Ape Entertainment is presenting Kizoic, a new line of full-color young reader comic book titles coming this year. And, luckily, several of those titles have notably furry themes. Two of those titles come direct from Dreamworks Animation: Shrek Forever After — The Prequel, coming this April, and The Penguins of Madagascar, shipping in June. Shrek, of course, is based on the upcoming fourth Shrek feature film. In this new comic by Scott Shaw and Drew Rausch, the villainous Rumpelstiltskin tries time and again to get the best of Shrek, Donkey, Puss-in-Boots, and their friends. Meanwhile, keep your eyes out for Scratch 9, featuring the adventures of a little who can access all 8 of his past and future lives — including the one where he was a saber-toothed tiger!
Dreamworks
“Up” takes it, but…
The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA) presented the 37th annual Annie Awards on Saturday, February 6th. The presentation was held at UCLA’s Royce Hall, and none other than William Shatner was the host.
As many had been expecting, Disney/Pixar’s Up took the honors for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as a Best Director win for co-director Pete Docter. But what was notable about the evening was that, unlike last year’s Kung Fu Panda sweep, no one film or TV show ran away with a multitude of awards. By sheer numbers, three items emerged victorious for winning three awards each: Coraline (Best Feature Character Design, Best Feature Production Design, Best Feature Music), Prep & Landing (Best TV Character Design, Best TV Production Design, Best TV Production), and The Princess and the Frog (Best Effects Animation, Best Feature Character Animation (Eric Goldberg for Lou the Alligator), and Best Feature Voice Acting (Jen Cody for Charlotte). The Penguins of Madagscar won two awards, Best TV Directing and Best TV Production for Children. Another 10 items won a single award each, including one for Fantastic Mr. Fox (for Best Writing in a Feature). In other words, the awards were spread around quite a bit!
Besides the regular awards, the evening also included several special awards and honors. Bruce Timm, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Tim Burton each received the Winsor McCay Award for Lifetime Achievement in Animation. The June Foray Award for “Benevolent Impact” on Animation went to long-time animator and union activist Tom Sito. William T. Reeves of Pixar won the Ub Iwerks Award for Technical Achievement (he practically invented particle systems animation), while Martin Meunier and Brian McLean were given Special Achievement Awards for creating a new fabrication process used in making the film Coraline. Also, moving tributes were held for the late Roy E. Disney and Wayne Allwine (the voice of Mickey Mouse). A complete listing of the Awards and pictures from the ceremony will be up soon at the Annie Awards web site.
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!
Train Your Dragon in 2010
The directing team that brought you Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, now returns to bring us the new Dreamworks CGI animated film How to Train Your Dragon, set to be released to theaters (in 3D) this coming March, 2010. The script was written by Mr. DeBlois, based on a popular book by author Cressida Cowell. An extended preview trailer is up for viewing on YouTube and other places on-line.
The story follows a young viking named Hiccup — whom you can guess, with a name like that, isn’t the strongest or boldest of vikings. Determined to prove his worth and manhood, young Hiccup strives to find a solution to the plague of dragons that have besieged his homeland. What he ends up doing, however, is befriending a young injured dragon… and making a discovery that just may change his whole tribe forever.
Award Season Recap
Awards season came barreling in again — with a few unexpected results. As largely expected, Disney-Pixar’s robot tale known as Wall-E won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature. Then along came the Annie Awards, presented by the International Animated Film Society… and Wall-E was shut out, taking home nothing that night. The big winner? Kung Fu Panda! Not only did it win Best Animated Feature, but between the feature film and the Secrets of the Furious Five DVD short, Dreamworks took home 15 of the 17 awards that the Panda franchise was nominated for. Among them were multiple awards for Directing, Writing, Best Character Animation, Best Character Design, Best Production Design, Best Music, Best Voice Acting (Dustin Hoffman as Shifu), and Best Video Game. The big winners for the night in the TV animation categories were Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, and Avatar, The Last Air Bender. Wallance and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death won for Best Animated Short Subject.
… and then along came the Oscars, and once again, Wall-E took home the statue for Best Animated Feature.
[And don’t forget — now it’s Furry Fandom’s turn to vote for the Ursa Major Awards! Visit www.ursamajorawards.org to find out more — Rod O’Riley, ye ed-otter]
