Thursday, April 29, 2010

Please go vote for our 5 new animations!

Please go vote for our new cartoons! Just rate them 5 stars and leave a nice comment to vote for them!

(1) Do Not Steal: http://ow.ly/1D6cD

Agent Pineapple and Agent Coconut teach you not to steal. 3D Animation with talking fruits, set in the world of Fruits VS Bugs.

(2) Letters Are Better: http://ow.ly/1CNJ3

Alphabet Bear teaches you that letters are better when they work together. A catchy folk song featuring a guitar-playing bears and an alphabet full of dancing letters.

(3) Even and Odd: http://ow.ly/1BngU

Two monsters use this song to teach you about even letters and odd letters with the help of talking doors, a plate who likes broccoli, a vine who's sad, seven Kevins, hiding fleas, and two peas in a pod. Done in a Looney Tunes style and set to a fun rock song.

(4) Learn Your ABCs: http://ow.ly/1CNOI

The monster Zeke sings this fun and high-quality rap song about ABCs. Plus the background animation is so colorful and cool.

(5) We Share: http://ow.ly/1D5Uv  

In this folk song, the Share-If and Share Kong sing to a group of kids about the importance of sharing. Includes a robot toy, plush deer, a princess doll, and more.

======

So that's it! Please check out our animations in the Sesame Street competition and go vote for them (5 stars and a nice comment)! We appreciate it, and if we can repay the favor, please reply to this and let us know what you want us to watch, rate, comment, and subscribe!

Thanks!

- TAE

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

We Share Because We Care - our animated folk song

Join Share Kong and the Share-If as they perform for Brooke, Max, and the one girl on the left.



Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

If you like it, please vote for it in the Sesame Street contest. Give it 5 stars and leave a nice comment:

http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/438964/We-Share-Because-We-Care-folk-song/

CREDITS: Animated by Andrei from GagaManMusic. Written, Directed, & voice of Share-If by Ed 'word'' Price. Guitar, Composition, & voice of Share Kong by Nick Rogstad. -- Our 4th cartoon for Sesame Street.

- TAE

Monday, April 26, 2010

Fruits VS Bugs: Do Not Steal - our 3D animation

Secret Agents Pineapple and Coconut teach you the importance of not stealing... in their own special ways.



If you like it, go vote for it on Aniboom. Give it 5 stars and leave a nice comment:

http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/439028/Do-Not-Steal-Agents-Pineapple-and-Coconut/

CREDITS: Directed and Written by Ed 'word' Price. Animation by Ed, Armando, Aric, and Scott. Voices by Ken, Wes, and Mike. This is our 5th Sesame Street cartoon.

- TAE

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Letters Are Better - our animated folk song

Alphabet Bear sings you this song about the importance of letters while the Letter Critters run around and have fun.



Animation by Snorre. Directed and Produced by Ed 'word' Price. Music by Elisa Jiminez. This is our 3rd Sesame Street cartoon.

Please go vote for it for the Sesame Street contest by rating it 5 stars and leaving a nice comment:

http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/438808/Letters-Are-Better...-folk-song/

Thanks!

- TAE

Friday, April 23, 2010

Learn Your ABCs - our animated rap song

This one we created is a rap song...



Check it out and rate 5 stars to vote for it if you can! This is in a Sesame Street competition. You can rate it over at the Aniboom page here:

http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/437927/Learn-Your-ABCs-rap-song/

CREDITS:
  • Animation and Designs by Dazzer.
  • Produced by Ed 'word' Price.
  • Rap by Zekness aka 5 Star.

Dazzer's YouTube page, Hitmanimation: www.youtube.com/hitmanimation

Zekness' YouTube page: www.youtube.com/zekness

Thanks!

- TAE

How to Train Your Dragon - has legs!!!

Yes, it has dragon legs!



Despite an average and not great opening weekend, How to Train Your Dragon has been slowing down in box office sales...

SLOWLY.

