Dominic von Riedemann's Blog

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Will Tom Cruise join the ever-swelling cast of Shrek?

According to a source whispering in Cinemablend's ear, DreamWorks Animation is "considering" having Cruise voice one of the villains in their upcoming CGI flick, Shrek Goes Fourth.

Cinemablend claims that Shrek Goes Fourth will have an "origins" element, which explains how the titular ogre ended up in the swamp. Some are speculating this could be a prequel, which means that DreamWorks can scrap over half the cast accumulated over Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third.

This seems unlikely, considering that Shrek Goes Fourth will be directly competing with Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3 in theatres. It seems likely that DreamWorks will hang onto their all-star cast (consisting of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, Eric Idle, Justin Timberlake, Larry King, Ian McShane, and Regis Philbin, just to name a few).

DreamWorks will tout its cast as one of Shrek Goes Fourth's advantages over Toy Story 3, but that sword has two edges. It also means one hell of a salary budget for DreamWorks (names like that don't come cheap), even if one doesn't include the fact that actors, or their agents, tend to ramp up their rates by about 30% when it comes time to talk sequels.

Right now, Tom Cruise's involvement in the movie is strictly rumour territory, but I will keep an eye on this one.

Shrek Goes Fourth comes out May 21, 2010.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Once again, Jennifer Shiman's infamous bunnies have returned to wreak more havoc with their 30-second roasts of popular and classic films.

This time she takes on last year's horror movie, 30 Days of Night, and many denizens of Cyberland claim that her version is actually better than the original movie. I didn't see the flick so I can't say for sure, but certainly Shiman's in fine form, mocking this flick in her inimitably charming manner.

For what it's worth, 30 Days of Night earned over $70 million in worldwide box office receipts (the film cost $32 million to make), so somebody must have liked the flick.

Next up for Shiman? According to her blog at Angryalien.com, she's finished animating her version of the Coen Brothers' Oscar-winning flick No Country for Old Men, and then she's going to rest and recharge her creative batteries.

You can check out the bunnies performing 30 Days of Night by clicking here.

P.S. - If you can tell me what "Cyberland" is a reference to, you win a virtual cookie.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

(Did I mention I use this blog for news stories that don't have enough info to rate a full article?)

Kristen Bell is going to blast off with Astro Boy.

According to Variety, the actor (Veronica Mars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) is voicing the female lead in Summit Entertainment and Imagi Animation Studio's upcoming CGI adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic manga.

She joins fellow cast members Nicolas Cage (National Treasure: Book of Secrets), Donald Sutherland (Fools' Gold), Nathan Lane (The Producers), Bill Nighy (Shawn of the Dead), Eugene Levy (Best in Show) and Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) in the flick. Highmore will voice the title character.

David Bowers (Flushed Away) will direct from a scipt written by Timothy Harris (Kindergarten Cop).

Although there's not much known about Bell's involvement with the flick, she could be voicing the role of Astro Girl, Astro's younger sister, or an as-yet unknown "love interest" for the titular robot. Since Astro is neither a real boy, nor Data from Star Trek: TNG, he can't exactly get busy, if you know what I'm sayin'.

Astro Boy flies into theatres sometime in late 2009.

Fun Fact: Collider.com claims that Scarlett Johanson is also lending her voice to the flick, but that statement hasn't been backed up anywhere else (like, for instance, Imagi themselves).

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

(Once again, I'm using this blog to post about news items that don't contain enough info for a full article)

Disney/Pixar has cast veteran actors Michael Keaton and Jodi Benson in the hotly anticipated film Toy Story 3, according to film site IESB. Keaton will voice the role of classic doll Ken, playing opposite Benson who voices Barbie

In addition to his star-making roles in Tim Burton films such as 1989's Batman and 1988's Beetlejuice, Keaton voiced the role of arrogant race car Chick "Thunder" Hicks in 2006's Cars. Benson is best known for voicing the role of Ariel in the 1989 Disney animated feature, The Little Mermaid, as well as voicing Tour Guide Barbie and Barbie on Backpack in 1999's Toy Story 2.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the new movie will follow what occurs after “Woody the cowboy and his toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college.”

Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have already confirmed their involvement in the new flick, which will be directed by Toy Story 2 co-director Lee Unkrich. Don Rickles, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger (natch), Ned Beatty and Estelle Harris also return for the new flick.

Toy Story 3 comes to theatres on June 18, 2010.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

(Writer's Note: Okay, so it's not really animation, but it involves comics and classic animated movies so I should be covered . . . I think).

Ever imagined The Little Mermaid's Ariel shaking her tail in Kadie's Club Pecos? Ever wondered how Jasmine from Aladdin would look as a female samurai? Or Beauty and the Beast's Belle as the traitorous prostitute Becky?

