Zelda Parody 2 - Save the Princess (animation)

Here is the Trailer:



The Legend continues! Join our favorite moron, Link, as he sets out on a quest to cut grass and kill every creature he can find for item-collection purposes. Oh, and he's also going to...

SAVE THE PRINCESS!!!

Zelda Parody 2 will feature VenetianPrincess as the voice of Princess Zelda. You can expect to see Zelda Parody 2 approximately in "When we're done," 2011.

Please subscribe to our animator's channel:

http://youtube.com/HowardCarterOfficial

VOICES:
Robbie Daymond - Link
Mike Elmore - Narrator & Goron 1
Robert Holmes - Goron 2
Dave Stuchkus - Gohma
Jesse Springer - Ganon
Venetian Princess (Jodie Rivera) - Princess Zelda

Here is Venetian Princess' popular channel:
http://youtube.com/VenetianPrincess

This video you're watching is the sequel of our first Legend of Zelda parody:

ZELDA PARODY 1: Link's a Moron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5uhpL0WZeM

JOIN THE EMPIRE: Subscribble to our chibble!

Thanks!

- TAE

Johnny Depp Pirates Parody - Pirates of the Caribbean (collab with GagaManMusic)

Keira Knightley tells Johnny Depp her movie ideas backstage while filming Pirates of the Caribbean.

TheHill88 (Caitlin Hill) lends her voice as Keira Knightley in this behind the scenes look at Pirates of the Caribbean. Caitlin's channel:

http://youtube.com/thehill88

Unfortunately, Keira didn't make it into the fourth pirates movie. So this would probably make more sense with Penelope Cruz. Regardless, it's a Keira piece and inspired by Lisa Nova's old videos. In fact, Caitlin's voice clips were recorded back in 2007, and this is her doing an impression of Lisa Nova doing an impression of Keira Knightley. =^)

Be sure to check out the animator's channel (animated in Flash):

http://youtube.com/GagaManMusic

And Johnny Depp's voice is provided by Louis from OverUnderWear (check out their Walken video):

http://youtube.com/OverUnderWear

The music is by Kevin Macleod and used under Creative Commons Licensing.

Intro logo animation by...
http://youtube.com/HowardCarterOfficial

Check out the end of this video for lots of options of our other animations. Thanks!

- TAE

Gurkel's Revenge (Thanksgiving Cartoon)

Hello! This is the longer version with two extra scenes that we had planned for awhile. After Gurkel and Lucy leave Bobby's house, there's a new scene with them in the car leading up to a long new scene, which is the main battle sequence.

So with the battle sequence I think this is far more enjoyable and complete. What do you think? Here is the shorter version that we did earlier:



Animation is by Patrick from:

http://youtube.com/CartoonKing3

Music is used by permission and composed by Kevin Macleod from:

http://incompetech.com/

CREDITS:

Animation by Patrick Jenkins (CartoonKing3)
Written & Directed by Ed 'word' Price
Animation Supervision by Willem Serne
Music by Kevin Macleod

VOICES:

John Kubin - Gurkel, Bobby (murderer 1), Jeff (murderer 2)
Diedre - Globble (turkey boy), Lucy (love interest), Officer
Ty Miller - Turkel (turkey dad), Bartender
Amber Conner - Cindy (Bobby's wife)

Thanks for watching! Enjoy!

- TAE

Super 8 - TheAnimationEmpire Movie Review

Super 8 is E.T. meets Jurassic Park, with a smaller version of the Cloverfield monster thrown into the mix. Oh, by the way, SPOILER ALERT!!!

I'd be tempted to say that Super 8 also has some Sixth Sense thrown in there, but the truth is that Sixth Sense borrowed heavily from E.T. and Jurassic Park in the first place, so it's better to just point to the earlier Spielberg films.

It's appropriate that this feels like a Spielberg film, because it is a Spielberg film... Steve Spielberg produced it. It seems like JJ Abrams finally met his hero, Steven Spielberg, and they had a converation that went something like this...

JJ Abrams: "I want to remake E.T., and I want you to produce it."