How slowly? Well, slower than Kung-Fu Panda and both Madagascar movies. In fact, it's been slowing down so slowly that it's beating both the Madagascar movies and Monsters VS Aliens. It might beat Kung-Fu Panda.

What does that mean? What it means, is that there is newfound hope that we might get a sequel!

When a movie "has legs," that typically means that the trailer didn't excite people, but once they go see it, they love it and tell their friends. So it looks like How to Train Your Dragon is fitting in this category. Go DreamWorks go!

How to Train Your Dragon's weekend 4 box office take was $19,633,320. Kung-Fu Panda was $11,692,061 (and Kung Fu Panda is the highest-grossing non-Shrek DreamWorks animated film).

- TAE

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Even and Odd - Preschooler Animation/Music Video

We're making animations to pitch, and we wanted to do some in the preschool/education genre. So we're pitching them to Sesame Street. It's hard to come up with compelling educational animation that's only a minute or two long, but we'll try a few things.



First up is Even and Odd, where two monsters teach you about even and odd numbers. If you've got a minute, could you go to the video's Web page and give it a higher rating? There are too many competitors out there running around rating everything low.
http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/437611/Even-and-Odd-monsters-number-song/


Oh, and please let me know what your kids think as we experiment and see what kids like (if you have any little ones at home).
Thanks!

VIDEO CREDITS:
  • Written, Produced, and 4 Voices by Ed 'word' Price
  • Animated and Designs by Patrick Jenkins
  • Guitar and 2 Voices by Tyler B
  • Keyboard and Music Composition by Jeffrey B

Go here to check out Patrick's other animations:

http://youtube.com/CartoonKing3

- TAE

Sequel to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs



Good news and bad news, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs fans. Cloudy will be back! The sequel is in production. But sadly, we can exclusively reveal that the original film's directing duo is taking a backseat this time.

Earlier this week Pajiba reported a rumor that Sony was readying a sequel to the acclaimed Cloudy, based on the second children's book, Pickles to Pittsburgh. We really hoped this was happening, as we believe Cloudy was one of the most underrated films last year, and easily one of the best animated films even though it was snubbed at the Oscars. So we asked our sources and this is what we got back.



A source close to the production confirms that yes, there is a sequel in development. But directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller will only be creatively involved in the process, not directing this time around. Still the good news is the two will be working on the story, which is easily the most important part of the heart-warming first film. The classic jokes told in a modern manner paired with the plot's lovely message really sold this movie. And the new story is currently in development right now. We can't wait to see what actors return to their roles — Neil Patrick Harris had better return as the voice of Steve the monkey.

And just in case you don't remember how great Cloudy was, here are the first six minutes of the film.


From:
http://io9.com/5515454/cloudy-with-meatballs-2-is-happening--minus-the-original-directors

Here is a Amazon's description of Pickles to Pittsburgh:

We check back in with Kate and Henry as they eagerly await Grandpa's return from an unusual vacation. Kate dreams about a postcard Grandpa has sent, and the story begins.

What do you think? Do you think it will be any good? Do you think the directors want to move on to something else instead?

Enjoy!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Marmaduke movie

A combined live-action/animation Marmaduke movie, in which the Winslows and their computer-generated dog move from Kansas to California, is planned for release on June 4, 2010.



If this is a hit, then the world is over.

- TAE

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Emperor's YouTube Tips to Jacksun3

This is Jacksun3:



http://www.youtube.com/user/jacksun3

Apparently swapping out the icon on a video is a partner feature. Lame. Well, I guess that's okay seeing how the best two partner features are shared out now (autoplay and the channels box). I just realized that some of these YT artists can justify making amazing vids cuz they make enough money in ads. Hmm. That might be a worthy challenge.

Jacksun's Tiger Woods commercial parody:



So I think Jacksun's Bloopers of Therapy Session got so many views because the icon is of him shirtless (if that was cleavage instead then boom baby). (Also that Jacksun had it autoplay during lots of visits helps too.) And I think The Gift lucked out and hit a small viral pocket (sort of random how that works, unfortunately). It helped that the icon looks a little more interesting than Therapy Session.

