Watch: Brilliant New Trailer for Epic

Blue Sky Studios are great. They get a lot of flack sometimes for their more goofy, comic approach to animation - versus the more sophisticated stories of Pixar or, now, DreamWorks - but their films have heart, have depth, are gorgeous, and, yes, have lots of, sometimes asinine, comedy. I loved the first two Ice Age films (3, not so much; I still haven't seen 4), I loved Robots as a kid, Horton Hears a Who! was fun, and Rio was a great film! That said, the Fox-owned studio's next film, Epic, looks like a departure from their pre-existing mould, and I'm all for that.

First Look at Blue Sky Studios' Epic

Following the recent title change that turned Blue Sky Studios' (the studio behind Ice Age) 2013 release from Leafmen into Epic, and some big voice cast news, we now get our first look at the characters and animation of the film.

At this year's Licensing Expo, the above image (via comingsoon.net), showed up, showing us the huge, grand and, yes, epic scale of the film, and the heavy fantasy elements prominent in the adaptation of Moonbot's William Joyce's book.

The characters and animation look solid and we can't wait to hear more about Epic as we approach its 24th May, 2013 release date.

Also, if you haven't already, check out our interview with Blue Sky Studio vis. dev. artist, Tyler Carter, who's working on Epic!

Interview: Tyler Carter, Visual Development Artist at Blue Sky Studios

Tyler at the Student Emmys, collecting an award for his short film DreamGiver, with the team who helped create it. Watch a video of Tyler and the team talking about DreamGiver here.

Today, I am happy to share with you the latest in a series of A113Animation interviews, an interview with Tyler Carter from Blue Sky Studios! Tyler is a visual development artist at Blue Sky Studios, the studio that brought you Ice Age and Rio, meaning he produces gorgeous artwork like what you see in the 'Art of' books that accompany animated releases (my review of The Art of Madagascar 3 here), and is currently working on their recently renamed 2013 release, Epic.

Over the past few weeks, I've had the chance to interview La Luna director Enrico Casarosa and Pixar co-founder Alvy Ray Smith, and I want to thank Tyler for helping to diversify our interviews somewhat - this isn't just a Pixar blog after all. It's also been great to get the chance to speak to someone from Blue Sky Studios, I've had very little chance to talk to anyone from animation studios other than Pixar up until now, and I'm very grateful to Tyler for agreeing to do this and speaking to me.

You can check out Tyler's artwork (some of which is featured here) on his website, and read our interview after the jump break:

Blue Sky Studios' Leafmen Gets a Title Change

20th Century Fox recently announced their upcoming slate of feature films, including sequels to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (titled Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and X-Men: First Class, and - more topically given the theme of this blog - a title change to Blue Sky Studios' upcoming animated film, Leafmen.

Blue Sky's next animated release is the fourth instalment in their Ice Age series, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and following that, the newly renamed, Epic. It's hardly the most inspired title change in the world - it's a little blasé and vague; certainly a lot less magical sounding - and seems to be trying to piggyback on the simplicity of Pixar's Brave. But then again, a title means very little, and Blue Sky have a great track record, so let's hope the film turns out great nonetheless.

Epic is based on the book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce (co-director The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, author of the Guardians of Childhood series on which DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians is based) and is directed by Blue Sky veteran, Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Robots).

The voice cast was also unveiled by Fox, a voice cast that includes Beyoncé, Colin Farrell and Josh Hutcherson.

Epic is due out on 24th May, 2013, and it's a safe assumption that we'll see a teaser trailer with Ice Age 4 next month.

Via Kyle's Animated World.