Well, wonder no more. Young Northlake, Ilinois-based artist Curt Rapala decided to combine the squeaky-clean world of Disney Princesses with the dark, ultra-violent atmosphere of Frank Miller's Sin City. And the results are pretty freakin' cool. Snow White makes a vicious-looking Gail, Cinderella a smokin' Shellie, and Sleeping Beauty's Aurora a mysterious Goldie.

So now the big question becomes: which Disney Princess would you pick to portray the lethally beautiful Ava Lord?

You can check out Rapala's Sin City Disney by clicking here.

Fun Fact: Acclaimed author Harlan Ellison once described the Sin City graphic novels as "going down as easy as a Drano milkshake." The Great Storyteller always had a way with words.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

This year, I will be covering the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival for Suite 101. I got my press pass from the good folks at the OIAF (thanks, Jerrett), and I will be heading up to Ottawa from September 17 - 21st to check out what's hip, hot and happening in the world of animation.

This yearly event features a tribute to Richard Williams, the animation director for the 1988 hit movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The flick will be screened, and I'll try to get an interview with Williams, who also wrote The Animator's Survival Guide series of books and DVDs.

In addition, there will be screenings of several upcoming flicks, including Ari Folman's Waltz With Bashir and Bill Plympton's Idiots & Angels. Acclaimed children's animator Michael Sporn gets a retrospective, as does experimental filmmaker Skip Battaglia.

Other features include a showcase of anime, hosted by several animation producers, directors and distributors including Koji Yamamura and Taku Furukawa. According to the official website, this event marks the 80th anniversary of Canada-Japan diplomatic relations, and is the Canadian half of a cultural exchange between Canada – represented by the National Film Board of Canada, CTVglobemedia's Bravo!FACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) – and Japan.

There's also Brainwashed! Cartoons That Influence Your Mind, a compilation of propaganda animation, plus Blue Toons: A Night of Naughty Animation, programmed by Lee Demarbre. Hey, animation ain't all kids' stuff, folks!

Needless to say, I'm pretty jazzed about introducing you to all the animated mayhem that'll be going down in Ottawa this year, and keep an eye on this space for future developments. You can find out more by clicking on www.animationfestival.ca

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

On May 7, 2006, Suite 101's Joy Gugeler made what she probably considers the biggest mistake of her life and handed me the Animated Films beat. On July 24th, Dominic Messier pointed out that I had written my 1000th article. Where did the time fly? (Don't answer that question)

Thanks to everyone who's been following my journey into the world of animation, and a big thanks to those who taught me the finer points, handed me the proper books on the subject, pointed me towards stories and consented to be interviewed for this space.

The next few months will bring some big changes. I gained enough credibility that the studios are talking to me, so you may have noticed that the movie and DVD reviews are coming a lot faster. Look for more exclusive content, and interviews with more of the movers and shakers (and the occasional moved and shaken) in animation.

With the economic downturn, moviemakers are hedging their bets, which means more family entertainment, and more animation. However, filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki, Marjane Satrapi and Bill Plympton are reminding us that animation is a means to tell a story, not a genre unto itself.

Think AMPAS will get the message? Doubtful, but we can always hope.

Any regrets? Only that I didn't have a "Spontaneous Metal Interlude" for Article 666, but hey, Jeff Jacques got there first. I'm taking a couple of weeks off to visit folks, so my articles may be a little sporadic for the next little bit, but rest assured, there will be animated more mirth and mayhem when I return.

See you at Article 2000!

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Former Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett have released a brilliant animated spot for BBC Sport called "Journey to the East," promoting the upcoming 2008 Olympic Summer Games. It's based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, and it features wandering martial artists Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy going to check out the Beijing Olympics.

"It looks wonderful and I'm really thrilled by it," Hewlett told The Guardian. "It's gone through so many changes because there are so many departments at the BBC, and the Olympics is their biggest gig of the year. Damon and I are used to having the luxury of doing exactly what we want, and we understand that this whole idea of using animated ancient Chinese characters is quite a wild-card for them. But somebody at the BBC had seen the Monkey opera and they put our name into the mix. And I think we've managed to keep the BBC happy . . . without ruining the original idea."

The CGI animation is beautifully rendered, and the characters are fun to watch, both for their facial expressions and their movements onscreen. The only criticism is that the monsters our heroes encounter look a little primitive. If the animators had taken some more time to get them right, it would have taken this short from merely impressive to out-and-out awe-inspiring.

I'm sure BBC watchers will be sick of itby the time the Beijing Olympics are finished, but in the meantime . . . damn!

You can check out Albarn and Hewlett's animated spot by clicking over here. It debuts on BBC Television today, and runs until August 24th, the last day of the XXIX Olympiad.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

(Writer's Note: Once again, I'm using this space for a news story that's too short for a full article)

Animation website MyToons announced that they've received a second round of funding from Syncom Venture Partners and Barshop Ventures LLC.