Since Jacksun asked me... here's my advice (take it or take it or leave it or take it; note that I don't give advice like this unless I'm asked):

(1) Change the titles to "Orgasm Man - Bloopers" "Orgasm Man 2 - Theraply Session" and "Orgasm Man 1 - The Gift" - This might eventually lead to a better viral slide. I used a similar method to get my "Godfather" vid to 10K and "Bucket Full of Cheese" to 40K (and others). Jacksun has a perfect character and name; he just needs to brand it.

(2) Go sign up on the Partners Channel! He's more than ready! The only requirements are a couple hundred subbers and that your vids get at least 1K views each. He's way beyond that! Turn some of these videos into $20 bills. Hahahahaha. It's kind of a lame rate of making money (unless you're getting millions of views in your vids), but it's still worth it to make that money if you're making videos anyway. Once you're a partner, you can swap out the icons and do a better job promoting your vids.

Hope this helps!

- TAE

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Are our comments about Rapunzel sexist?

Regarding this article on changing the name "Rapunzel" to "Tangled" here:

http://theanimationempire.blogspot.com/2010/04/disney-gets-tangled-up-in-name-of.html

Dorothy's article is a little defensive and quick to call it sexist.



My comments are also not sexist, nor do I accuse Disney of being sexist. I think Disney is a little unwise to announce it the way they did and to change the name of the film. As far as beefing up the prince character goes... they have to do that. How else are they going to fill up the time?

My comments are not sexist. They are stereotypes based on factual information. Like all stereotypes, there are exceptions. However, many stereotypes are true, and this one definitely is. The mom controls the family movie ticket. If her son wants to see a movie and it isn't appealing to her and her daugheters (if she has any), then she won't go see it. Instead she will tell her son to watch it when it comes out on video and to go watch his TV cartoons instead. There is a huge young boys market on TV, but not much of one in the theaters.

Most fathers won't go see those movies with their sons either. Why? Because a father typically isn't interested in watching an action cartoon in the theater. He'd rather watch an action film instead. So he's more likely to counter to his son to go watch Iron Man than Star Wars Clone Wars.

This is why the following animated movies have done poorly in the theaters (especially in comparison to movies that are attractive to mothers): Final Fantasy, TMNT, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sinbad, Treasure Planet, Atlantis, El Dorado, Jimmy Neutron, Ant Bully, Emperor's New Groove, Osmosis Jones, Titan AE, Black Cauldron, and Iron Giant. Every time that Disney and DreamWorks has aimed more exclusively at the young boy... the film undersells.

Atlantis and its sequel sold well on video to boys at home. Emperor's New Groove also did much better on video, and it made a great TV show that was far more successful than the film. Osmosis Jones was very successful as a spin-off action cartoon, Ozzy and Drix (even though the original film flopped).

It's a stereotype based on factual information.

- TAE

Monday, April 12, 2010

Content Writer: Brian Williams - "Helen and Her Éclair"

Helen and Her Éclair

Written by Brian Youngjoon Williams, content writer, creative writer, former English teacher, and University of Washington graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. Brian is a content writer and game writer and editor.

Helen loves her food. She isn’t obese or overweight or even slightly chunky. She is, inconceivably, thin. Attractive thin at that, none of that “anorexic skeleton or her underweight sister” thin. She does martial arts and runs every day because she wants to be in shape, and she enjoys spending time with others who think the same way. But at the end of the day she loves her food more than anything else.

On this particular day it’s raining out. Not the downpour/deluge that is enjoyable to walk through without an umbrella, or the light misting that’s barely noticeable, or even the thunder and lightning storm that entices you to watch it through a window with a warm drink. Today it is something else, an unpleasant rain that is coming down hard enough to require hoods or umbrellas yet light enough to make it a hassle to use them. Helen decides to skip her daily walk and meet up with a chocolate éclair she had been waiting to eat for almost an hour. Her table is cleared except for a single placemat, tastefully arranged at the head of the table. Upon the placemat is a plate, and upon the plate is the éclair. There is nothing special about this éclair. It is chocolate and slightly cool.