Or maybe... "I'm planning to make a film that rips off your films so badly that if you don't produce it, everyone will hate me."

Or in real life, maybe... "I'm a huge fan of your films, and you inspired my latest film. Would you check it out and produce it if you're interested?"

And then of course the reason why JJ went with a smaller (but still big) Cloverfield monster is also evident... JJ produced Cloverfield.

However, I wouldn't say that this film is a combination of Cloverfield and E.T. No, it's much closer to Jurassic Park and E.T. The camerawork is far slower, steady, and sweeping. We focus more on the characters. And the action unravels like a Spielberg film than the frantic and violent nature of Cloverfield.

Next, the acting: The acting is superb. The biggest stars were the leads... the boy (Joe Lamb) and the girl (Alice Dainard). Joe Lamb was played by Joel Courtney. This is Joel's first film, and it was a success; after this he was signed to two films (Healer and as Tom Sawyer in the upcoming "Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn).

Alice Dainard was played by Elle Fanning. Does her name sound familiar? She was in I Am Sam, Daddy Day Care, Because of Winn-Dixie, Babel, Deja Vu, and Astro Boy. Her upcoming films include the Burton animated film, Frankenweinie.

Of course the last name should be familiar because she's the younger sister of Dakota Fanning (who is also connected by Steven Spielberg, who directed Dakota's biggest breakout role... War of the Worlds).

Super 8 is masterfully made, and it's a lot of fun for film lovers (who identify with the young film makers in this movie). I wish it would have done better in the box office ($153 million world wide), but thankfully it only cost $50 million to make. So it wasn't the success that Sixth Sense, E.T., or Jurassic Park were, so JJ will probably stick to Star Trek films and producing Mission Impossible and Cloverfield flicks. In other words, he probably won't try another Spielbergian film like this again.

So why didn't the film make more money? Perhaps it got lost in a summer of big movies (true, but I think it could have overcome that). I think the main reason is marketability. Super 8? What's that? A type of camera? You're basing your film around a type of camera... that happened to film a creature escaping from a train wreck? Hmmm. It's not quite as straight forward as E.T., War of the Worlds, Jurassic Park, and Sixth Sense (where the names are exactly what you get; Super 8 wasn't really about the camera).

But regardless of its marketing problems, the directing, camera work, pacing, story, acting, and effects were amazing. If you haven't seen it yet, you should.

- TAE

Movie Review - The King's Speech

When God couldn't save the King, the Queen turned to someone who could.



The Oscar-winning "The King's Speech" tells the story of King George VI (played by Colin Firth), the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist, played by Geoffrey Rush. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.

First of all, I was very surprised at how well Colin Firth was able to stammer the way he did. Although, that seemed to be the real thing that made his performance difficult, even though he won Best Actor. The rest of the acting was very good, too, and this movie was very emotional in terms of King George not having a choice to be king, although in such a biopic as this, I wish we would have seen more of his childhood, like in a flashback or something. But still a very interesting and pragmatic film.

Rated R for two scenes with repetitive uses of the f- and s-words, but my dad and I remarked at the end that it was almost necessary! So, otherwise, it should be suitable for most teens, depending on how badly offended your parents are by such coarse language.

Three stars (out of 4) for "The King's Speech."

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Movie Review - The Day the Earth Stood Still

By Alex Popp



Jennifer Connelly plays Dr. Helen Benson, who is summoned to a military facility with several other scientists when an alien spacecraft of sorts arrives in New York City in the remake of the 1951 sci-fi film, "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

Aboard is a human-like alien and a giant robot of immense size and power. The alien identifies himself as Klaatu and says he has come to save the Earth. The US military and political authorities see him as a threat, however, and decide to use so-called intensive interrogation techniques on him, but Dr. Benson decides to facilitate his escape. When she learns exactly what he means when he says he is there to save the Earth, she tries to convince him to change his intentions.

I haven't seen the original, but I still had a lot of problems with the movie. For the most part, it was the premise/message about how "man is causing global warming." The main point is repeated over and over again. It was so preachy.

