New animated film in 2009: Bunyan and Babe

Loosely based on the folklore, two children exiled on their grandfather's farm in Minnestoa discover a lair where Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox have resided since their disappearance from the Dead Forest.


Directors...

Tony Bancroft...

Director:
Mulan (1998)
Animator:
Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990) (assistant animator)
The Rescuers Down Under (1990) (animation assistant)
Beauty and the Beast (1991) (animator: "Cogsworth")
Aladdin (1992) (animator: "Iago")
The Lion King (1994) (supervising animator: "Pumbaa")
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) (additional animator)
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) (supervising animator: "Kronk")
Stuart Little 2 (2002) (animation supervisor)
Home on the Range (2004) (animator: "Maggie")

Jim Rygiel...

Second-unit director:
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Click (2006/I)
Night at the Museum (2006)
Visual Effects Director:
The Last Starfighter (1984) (senior technical mananger)
Ghost (1990) (digital effects supervisor)
Alien³ (1992) (digital effects supervisor)
Batman Returns (1992) (digital effects supervisor)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (digital effects supervisor)
Cliffhanger (1993) (digital effects supervisor)
Last Action Hero (1993) (computer graphics supervisor)
Outbreak (1995) (visual effects supervisor)
Species (1995) (visual effects co-supervisor)
Starship Troopers (1997) (visual effects supervisor)
The Parent Trap (1998) (visual effects supervisor)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) (visual effects supervisor)
102 Dalmatians (2000) (visual effects supervisor)
The Fast and the Furious (2001) (digital effects)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Click (2006/I) (visual effects designer)
Night at the Museum (2006) (visual effects supervisor)
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) (visual effects supervisor)
Eagle Eye (2008) (senior visual effects supervisor)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)



It's being made by Exodus Film Group, as their follow up to Igor (which was distributed by Sony's MGM). Exodus doesn’t have a distributor yet. It looks like they might be another Vanguard entertainment where they make their own flops and farm them out to distributors. However, of the three films Exodus did and has (Igor, this one, and a Crayon one in 2010), this one has the most promise since the art style looks well thought out and the director directed Mulan. Plus I’m not 100% sure this is an animation or a mix. However, the stylized look of Babe suggests that it’s all animated. I just can’t imagine what they’re going to do with giants to make it interesting.

- TAE