Oscars Tonight

I don't think I have the patience to sit through another Oscar ceremony. Maybe I'll change my mind at the last second, but something tells me that cleaning my toe nails is a better alternative.

My feelings about the best animated film category hasn't changed. Wall-E will probably win. But in my eyes, KFP deserves it.

The first 20 or so minutes of Wall-E was very enjoyable. I loved it. But after that, the movie started to nose dive. Not long thereafter, the thing crashed. I tried watching it 3 times, in an attempt to see what I missed. Same reaction each time.

Here's hoping that "Up" is a better film.

UPDATE: Two predictions came true tonight. 1- Wall-E won. And 2- I didn't watch one second of the Oscars. Instead, I spent the time on more important things. Like laundry. I was running out of underwear and my toe nails were not in need of maintenance.

KFP kicks Wall-E in the groin

Congrats to DreamWorks and the Kung Fu Panda crew. They steamrolled the competition at the Annies with 15 wins. Pixar's Wall-E? Nothing.

Good to see that I'm not the only one that thinks KFP is the better movie. Although I expect Wall-E to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. I have my fingers crossed that KFP takes it as well.

Wall-E and Coraline

Originally, this post and the next one were combined into one. Because I ended up writing more than I anticipated, I decided to break them into two posts. Unfortunately, that means this one will be short.

Wall-E did not get a nomination for Best Film. Thank goodness someone has a head on their shoulders. I'm pretty sure it will win Best Animated Film, however I'm hoping it won't. Kung Fu Panda should be the winner in my opinion.

Coraline will be releasing soon. My guess is that this film won't do very well in the box office. I'm not prepared to make a more detailed prediction. This is just a gut feeling. I just don't think it has the "it" factor. What will this mean for Laika? Troubles. More layoffs and they'll have trouble getting another film going. Too bad.

Banter

Hello everyone, welcome to Tuesday. Prepare yourself for another of my posts that hits on several topics with little structure. Let's get to it!

From out of no where, comes a short blurb over at awn.com about CritterPix studios! I was sure that these guys died and fell off the face of the planet. They are showing remarkable tenacity as they continue to keep us entertained. Check my previous posts for more information about these guys. In a nutshell... Northern California studio sets up shop to create a CG movie called "Ollie the Otter". The hub bub was at an astronomical level with articles coming out left and right how they were the next Pixar. The publicist was working overtime on this one! Months go by and they seem to lose all momentum. People left or got laid off, not sure which, then you never heard anything from them. Now, from out of the bowels of bad movie ideas, they re-emerge announcing they received $1.2 million to create a teaser trailer. The idea is that it will be so fantastic that investors will jump in to fund the entire feature.

The Otter and his zany new friend, The Baked Halibut, warm up the big screen for the animated feature about the misadventures of a sea otter who makes courageous choices in the face of adversity, yet swims an overall humorous journey.

Either these investors are completely nuts, or they have too much money lying around. Just my opinion of course, but there are so many better ideas out there. A baked halibut character? That sounds sooo wrong. These investors have balls! I'm still convinced that this film will never get made. If it does, it will turn out something like this.

Seems that Blur is FINALLY getting a CG feature film. A long time coming. This company is one of my dark horse picks to do a film. It is only fitting that they are teaming up with Dark Horse Entertainment. How appropriate! The movie is called "The Goon" and is a comic that was created in 99. It has to do with ghosts, zombies, and various paranormal craziness. Is America ready for an animated movie like this? Not so sure myself, but who knows.

The former Christmas tree manufacturer (Imagi) has secured $40 million for future CG features. These guys are currently working on Astro Boy and Gatchaman. The new money will help develop 4 CG flicks between 2009 and 2011. Despite my hatred for outsourcing, I'm become pretty okay with Imagi because they are creating their own content and not simply an outsourcing whipping boy.

Wall-E released a little while ago and edged out KFP for the opening weekends. I'm now thinking that KFP will do better world wide when everything is said and done. Too bad DWA will run these characters into the ground with 15 sequels.

You know that studio I keep going on and on about that is supposed to be forming in LA? Well actually, I've purposefully kept my mouth shut about it because it seems to be more temperamental than my wife during her special time of the month. (Boy, I hope she doesn't read this blog!) I get an update every few weeks and although the guys running the show are really optimistic, I've become more and more skeptical about it. They've been through the wringer and even though they are so close they just want to scream, it doesn't seem to be making that last step. I guess raising just under a billion dollars is a little more difficult than opening a checking account at Well Fargo. I will say that all the puzzle pieces except the very last seem to be in place. If nothing happens in another month, I'm going to give up on it.

And Lastly...

Hallelujah! Space Chimps opens very soon. Everyone get ready for the best animated experience of your life!

KFP & Wall-E

Congratulations to DWA for how well Kung Fu Panda is doing in the box office. The opening weekend was a good one. I was just a tad off in my guestimate. Oh well, I guess you can't win them all. Besides, if I were that accurate with box office opening weekends, I'd make my million on the Hollywood Stock Exchange and wouldn't be writing this lovely blog.

I'm not going to bother guessing what Wall-E's opening will be. I hold the right to change my mind, but as of now I'm not feeling it. And if I felt it for KFP, then I really must not know what I'm talking about on Wall-E.

However, I will take a guess that it will do a little less than KFP. Less? Are you insane? Short answer: "yes". I'm sure this film will be a good one, but I can't help to be annoyed by the constant barrage of television commercials I've seen recently. I'm starting to get turned off. Therefore I'm going to be a baby and say that it will do less money than Panda.

Here and there

I'm back! Okay, so I didn't really go anywhere. Real life has just interrupted my blogging efforts.

