The Lorax Trailer

Courtesy of Cartoon Brew, today we get the first theatrical trailer for Illumination Entertainment's animation adaptation of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax.

The film looks brilliant; wonderfully innocent, fantastically animated and with a very funny, well polished story; The Lorax looks set to be a great return to form for Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind Despicable Me, after the rather disappointing Live Action/CGI mash-up, Hop. It also looks like it will do very nicely as, at least spiritually, a follow up to Blue Sky Studios' Horton Hears a Who film a few years ago.

While this may not be the perfect image of Dr. Seuss's book, it looks like a whole lot of fun and a good film besides; Dr. Seuss was a genius, and this film looks like it's going to capture that.

The Lorax Poster

A week or so ago, Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind Despicable Me - and more recently, Hop - revealed the teaser poster for their upcoming film adaptation of Dr Seuss' The Lorax.

The film follows Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination Entertainment, over from Blue Sky Studios, after Meledandri oversaw production of the previous Dr. Seuss film, Horton Hears a Who over at Blue Sky and hits theatres March 2, 2012, directed by Despicable Me director, Chris Renaud and featuring the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron and Ed Helms.

Poster courtesy of The Reel Bits and Yahoo! Movies.

Tank-a-mania!

On the flip side of success stories when it comes to animated films (most recently Rango) there are always some films that, for want of a better word, and in one way or another, tank. This year's examples of those films, so far, are Hop and Mars Needs Moms.

Hop, the second film from upstart animation company, Illumination Entertainment (the company who was, last year, responsible for the widely successful, Despicable Me) is a CGI/Live Action mash-up (a la Garfield and Yogi Bear) and seems to have fallen into the same pot hole that most of these films do; namely, bad reviews. Hop, which stars Russell Brand as the Easter Bunny who instead wants to follow his dream as a drummer, currently holds a very low rating of 24% on review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes.

We'll have to wait and see how Hop does at the Box Office, but one film that we can judge as a Box Office bomb right now, is Disney's Mars Needs Moms.

The last film from Imagemovers Digital (now closed), the company behind Polar Express and A Christmas Carol, using motion capture technology, has tanked in every sense of the word. The mo-cap method of animation is generally a very unpopular one, as it seems to cross the uncanny valley, and this is one of many reasons why the film is failing. Currently holding a Rotten Tomato score of 40% (not particularly awful), the film has grossed a meagre $30 million + and is currently on track to lose well over $100 million. It is very rare for a Disney branded film to do so badly.

We'll have to keep our eyes peeled for these films, but I wouldn't hold your breath for Hop or Mars Needs Moms.

Angry Birds Rio Review - No Need to be Angry, This Bird Can Fly

Following up from my review last week of Doodle Jump Hop, I have decided to write my second ever A113Animation Game Review. This newest review is of Angry Birds Rio, a continuation of the wildly successful Angry Birds franchise, to help promote Blue Sky Studios' next animated film (out next month), Rio.

Doodle Jump Hop Review - An Egg-celent Way to Spend Your Easter

This is the very first of a new breed of A113Animation Reviews, namely of an animation linked game. As those of you who follow the blog will know, I am soon uploading a review of Angry Birds Rio (released today), however, as previously reported, Illumination Entertainment and Lima Sky have united to promote IE's upcoming movie, Hop. That is what this very review will deal with:

2 New Hop Clips

2 new clips from Illumination Entertainment's (Despicable Me) upcoming Live Action/CGI mash up, Hop, were recently released (above and below). They show some new footage mixed in with some already seen footage from previous trailers.

Personally I don't know what to make of it, I really like the CGI bits and the main character is a great one, however the Live Action/CGI mash-ups have a bad track record (*ahem* Yogi Bear *ahem*).

I guess we'll have to wait until April 1st!

Hop vs. Rio

So, the animated film battle of the iPod game magnates has begun!

Seemingly in somewhat of a measure to take on Angry Birds and Rio, Illumination Entertainment and their upcoming CGI/Live-Action mash up, Hop, have struck back. In the most recent update for Doodle Jump for iPod Touch and iPhone, the beloved game introduced a new feature; if you change your name to Hop or E.B. (the film's main character) you can play as E.B. in the game.

This is a shrewd move by Illumination Entertainment by associating themselves with arguably one of the most recognisable iOS games out there. Not that the company behind Despicable Me needs any extra advertisement. Saying that, Hop is out on April 1st and Rio on the 15th, so there will be some competition.

You can see screenshots of how to unlock the mode and the actual mode itself above.

Also, I implore you to like our Facebook page (at the top right of the page), promoting Toy Story 3 to win Best Picture. The Oscars are tonight, so Toy Story 3 needs all the support it can get against heavy favourites such as The King's Speech and The Social Network.

First Full Hop Trailer

The first full theatrical trailer for Illumination Entertainment's (the studio behind Despicable Me) upcoming CGI/Live Action mash-up, Hop, was released yesterday. We had previously seen the teaser trailer, which seemed a little silly, but this new trailer reveals a lot more about the plot. Furthermore, I really like the main character.
Definately looking forward to Hop!

Hop Trailer

The trailer for the upcoming 2011 CGI/Live Action mix, Hop, from Illumination Entertainment, the company behind Despicable Me, has made its way online the trailer doesn't reveal much, but it looks very fun.
Another stellar animated film for 2011.