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Dragons on your i-Phone

May 4th, 2012
by rodney.
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Dreamworks Animation have announced the release of a new video game for the iPad and iPhone called Dragons: Tap Dragon Drop (get it?).  Players take on the role of Hiccup and Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon movie series. As a terrible storm approaches the village of Berk, the vikings hurry to move their sheep to safety. But the sheep are scattered all over the island! Hiccup needs to train his dragon Toothless to herd (and in many cases, air-lift) the sheep away from danger while losing as few of them as possible. Dreamworks has a YouTube video preview of the game up now.

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

Life Before the Internet

Apr 7th, 2012
by rodney.
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Yes there was. And Gabe Swarr wants to tell you about it. Who is he? According to his web site, “Gabe Swarr is a 15 year veteran of the animation industry. Working many shows you’ve surely seen or heard of; most recently directing The Penguins of Madagascar and El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. He is currently the Supervising Producer of Kung Fu Panda: The Legends of Awesomeness tv show for Nickelodeon. ” Wow. What’s more, in his copious spare time (!!) Gabe has created Life in the Analog Age, an on-line blog and comic strip where he takes a fond look back at his younger days before the Internet: Days of reading comic books, playing games, and listening to cool music. Equally cool? He portrays himself as an anthro chipmunk critter thing. Check out his store as well, as several of his comics have been collected into mini-book form. We won’t spill the beans, but if you look carefully around the site you can find an Easter egg: An animated short about Gabe’s dad and a box of old comic books…

image c. 2012 Gabe Swarr

It’s Spring! Here Come the Rabbits!

Apr 1st, 2012
by rodney.
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We’re pleased to announce that we’ve just gotten word that the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic live-action feature film has been green-lighted! We’re also pleased to announce that today is April 1st…

Speaking of April, our thoughts turn to … the Easter Bunny!

Dreamworks Animation have just released the first official trailer for Rise of the Guardians, which is coming to movie theaters this November. Based on the novel by William Joyce (who also helped to create the script), this 3D CGI movie tells what happens when The Boogieman — known as “Pitch” — threatens to cover the world in a veil of fear.  The guardians of children everywhere — Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, Jack Frost, and (yes!) the Easter Bunny — join up to defeat him. The Easter Bunny — here known as “Bunnymund” — is voiced by none other than Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman (whom, you might recall, was also the voice of the hero’s father in the original Happy Feet). Other voices on hand include Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, Isla Fisher, and Jude Law. Rise of the Guardians is directed by Peter Ramsey, who previously served as head of story on Dreamworks’ Monsters vs. Aliens.

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

Madagascar 3 — The Comic

Mar 8th, 2012
by rodney.
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Speaking of Ape Entertainment, this May they’ll also be anticipating the latest film in Dreamworks’ Madagascar franchise with a new digest-sized full-color graphic novel. Entitled Madagascar 3: Long Live the King, it’s a prequel to the film itself (Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted) which is coming out on June 8th. Here’s what Ape has to say: “Follow the adventures of ‘The King of Versailles’ in Monte Carlo, the misadventures of Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman, and plenty of spy-jinx from everyone’s favorite feathered foursome, The Penguins Of Madagascar! It’s all-ages fun from David Server and Jackson Lanzing (Penguins Of Madagascar) and artist Bob Renzas!” By the way, you can find out more about this and many other new and upcoming releases at Ape Entertainment’s official blog.

image c. 2012 Ape Entertainment

It’s A Racing Snail!

Feb 17th, 2012
by rodney.
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No, it’s not another addition to the Neverending Story series… it’s Dreamworks Animation’s newest project, Turbo. The folks over at Cartoon Brew gave us a preview of the sneak-peak poster and some background on the story. [Though the write-up quotes 2012, it’s actually due in 2013 — ye ed-otter.] “Set for release in summer 2012, DreamWorks Animation’s Turbo is described as ‘a garden snail with dreams of becoming the fast snail in the world experiences a freak accident that might just allow him to realize his goal.’ Three actors have been attached to do voices: Ryan Reynolds, Marvin Duerkholz and Lil’ Mizerkk.” Dreamworks has also released higher-res versions of the main posters for the films Rise of the Guardians (coming this November) and The Croods (the new project from director Chris Sanders).

