Rio Released

Blue Sky Studios' sixth animated feature film, Rio, is released today over here in the UK. As regular blog readers will know, Rio is one of the animated films that I am most looking forward to this year and I am still very hyped for it. Rio currently holds an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (100% from Top Critics) and the positive reviews are making me want to see it even more.

Unfortunately audiences in the US will have to wait until the 15th to see the film. Personally, I will be going to see the film this weekend so keep an eye out for the review.

Pixar Tidbits

Over the past few days we've got some little bits of interesting news from Pixar:

Firstly, we've got a look at 2 brand new Cars 2 characters. Max Schnell and Miguel Camino are two previously unheard of characters and while we'll have to wait a while for some descriptions and turntables the characters certainly look cool and you can view them both above.

Secondly, we have 3 new retro style Cars 2 posters, working even more to promote Pixar's 12th feature, out, here in the UK, in July (above).

Finally, continuing Pixar's repackaging and re-releasing of all of their films on Blu Ray with new Box Art, we have the new cover for the Blu Ray of Ratatouille (above). Can't wait to see the rest of them, it's a really good look.

Update

We now have the 2 turntables for the above characters:

Monsters University Delayed

2012 was due to be the year where Pixar changed their game plan and brought out 2 films in the same year, but no longer. Next year Pixar were due to release Brave and Monsters University (formerly Monsters, Inc. 2), however today (via Box Office Mojo) we were infiormed that MU has been delayed from November 2, 2012 to June, 2013. Whilst this is by no stretch a bad thing, as it means Pixar will have more time to try and live up to the original Monsters, Inc. and retain their standard, it seems bizarre that this announcement should come just after so much news about the film had been revealed.

I'm sad that I'll now have to wait until June 21, 2013 for the film, but I'm assuming it's for the best.

Cars 2 Viral Campaign Begins

In the same vein as last year's "vintage" Lotso commercials, we now have a viral advert promoting Cars 2. The above video is advertising a "sale-a-bration" blow out at Cars 'n' Deals of Emeryville, California (home of Pixar) and whilst the actual video is really funny, what it leads to is awesome.

For want of not ruining all of your individual discoveries of the "secret" Cars 2 clip, all I'll say is pay close attention to the small glitch in the video. If you absolutely give up follow this link to the "secret" clip.

Nonetheless, the clip is great and offers some new footage and an actual look at the film, however the viral ad is also really good and has lots of Pixar trivia (A113 registration plate anyone?) for us die-hard fans to enjoy.

This got me even more psyched for Cars 2!

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.