Thursday 24 April 2014

Frozen's Box Office Success Aftermath: Is Big Hero 6 In Danger of Overly High Expectations?


As you may already know, (unless you've been living under a rock for the past 5 months) Frozen is a worldwide phenomenon. It won two Oscars, people sing "Let It Go" everywhere, and it has grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. This is all great news for Walt Disney Animation Studios, who have been staging this kind of comeback since 2007. Frozen is the result of years of great effort from the hard-working Disney crew, to try and turn things around and became the creative powerhouse they once were way back in the 90s. Still, one question arises after this kind of success: what's next? Will their next films earn anywhere near the same amount of money? One can dream, but $1 billion grosses are not something that can be earned that easily. This puts their next film, Big Hero 6, in a difficult position regarding its box office revenue.

Watch The First 5 Minutes of How to Train Your Dragon 2 Here


A couple of days ago, Yahoo! Movies released the first five minutes from what may well end up being the best animated film of the year. Yep, DreamWorks released an extended look at their hotly-anticipated How to Train Your Dragon 2! Check it out below.

First Look: WDAS' Next Short Film, Feast


Walt Disney Animation Studios have announced their next short film - and released a title card and a snazzy concept first look at it, too - which will apparently debut at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on 10th June. The short, Feast, will then open wide with the studio's next feature film, Big Hero 6, this winter.

Tuesday 22 April 2014

[UPDATED] (Very) Early Oscar Predictions for Best Animated Feature


I know most animated films scheduled for this year haven't even been released yet, but I think it'll be fun to make some predictions based on what we know of each film and weigh up their chances of receiving a nod next year for the next Oscar ceremony. So, without much further ado, here are my (very) early predictions for next year's Academy Awards.

Monday 21 April 2014

Ed Catmull Takes Us Inside Pixar

A Creativity, Inc. Review


I'm not usually one for management books. To be honest, I don't recall reading one in the past. I don't think I ever thought to myself 'Yowzah! This management book looks so exciting I can barely restrain myself from exploding with joy!' - by the way, if you have said these exact words to yourself at any point in your life, you're an interesting subject matter.
And yet something in Disney and Pixar president Ed Catmull's book, Creativity, Inc., (co-written with journalist Amy Wallace) felt weirdly attractive: the promise of learning more about the two studios, as an animation fan, seemed exciting; Mr. Catmull should have great insight on these companies and on the films they produced in the recent years. And, unsurprisingly, when you read Creativity, Inc. you find out quite a lot of things about just that. What takes you by surprise, though, is how much you relate to the management segments.

Friday 18 April 2014

Animation Studios' Shophomore Films - From Worst to Best


Many times, animation studios start very strong with a debut feature that is beloved and popular. But, when the time comes to release their second outing, they often stumble. Either they are just a retread of the first film or just aren't as successful as it. However, many of these films have actually improved on their predecessors and are now regarded as masterpieces. Let's take a look on these second (and often underrated) efforts and see how they compare to their immediate predecessors.

Monday 14 April 2014

Watch: How Frozen Should Have Ended (Warning: Contains Hilarity)


Frozen's everywhere at the moment. "Let It Go" has been covered approximately 2.7 billion times (rough estimate), it's now the eighth highest-grossing film ever made, and you can tell it's big, because it's being furiously parodied. We already got the Honest Trailer for the film last month, and now the folks at How It Should Have Ended have released a Frozen video too. And it's hilarious. Check it out after the jump!

Saturday 12 April 2014

BFI Studio Ghibli Feature Film Retrospective


The British Film Institute Southbank will be hosting a retrospective on Studio Ghibli's work over the last 30 years from April through May this year. Not only will they be showing all of their biggest films, but they will also be screening The Wind Rises before it even hits theatres on 9th May. Although the showing of The Wind Rises is set for 23rd April and is already sold out, there are still many films on the roster that are definitely worth taking a look particularly as these films are meant to be enjoyed on the big screen and not on a television set.

Friday 11 April 2014

New UK Trailer and Release Date for The Wind Rises


The Wind Rises will finally show in the UK on 9th May! Thanks to The Telegraph, we also have a new trailer just for the occasion. Check it out:

Watch: New How to Train Your Dragon 2 Trailer (But Beware, There Be Spoilers)


DreamWorks have rolled out a second full-length theatrical trailer for their hotly anticipated sequel to 2010's How to Train Your Dragon! The film looks extremely exciting, with lots of intense action and warm humour, but this trailer does pack the same spoiler as the previous one. So if you want to go into the film un-spoiled, maybe give it a swerve.

Monday 7 April 2014

Wreck-It Ralph Composer on Sequel: "A Story is Indeed Being Written"


Henry Jackman, who has just recently scored Marvel's buzz-generating Captain America: The Winter Soldier (and who has just been announced as scoring Disney's upcoming Marvel adaptation, Big Hero 6), spoke to Collider recently. One very interesting topic of conversation was the rumoured sequel to 2012's Wreck-It Ralph; the composer, who scored the film, says he thinks the film is "officially on the cards."

Henry Jackman to Score Disney's Big Hero 6

Credit: Paul Briggs

Henry Jackman has worked with Disney before - he scored 2011's Winnie the Pooh, 2012's Wreck-It Ralph and he's just done Captain America: The Winter Soldier for Disney-owned Marvel - and now he's apparently working on the score for Walt Disney Animation Studios' Marvel adaptation, Big Hero 6, says Film Music Reporter!

Friday 4 April 2014

The Art of The Wind Rises Book Coming Very Soon


Since it was announced that The Wind Rises would be Hayao Miyazaki's final film, I have been anticipating the release of the art book. Viz Media announced last week, via the Anime News Network, that they would be publishing The Art of The Wind Rises on 8th April - which is just days away - for the price of $34.00 USD/$39.99 CAN.

Watch: First Trailer for Aardman's Shaun the Sheep Movie


The teaser trailer for Aardman's sixth feature film, Shaun the Sheep Movie, has made its way online. And, un-shockingly, it looks great! Check out the baa-rilliant trailer below.

Thursday 3 April 2014

Totoro Limited Edition T-Shirts!

If you love Studio Ghibli as much as I do (and that's quite a lot), then you go out of your way to commemorate your devotion by looking for awesome fan swag all over the internet. While most people find books, toys, even plush "animals", I still think the best way to show your fanaticism is by wearing it on a t-shirt.

I woke up this morning to find that my favourite online shirt company has released, for 24 hours only, TWO limited edition Totoro designs that are just awesome. Check them out:


The way TeeFury works is simple: they release one (sometimes two) limited edition t-shirts for just 24 hours and if you purchase it for only $11 (plus shipping duh), then it's like you become part of this secret society...I may be stretching that a bit. Regardless, the designs are cool and the fact that you own one of only a few hundred prints of each shirt is kind of awesome to think about.

If you love the graphics above, act fast! There are only 13 hours left... and counting.

Tuesday 1 April 2014

The Incredibles 2 and Cars 3 to Actually Be the Same Film, Says Iger


A couple of weeks ago we got the mammoth news that Disney and Pixar were going ahead with sequels to The Incredibles and Cars. Now we've got news which is even bigger: Disney CEO Bob Iger says that the two films will actually be one; a crossover film which will lay the groundwork for a "Pixar Cinematic Universe."