“Looking good.”

Helen starts. The sound came from her éclair, the one she was about to consume.



“Am I going crazy?” She asks. There is a beat of silence in which a thousand raindrops pound into her small apartment window.

“Not really. Well, I guess you could say you are, since you asked that out loud. The room is empty except for us, and if I didn’t say that, then that means you’re hearing voices and responding to them.” The talking is coming from the éclair. Helen bemusedly looks at her plate.

“I’ve gone crazy. Food doesn’t talk.”

She stares at it, as if asking the poor éclair to defy her will. With the sound of rain echoing outside and the silence within, the only thing she hears is her own breathing.

“Well, suit yourself. I’ll be quiet then.” Helen stands up, picking up her éclair by the plate. She slowly turns it around, looking for something that could be a mouth, or perhaps a radio transmitter (though to be honest, she would be very disappointed if she found that). It was, in all respects, a perfectly normal éclair.

“How can you talk?” She says.

“Well, first I think of what I want to say, and then I say it. How difficult can that be? As for the physical bits, I know not. Ask a doctor or a baker.” The voice seems to be coming from the middle of the plate, centered on the piece of food. It has a light tenor voice, the kind of voice that people associate with talking animals.

“Have you always been able to talk?” She asks. It doesn’t occur to her that this is perhaps a faulty line of reasoning. However, before we judge, she is well balanced and intelligent with no mental illnesses. She is normal.

“I confess that there was a time before I could speak, as I was still learning how to.” The pastry replies. “I do not know how long it normally takes but that is of no concern to me.” The éclair somehow manages to sound furtive and sheepish at the same time.

“Whyever not? You are the first piece of food that has ever spoken to me.” Helen looks confused. Perhaps it is because she is justifying herself to a piece of dough with chocolate on top. Personally I feel that she is unaccustomed to being contradicted.

“Perhaps it is because I can see the end my life already approaching. It is hard to discuss the beginning when the end is racing towards you.” Helen can almost see it shrugging as it continues, “Would you wonder about your first steps as you fall off a building? Or how fast you can run without shoes on when you’re bedridden with disease?”

“I don’t know,” Helen confesses. “I always assumed I’d rather be curious about life even till the end.”

“As one approaching the end of his life, let me assure you that I am no longer curious. I mostly dread what happens once I am devoured. The part of me that isn’t dreading is scheming desperately for a way to avoid my fate.”

Helen places the plate back down of the table and slowly sits in front of it. The rain continues to beat against the window but at a less urgent pace.

“So why are you telling me this? A ploy to keep me from enjoying a delicious éclair?” Helen asks suspiciously. While she was curious about the talking food, she really wants to eat it. Perhaps this is the curse of the food lover.

“I must confess that is at least part of my intention. From what I learned most food just goes quietly. Or you kill animals and then cook them, though I can’t imagine that going too well for some of the bigger animals. Probably why people don’t eat elephants or tigers as often as cows and pigs.” Helen listens carefully while slowly getting ready to pounce.

“Maybe that’s just the way things are?” She suggests.

“If that was the case why haven’t I been eaten yet?” The éclair sounds hopeful.

“I do not know. I am trying to decide if I’m just so bored that this is all a dream. Or if I should tell people about you. Why are you so afraid of dying?” Helen says.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I have no idea what comes after being eaten.” The éclair says.

“Oh. Well then. Let me help you with that.” Helen says while picking up the éclair.



About the author:

Brian Youngjoon Williams lives in Washington state, outside of Seattle. He is a creative writer, content writer, game writer and editor, a former English instructor and a graduate from University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing.

For another amazing story from Brian Williams, please read Playmates, a wonderful story of a girl exploring the forest.

