Animation

Interview: David Whitley, writer of 'The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation'

As a big fan of Disney animation, I can very well remember the first time I watched Bambi in the cinema. I was still a kid, and at that time I just thought the movie was a wonderful piece of animation, that was able to both entertain me and make me feel deep emotions at the moment Bambi’s mother was shot and killed. What I did not realise at that time was that my thoughts on nature were being shaped by what was happening on the screen, and that I was being taught a responsible way to handle the environment. Or at least, that is what David Whitley concludes Disney movies do in his book ‘The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation’. “Classic Disney films put the viewer in a position where they are emotionally 'on side' with nature and weave these feelings around the plot structures of myths, fairy tales and fantasies that articulate some of our most fundamental longings.”

“When my children were growing up, like many other parents, I'd enjoyed watching some of the Disney films like 'Jungle Book' and 'Bambi' with them,” Whitley replies to my question about what inspired him to write this book. “They watched some of the films many times with obvious pleasure and engagement. I suppose I began wondering about the power of the images that the experience of these films laid down in them. I wondered how the feelings generated by those films might connect with other ideas and experiences later in life. I'd also become very interested myself in how animals and the environment are represented in different kinds of art and literature more generally. I guess the two sets of concerns meshed really, as I came to realise that Disney animation was much richer in environmental themes than I'd first thought.”

Disney announces animated movies through 2012

When Disney gives you their official list of animated movies coming up until 2012, then that’s big news. Especially when there are some movies on that list that we’ve never heard before, like two new Pixar movies, Newt and The Bear and the Bow, as well as confirmation that Cars 2 is coming, and a new animated movie from Walt Disney Studios itself, The King of the Elves. Oh, and FOUR direct to DVD Tinkerbell movies, but I guess most readers of this blog won’t be that excited about that.

“This is an amazing time for animation at Disney and Pixar, and it's a thrill to be working on such a diverse and original group of films with such an all-star team of filmmakers,” John Lasseter commented. “The thing I love best about my job is that I get to work at both Disney and Pixar with filmmakers who are passionate about their projects and who are the absolute best in the business. We're excited to be pushing the boundaries of 3-D and computer technology to tell our stories in the best possible way. At the same time, we're drawing on our past to emphasize memorable characters, original edge-of-your-seat stories, and believable worlds. Walt Disney and his creative team taught us how to blend comedy, powerful emotion, and action-filled excitement in our films, and this group of incredible filmmakers is bringing their own originality and sensibilities to the process."

Click through to read the full official release schedule from Disney!

Clone Wars trailer leaked onto the web

Lucasfilm doesn’t actually want you to see this yet, but then they should probably be a little bit more careful about where they keep their trailers to their new movies: the trailer for the upcoming animated movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars, has been leaked onto the web and can be seen by clicking here. The trailer features a lot of thrills and gives you a very good look at what to expect, and what the characters are going to look like, but it also seems to be a tad on the humourless side. One of the things I always enjoyed most about the Star Wars movies (at least the earlier ones) was their light touch, and there’s not much of that at show here. Still, you cannot really complain when things look this good. The trailer is a bit dark and grainy, but hey, you cannot really complain when you get such an early look.

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Analysts predict Kung Fu Panda will be a big hit

According to some of the most respected stock market analysts, Dreamworks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda could very well become a big hit. You might wonder why you would listen to what stock market analysts have to say about animated movies, but whilst they aren’t experts on the quality of a movie, the thing is that they do have a pretty good reading on what will be a success or not. So when they predict that the movie might gross $ 563 million worldwide (don’t ask me how they come up with these exact numbers) and that they think there will be a sequel in 2011, then there is a good chance some of that might actually come true.

The reasons for the succes of the movie? Timing (it comes out several weeks before Wall-E) and quality. The analysts were able to watch some portions of the movie, and they concluded that character development was good, the scenes were amusing and the concept is appealing. So while it still sounds weird to hear a stock market analyst say what is good in a movie or not, the point is that Kung Fu Panda might very well become a new box office hit for Dreamworks.

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Fox Animation brings you mummies with Anubis Tapestry

Fox Animation has nabbed the rights to The Anubis Tapestry: Between Twilights, a young adult novel focussing on mummies, which was written by Bruce ZIck. Zick used to be an animator himself, working on movies like Finding Nemo and A Bug’s Life, whilst also drawing comic books for both Marvel and Dark Horse. Besides that he worked as an illustrator for people like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.  Fox Animation is planning to loosely adapt the book, to which they have optioned the rights, meaning that production of the movie is not yet set in stone.