The website, which bills itself as "the world’s premier online animation community," says it will use the cash to "support MyToons’ continued technology infrastructure development and revenue growth, as well as expanded global partnerships."

Syncom and Barshop Give MyToons Lots o' Cash

"MyToons presents a tremendous opportunity to address an underserved niche in the on-line content marketplace,” said Herb Wilkins, Syncom's General Partner, in the press release. “The MyToons team has a clear view of what both animators and consumers are craving, and is moving quickly to deliver key services to address those needs. We look forward to helping take MyToons from early-adoption to mainstream consumption.”

"We are thrilled to have Syncom Venture Partners join the MyToons team,” responded Dan Kraus, CEO & co-founder of MyToons. “We now have two of the premier media venture capital firms as partners, as well as a world-class group of advisors as we look to improve and accelerate the ways animators distribute and profit from their content."

What Is MyToons?

Launched in the Spring of 2007, MyToons is a website dedicated to giving aspiring and established animators a place to showcase their art, games and animated shorts online, network with fans and fellow animators, and enter the occasional contest. It currently boasts over 10,000 members showcasing over 12,000 properties online.

The site recently took the plunge into high-resolution HD streaming, and is using its current “Get with the Times” Contest in order to convince more animators to get on the HD bandwagon.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

I've always been a fan of the Spiridellis brothers, AKA JibJab, for their equal-opportunity opprobriums. Unlike South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who don't hide their Libertarian/Republican beliefs under their potty humour, the Spiridellis's take shots and everyone and everything, left, right, smart, cuckoo . . . I like to see my satirists rip on all comers, not giving one side or another a break.

This time the JibJab gang are turning Bob Dylan's classic "The Times They Are a-Changing" and turning it into "Time For Some Campaigning." They not only hammer the outgoing George W. Bush, but the Clintons (gotta love Hilary's reaction when Bill sings the word "cigar'!), along with presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama. Whether it's McCain driving a tank, or Obama riding a unicorn, the Spiridellis' spoofs are always on the money. You can check it out by clicking here.

Yes, we're all happy to see the last of the Reign of Dubya, but I can see countless comedians, satirists and commentators going into mourning right about now . . .

Ah, who am I kidding, "Ding-dong, the dumbass is . . ."

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Interviews are a tough process. The interviewer has to get inside the subject's head within the allotted time, while the interviewee has to stay friendly while answering the same old questions.

So it's not surprising to see WALL-E director Andrew Stanton snap at the anonymous putz at Garnett News Service (via Cincinnati.com) who unloaded idiocies like "Are you the Martin Scorsese of animation or is Martin Scorsese the Andrew Stanton of live-action?" and "WALL-E is a romance between an iPod and a trash can. Was WALL-E more challenging than Toy Story or Finding Nemo in terms of identifying with the characters?"

After gamely dealing with the first two, Stanton finally loses it over the last question: "You take a risk by not having dialogue for the first 35 minutes."

"There's dialogue from frame one," he says. "It's just not in English. It's amazing to me that people think that way, and I think that it's completely incorrect . . . Kids are going to get it way better than you are."

Having interviewed Andrew Stanton, I can tell you that he's a great subject: patient, friendly and willing to expose the messy inner workings of Pixar Animation. So where did this interview go wrong?

Can we say, "The interviewer had no clue"?

Neither WALL-E nor Finding Nemo have any connection to films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or Goodfellas so the Scorsese comparison is beyond ludicrous. Calling Stanton's movie as "a romance between a trash can and an iPod" is a great way to irritate your subject, and everyone's been talking about WALL-E's supposed "lack of dialogue" since the day it was greenlit.

Whoever wrote this up needs to go back to journalism school. Because no one likes getting questions from someone who doesn't have a clue.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Yep, that poison bicuspid is still in place; if ever Jennifer Shiman releases a Thirty Seconds Bunnies Theatre spoof and I don't report on it, it's curtains for your fearless animation writer. The stress is getting to me!

No, not really. But I do enjoy Shiman's work and considering the amount of cheese she and her Flash animations get around "Teh InterWeb" I'm sure I'm not the only one who digs these 30-second spoofs of popular movies, featuring bunnies.

Their current target is last year's Judd Apatow comedy Superbad, and it's a pretty cool spoof, although Shiman wasn't able to drop in as many bunny jokes as in previous segments (aliens with bunny ears still rock!). Shades of Brokeback Mountain at the end there, or maybe that was in the original flick (I can't remember).

If you can hang with Starz' problematic video feed, you can check out the Bunnies' version of Superbad here, or you can wait for it to show up on Shiman's Angry Alien website.

