It takes place after the events of the Pixar movie. When he returns to Radiator Springs for good, racer Lightning McQueen realizes that everyone knows his story, but he doesn’t know anyone else’s! Tune in while he learns why his fellow anthropomorphic cars came to this little town — and why they stayed.
That’s One BIG Mammoth…
This just in from The Hollywood Reporter and rottentomatoes.com: As of this writing the Blue Sky / Fox GGI film Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs has grossed nearly $660 million (U.S. dollars equivalent) internationally. By the middle of next week, the film is expected to take the #3 spot for highest grossing films ever internationally, right behind Titanic and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Fourth go-round, anyone?
Mad Monster Party… Again?
Word is out that a new CGI re-make of the classic Rankin/Bass comedy/horror film Mad Monster Party is in the works and has actually been green-lit. Warner Brothers optioned the new film about four years ago, but now there’s word that it might actually happen.
What furries want to know is: Will the werewolf have that cool gypsie outfit again?
There’s a fan site for the original 1967 film that’s closely following news of the remake. Check out www.madmonsterparty.com to find out more.
Two new books on CGI
For fans of computer animation, two new books have hit the shelves: The Art of Pixar Short Films by Amid Amidi (hardcover, from Chronicle Books) uses essays, interviews, and artwork to take a look at Pixar’s groundbreaking shorts, from Andre and Wally B and Luxo, Jr. right up through Presto and Your Friend The Rat. Meanwhile, Imageworks by Michael Goldman (also hardcover, from Insight Editions) takes a look at the history of Sony Imageworks Studios, which brought us not only animated films like Open Season, Stuart Little (well, partly animated!), and Surf’s Up, but also the mad special effects on films like Spiderman and more.
Happily N’Ever After… the sequel?
Although it didn’t exactly burn things up at the box office (in terms of cash OR critical acclaim), evidently 2006’s Happily N’Ever After did well enough on DVD world-wide to rate its own direct-to-DVD sequel, Happily N’Ever After 2: Snow White’s A New Bite at the Apple (yes that’s the title). The new film is directed by Steven E. Gordon and Boyd Kirkland, and is being released to stores by Kickstart Productions this April. Furry fan favorites (?) Munk and Mambo return, this time trying to assist Snow White while the mighty wizard is, once again, out of town.