According to the official explanation, The Anubis Tapestrey is about a young boy who has to save his father: “When a mummy's curse condemns Dr. George Henry’s spirit to the Egyptian Underworld, his son Chance must try to free him. But Chance risks becoming a mummy himself when he binds himself in the wrappings of the mysterious Anubis Tapestry. Led by a comical creature named Blixx, Chance plumbs the depths of the Underworld and encounters a variety of horrible monsters. If Chance can’t return by twilight, he and Blixx will be trapped forever in the dead's domain!”

If you want to read the first chapter of this book, head on over to this Amazon link.

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Release date for Ponyo on a Cliff announced

Fans of Studio Ghibli movies can mark July 19th in their agenda. This is the day when Ghibli’s new movie Ponyo on a Cliff will be released in Japan. So if you don’t live in Japan you will still have to wait for quite some time, but at least you can expect a lot more details about the movie coming out around that time. For the official trailer of Ponyo, you will only have to wait until April 19th. Again, this will be the Japanese trailer, but no doubt there will be fan-translations hitting the web right after that date.

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Chris Wedge wins Tex Avery award

Ice Age and Robots director Chris Wedge has been awarded the Tex Avery Award, which he is set to pick up in Dallas this weekend. Tex Avery was the genius animation director who created Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Droopy, Screwball Squirrel and many others, whose crazy animation style inspired many, and left even more people rolling in the isles with laughter whenever one of his cartoons was playing. He won many awards, and it's fitting that an award is also being handed out in his name. Wedge is very honored to receive a prize connected to a man whose cartoons he says inspired him. "They were like dreams or hallucinations where anything could happen at any moment," Wedge told the Dallas Morning News. "That seems a far cry from what animation has become in this age of big business and cutting-edge technology.

"You think about the environment those shorts were created in. There was very little pressure for those things to be anything but hilarious. I happen to work in an environment where there is a lot of pressure to operate within a very demanding business model. But maybe I'm just talking as someone who's seen what's behind the curtain. And I probably shouldn't underestimate how difficult it was to put those films together. But they sure feel carefree."

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Irregular updates upcoming

No, it's not a new animated movie ;) In the coming two weeks, updates will be irregular. There are some Important Things in the real world I have to attend to, which means I won't have the same amount of time as usual to update the site every weekday. So I am pretty sure there will be some updates, just not 3-6 a day like is usual right now.

Is Wall-E going to be Pixar's biggest hit?

Take a look at those eyes on the left. Aren't they adorable? Well, get ready to see plenty more of them, as this summer Wall-E mania is going to hit the world. You thought other Pixar-movies were successful? Let me go out on a limb here and predict that Wall-E is going to be their biggest hit. It all comes down to the 'aww'-factor. You see Wall-E and you immediately go: Aww, that's the cutest little robot I have ever seen. It's true. You do say that. I've read it on your personal blogs. I use Google Alerts to keep up to date with the latest news on many different animated subjects, and the Wall-E e-mail I get every day contains a lot of links to personal blogs, where people all over the world are saying that they saw the Wall-E trailer and can now not wait for the movie to come out, and that Wall-E is, yes, the most adorable thing they have ever seen (and invariably, the names of the posts about Wall-E are all a variation on 'Awwwwwww').

Don't underestimate the power of a cute main character. Why do you think that Finding Nemo is to date Pixar's biggest hit? And why do you think it's worldwide revenue is miles ahead of that of Monsters Inc. Yeah, I know, you shake your head now and say: "It doesn't work that way." But let me tell you something: "It does." Cars big-eyed vehicles have earned Pixar and Disney over a billion dollars in merchandise sales alone. Lilo and Stitch was one of Disney's biggest recent hits, because Stitch is also adorable. I mean, no offense, but Chicken Little wasn't adorable. If Chicken Little would have been adorable, he would have put a lot more butts in seats.

Disney and Robert Zemeckis bring robots

Announcements have been made regarding the second animated movie produced by Disney and Robert Zemeckis. It will be called Calling All Robots, and will use the same rotoscoping techniques used in movies like Beowulf and The Polar Express. Writer Michael Dougherty is penning the script and will work with Breehn Burns and Simeon Wilkins to produce the film. Dougherty spoke to Variety about the project and told them that it will "tell a story that is a throwback to old Godzilla movies. I grew up watching Godzilla movies, and this film is very much rooted in those movies."

No word yet on a release dat, but with A Christmas Caroll coming out in 2009, we can probably expect this pic in 2010 or 2011.

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