Disney's Gummi Bears: The Movie

Another funny Disney movie parody...



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Sarah Palin Disney Trailer

An Alaskan hockey mom becomes Vice President in the wackiest Disney family comedy of the year! Sound familiar?



A nice Disney parody.

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The Matrix Runs on Windows

Nice animation on Clippy. Enjoy!

Blame Lassetter for Bolt and Meet the Robinsons?

We can’t blame Lassetter for the lack of success with Bolt and Robinsons. He did clean them up substantially (that’s what Disney says, and I believe them). However, I still don’t think they were worthy for theatrical release. I think they should have put them in the Disney Channel + DVD release bucket (like Tinker Bell).

Meet the Robinsons:


Disney can mess up their live action releases with dancing Chihuahuas if they want, but animated features have a legacy they need to maintain. Their animated features affect the entire Disney perception, while another Air Bud or babysitting comedy goes by without anyone caring.

Bolt:


I agree that it now rests on the shoulders of the coming movies, Princess and the Frog (2009; 2D), Rapunzel (2010; 3D), and King of Elves (2012; 2D/3D mix).

However, Pixar is going to blur that line with their upcoming Bear and the Bow (2011). It’s also a fairy tale, and I think Lasseter should have had it done in Disney instead. Pixar usually just does character pieces, not fairy tales.

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I’m mostly just excited that we get to see two Disney and/or Pixar animated films every year, and with the coming lineup, I’ll probably watch them all, starting in 2009.

MASH- Musical Swearing

The Mash Brothers are back with simulated swearing silliness! Enjoy!

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Disney/Pixar's Up (sneak peeks)

Here Pete Doctor talks a little about Up and shows you a few clips of a scene where they are near a cliff:



Got a run away in terror badge? ...



Extended clip of the "Please let me in" scene...



The original trailer (that reminds you it's a Pixar film):



Enjoy!

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Dodgeball Can Kill

Nic nac...patty WACK!



Friends of the Empire, 64PackOfCrayons, brin you this totally random dodgeball animation.

Enjoy!

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Brad Bird Gives Update on Toy Story 3 and 1906

LatinoReview was able to catch up Brad Bird at the premiere of Coraline, and got an update on his live-action debut, a big screen adaptation of James Dalessandro’s novel 1906.

“We’re looking at places to shoot it. The script I’m still working. It’s a really hard script to write. And mostly because there are so many interesting things going on in that place and that particular period of time that anytime you’re going towards something, you’re going away from 5 other cool things. So it’s been really hard for me to write. but I think it’s going to great. and we’ll see IF they have the courage to make.”

He also said there are actors involved but wouldn’t reveal any names.


Here is the plot of the novel via /Film:

Set during the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, this page-turning historical novel reveals recently uncovered facts that forever change our understanding of what really happened. Narrated by a feisty young reporter, Annalisa Passarelli, the novel paints a vivid picture of the Post-Victorian city, from the mansions of Nob Hill to the underbelly of the Barbary Coast to the arrival of tenor Enrico Caruso and the Metropolitan Opera. Central to the story is the ongoing battle fought even as the city burns that pits incompetent and unscrupulous politicians against a coalition of honest police officers, newspaper editors, citizens, and a lone federal prosecutor. James Dalessandro weaves unforgettable characters and actual events into a compelling epic.

Brad Bird also spoke with MTV and gave an update on Toy Story 3:

“It’s about ready to go into production. They’re just about finished with “Up!” and then the animators will regain their senses for a few weeks.” Though I pressed him for more details, Brad only laughed. “You’re trying to trick me! There are some new characters, yes. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

From:
http://thefilmstage.com/2009/02/06/brad-bird-gives-update-on-toy-story-3-and-1906/

Spielberg and Disney reportedly near a deal

LOS ANGELES: Steven Spielberg seems headed to the Walt Disney Co. after a surprise parting of the ways with Universal Pictures, with whom he signed a deal just four months ago.

The director's production company, DreamWorks SKG, was in advanced talks Friday on a deal to distribute its movies through Disney, according to several people who had knowledge of the talks but who asked for anonymity because no paperwork had been signed.