So, what's going on in the animation world? First off, Kung Fu Panda comes out this weekend. It's going to be a good one. Be sure to check it out. I think this is probably the best DWA film yet. Whether the average joe will feel the same way, I don't know.

I predict a $38 million KFP opening

Just around the corner is Wall-E. The next Pixar toon. Another good film that will probably do well and be a great charmer. Visually, I'm more interested in Panda. Pixar seems to really be tilting towards more and more realism. Not my cup of tea. I'm sure I'll still like it. The winner of the box office battle will end up being Wall-E. Someone told me that Wall-E will contain a trailer for Bolt. Disney's next CG talking animal movie.

Speaking of Kung Fu Panda. Be sure to read this interview with co-director John Stevenson. He has some interesting things to say. I especially like how he slips in that he wouldn't mind doing a live-action or MOTION CAPTURE film for his next project. Crap. Just what we need, another person in the animation world that would rather do anything but animation.

With all the animation directors leaving the business for live action films, it makes more room for new directors to come up (and eventually leave to live action). Speaking of which. Panda co-director Mark Osborne jumps into directing this film after directing the short stop motion film "More". I know nothing about this guy. Did he work at DWA for a while before becoming a director for Panda? Or did he jump immediately in that role from his short film work? Kudos for him.

The cast for the Simpson's will be making $400k per episode for their voice work. That show must be making some serious coin to afford those prices. Amazing!

I read an interesting article about the rising cost of gasoline. They analyzed what could potentially happen from the trickle down effect. Cost of gas raises freight/shipping costs, therefore raising the price of virtually everything. Some analysts say that it could potentially put a temporary reverse on the popularity of outsourcing so many things to other countries. Now, this really won't affect animation outsourcing. But one can dream. Maybe we will actually see American made products in Walmart in the coming months/years!

Variety put up another interesting animation article here. Even though they quoted Max Howard, I still liked the story! I'd have to agree that we are going to see much more of this type of animation pipeline in the future. Disney, DreamWorks, Blue Sky, Pixar, of course they will continue to do things the way they are. However, these lower budgeted projects are going to almost entirely go down this same path. Although, I would like to reiterate that it doesn't necessarily have to mean outsourcing the production work to another country. Some very crafty companies right here in the US of A could take advantage if they put their minds to it.

That's it! See you guys in another three or four months! Just kidding, I'll try to write again before that. Maybe next month! :)

The Good, Bad and the Ugly

Hi ho, hi ho, off to work we go... That has been my theme for the last few months. I've tried to find enough motivation to write for this damn blog, but I really couldn't muster it. Until now.

Here we are in March and the CG films are about to begin. Horton Hears a Who opens today! I have to say the film looks awfully pretty. This may call for an actual trip to the movie theater. I'm hoping for an over $50 million weekend for this latest Blue Sky offering. The animation industry needs it!

Kung Fu Panda is being polished and will be kicking its way to a theater soon. Jack Black can be really annoying or really funny. I have my fingers crossed that the latter is the case. I'm somewhat eager to see this.

The Disney folks have just released another Wall-E trailer. You have to hand it to Pixar for such gorgeous imagery. I'm especially delighted (did I just use that word?) by the camera work. Not wanting to be mistaken for a Pixar kiss-ass, I'll throw in that obligatory "I'm not so sure about the story" comment.

Hold on a second! You are probably asking why I'm so oddly positive about everything written so far. Keep reading my fellow smack talkers.

When I made my post many months ago regarding the Space Chimps trailer and how ugly it looked, you wouldn't believe all the emails I received. After about the 15th message, I got the point. It wasn't a real trailer, nor were those the final character looks. Because I'm such a nice guy in non-blog life, I thanked those that wrote me. Well, except for the rude and obnoxious ones. I gave them the business.

OMG!

To those rude ones, I dedicate the rest of this paragraph to you. The what I'm assuming are the final character renders that are being parlayed out recently, look almost as crappy as the ones I saw in that trailer. The chimp in the poster over on Latino Review makes me want to vomit. He looks like one of those ugly plastic faced monkeys I had as a 4 year old. Anyone over the age of 35 probably knows what I'm talking about.

I'm fairly certain that there was a conversation at some point that started like this: "Boy, that monkey looks an awful lot like a real monkey. Can we instead make him look more like a furry boy? You know, just like that kid in the super-awesome movie Jumanji?" No doubt this comment came from the same guy that said "I've got an idea for an animated comedy! What does the world like more than World War 2? Pigeons! Everyone loves pigeons AND war. Let's combined the two together!"

Maybe the story is funny and endearing and all the good things in life. However, those monkeys look like hell.

If that doesn't stir the hornets nest again, I don't know what will. Send me those loving emails! Deep down inside, you know I'm right.

Why stop there? I'm on a roll! I might as well offend even more people while I'm at it. This time it's pointed at DreamWorks and the teaser trailer for Madagascar "The Crate Escape". I ask, does this movie really deserve a sequel? I hope that it focuses on the penguins because that was the only thing worth building on. Okay, so this wasn't really that venomous of an attack. I just wanted the Space Chimps people to feel like I wasn't just picking on them. When in reality I am.

There you have it. Some positive and some negative comments. What a well rounded post. I'm so proud of myself!

Trailers

Pixar and Blue Sky have both shown new trailers for Wall-E and Horton Hears a Who respectively. Both look nice. I was originally questionable about Horton, however, after seeing this trailer and a few other goodies, I'm more optimistic!

Pixar doesn't deserve as many kudos. You only expect goodness from them. So, this is only normal.

Check Quicktime.com for the Horton trailer and Rotten Tomatoes for the Wall-E.