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Animated Movies Blowout Oh my. Oh me. The Buzz Cut is back after the longest hiatus in its short history. Sorry for the delay, but between heading out for vacations, fixing broken computers, preparing for another school year and weeping over Mario's departure for Calarts, my plate's been a bit full. There are a number of movies heading to an overpriced theater near you in the coming months and years. Heavyweights DreamWorks and Fox (via Blue Sky) are still chasing repeats of their monstrous box-office successes, Shrek and Ice Age. Meanwhile, Disney is ramping up for what will likely be the last big budget traditional-animation movie it releases. And Pixar? The reigning champ is currently working on a slew of films while simultaneously attempting to iron out a new partnership deal with Disney. Exciting times, indeed. So let's take a look at the movies confirmed for 2003 and 2004. In part two, we'll explore the movies for 2005 and beyond. Friendly links for your convenience:
According to Disney, "The powerful and playful bond between brothers, and man's bond with nature, are explored with great drama" in Brother Bear. The movie follows the adventures of Kenai, who is transformed into a bear after killing one, and sees the world through an entirely new perspective. His brother, Denami, comes across Kenai as a bear and believes this bear actually killed Kenai. Denami swears to gain revenge for his brother's death, and now the only way Kenai can survive is to befriend his own worst enemy: a grizzly cub named Koda. This is it. Disney's last big 2D affair (and, sadly, the last 2D movie mentioned in the movies blowout). Whether Brother Bear does big business or not, the layoffs have already occurred and the old-school artists who are still with Disney are learning how to hone their craft on computers. It's a shame, really, because in the same way 2D went through a renaissance period in the early 1990s and then cooled off, the same can happen for computer animation. If an action movie or a drama bombs, you don't see Hollywood giving up on the genre as a whole, right? So why is 2D suddenly the black sheep? Bah. Enough ranting. To read more about the big studios dumping traditional animation, click here and here.
Valiant is from Vanguard Films, which partnered with Disney around this time last year to produce CG movies. So this one isn't made by Disney, but Vanguard isn't yet an established studio (in case you were wondering why it's in the "Disney" category on this list.) John Williams, who heads Vanguard and was the producer for Shrek, promises animation quality on par with Pixar. And all with a production budget under $40 million. It's a lofty claim, but thus far, Valiant isn't making Williams a liar. In other words, it looks off the hizzle. (Sorry ... that's the last reference I will make from hip-hop culture.) Pixar's next movie is about a dysfunctional family of superheroes. While trying to live a quiet life in the suburbs, they are suddenly called back into action to save the world. The trouble is, they can't seem to stop squabbling amongst each other long enough to fight supervillains. This puppy looks like it will be another classic by Pixar. It's really too early to tell, but judging by every one of the studio's other movies, I wouldn't expect anything less than phenomenal. Once again, Pixar continues to come up with fun stories. Shrek 2 takes place in Kingdom Far Far Away, where Shrek, Donkey and Fiona are visiting Fiona's parents. In Jeffrey Katzenberg's own words, "After returning from their honeymoon and showing 'home movies' to their friends, Shrek and Fiona learn Fiona's parents have heard their daughter has married her true love and wish to meet the husband and invite him to their kingdom. When Shrek and Fiona arrive, the fun begins, because the parents had assumed that she had fallen in love with Prince Charming. So it's a little bit of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner meets Shrek." The premise sounds humorous, but recent reports suggest that the sequel is facing story problems. It's been reported that sources close to the film are saying that the studio is trying to iron out the problems before animation ends on Feb. 1, 2004. Katzenberg is making the rounds in the press, proclaiming Shrek 2 is funnier than the original, but those reports claim many are expecting the movie to underperform when it finally hits the box office. What's perplexing some is that Shrek appears as a human being for much of the sequel, and his trusty donkey sidekick is seen as a noble stallion. Will audiences buy into the main characters from the original film having a completely different look to them? We'll see. Next year, DreamWorks will release its very own underwater adventure, Sharkslayer (or, as it might be known as by the time it arrives in theaters, Sharktale). It's a star-studded affair with characters voiced by such notables as Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese and Will Smith (of course, Brad Pitt meant nothing to Sinbad). The movie is about a young fish named Oscar, who is found at the scene of a mob boss's murder. Oscar takes the credit for it and enjoys the praise he receives for saving the reef—that is, until he finds himself really having to protect his city from sharks. Gulp! I'm anticipating this movie for several reasons, one of which is that it will spoof mob movies. On top of Robert freakin' De Niro, the cast includes Michael Imperioli and Vincent Pastore (Christopher Moltisanti and Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero from The Sopranos). Come on, these guys made careers out of playing wise guys! Judging from the way Shrek parodies fairy tales, I think we're all in for a treat. Wait a second! Maybe not. A sequel to Sharkslayer is apparently already scripted, but the film, which was once considered by Katzenberg to be the start of a franchise, may now not see a part two. Major news sites were reporting that the powers that be at DreamWorks have lost confidence in the film, thinking it has no real perspective. Crap! I wouldn't worry yet, though . It should be noted that months before Disney's and Pixar's Finding Nemo was released, sources were saying the movie was underwhelming and several notches below Pixar's other efforts. And look how that turned out. Also, some who have gotten a sneak peak at Sharkslayer say it's shaping up to be an entertaining offering from the folks at DreamWorks.
What can I say about this one? It has "generic" written all over it simply because the CG Garfield doesn't look like Garfield. Chalk this one up next to Scooby-Doo in the "Why the heck did they even make this film? Oh yeah, for money" category. Blah! The Looney Tunes are back in their first animated/live-action adventure since teaming with Michael Jordan. This time, Bugs and his posse star alongside Brendan Fraser, Heather Locklear, Joan Cusack and pro wrestler Bill Goldberg. The movie is about Daffy Duck's jealousy of Bugs. Daffy attempts to persuade the studio's vice president to let him star in a movie that was written for Bugs, but Daffy instead gets himself ejected from the building. This leads to the characters starting off on a quest for the fabled Blue Monkey Diamond, which an evil corporation is also seeking. I'm not expecting this movie to be anything spectacular, which isn't to say it'll be bad either. If you saw Space Jam, you should probably know what to expect (although this time the humans starring alongside the cartoons can actually act). If anything, at least the Looney Tunes are animated in 2D, unlike a certain stupid-looking feline mentioned above. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring a lad voiced by Tom Hanks, there are definitely some heavyweights attached to this project. The movie, based on the children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, is about a boy who refuses to give up his belief in Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, he and his skeptical friends are whisked away to the North Pole. Really, it's too early to say how this one is looking. But I love Christmas flicks so I'm already jacked. The scenes are all shot with digital cameras, with sets filled in afterward. Of course, this movie will be digital. Like I said, Brother Bear is the only flick in this movie blowout that's traditionally animated (unless you count Back in Action). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * That's it for part one. Be sure to check back soon for part two, which discusses all of the movies that will either arrive sometime in 2005 or have an undetermined release date. That includes Shrek 3, Ice Age 2, Over the Hedge with Jim Carrey, a CG Curious George and Pixar's Cars. |
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Chris Douvalas |
Fox is bringing Garfield to the big screen, but he'll be a computer-animated cat in the real world. Think Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Bill Murray voices Garfield, while Jennifer Love Hewitt will play Jon's love interest. In the movie, Jon takes Odie in, causing uproar in Garfield's life. All Garfield wants is for Odie to disappear, but when Odie does just that—being kidnapped by a dog trainer—Garfield feels responsible and tries to save the hapless pooch.
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