Enjoy!!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Tim Burton's Frankenweenie




Way, way back in 2007 in the same exact story announcing that Tim Burton would be bringing us Alice in Wonderland in 3D, was news that Burton would also be turning his early short film Frankenweenie into a feature stop-motion animation project in 3D as well. For a while we didn't hear much about Frankenweenie, mainly because the focus was on all things Alice, but not anymore. We reported just last week that Burton may potentially direct an Addams Family movie in 3D, but his very next animated project may actually be Frankenweenie instead, or so says AICN, who also spoke with Disney producer Don Hahn about the project.
Although there aren't any quotes, Harry says that Hahn told him "that the puppets are ready, the script is done and now that Tim Burton is clear of Alice in Wonderland, he's set to helm Frankenweenie in 3D." As a refresher, Frankenweenie was originally one of Burton's first short films from 1984 that tells the story of a pet dog brought back to life by his loyal owner. It's the perfect story to adapt into a full-length stop-motion feature and I'm glad it's moving along swiftly, not only because it will take a few years to complete the work on it anyway, but also because there can never be enough stop-motion movies. Stay tuned for more updates!

Read more: http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/03/21/tim-burtons-frankenweenie-in-3d-to-start-production-soon/#ixzz0kCI2Gl1T

Friday, April 09, 2010

Disney gets "Tangled" up in the name of Rapunzel

Here's an amusing and snarky rant...



Imagine this: A studio executive wants to market a new action movie. It has a burly male lead and an appropriately actiony title like “BOOM!” But then the executive realizes the with all the shooting and fighting and – yes – things that go boom, the movie is just too boyish. It simply won’t appeal to girls. And because girls are THE most important demographic to movie studios, the executive decides to change the movie’s name to “Kiss” and make the female character’s role bigger. And tada! Now that’s a movie we can sell!

Never gonna happen, right? Right. But now flip the original character’s gender and you have exactly what is happening with the new Disney adaptation of Rapunzel. The animated film’s name was recently changed from Rapunzel, the fairy tale everyone knows, to Tangled, something that sounds like a conditioner commercial. Disney was initially coy about the reasoning, but then the Los Angeles Times did some digging and found out the movie’s name was changed to appeal to boys.

[Editor: I love Dorothy's perspective here, but the issue isn't that extreme. The funny thing is that movies geared toward young girls sell for the whole family. Movies geared to young boys... not so much. For example, Princess and the Frog didn't do as well as hoped, but it did a lot better than Altantis and Treasure Planet (and Clone Wars, TMNT, Final Fantasy, Titan AE, Sinbad, El Dorado, etc.)!]



No, I am not kidding. You see, after The Princess and the Frog didn’t do as well as the studio had hoped (just $222 million worldwide – or, as I like to call it, chump change), they came to the conclusion it was because boys did not want to go see a movie with a princesses’ name in the title. So instead of embracing a genre it pretty much invented with its princess movies, Disney is running from its female-friendly formula and going macho.

So instead of focusing on Rapunzel, the girl locked away in a tower who uses her long, flowing tresses to help her get rescued by a handsome prince, they’ve punched up the prince. As the LA Times reports, the story now has “swashbuckling action” with a “dashing Errol Flynn-styled male lead to share the spotlight with the golden-haired namesake of the classic Brothers Grimm story.” Mandy Moore voices Rapunzel and Chuck star Zachary Levi voices the new roguish Flynn Rider.

[Editor: I admit that Disney didn't go about this right. I mean there's no harm in beefing up the dude's role (you have to beef up every role or there's no movie). However, this is a poor way to announce it. Why announce that you're making the dude's role bigger? You could just wait and announce all the characters' roles more so that you aren't showing favoritism or appear like you only care about the boys. And they definitely shouldn't have changed the name of the story.]



On the Disney Animation Facebook page, producer Roy Conli wrote:

“In our film, the infamous bandit Flynn Rider meets his match in the girl with the 70 feet of magical golden hair. We're having a lot of fun pairing Flynn, who's seen it all, with Rapunzel, who's been locked away in a tower for 18 years.”