The deal would shore up Disney's movie studio, which has been struggling lately, reporting a 64 percent decline in operating income in the most recent quarter. It would also give Spielberg a huge global marketing platform for his family-friendly work.

Universal Pictures, a division of NBC Universal that agreed in October to distribute DreamWorks films, issued an icy statement saying it was cutting ties with Spielberg's studio.

"DreamWorks has demanded material changes to previously agreed-upon terms," the statement read in part. "It is clear DreamWorks' needs and Universal's business interests are no longer in alignment."

A spokeswoman for Disney declined to comment, as did Stacey Snider, the chief executive of DreamWorks.

Disney was a suitor for DreamWorks back in October, and Snider and David Geffen, the co-founder of the studio, were keen to align with the company. But Spielberg ultimately overruled them, concluding that he wanted to go back to Universal, where he had made his first blockbuster, "Jaws," and where he still maintained his primary offices.

Since then, however, the landscape in Hollywood has shifted. DreamWorks has been unable to find the financing to match the $500 million it received from Reliance Big Entertainment last fall to finance its exit from Paramount Pictures. Spielberg has even injected personal money.

The motion picture division of Disney, meantime, has been under pressure from Robert Iger, the company's chief executive, to improve the quality of its live-action movies and to introduce bigger "event" hits. The studio's Touchstone label has been a disaster of late, with the films "Miracle at St. Anna" and "Swing Vote" ignored in the marketplace.

Miramax, another Disney division, is having modest box-office success with "Doubt" but is a shadow of its former self. Disney has been quietly weighing the sale of the unit.

Disney also has room on its schedule to accommodate the four to six films DreamWorks plans to produce each year. In 2006, Disney limited the number of movies it makes to about 12, from as many as 20 in previous years, choosing to focus more on family films made on the Walt Disney Pictures brand. Coming movies include a fourth installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and a remake of "The Lone Ranger."

One challenge for Disney will be keeping its existing producers happy - among them Jerry Bruckheimer, no shrinking flower - while servicing the needs of DreamWorks, which can be extreme. DreamWorks has left substantial wreckage in its wake as it has hopscotched from distribution partner to distribution partner.

Paramount Pictures, part of Viacom, bought the company in 2006 but bid it farewell last autumn after a tenure marked by torrid infighting. Universal stepped in four months ago as a distribution partner, but that association quickly soured, too.

From:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/08/business/disney.1-424962.php

Only 3 Nominations this year

DreamWorks often gets shunned from the Academy's "Best Animated Film" category.

From DW's 3D films, I think only Shrek (won; beat Monster’s Inc.), Shrek 2 (lost to The Incredibles), Shark Tale (lost to The Incredibles), and Kung-Fu Panda (TBD Feb 22 09) have been nominated. (So Shrek 3, Madagascar 1 and 2, Over the Hedge, Flushed Away, and Bee Movie didn’t get nominated; DW has had more non-nominations than nominations: 4/10 or 40%.)

The Academy can nominate up to 5 films, but often they only nominate 3. Is it easier to get a nomination here than in the live-action film category? Yes, but still over half the animated films don’t get nominated.

Plus Annie Awards nominated three other animated films for picture and director categories this year that the Academy didn’t honor:

· $9.99 (2008) - Tatia Rosenthal

· Tale of Despereaux, The (2008) - Robert Stevenhagen; Sam Fell

· Vals Im Bashir (2008) - Ari Folman

(“Tale” was from the director of Flushed Away; it was a great film.)



Bolt is the first Disney 3D film to get nominated (Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, Valiant, and The Wild didn’t make it).

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Pixar president accepts first Oscar of ’09

Pixar president accepts first Oscar of ’09.



BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Host Jessica Biel wore Oscar de la Renta, but it was bearded, buttoned-down Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull who got whoops and whistles at the first Academy Awards presentation of the year.

Attendees yelled and stood for Catmull, president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, as he accepted an Oscar statuette Saturday night for a lifetime of work in computer animation. He said he was inspired by early Disney films "Peter Pan" and "Pinocchio," then name-dropped collaborators George Lucas, Steve Jobs and Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter.

