2nd Annual A113Animation Awards Nominations

I've just revealed the nominations for the 2nd Annual A113Animation Awards, to praise and reward the very best of animation from the past year, to be handed out on the 29th December.

Cars 2 and Rio got the most nominations at 8, Kung Fu Panda 2 got 7, The Adventures of Tintin and Tangled got 6, Rango got 5, Puss in Boots got 3, Winnie the Pooh got 2 and Gnomeo and Juliet got 1.

The 5 films nominated for the top award, Best Animated Film, are:

• The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
• Cars 2
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Rio
• Tangled

Also, note, Tangled is nominated for awards as, although it came out in November last year in America, it arrived over here in the UK in January 2011. For the whole list of nominations, head on over to the A113Animation Awards page.

Also, remember to vote in the poll to the right, to decide the People's Favourite Animated Film Award.

Gnomeo & Juliet Released on DVD/Blu Ray in the UK/Semi-Review

On June 6th (next Monday) Gnomeo and Juliet, a film several years in the making, that was originally planned at Disney before being shut down by John Lasseter after the 2006 Disney/Pixar merger and eventually picked up by Starz Animation, comes to DVD and Blu Ray here in the UK.

The film, based on William Shakespeare's classic play, Romeo and Juliet, came out in early 2011 here in the UK and was met with a quite good box office reception and a not bad critical reception.

Personally, I'd give the film about a 6.5/10, it was very funny and had a fairly sound story (as it was based on a play written by the genius that is Shakespeare), the film also had very solid voice acting (James McAvoy, Emily Blunt et al) and had really good music (from Elton John and Lady GaGa). However, it's not particularly great, the characters are so-so - nothing original - and easily forgettable, the animation is also a bit clunky and certainly is nowhere near the best I've seen this year ( *cough* Rango *cough*). However, there are enough laughs, jaunty tunes and Shakespeare/nerd references (i.e. the house numbers: 2b and not 2b and some glue labelled 'Taming of the Glue') to make this a wholly enjoyable - if not entirely memorable - film.

I'd probably recommend renting it as opposed to buying it, but the decision rests with you. It's still a good film.

Gnomeo and Juliet Trailer 2

By this point I hope you've all seen the first trailer for Gnomeo and Juliet, a film being made by Starz Animation (it was originally going to be made at Disney until John Lasseter shut it down following the Pixar merger) with an all star British cast. I recently saw the second U.K. trailer with a screening of Despicable Me, it is looking pretty sweet.
Great line up of animated films for 2011 so far.