Next up, Shiman's rabbits will spoof the vampire invasion film 30 Days of Night, and then the Coen Brothers' Oscar-winning flick No Country for Old Men.

Fun Fact: Here is the Bunnies' five-word acceptance speech for winning the Webby Awards' Online Film and Video/Animation and the People's Voice categories.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

During a round-table discussion with WALL-E writer/director Andrew Stanton (the same one The Pixar Blog was at), he confirmed that he is finally bringing the long-awaited John Carter of Mars movie to the silver screen.

After the interview was officially concluded, I couldn't resist asking Stanton whether the rumour that he was working on Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars for the silver screen was true (Burroughs also created the iconic pulp fiction series Tarzan).

"Yes, I am currently working on John Carter of Mars," replied.

At which point, MB1000 from The Pixar Blog asked him to confirm that statement, and Stanton replied, into our tape recorders, "I am writing John Carter of Mars right now."

Given that Stanton had such a good time directing Fred Willard and various extras for the live-action component of WALL-E, it's likely that he will also take on directing chores for the flick. Not only that, if the first film does well, Stanton may try for a trilogy.

And no, Jon Favreau is not involved in this movie at this time. He was part of the recent attempt by Paramount to adapt the film, and has no current role with Pixar.

This will not only mark the first time that Pixar will use live actors in starring roles, but will break the nearly 80 year old curse on any John Carter of Mars adaptations.

I'll keep on gathering news on this story as it develops. Exciting times ahead to be sure.

P.S. - The Walt Disney Company has requested an embargo on any reviews until WALL-E hits theatres on June 27th, so I cannot talk about the film until then. Therefore, I cannot confirm nor deny that the linked article is an accurate assessment of the flick.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

After two years working the Animated Films beat here at Suite 101, big changes are afoot (mainly because they're lousy drivers).

No, I haven't decided to shave my head and run off to Nepal to achieve enlightenment, but there will be some interesting changes to what you'll be reading on this page.

For one thing, I'm going to be working on delivering more exclusive content to this site, not just letting you know about what's going on elsewhere on the InterWeb. That means more reviews of first-run films, more DVD reviews, and interviews with some of the movers and shakers (along with the moved and shaken) in animated film.

In tandem with my compadre, Suite 101 Contributing Writer Dominic Messier, we've been able to make contact with some of the big studios, and we'll be ruthlessly using those contacts for your entertainment and erudition.

Right now, I'm working on landing an interview with Disney/Pixar's Andrew Stanton, the award-winning writer/director of 2003's Finding Nemo, and the upcoming WALL-E. Anyone who has read my site for any length of time knows that I'm a big fan of what's coming out of Pixar, and this will be a great opportunity to peek into the mind of one of animation's premiere writer/directors. And yes, there will be a film review of WALL-E coming on June 27th.

So stick around and keep coming back to this page. As they say in China, intersting times indeed.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

After writing about Gary Wolf's 20-year battle to get what he claims is his piece of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'s profits, I thought I would look at some of the more stunning Hollywood lawsuits and legal stunts, especially the ones that have anything to do with animation.

Whether it's creatives getting screwed by the studios (Deborah Gregory getting only $125,000 for creating the massive Cheetah Girls franchise), the Slesinger family suing, and getting sued by, Disney over Winnie the Pooh, or Jeffrey Katzenberg's five-year war to get his severance bonus, there's a lot of legal ugliness on display.

Disney's not the only studio with vicious legal wolves: Paramount tried to rip off Art Buchwald for Coming to America in a maneuver, the trial judge found "unconscionable" and Stan Lee had to sue Marvel to get his cut of Spider-Man.

These stories aren't pretty; in fact they can be downright ugly. Sometimes the good guys (and gals) win, but mostly they don't. But it's still a fascinating glimpse of what goes on behind the Hollywood glamour. I hope you'll check these articles out in the days to come.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Jennifer Shiman's bunnies are back, and this time they're taking on the 1984 teen comedy Sixteen Candles, and doing it in 30 seconds. According to her, Amy Forstadt of Amy's Dairy helped out with the voices.

Sixteen Candles was unusual for its time, in that it showed a little more sensitivity to the adolescent zeitgeist than previous teen comedies like Porky's and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It made Molly Ringwald a teen star, and introduced future stars Anthony Michael Hall, Gedde Watanabe, plus Joan and John Cusack.

It is possibly the only flick where the star of a teen movie, Ringwald, actually played her age. Yup, most actors playing teenagers are in their mid-twenties; for instance, Ralph Macchio was 23 when he appeared in The Karate Kid, and was 31 when he played a freshman university student in 1992's My Cousin Vinny.

This one doesn't have as many gags as previous parodies, and for reasons of space, Shiman had to pass on the wedding ceremony, which is possibly one of the funniest matrimonial sequences of all time (hint: it involves an overdose on muscle relaxants).