Oh good, an experienced bad boy meets a naïve young thing. No one has ever made that movie before.

This new strategy is insulting on so many levels. It’s insulting to girls, who are seen as the less important audience here. It is insulting to boys, who they think are so dumb to be bamboozled by a simple name change. And it’s insulting to boys and girls because it assumes they have such rigid and underdeveloped brains that they only want to see movies about their own gender. In short, it’s pretty... insulting.

[Editor: Once again, I think snarky Dorothy is taking it too hard. They're just trying to contrast the characters, and according to the original story, yes, the prince was the adventurer and Rapunzel dreamed of what it would be like outside the tower. Not too different from Aladdin. And they're not going to be bamboozled by anything. Names change all the time, and name changes do actually make a difference. However, you can't change the name of a fairy tale when it's named after the princess. Bad move by Disney. Disney should see this as an opportunity to win the female crowd.]



Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios explains the decisions this way: “We did not want to be put in a box. Some people might assume it's a fairy tale for girls when it's not. We make movies to be appreciated and loved by everybody.”

Because fairy tales about female character clearly can’t be loved by everybody. Not Snow White, not Cinderella, not Sleeping Beauty, not The Little Mermaid, not Mulan, not Pocahontas. Nope, that’s just dumb girlie stuff.

[Editor: And to Dorothy's point, look at these princesses below. The only one who didn't headline the respective movie was Jasmine.]



The assumption in Hollywood that boys won’t see girl movies but girls will see boy movies is a self-perpetuating chestnut that the industry should be fighting instead of embracing. And, even if it was a movie that appealed mostly to women, what is so wrong with that? More than half the population of Earth has to be a large enough audience, right?

From:
http://www.afterellen.com/blog/dorothysnarker/disney-gets-tangled-up-about-the-gender-of-rapunzel

[Editor: And back to my earlier point, they've got the priorities wrong. The moms and daughters control the movie tickets, not the boys. When a boy wants to watch a He-Man movie or animated Batman movie (or Star Wars: Clone Wars, TMNT, Atlantis, Titan AE, Sinbad, Iron Giant, Treasure Planet, El Dorado, etc.) then the mom says "Wait for DVD" or "Go watch TV." Why? Because the mom would have to go too, and the mom (and sisters) don't want to watch a violent movie for boys. Appealing to the girls is much more effective than boys.]

Okay. I'm done with the italics. This is still the Editor writing (hello).

So Disney is upset about Princess and the Frog not performing well? First, it did better than it should have, BECAUSE it was aimed at girls. I'm also surprised at how well black ladies like it. It only did $270 million worldwide, but it only cost $105 million to make (cuz it was done in 2D). And the foreign release was really solid (like 60% of the sales).

I mean, I know girls love this movie. Know how? First, over 50 girls in the US got salmonella poisoning after kissing frogs. Bad parents! Bad! Second, guess who's twittering about how much they love the movie? Black girls: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23princessandthefrog

So if the reason why it didn't do so hot isn't about the girls, then what's the reason? The movie. The movie? Yes, the movie. Now it's my turn to be snarky against Disney...

(1) Let's freak kids out by featuring voodoo and demons. Oh, great idea, geniuses! Sure Walt played with it with Fantasia, but that movie cost him a ton of money. He tried to play with the dark side again with Sleeping Beauty... also lost him money. Disney tried again in the 80s with Black Cauldron. Big flop. They were 0 for 3.

(2) Let's make the princess a frog for most of the movie. Oh, yeah, that makes sense! Why would girls want to see a princess, when they can enjoy a movie about what girls actually love... frogs. +2 genius points.