The real thing was that it was pretty clean with hardly any profanity and graphic violence, and no sex. But this is the kind of movie that you would barely notice any of that, because it's already bad enough without it. Put that in with corny script and mediocre effects and you have one of the worst films of 2008.

Rated a light PG-13 for some mildly intense sci-fi violence.

One and a half stars (out of 4) for "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which make the earth stand still in boredom.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.

Thor - TheAnimationEmpire Movie Review

Thor was very good. I ended up seeing it twice in the theater (once in 3D and once without).



I kind of find it funny how, on the poster above, they have to write Thor twice just to show you that you're looking at the actual Thor character. They don't think people would know that.

I have to admit that Thor felt like two movies that were threaded together (one in Asgard and one on Earth). It also seemed that it would be hard to really make a villain that could give Thor a real fight (he's basically Superman: awesome, invincible, and he flies). In addition, I wasn't sure what kind of special effects they'd give us when his weapon is a big hammer.

Plus they had the additional challenge of making a Norse god relevant and interesting to us. And then they added another challenge by placing a relatively new actor into the title role (Chris Hemsworth, who was James Kirk's dad in the Star Trek reboot). And they added one more challenge to the plate by giving the movie to the director, Kenneth Branagh. It kind of fit... he's a Shakespearean director (and other period pieces), but he hadn't had a ton of success as a director yet and it had been many years since his last directorial effort.

Despite all the challenges and potential potholes, Thor was an amazing movie.

They made it more successful than X-Men: First Class (another attempt at establishing new-ish Marvel heroes in the same summer).



Here are the reasons why I think it was such a good movie:

1. Chris Hemsworth nailed Thor. You can't always get established actors. Sometimes the best actors aren't known yet, but they're so good that the movie makes them known. This is one of those roles. Chris morphed into Thor and nailed the cocky yet fun-loving attitude. This is on the same level as Hugh Jackman making Wolverine, Chris Evans making Human Torch in Fantastic Four (which he has leveraged to become Captain America as well), and Ryan Reynolds as DeadPool in X-Men: Wolverine (which led to Green Lantern and a coming DeadPool movie).

2. It's funny and clever. All the characters provide the right mix of humor, and the references to mythical elements are also clever, like an effets-driven update to the Rainbow Bridge and to all the characters and power items. I also appreciate the Hawkeye reference. I wasn't too excited about the actor (he doesn't seem impressive enough), but my friend assured me that he's great (and id a great job in The Hurt Locker).

3. The romance story works well. Due to #1 above and #5 below, Thor and Portman have great chemistry together. And the romance is brought to life even more, due to the humor and cleverness from #2 above.

4. The mythical world is brought to life with effects and superb directing. I really felt drawn into the world. The whole Ice Giants thing was a little silly to me, but they dealt with the mythology and the comic books in a realistic way, and thus, I still felt like it could be real. Which is kind of the point... even when something obviously isn't real, they want to present it as if it was real and get you involved in that world. They did it. The effects were amazing and highly... effective. Specifically, the battle sequences, monsters, giants, ice world, rainbow bridge... even the size differences of some of the characters... it all brought to life the idea of this world where talismans and other powers make warriors into gods.

5. The cast supports it well. Natalie Portman as a super hero love interest is a great catch. Her friends support well (Norah without her playlist). Anthony Hopkins is the ideal Odin. Renee Russo supports well (in a few shots). Our SHIELD agent friend does a great job (as usual), and even Loki is spot on. Thor's warrior friends are fun (though underused). We even get to see an enjoyable glimpse of Hawkeye (though he hasn't yet proven why he should be an Avenger).

And that's pretty much it. Congrats to everyone involved. They brought us the right mix of romance, humor, story, and effects. So far, it's the most succesful summer super hero film, beating out Green Lantern, X-Men First Class, and Priest (Captain America is TBD). The film has made (to date) $176 million in the US, with $435 million worldwide. That's a good haul for a new hero flick.

The Foreign box office take was particularly high ($259 million) and is comparable to Iron Man ($266 million) and higher than X-Men 3 ($225 M) and X-Men 2 ($192 M).