You can check out Sixteen Candles Bunnies by clicking here. Jennifer Shiman's next parody will be Superbad, followed by Goodfellas.

Fun Fact: Shiman's parody of Brokeback Mountain won two Webby Awards for Online Film and Video/Animation, plus the People's Voice award in that category.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

(Writer's Note: I occasionally use this blog space to post news items that don't have enough material to warrant a full article)

Television actor Bruno Campos will join Anika Noni Rose and Keith David in the upcoming Disney film The Princess and the Frog, voicing the other leading role. This is Campos' first leading role in a major feature film.

Variety confirmed that the actor, best known for recurring roles in TV shows like Night Life, Nip/Tuck and the short-lived Christina Applegate vehicle Jesse, will voice the amphibian part in the flick, which will be Disney's first traditionally animated film since 2004.

The Princess and the Frog also marks the return of Ron Clements and John Musker, the directing team behind such Disney animated hits like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules. Randy Newman (Toy Story) is composing the score, and writing the songs for the musical.

There's not a lot known about the plot of this film. Back when the movie was called The Frog Princess, many believed that Disney was taking the ancient Russian folk tale and moving it to 1920's New Orleans. After protests from the black community, Disney quickly changed the names of several characters and revamped the script.

Rose will play Princess Tiana and David will voice the villain, Dr. Facilier. John Goodman joins the cast as a Southern gentleman, and Jennifer Cody plays his spoiled daughter. Jenifer Lewis plays Mama Odie, a voodoo priestess, while Ritchie Montgomery voices Reggie, a musical alligator.

The Princess and the Frog has been scheduled for theatrical release on December 25, 2009.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

I was away on vacation when the news broke about the death of Ollie Johnston, the last remaining member of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men, on April 14th of this year.

Given that I only found out about it 8 days later, I didn't want to do just another memorial, given that many other websites had done great obituaries for the legendary animator and teacher. However, I did notice that there was a lot of information about the Nine Old Men scattered about the InterWeb, and many sources that directly contradicted each other.

For instance, Wikipedia claimed that Wolfgang Reitherman joined Disney in 1935 along with Milt Kahl, but Disney's website claimed that Reitherman joined in 1933.

Even Disney screwed up by placing the character of Madame Medusa in 1963's The Sword in the Stone, when in fact she only appeared in 1977's The Rescuers. In fact, it was the character design of Madame Min that Wolfgang Reitherman praised when he viewed Milt Kahl's work (you can click the link to read more about that story).

Given that there was so much contradictory information out there, I decided the best way was to collect everything I could find about these great animators, and put it all in one place. Obviously I could only tell each animator's story in under 800 words (due to space considerations), but I wanted to cut through the garbage and tell each animator's story in an interesting and informative way.

So I hope you enjoy this nine-part series on some of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. And if you have any comments, or stories you'd like to share, go ahead and say your piece.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Call it the summer of viral marketing. The big studios have been using the Interweb to promote their big summer films, and now that the live-action flick Iron Man pulled about $100 million in its first weekend, that's been seen as a sign that "Internet viral marketing" works.

Disney/Pixar has jumped on the viral bandwagon to promote their upcoming film WALL-E in a big, bad way but are going about it a little more differently than the other studios.

While everyone else is releasing trailers and clips at a furious rate (Sturdy at JoBlo.com recently complained that, thanks to constant viral marketing, "I felt like I'd already seen (Iron Man) a month before it was released."), Pixar's viral campaign doesn't use actual clips from the movie. Instead they're showing vignettes of WALL-E (the character, not the movie) interacting with common household items, like magnets, vacuum cleaners and hula-hoops.

Now the folks at Movieweb have scored a clip of WALL-E meeting up with a pair of wireless headphones. Like the previous clips, it shows the bumbling robot interacting with the 'phones in unusual ways. Definitely some laugh-out-loud moments, but there's a real been-there-done-that feel starting to creep into these clips

Yes, they're still funny, but Andrew Stanton and the Emeryville gang need to change things up for the next one, should they make another clip. There's a sense that the "WALL-E versus ____" scenario is wearing out its welcome.

You can check out the latest WALL-E clip by clicking here. The Disney/Pixar film opens June 27th.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

First off, it was WALL-E versus a vacuum cleaner in a Superbowl spot. Then the robot star of the upcoming Disney/Pixar movie battled a magnet. Now Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) directs the little guy as he takes on a Hula Hoop.

The fine folks at /film scored a clip of the titular robot getting to know the classic plastic hoop, and the clip's another winner from a company that hasn't made any serious mistakes yet. Pixar decided to take on the task of promoting WALL-E after they felt that Disney Marketing dropped the ball with last year's Ratatouille, and they're doing a great job of getting the word out about this movie. Some good online buzz is building for this film, and Disney Consumer Products is salivating for a cash bonanza when WALL-E associated merchandise hits store shelves.

