Yesterday I was lucky enough to get tickets to an early screening of Pixar’s latest feature, Monsters University, the prequel to their 2001 blockbuster Monsters, Inc. As I made my way along London’s Southbank towards the British Film Institute, my excitement grew as this wasn’t just a screening of the film but also a Q&A session with the film’s producer Kori Rae and its director Dan Scanlon.
Great news today as an animated short is being adapted into a feature film. The multi award-winning French short, directed by Patrick Jean and titled Pixels, came to our computer screens 3 years ago receiving over a million views in one night. Amongst 30 other awards the short was the recipient of the prestigious Annecy Cristal at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival back in 2011.
My geek-o-metor just snapped in twain! Zack Snyder, director of comic book movies 300, Watchmen and the eagerly anticipated Man of Steel, is teaming up with Bruce Timm, creator of Batman: The Animated Series and Jay Oliver, director of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and story board artist on Man of Steel, to work on an animated Superman short for Warner Bros… and breathe.
If like me you eagerly await the Despicable Me sequel then news of a spinoff staring the films loveable, slapstick henchmen The Minions, should get the blood pumping. Mad Men’s John Hamm and Sandra Bullock have signed on as voice talent for Illumination Entertainment’s next feature.
Aardman studios have collaborated with brand agency The Frameworks to create a 2D digital animation for Durrell, a Jersey based conservation group committed to saving species from extinction. The charming animation follows the journey of the last Dodo on earth (voiced my Alistair McGowan) while he searches for a mate. The film also features several other endangered animals with which Durrell works including the Hispaniolan Solenodon, Pied Tamarin, Ploughshare Tortoise, Floreana Mockingbird, Pink Pigeon, and the Mountain Chicken Frog, who narrates the story and is voiced by Stephen Fry.
The voice of Disney’s infamous, turtle neck wearing hound, legendary voice talent Bill Farmer, will be putting his talents to work on one of Pixar’s up-and-coming films. The star tweeted this morning:
‘Had a great day on Stage B @ Disney doing voicework for the very new Pixar film.
#tarastrong,#JimWard,#PhilProctor, & the fun people!’
More exiting Aardman news today, the English animation studio has teamed up with French distribution company, Studio Canal, for a Shaun the Sheep feature-length film. The character first appeared in Aardman’s Oscar-winning short film, A Close Shave, and since then has been the main character in a self titled TV show that has aired in over 170 countries.
Yesterday morning, slightly strange and oddly exiting news has arisen that there is a Ratchet and Clank movie in production. The popular computer game from Insomniac Games will be the basis for an intergalactic origin story of how the two title characters met. The trailer can be seen below…
‘Bad news everyone’ Futurama has been cancelled… again. The Annie Award, Emmy Award winning, animated sitcom is to face the chop from their facilitating channel Comedy Central. This is the second time the show has met its maker after Fox cancelled the show back in 2003. The team bounced back, with four straight-to-DVD movies, which Comedy Central aired as a 5th season. Due to its popularity, Comedy Central revived the series and since then we have had 2 more series. This includes the 7th series, due to air its last 13 episodes in June of this year.
Unfortunately the next installment of Wallace and Gromit’s ever expanding resume will not be a feature-length film. Aardman’s famous duo, who have traveled as far as the Earth’s moon, will not be going abroad this year. Instead the plasticine partners will be touring the country as part of several adverts made to encourage the British public to book with their local travel agents and sample some home delights instead of vacationing abroad.
Animation Fascination 