"In each of the communities that I've been in, we know that when we make the movies look good, we make each other look good," Catmull said. "It's really been a great adventure."

Pixar celebrates its 23rd birthday this year and is set to release "Up" — its 10th feature — in May. Its "WALL-E" is favored to win the animated feature category at the main Oscars ceremony Feb. 22.

From:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29084865/

Coraline

Coraline could be a contender for the Oscar for best animated film, seeing how Corpse Bride was nominated for a previous year and Wallace & Grommit won best picture that year. We’ll see how good Up and Princess & the Frog are. (I think Monsters VS Aliens will be too much of a sell out for the Academy to care about it.)

I had a friend who saw Coraline. She said it was good, the 3D glasses are a bit unnecessary, it was better than the book, it wasn’t too creepy (but apparently the book is too creepy for kids), and that they drove the moral home very well (for the kids; she also saw a moral they could have driven home for the adults, but they didn’t take the opportunity).



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Ode to John Krasinski

Friends of the Empire, Jen and Kat, are back with their hilarious Ode to John Krasinski...

...or Andy Samberg...we're not really sure...



Enjoy!

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Fox takes up next Narnia film after Disney drop-out

With Walt Disney Pictures no longer on board to help launch the third movie instalment of the “Chronicles of Narnia”, 20th Century Fox has reportedly stepped in to partner with Walden Media for the next title in the Christian-themed fantasy series.

As first reported by Variety magazine, Fox and Walden plan to split production and marketing costs for "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", which is projected to go into production on a $140 million budget. Though the two companies are still working out budget and script issues, the hope is to shoot the film at the end of summer for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.

News of Fox’s role in the novel-based movie series comes one month after Disney announced that it would not be co-producing and co-financing “Dawn Treader”, citing "budgetary considerations and other logistics" as reasons behind the decision.

The announcement, which came just days before the Christmas holiday, was a disappointment to many as it placed some doubt over whether movie adaptations would be produced for the remaining books by “Narnia” author CS Lewis.

But David Weil, chief executive of Walden's parent company, Anschutz Film Group, had assured Lewis fans that Walden Media would move forward.

"We're disappointed that Disney has decided not to go forward," said Weil after Disney's announcement, according to the Los Angeles Times. "But we regard 'Dawn Treader' as an extremely valuable property and remain committed to the franchise."

In 2005, the first Narnia film, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, raked in $745 million in ticket sales worldwide on a $180 million production budget. The second, released two years later, pulled in only $419 million despite a larger $200 million budget.

Many critics blamed Disney for the second film’s less impressive success, particularly its refusal to have any pre-screenings or pursue any special marketing of the film to churches and other Christian markets, where CS Lewis is regarded as one of the most influential Christian apologists of his time.

“[F]or the first film an extensive and highly effective marketing campaign directed by Motive Entertainment (the marketing experts from Passion of the Christ fame) produced an enormous response from Christian movie goers,” noted the California-based CS Lewis Society in a statement.

“Disney however presented Prince Caspian as a strictly secular and violent, fantasy/adventure/romance, and the result was all too predictable,” it added.

Now, with Disney out the picture and Fox in, Narnia fans will be waiting for Fox and Walden to greenlight the film after budget and script concerns are settled.

According to Variety, Fox's commitment to the summer start date is contingent upon Walden's selection of a writer.



From:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/fox.takes.up.next.narnia.film.after.disney.dropout/22441.htm

The Godfather in 1 1/2 Minutes

What's your favorite part?

Why watch the full movie in two hours when you can watch this version in one and a half minutes and get all the basic plot points (sort of) in only a minute and a half?

If you haven't seen the movie, then we just spoiled all the interesting parts for you. Enjoy!!!

Starring Ryan "Insert Coin(s) To Continue" Hamaan, Jeff Prahl, Sarah Dingman, and people.

Check out Ryan's channel:
http://youtube.com/iisryan

Liked this? Check out Ryan in our previous video we did with him, Search Rap. The dude can rap like none other..

enJOY!!!

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Coca-Cola Avatar

The most meaningful peer-to-peer connections happen face to face.

If this commercial really was true-to-life, most of the guys would have turned into hot women.

Great modeling and animation though!

- TAE