UPDATED - Selick in Talks to Take Shademaker to Laika (Or Not)

Director Henry Selick (left) and Laika CEO Travis Knigt (right)

IndieWire is reporting that The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick is in talks to take his, previously tentatively titled, Shademaker, to Laika!

The project was being produced by Selick's Cinderbiter/ShadeMaker Productions, alongside Brain Trust members from Pixar, until news recently broke that Disney had pulled the plug. Claims were that the film's story wasn't where Disney wanted it to be and that production was lagging. The rumours emerging today though claims that Selick is shopping the idea to Laika, whom he previously worked with on 2009's Oscar nominated Coraline.

IndieWire also offers up some rumoured details about the film's plot and style:

I'm told that the once-titled "ShadeMaker" is the story of two brothers, and that it takes Selick's special brand of surrealism into a new direction. The sets are spectacular (especially Central Park) and they've been and they've been making use of a similar Rapid Prototype 3D printer for replacement heads that Laika introduced on "ParaNorman."

It's a shame that Selick's deal with Disney fell through - it might lead to awkwardness if/when he returns to make the planned adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book - but the film certainly seems a good fit for Laika and we know they work well together! Be sure also to check out our review of Laika's latest film, ParaNorman!

Via Craig Good and HitFix.

UPDATE: 27/09/2012 - 00:07 (GMT)

Times look dark Selick fans, and not good, Coraline, dark. /Film reports that whilst Henry Selick did meet with Laika, the talks "went nowhere and Laika will not fund its former director’s project." First Showing also reports that the film, apparently now titled The Shadow King, is not being taken on by Laika, and is seemingly done for.

Selick supposedly sent a memo to the team at Cinderbiter, saying that Laika chief Travis Knight couldn't figure out a financially sound way to continue production on the film. Selick could shop the film around some more, but following knock-backs from his two biggest options, it might be time, sadly, to move on.

Sad news for sure, especially so short after hearing that Digital Domain's closure meant the end of The Legend of Tembo. But here's hoping it gets picked up somewhere else in the near future, and we here at A113Animation wish the very talented Mr. Selick and all on the Cinderbiter crew all the best in whatever they go on to next!

An Interview with Mark Andrews - Reveals Who John Ratzenberger's Voicing in Brave

Briefly, Holy Moly! an entertainment and celebrity news site, has an interview with Brave director, Mark Andrews, about the upcoming film. Mainly the interview is your standard interview stuff: 'the film looks great', 'what were its origins?', etc..., etc..., however, one particular point of interest for Pixar fans, is that Andrews finally sheds light on John Ratzenberger's role in the film!

John Ratzenberger, the actor who has voiced a character in every Pixar film, from Hamm in the Toy Story films, to the Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc., has become as famous and craved in Pixar films as the Pizza Planet Truck or A113 (the code for which this site is named). For several months, throughout all of the fantastic trailers, great concept art and voice cast reveals, it's not been mentioned who Ratzenberger will be voicing, and this is the first article I've seen that sheds light on the matter.

The following exert comes from Holy Moly!'s interview with Andrews, after enquiring about the Pizza Planet Truck (yes, it will be there... in 12th century Scotland):

On the insider joke front then how's John Ratzenberger's Scottish accent?
MA:"Er… it's good. It's not bad. He had a couple of goes at it. But yeah he got it. He's one of the guards in the back. If you can't pick him out, we've done our job and nailed it.""

So, there you have it, you may not be able to recognise him, but John Ratzenberger will be voicing a Scottish guard.

Brave's director also mentioned a distaste for Disney films and the classic fairytale story, so if you hadn't already gleaned that Brave won't be your average fairytale, prepare now.

Check out the full interview over at Holy Moly!

Via Pixarian Craig Good's Twitter.

A113Animation featured on The Pixar Podcast

I completely forgot to post this until now, but I recorded an intro for The Pixar Podcast that was aired in front of the latest news episode. Thanks to Derrick Clements (who runs the podcast) for featuring it on the podcast and I encourage you all to listen to The Pixar Podcast every week, it really is brilliant. Derrick has had interviews with real Pixar animators Chris Chua, Austin Madison and Craig Good, as well as with Disney director Don Hahn, so I feel honoured to be featured (even in a small way) on the podcast.

Thanks, once again, to The Pixar Podcast and Derrick.