Overall with $435 M worldwide, Thor beat X-Men 2 ($408 M), X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($373 M), X-Men 1 ($296 M), Fantastic Four ($331 M), Incredible Hulk ($263 M), X-Men First Class ($286 M), and Ghost Rider ($229 M).

Thor's one of those Superman-like heroes who's basically invincible. So they need to find ways to make him vulnerable and real. In this film, they kind of cheated by taking away his powers (which is the usual way Superman is attacked... Kriptonite steals his powers). It's kind of an annoying cheat, really. Once Thor finally earned his hammer back, then it was pretty much game over for Loki and the Defender.

So hopefully they'll think of better ways to make him vulnerable than to cheat like that. "Either all or nothing" is not an entertaining way for him to fight villains. And if he's going to be in a sequel and in the Avengers movie, then they need him to fight villains who are at least as powerful as he is with his powers (maybe even a little more powerful than him).

The Hulk could work in Avengers (the Hulk could beat Thor), but I'm not sure what they want to do with Hulk (make him good, bad, or both).

Oh and in Disney news, Avengers will be the first Disney produced Marvel movie! Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2, and

Enjoy!

- The Emperor

Movie Review - Soul Surfer

By Alex Popp

The next "Blind Side"?



Based on the amazing true story, AnnaSophia Robb plays Bethany Hamilton, a teenage girl who is a natural on the surfboard in "Soul Surfer". Placing high in several competitions, she seems to have a whole career ahead of her. But it's all unpleasantly interrupted when she is attacked by a shark and loses her left arm. After weeks in the hospital, she doesn't give up on surfing and is determined to get back on the board, refusing to get a prosthetic arm.

With stunning camera work, entertaining surf competition scenes, and an all-star cast including Oscar-Winning Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid, Carrie Underwood, and Craig T. Nelson, "Soul Surfer" is bound to be the best film of 2011.

AnnaSophia Robb has been acting since the age of 11, starring in other good movies such as "Because of Winn-Dixie", "Bridge to Terabithia", and "Race to Witch Mountain". And she is clearly growing as an actress; this is undoubtedly her best performance yet. Other fantastic performances included Dennis Quaid as Bethany's father, Chris Brochu as her brother, Timmy, and Lorraine Nicholson as her best friend. Carrie Underwood didn't appear in very many scenes, so it's difficult to say how she did. But who knows, singing may not be her only gift.

There have been arguments on whether or not this is a Christian movie. I would have to say yes. Bethany had to trust in the Lord to give her the strength and courage to return to the sea. She does whatever it takes to overcome the odds, as she says, "I don't need easy. I just need possible." And the verse Jeremiah 29:11 is quoted: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." This verse was for a time removed during editing. But when Carrie Underwood reportedly asked the filmmakers to "tell the story" fairly and accurately by preserving both the verse and its reference, they listened. Also, Dennis Quaid reads a Bible. There's something we don't see every day. In fact, deemed too conspicuous and "prop-like," the words "Holy Bible" were also digitally removed from the cover of Bethany's dad's Bible (most Bibles these days don't have much on the front). But after Tom Hamilton e-mailed a photo of his own Bible—emblazoned with big text similar to that on the Gideon's Bible used in the scene—the words were reinstated. Hamilton told The Hollywood Reporter, "I could see the words bright and clear. I looked at my wife and whispered, 'Thank you, God, they put it back.'"

"Soul Surfer" tells the story accurately and is an epic and touching film that surpasses "The Blind Side". In fact, it may change the way you look at sports movies.

Rated PG for a very disturbing and heart-pounding sequence involving the shark attack. The shot where the shark merely pops out of the ocean scared the Darwin out of me. Although the attack itself is relatively quick, there is a lot of blood in the water. "Soul Surfer" is way out of range for kids 10 and under.

Four stars (out of 4) for the exhilerating and mind-blowing, "Soul Surfer," a true soul lifter of a movie.

Review by Alex Popp for The Animation Empire blog.