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

The 2011 Annie Awards

Feb 5th, 2012
by rodney.
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Your humble ed-otter was pleased and proud to attend the 2012 presentation of the Annie Awards for 2011, which took place at UCLA on Saturday the 4th. The Annie Awards are the “Oscars” of the animation industry, presented every year by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA). It was a busy year for the awards, with many of the numerous categories having up to 10 nominees.  And of course, entries with an interest for furry fans were well-represented. The big winner of the evening was clearly Rango, with five wins including the big one, Best Animated Feature.  It also won for Writing, Character Design, and Editing, as well as the new Members’ Favorite category (the single category voted on by all ASIFA members, regardless of their professional or fan status). Interestingly, it was not a complete Rango sweep, as Rio won for Character Animation (by Jeff Gabor) while Kung Fu Panda 2 won for Production Design, and Best Director (Jennifer Yuh Nelson). Secrets of the Masters, the back-up short included on the Kung Fu Panda 2 DVD, also won for Best Animated Special Production (which honors OVA’s and direct-to-DVD projects). Disney’s 2D Winnie the Pooh also racked up one win, for Feature Film Storyboards by Jeremy Spears.  The winner of Animation in a Live Action Production (a new category that was just introduced last year) was Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Minkyu Lee won Best Animated Short Subject for his 17 minute 2D film Adam and Dog. In the category of Best Game, the honor went to Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, the creation of well-known funny animal and fantasy cartoonist Michel Gagne. In the television categories, the big winner of the night was Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice from Disney, which won four awards.  (However the big prize, Best General Audience TV Production, went to perennial favorite The Simpsons). Penguins of Madagascar won for Editing in a TV Production, and Voice Acting (for Jeff Bennett as Kowalski). The entire show as hosted by comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, the voice of Remy in Pixar’s Ratatouille.  At the after-awards dinner party, Rango director Gore Verbinski remarked that the show was “The strangest thing I’ve ever seen”. We’d be hard-pressed to argue. For a complete list of all the winners and nominees, make sure to visit the Annie Awards web site. And remember, a membership in ASIFA not only gets you a discount on tickets to the Annie Awards, but lots of animation screenings and seminars throughout the year as well.

image c. 2011 Paramount Pictures

From Africa to Europe

Dec 21st, 2011
by rodney.
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The trailers have begun to arrive for Madagascar 3, Europe’s Most Wanted, coming next June in 3D from Dreamworks Animation (of course). It’s directed by Eric Darnell (who co-directed the first two Madagascar films) and Conrad Vernon (Monsters vs. Aliens). Here’s the plot as described by the Wikipedia entry for the film: “Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippopotamus (Jada Pinkett Smith) set out to return to New York after escaping to Africa. Dependent on the mechanical know-how of the notorious monkeys and penguins, their plan inevitably goes awry and they find themselves stranded in Monte Carlo, where they try to escape Europe from animal control by joining up with a traveling circus by chance. Led by the venerable tiger Vitali, the animal-centered circus has seen better days. During the course of a tour through a series of European cities that ends in a fabulous big top in the heart of London, Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria help Vitaly, Gia the jaguar, and Stefano the sea lion, rediscover their passion for show business and reinvent circus performance.” In other words, they show them how to move it, move it…

image c. 2011 Dreamworks Animation

Happy Birthday … to Me!

Dec 18th, 2011
by rodney.
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This is no one’s idea of a personal blog, but when your ever-lovin’ ed-otter turned 47 yesterday he received two books from his family that are so cool and so furry that he just had to give mention to them — again. Both of them feature behind-the-scenes looks at recent Dreamworks Animation films, and both of them are available now (here and here) in hardcover from Insight Editions. The Art of Puss in Boots is edited by Ramin Zahed (veteran editor of Animation Magazine) with a forward by famous director Guillermo Del Toro. The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2 is edited by Tracy Miller-Zarneke (who worked on numerous animated films including Chicken Little and The Emperor’s New Groove) with a forward by famous actor Dustin Hoffman (aka Master Shifu). Both books feature so much background artwork and character development for these two very furry films that the reader may find themselves wondering which are more interesting: The final character designs or the sketches leading up to them.

image c. 2011 Insight Editions

 

The Annie Awards Are Announced

Dec 9th, 2011
by rodney.
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On December 5th nominations were announced for the annual Annie Awards, presented by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA). These are the Oscar Awards of animated cartoons, people, and every year their prestige in Hollywood circles seems to increase. As usual the nominations for 2011 included several films and TV series of interest to furry fandom — as well as a few of what are likely to be considered glaring omissions. Taking their cue from the Oscars themselves perhaps, this year the Annie Awards have no less than 10 nominees for Best Animated Feature Film, up from the usual 5 of years past. Notable anthropomorphic films up for the honor include A Cat in Paris, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, Rango, and Rio.  Nominees for Best Animated Special Production (i.e., direct-to-video or DVD) include Adventure Time: Thank You, Ice Age: Mammoth Christmas, Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters, and Prey 2 — but not, interestingly, Dreamworks’ Gift of the Night Fury. Among the nominees for Best Animated Television Production for Children are Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Penguins of Madagascar. Conspicuous in their absence perhaps: My Little Pony — Friendship is Magic and the reboot of Thundercats. What’s up with that? The Annie Awards will be presented at a gala Hollywood ceremony on February 4th, 2012, at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California. You can find out more about the Annie Awards, including the full list of nominated productions and people, at the Annie Awards web site.

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