The Lord/Miller 'Spider-Man' Will Feature Miles Morales

It was heavily rumoured that the Spider-Man in the animated film produced by Chris Miller and Phil Lord would be Miles Morales, not Peter Parker. Sony has now confirmed it during a presentation in Los Angeles (and on twitter). Get the details below.

Guest Review: Rise of the Guardians

By Damien.

Who Am I?

A Weird Rise of the Guardians Guest Review.

Maybe I'm a visionary genius. Or maybe I'm the biggest idiot on Earth... Just look at one of my comments on this very blog, talking about Rise of the Guardians a few months ago :

"I'm somewhat excited for this film, but I think it's not gonna be a huge hit internationally, with the differences in popular cultures.

Basically, in France :

- Santa Claus : Okay, "le Père Noël" is pretty much the same thing. Exactly even.

- Easter Bunny : Replaced by Bells. Yes. Bells bring the eggs.

- Tooth Fairy : Replaced by a small mouse : "la petite souris".

- Jack Frost : Who is this ???"

Rise of the Guardians Review - A Magical Film Worth Believing In

*This review is largely spoiler free, but read cautiously if you haven’t seen the film yet*

Fan, critic or somewhere inbetween, there is no arguing that DreamWorks have been on the up in the past few years. Having previously output beloved films like Shrek, DreamWorks became more defined for their asinine comedy, evident in films like Shark Tale and Over the Hedge. Since 2008 though, it's been an entirely different story. Kung Fu Panda was fantastic, as was its sequel; Monsters vs. Aliens, Megamind and Puss in Boots were lots of fun, and the studio reached a plateau with 2010's near flawless How to Train Your Dragon - the film that showed that world that DreamWorks could compete with Pixar on pretty much every level. While their latest, Rise of the Guardians, never quite reaches the incandescent brilliance of Dragon, it does rival the masterful storytelling, impeccable visual style and surprising heart of the Kung Fu Panda films.

Watch: Roundtable Discussion with Animation Directors

The L.A. Times have posted an absolutely enthralling roundtable discussion with five animated film directors, in anticipation of the very tight Best Animated Feature competition at awards season this year. Hosted by L.A. Times reporter Rebecca Keegan, the roundtable includes Mark Andrew (Brave), Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians), Chris Butler (ParaNorman), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Genndy Tartakovsky (Hotel Transylvania).

It's not all too equal a discussion, Rich Moore and Mark Andrews tend to dominate it, and it would've been nice to see Brenda Chapman and Peter Lord in the mix, but it really is brilliant! The start's your general stuff: talk about your film, your studio, your team, etc..., but it really takes off in the last fifteen minutes or so, when the conversation turns towards animation as a medium, the problem with American animation, and the directors' shared interests in seeing more 2D animated films, more adult animated films, and the versatility of animation as a medium.

Check it out!

Via Cartoon Brew.

Rise of the Guardians in US Cinemas Today - What Are the Critics Saying?

It's been quite a ride: anticipation running high, speculation that this could be the greatest DreamWorks film yet, some mixed reviews, some more positive ones, trepidation; and now US fans can find out for themselves how good DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians - playing now in the US - actually is!

Check Out Some New Rise of the Guardians Clips

The holidays are almost upon as, and DreamWorks rolls out its seasonal offering next week, the Peter Ramsey directed Rise of the Guardians. The film, based on William Joyce's Guardians of Childhood book series, sees childhood icons Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost join together to fight the malevolent Boogeyman, Pitch.



So, DreamWorks are in full promotion mode and have released three new clips from the film, and an interesting behind the scenes peek at the many looks of the film (above). Check out the clips after the jump break.

DreamWorks Release Spate of New Rise of the Guardians Featurettes

On the back of the release of the fantastic accompanying 'Art of' book, DreamWorks are hard at work promoting their latest animated feature film, Rise of the Guardians. Today, they bring us some fantastic new featurettes for the film, introducing us to each of the film's iconic characters; as well as one with words from the team behind them.



The featurette for Rise of the Guardians' reimagining of Santa Claus, North, voiced in the film by Alec Baldwin, is embedded above. Alas, DreamWorks have inexplicably disabled embedding for the remaining featurettes, so check them out at the links below!

• "Meet the Tooth Fairy"
• "Meet Sandman"
• "Meet Bunnymund"
• "Meet Jack Frost"
• "Making Dreamsand"

Sandy in particular looks like a whole bunch of fun, and the all-star voice cast lends the film a lot of character. As for the animation, it looks every bit as gorgeous as the concept art The Art of Rise of the Guardians shows off!

The Guardians - described in the "Making Dreamsand" featurette by director Peter Ramsey as "the original superheroes" - arrive in cinemas on 21st November (US) and 30th November (UK), and I can't wait!

DreamWorks Release Two New Rise of the Guardians TV Spots

DreamWorks have been on a major roll since Kung Fu Panda in 2008, outputting a series of great films, and reaching particular highs over the last two years with How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda 2. But with their latest film, - the last under their current distribution deal with Paramount - Rise of the Guardians, they seem to have made their best film yet.

Today, DreamWorks released two new TV spots for the film, which you can view above and below. The spots showcase the epic, Avengers-like, team that the Guardians form, as well as the gorgeous visual style, and trademark humour, of the film. I love the balance of intensity and comedy - I laughed particularly hard at the "knock him out" bit in the "Secrets" video.



The animation, the colours, the worlds - the entire visual style is stunning, and the film looks, definitely, to be one of 2012's best animated films. To see more of the gorgeous style of the film, check out The Art of Rise of the Guardians, out now - or better yet, enter our competition to win a free copy!

Rise of the Guardians, directed by Peter Ramsey from the books by William Joyce, hits US cinemas on 21st November, and UK ones on 30th.