The "WALL-E vs a ____" marketing concept could get seriously annoying in lesser hands, but Stanton is smart enough to keep the laughs coming without boredom setting in. This is an inspired ad campaign for a movie that, from most reports, appears to be another home run for Pixar.

You can check out the clip by clicking here. WALL-E comes to theatres on June 27th.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Take one classic Steven Spielberg blockbuster (1993's Jurassic Park), shrink it down to 30 seconds and re-enact it with bunnies. Yep, Jennifer Shiman and her distinctive Flash animated rodents are back, and they're spoofing one of the greatest popcorn flicks of all time.

Gotta love the little details and side-gags in these parodies, from the bunny falling over when it witnesses the brontosaurus, to the "Projected Income Sources" slide showing behind the Jeff Goldblum character. My analysis?

'Raptors' and 'T-Rex' fit well together, as do 'Jason' and 'Strippers' but all three together? Nah, that would never work.

You can check out Jennifer's latest bunny opus by clicking here.

Next up for Thirty Second Bunnies Theatre? The Judd Apatow comedy Superbad, followed by the classic mob movie Goodfellas and the vampire invasion flick 30 Days of Night.

Fun Fact: Thirty Seconds Bunnies Theatre is up for a Webby award, which honours the best in we-based animation. You can check out the other nominees over here. And yes, I'll be doing a follow-up story on this.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

The best comedy comes from focusing on the simplest things. In this case, it involves WALL-E, the titular robot from the upcoming Disney/Pixar movie, as he interacts with a magnet.

Without any dialogue, the little robot expresses wonder as he sees the magnet for the first time, terror when it chases him around the room, frustration (he can't get rid of the darned thing!), and relief (Whew! It's gone). Needless to say, there's a little twist at the end that had me laughing out loud. The sequence is so simple, and yet so brilliant. It's state of the art animation with a Buster Keaton/Charlie Chaplin soul.

If the rest of WALL-E lives up to the promise generated by this so-far flawless marketing campaign, then this Andrew Stanton film will surely end up on many critics' year end "best of" lists. It's hard to predict how the flick will do at the box office (so many wonderful films end up tanking with audiences), but WALL-E has generated fearsome online buzz, and Disney Consumer Products is already salivating for some serious merchandising profits after the flick opens.

You can check out the WALL-E clip on JoBlo or on YouTube.

WALL-E comes to mondoplexes on June 27th.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

I won't be updating my site for the next 10 days, as I am heading off to Victor Wooten's Bass/Nature Camp in the back woods of Tennessee (road trip!).

What's Bass/Nature camp? It's just a chance to play music and learn from some of the premiere players on the planet, including Victor himself (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones), Steve Bailey (Dizzy Gillespie), and studio legend Chuck Rainey (Aretha Franklin, Steeley Dan, and countless others). I'll also be learning about the wild blue (or green) yonder, and making fire. Should be fun times.

For some idea of what I'm talking about, check out my review of Wooten's novel The Music Lesson, which is now available through Berkley Books, a division of Penguin. Oh, and Wooten's new disc from Heads Up Records, Palmystery, is in stores now. Check it out.

I'll be back on April 22nd to talk more about animated films. Hope to see you then.

Cheers,

Dominic

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

A plot twist in the upcoming live action comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall has led to Disney reviving the Muppets.

Variety reports that the Mouse House has asked the film's writer/leading actor Jason Segel and director Nick Stoller to develop a new Muppets movie.

In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which was produced by comedy mogul Judd (Knocked Up) Apatow, Segel plays a TV composer who is working on a Dracula musical featuring puppets. The Muppet group made the custom creations for the movie, and Segel was so emboldened by the experience that he pitched a Muppets movie concept to Disney executive Kristin Burr during a general meeting. Burr liked what she heard, and she and Segel inked a deal on the spot.

Segel then enlisted Stoller to co-write the script and direct the film. It's unclear how the duo plans to revive the Muppets franchise, but there is no shortage of interest in Jim Henson's cloth creations. The Muppet Show Seasons One and Two DVD's have been hot sellers for Disney Home Video, with Season 3 coming to DVD shelves on May 20th.

Segel and Stoller also have the live action flick The Five Year Engagement in the works for Universal. The comedy is about a man (Segel) who keeps on putting off his wedding.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Pity poor Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

After 16 profitable years of repackaging B-movie trash as auteur irony, a fickle audience suddenly ignored their latest homage to cars, guns and gorgeous dames with inexplicable interest in Tarantino's film collection called Grindhouse. The two-movies-within-a-movie sucked wind at the box office and left The Weinstein Company with a big, fat bill that's not about to be paid anytime soon.

