Jorge Gutierrez is Working on an Untitled Kung Fu Space Western Movie

The first concept art released for the yet untitled film

Yes, you read that right. After The Book of Life (which was received reasonably well by this blog), Reel FX and writer/director Jorge Gutierrez are teaming up again for a multi-picture deal; this partnership will first bring us a story taking its cues from three distinct cinema genres: kung fu, space opera and western.

The Book of Life Review - A Feast for the Senses

The Book of Life has been surrounded by a great amount of hype since the first stunning images of it were released to the public. After Reel FX's less than auspicious debut with last year's misguided Free Birds, The Book of Life had the immense task of making the audience care about this new studio, and the good news is, for the most part, The Book of Life succeeds in that endeavour.

The Book of Life Review: Yes to the Colours, No to the Shape

The time of the year when everything becomes dark and spooky is upon us, and with it arrives its lot of death-themed animated features. This year's iteration is a special one though, as it doesn't deliver the usual Halloween folklore and instead takes us on a journey through Día de los Muertos, the Mexican day of the dead.
Director Jorge Gutierrez and Producer Guillermo Del Toro come up with a gorgeous-looking movie; ironically, from that great strength The Book of Life also suffers. Clarifications after the break.

Watch: Stunning First Trailer for The Book of Life

Reel FX came onto the animation scene last November with Free Birds, the critically-panned time-travelling turkey film. Yeah, not the best of debuts... But the studio seems set to easily leap over that low bar with their follow-up, the Day of the Dead-inspired The Book of Life. And they've just released a rather great first trailer for it; check it out below.

This Week on A113Animation (14th - 20th October, 2013)

Apologies for the infrequency of this feature as of late (and indeed that this week's is a day and a half late!), alas the non-animation world gets in the way occasionally. All the same, there were a few really exciting bits of news this week: casting rumours for another Marvel film (it's rarely a week we don't have some of that); are Pixar working on Cars 3?; cool new stills from DreamWorks' Mr. Peabody & Sherman; a fantastic new trailer for Frozen; we've also got features, reviews, and a Disney anniversary post; and we've launched an exciting Art of Turbo competition! For details on all that, and what you may have missed during last week, check out our (kinda) weekly recap below.

Reel FX Pack In the Stars for The Book of Life

Reel FX are bursting onto the scene on 1st November, with their time-travelling turkey tale, Free Birds, and things are starting to take shape for the freshman studio's sophomore film now too. In Autumn 2014, the studio will release The Book of Life, based on the Mexican Day of the Dead (not to be confused with Pixar's film also based on the holiday - directed by Toy Story 3's Lee Unkrich - which is expected, but not confirmed, to release in 2016). And now we have an extensive star-studded cast for the film!

This Week on A113Animation (23rd - 29th September, 2013)

This has been a rather mammoth week for animation news. You can tell it's been a biggie, because where otherwise we'd get a piece of Ghibli news every couple of weeks, we've got three pieces this week! Sequel speculation, release dates, and more; we've got exciting new posters and stills from Frozen, Rio 2, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and Toy Story of Terror. Not to mention an awesome trailer for Disney's Frozen and a... not terrible trailer for Reel FX's Free Birds. All that exciting stuff, your latest Disney Retrospective and more, check out what happened this week on A113Animation.

Watch: Surprisingly Decent Trailer for Free Birds

A new poster for the film, too.

I've been vocal in my lack of interest in Free Birds, the time-travelling turkey flick from new-kid-on-the-block animation studio, Reel FX. That said, this new trailer has at least earned my curiosity. The film does still look extremely silly, but that's not necessarily solely a bad thing. The concept is quirky and fun; Amy Poehler, who voices a female turkey in the film, is always great; the film looks as if it's got similarities, thematically and visually, to Chicken Run and Monsters vs. Aliens, two very fine films; and the Hazmat suit guys are a hoot.

Check out the new trailer, via Fandango, below. I'll embed from YouTube when it's on there.

This Week on A113Animation (17th - 23rd June, 2013)

This week has brought some cool stuff. Pun intended. Disney finally thawed the ice on Frozen, their winter animated release by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, releasing some new stills and the first trailer for the film. We also got trailers for The Lego Movie and Free Birds. As well as some Marvel news, Pixar's Monsters University opened this week, so there's unsurprisingly some posts about that. For all that, your usual features (and a new one) and more, check out our weekly recap below.

Watch: Free Birds Trailer

This is the first time we've mentioned Free Birds (formerly Turkeys) on A113Animation, and likely the last. The film occurs from the flawed thought that American audiences want to feel guilty about eating Turkey on Thanksgiving, and achieves that by sending time-travellin' turkeys Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson back in time 400 years to the first Thanksgiving.