(3) Why would we want to tell a fun and delightful fairy tale (that ironically centers more around the prince, which would have given the movie that boy-factor they were missing), when instead we could make the movie based on a teen romance novel (that was received with mixed reviews) that was based on the fairy tale? And then we'll market it like there's some sort of twist (that she turns into a frog too), and like the twist is half as creative as the Shrek twist which is now considered normal. Yeah, great idea. It just made me want to go see the Shelley Duvall version with Robin Williams.

(4) So... about these characters... The alligator, bug, voodoo lady, and stuff (not even going to think about a squished bug turning into a star; let's kill your favorite character; it's okay... he's a star now). Cute characters. However, these aren't Disney quality. The characters and songs are fine, but I don't really care about them. Why? Because this is the story of frogs going on a road trip and running into other random characters. These characters don't really resonate. They don't connect well. Sure, Up pulled it off (disconnected characters), but Disney shouldn't take those chances. It's hard to care about characters that don't seem driven or connected.

So there you go. Disney, don't worry about the girl/boy audience. Worry about (1) your villains, (2) your heroes, (3) your story, and (4) your supporting characters. That's why your movie didn't do so well. Don't blame the girls that they didn't shell out the money or the boys that they didn't show up.

- TAE

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Disney's California Adventure Park Update- World of Color!

Silly Symphony swings are silly. Because they feature Mickey's The Band Concert (1935), which was NOT a Silly Symphony.

- TAE

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

New Popeye 3D Animated film coming



Variety have revealed that Sony Pictures are developing a CG Popeye movie. Avi Arad will produce the movie, while Mike Jones is in talks to write the script for the film.

The flick will be produced in 3D by Sony Pictures Animation, with Sony Pictures Imageworks handling the CG.

Arad told the trade that the new film will cover the themes of friendship, love, greed and life, and focus on human strengths and human frailties.

Popeye last appeared on the big screen back in the early 1980’s with Robin Williams in the lead role. That film was directed by the late, legendary Robert Altman.

From:
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2010/03/23/a-new-3d-cg-popeye-movie-coming-from-sony/
====================

Well, Mainframe already did a 3D TV movie of Popeye and it didn't fair so well, so Avi and crew better get the right script and director to make this work.

Popeye was once the most popular cartoon character in the world, but they aren't going to get that back unless they earn it.

- TAE

Monday, April 05, 2010

Vote for us in the new IF contest

Click here to go vote for our "bananas" picture in the new IF contest:

http://www.if.net/contests/general/2564151?cid=2564801

Thanks!

- TAE

Saturday, April 03, 2010

Mickey Mouse in Brave Little Tailor (1938)

Unlike previous comedies or situations, this Mickey cartoon was the first adventure (except for the 1933 Giant Land which got remade into Mickey and the Beanstalk).

This is also the second of the three Mickey VS a giant shorts (Giant Land in 1933, The Brave Little Tailor in 1938, and Mickey and the Beanstalk from Fun and Fancy Free in 1947).



1:35 - Jiminy Cricket! Hahahaha. The term was used for surprise since 1848, so Walt was wise to use the name for the unnamed cricket character from Pinocchio. Pinocchio was released two years later, and so this gag was a foreshadowing of the film they were currently working on. Likewise, the dwarves exclaim "Jiminy Crickets!" in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, which was released one year before this Tailor short.

1:42 - That's Goofy!

1:44 - There's Pluto! Hahahaha. The animators toss in Pluto in their efforts to fill out the towns people.

1:49 - That king reminds me of King Midas from The Golden Touch (Silly Symphony from 1935, 3 years prior to this one).

4:10 - "Well, heh, so long, I'll be seein' ya" was said again (without the "I hope" at the end) when Mickey met with maestro Leopold Stokowski in Fantasia.

4:57 - I hope no one was inside.

5:29 - This was like Donkey Kong. =^)

7:15 - The "Gesundheit. Heh." gag was used again in the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of "Fun & Fancy Free."

8:35 - Of course! Turn the Giant's snoring into a generator to run an amusement park. That makes sense. LOL. Still, here we have Walt's early thoughts about an amusement park almost 30 years prior to Disneyland!

Enjoy!

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