But our boys aren't down for the count, yet. Robert Rodriguez has at least two Sin City sequels to unleash on adoring audiences, that don't care about the fact that Jessica Alba plays a stripper who never ever takes off her clothes. And the QT has Inglorious Bastards on his plate, as well as a zillion other projects that he would love to take on as soon . . . ooh, look! Shiny!

Not only that, Jennifer Shiman's Thirty Seconds Bunnies Theatre has now immortalized Rodriguez and Tarantino's failed experiment in B-movie ripoff – I mean, homage.

To properly give this flick the respect it's due, Shiman doubled the running time so that each film would get 30 seconds each. That allowed the bunnies to show every gunshot, kick, exotic dance and tire tread to the head in loving detail. Pure bliss.

To check out Grindhouse as performed by bunnies, click over here. Look for bunnies versions of Spielberg's dinosaurs-run-amuck movie Jurassic Park, followed by 1980's teen comedy Sixteen Candles, last year's teen comedy SuperBad, classic mob flick Goodfellas, and vampires-run-amuck movie 30 Days of Night.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

My winning streak has extended for another year.

Way back in August of 2007, I proclaimed that Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille would capture the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film and, lo and behold, I was right. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided that Brad Bird and the rest of the Pixar gang had cranked out the best animated film of 2007.

Even though many animation professionals wanted to see Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis win the Oscar for its more interesting storyline, surreal animation and real-world origins, not enough Academy voters had actually seen the fraggin' thing to make it count.

Sony's other animated offering, Surf's Up, was a cute little film but (a) it lacked Ratatouille's stellar reviews and (b) it bombed at the box office.

Those were the only films that actually got nominated. Despite Coming Soon's Edward Douglas praising The Simpsons Movie as Ratatouille's biggest competition, the Twentieth Century Fox flick never made it to the finals.

However, AMPAS didn't tacitly acknowledge the fact that Ratatouille had received the best reviews of any film released last year (including the Best Picture, No Country for Old Men) by giving it the Best Original Screenplay Award. That honour went to Diablo Cody and her script for Juno.

As Oscar ceremony host Jon Stewart put it, "Diablo Cody used to be an exotic dancer, but now she's a screenwriter. Congratulations for taking the pay cut."

So who's up for the 2009 Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film? Stay tuned and meet your contestants in upcoming articles.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Ratatouille added another statue to its trophy case by winning the British Academy of Film and Television Awards' trophy for Best Animated Feature Film.

Blighty's answer to the Oscars gave the Brad Bird flick the win over DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third, and Twentieth Century Fox's The Simpsons Movie. Despite neither of the other two movies being in contention for this year's Oscar, this win gives Disney/Pixar another reason to believe that they will add another award to their respectable haul come February 14th.

Ratatouille is up against Sony Pictures Animation's Surf's Up and Sony Picture Classics' Persepolis for the AMPAS award.

In the Animated Short category, Jo Allen & Luis Cook's The Pearce Sisters won over Osbert Parker, Fiona Pitkin, and Ian Gouldstone's Head Over Heels and The Crumblegiant by Pearse Moore and John McCloskey. The Pearce Sisters is by stop-motion giants Aardman Animation, best known for the Wallace and Gromit series.

You can check out all the BAFTA winners by clicking here.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

According to both Box Office Mojo and Coming Soon, Disney/Pixar has quietly changed the release date for their 2009 film, the Pete Docter wilderness comedy Up.

Instead of the flick's original date of June 12, 2009, Up will debut in theatres on May 29th. That's the weekend after the American Memorial Day holiday weekend which kicks off the summer blockbuster season. That's also one of the prime release dates in the summer schedule, one that was particularly good to DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third this past year. That movie went on to make $320 million in North American theatres.

Details about Up are still pretty sketchy, with the only concrete information being that Pete Docter (Monsters Inc.) and Bob Peterson (Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo) are directing and writing the script, with Docter getting top billing in both regards. No lead voice actors have been cast, there's no official website, no posters, and no sign of any kind of coherent synopsis.

The only hint as to what the film is about came from a Time interview, where Docter said that Up was a "'coming-of-old-age story' about a seventy-something guy who lives in a house that 'looks like your grandparents' house smelled.' The old man befriends a clueless young Wilderness Ranger and gets into lots of altercations."

According to Pixar, "Our hero travels the globe, fights beasts and villains and eats dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon."

Click here for more rampant speculation about Up.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Surprise, surprise: Jennifer Shiman's Thirty Second Bunnies Theatre has unleashed yet another parody, this time spoofing last summer's would-be blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. And, in my not-so-humble-opinion, it's shorter, tighter and a heckofa lot more entertaining than the original.

