Roy Disney passes

Roy died this morning at the age of 79. Thoughts go out to his family.

Princess/Frog

Disney's re-entry into 2D w/ Princess and the Frog came up with around $27 million. It opened at #1, and despite it not having the totals of a Pixar movie, I'd have to bet that the execs at Disney are pleased.

The budget for this film was lower than the 3D films produced at either Pixar or Disney. So, $$ expectations are lower. While at first glance, it almost seems like a disappointment, the fact that it made back somewhere around half of its production costs in the opening weekend is a good sign.

I'll bet that Disney will greenlight another 2D film before too long.

Prep and Landing

Last night, Prep and Landing aired on ABC. This was a Christmas themed special made at Disney.

Unlike much of the animated content made especially for TV these days, this was feature quality. Or at least very close. The lighting, texturing, and animation were all top notch. Even the story was enjoyable (albeit predictable).

There seemed to be a surge in Holiday themed animation this year. The Monsters Vs Aliens Halloween special (missed that one!), the Madagascar Christmas, and P&L were all well done. Nice to see such an effort put forth.

For all of you filmmakers out there, there is a market for making Holiday themed content. If done well, it is something that can air every year, making money each season. Not to mention DVD sales.

If you missed it last night, head over there to Hulu to see it for yourself.

Friday thoughts...

Here we go again. A lapse between posts. I give up. I can't do this at a consistent pace. I'd apologize if there was anyone actually reading this blog.

Seems that DWA has been talking about an upcoming film of theirs. The Guardian will star Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Frost.

Click on the image for a bigger version (stolen from Cartoon Brew). I know ripping on DWA is the fashionable thing to do, but I like to buck the trend. The character and design look nice to me. As far as Leonardo as the voice. Well, I'm not very excited about that. However, maybe he can pull it off. We'll see.

On another note, I was watching Up the other day. It is a really enjoyable movie. Not Pixar's best work, but very nice. However, I did notice in parts that the lipsync looked off. Mouths didn't seem to be closing on the m's, b's, etc. Maybe something was screwed up with my BluRay disc, but it just felt wrong in more than a few places. I know Pixar is the end all and be all of animation (rolling eyes), but something just didn't feel right. Ignoring that, it was a fun movie. Also, in the extras section, when they documented their time in South America for research. That was very interesting. What an incredible place to visit. I wonder what the bill was for that field trip.

Boy, aren't you glad you came to the blog to read this lame post?