Okay, so I think Disney should've stopped filming Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elisabeth Swann's adventures after the first flick, which was only redeemed by Johnny Depp's inspired scenery-chewing. However, a lot of people (including the Mouse House's accounting department) think I'm wrong. Woe is me.

Getting back to the Bunnies, there are too many chuckles to list in this blog, but I have to give a special shout-out to Chow Yun-Fat's "cameo" at the end. Genius.

According to the Angry Alien site, the bunnies are currently working on a GrindHouse spoof. Other spoofs due in 2008 include:

• Jurassic Park
• Sixteen Candles
• SuperBad
• Goodfellas
• 30 Days of Night

To check out Johnny Depp as a swashbuckling bunny, click this link.

Fun Fact: Disney executives originally hated Depp's performance in the first flick, saying his interpretation of the character was "too gay."

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Enough critics loved Ratatouille to make it the best-reviewed film of 2007, says film site Rotten Tomatoes.

The site, which gives each film a percentage rating compiled from film reviews in print, online and broadcast sources, gave the Brad Bird film a whopping 96% Fresh rating. That put it over such critical favourites as No Country for Old Men, Knocked Up, Juno and the Michael Moore documentary Sicko, and earned Ratatouille the Golden Tomato for Best Wide Release of 2007.

Not surprisingly, Ratatouille also nabbed the Best Animation category, beating out (in descending order) Twentieth Century Fox's The Simpsons Movie, Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical Persepolis, Satoshi Kon's surreal anime Paprika and Sony's Surf's Up.

The live-action musical drama Once captured the Best Limited Release award, getting an even more impressive 98% rating. At the other end of the scale, the so-called comedy Because I Said So received the Moldy Tomato award, earning a dismal 5% rating.

“This year was a phenomenal year for top-notch movies that captivated audiences and critics, as evidenced by the reviews we aggregated on the site,” Steven Horn, vice president and executive entertainment editor for Rotten Tomatoes, told Business Wire. “The Golden Tomato Awards recognize the best of the best in moviemaking each year and offer a roadmap for our users to see critics’ choices in award-winning cinema in 2007.”

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

By now you've heard all the hoopla about how the current writer's strike reduced the 65th annual Golden Globes Awards ceremony into little more than a press conference. By now you've perused the list of winners and wondered how the **** a middle-grade weepie like Atonement could have won over No Country for Old Men, Eastern Promises and There Will Be Blood.

The big news for animation fans was not only that Ratatouille took the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film but that its competition was DreamWorks Animation's Bee Movie and Twentieth Century Fox's The Simpsons Movie. Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis was nowhere to be seen in the Animated Film category, even though many animation professionals rated the film higher than Ratatouille. Persepolis landed in the Best Foreign Language Film category, where it lost to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Ratatouille Will Win Oscar

It's highly likely that this scenario will repeat itself on Oscar night, and that it will be between Bee Movie, Ratatouille, and The Simpsons Movie. In that case, an Oscar for Ratatouille is a foregone conclusion.

That Disney/Pixar film was the only flick in contention to (barely) cross the $200 million mark at the domestic box office. The Simpsons Movie made $183.1 million, while Bee Movie only pulled $124.5 million in North American theatres, which didn't even cover its $150 million price tag. Ratatouille got the best reviews of any animated film released in 2007, with the exception of Persepolis. If that flick isn't even in contention for Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards, then Ratatouille should have no trouble trouncing the competition on February 14th.

My decision stays the same: Ratatouille, its director Brad Bird, and Pixar will take home this year's Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann

Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, otherwise known as JibJab, have once again offered up their commentary on the year that was and according to them, 2007 wasn't exactly the best year on record.

Then again, has any year been all that good since 1989?

Here's the premise: a group of angels, realizing that "the last time they had a year this bad, the big guy sent a flood!", decide to dress up the mess that was 2007 with a song-and-dance routine, set to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." The usual suspects get pilloried: Osama bin Laden, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Anna Nicole Smith and other assorted celebrities and newsmakers.

The angels try to find some good in the past year. Unfortunately, the best hey can come up with is the Orioles, Brad and Angelina adopting (yet) another baby, and Martin Scorsese finally winning an Oscar for The Departed. The Spirardelli's finally sum up the year that was with the lyric: "Things were far from great, but don't forget '08."

If you liked previous animation efforts, such as the classic "This Land is Your Land" or "What We Call the News," you'll definitely dig what this latest animation has to offer.

You can check out the assorted JibJabbery by clicking here.

Fun Fact: The Richmond Organization, a group that claimed to own copyright of Woody Guthrie's songs, threatened to sue JibJab over their use of the song "This Land is Your Land" in their parody. The lawsuit quickly died when the Spiridellis' lawyers pointed out that TRO had allowed the song's copyright to lapse, which meant the tune was now in the public domain. TRO and JibJab reached an agreement that allowed the Spiridellis to continue distributing the animated short.