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Release date: May 23, 2012

Country: France, Belgium

Distributed By: La Parti Productions, Les Armateurs, Maybe Movies

Directors: Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, Stéphane Aubier

Screenplay: Daniel Pennac

Cast: Lambert Wilson, Pauline Brunner, Dominique Maurin, Anne-Marie Loop

Producers: Henri Magalon, Didier Brunner, Vincent Tavier, Jean-Paul Commin

Production History: The directors of "A Town Called Panic", and award-winning puppetoon French film, experiment with yet another animation medium for this sweet film.

Synopsis: The story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse named Celestine.

My thoughts: Honestly, I hadn't heard much about this film until recently.  When I finally got around to watching the trailer, however, I was blown away.  The animation style looks like a classic children's book come to life, with a soft watercolor look and great voices that only enhances the illusion.  The characters look very likable, and while the clip we were shown looks very silly there looks like there could be a lot of depth in  this friendship that the trailer doesn't show.  I've never seen the previous movies of this project's directors, but they seem to have done well with audiences and award circles, and this one should follow suit.  It has already been screened at both Cannes and TIFF, and early reports from people who have seen it have said that it is a great film, so I hope it gets a North American release.  Right now, I consider this a must-see!

Tomorrow, check out my Escape From Planet Earth preview!

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2013 Animated Film Preview

Sorry for the late update! Time ran away on me...

Anyways, I will be posting previews to different animated films coming out this year, domestic and foreign, one per day, as well as what I think of each. The movies previewed will be:

Ernest & Celestine (I will preview this one even though it was released in 2012, because it will be eligible for the 2014 Academy Awards and could be one of the major contenders)

Escape From Planet Earth

Metegol

The Croods

Epic

Monsters University

Despicable Me 2

The Wind Rises

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Turbo

Planes

Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Frozen

If there's any films I missed in this list, feel free to send me a PM and I can add it. These are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head, so do forgive me! One post per preview, and I will begin with the first film (films are listed in order of premiere date).  

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The Oscar nominations are in! (Warning: opinion time)

BRAVE

Merida is a high-spirited Scottish princess who resists her mother's efforts to transform her into a more ladylike young woman.  Faced with an arranged marriage she doesn't want, Merida runs away into the forest, where she encounters a witch who teaches her a dangerous spell.

FRANKENWEENIE

Young Victor Frankenstein is a science whiz who spends his time experimenting in his parents' attic and filming amateur monster movies starring his dog, Sparky.  When Sparky dies in an accident, however, Victor decides to see if he can reanimate his beloved pet.

PARANORMAN

Norman Babcock is a smart, lonely boy living in the New England town of Blithe Hollow who has an unusual power: he can see the dead and communicate with the spirit world.  His strange talent does little to endear him to his fellow students or his older sister, but it draws the attention of local eccentric Prenderghast, who gives him dire warnings of an approaching curse.

THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS

The Pirate Captain leads a band of buccaneers who remain fiercely loyal to him despite his shortcomings as a raider and pillager.  Facing stiff competition from more successful high seas brigands, the Captain is nevertheless determined to capture the prestigious Pirate of the Year award.

WRECK-IT RALPH

Ralph is a character in a video arcade game, a destructive, oversized demolitions expert who dreams of transforming himself from a villain into a hero.  Leaving his own game behind, Ralph sets off on an odyssey through a series of games where his programmed propensity for violence works against his efforts to change.

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Very happy with the noms! Very! 4/5 of my predictions got in (Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, Brave).  The only prediction of mine that missed the list was The Rabbi's Cat.   It was a little shocking to see that The Pirates! got in (it being one of the weaker of Aardman's offerings).  Here are my short thoughts on each of the nominees:

Brave - good film, much better than Cars 2, but it has a slightly inconsistent and dragging plot and a moral that (at times) felt poorly executed.  However, it's worth the watch just for the lush Scottish scenery, character animation, and Pixar's first female lead.  For me, the father (Fergus) of Merida made the movie.

Frankenweenie - I was planning on skipping this film in the theater, but out of boredom I ended up watching it in theaters.  I was pleasantly surprised! It's a great homage to classic horror films, and the way it does so (and I won't spoil the plot for you) is extremely clever and fun to watch.  The animation is nice, and the story is very heartwarming, although I will argue that the ending may have been a little too cheesy...If you are planning to check out Tim Burton's work for the first time, this is a good movie to start out with.

ParaNorman - I'm going to be honest, I didn't enjoy this particular one as much as I did the other films on this list.  That isn't to say that it doesn't have anything redeemable - the stop-motion is FANTASTIC and extremely detailed, and the story and moral are delivered very well.  On the other hand, the characters seemed to be very flat and uninteresting (including the main character), and the tone seems inconsistent at times.  It's a good film overall, but those particular nitpicks do bother me...

The Pirates! - A surprise I didn't see coming.  Just like ParaNorman, I though it was a good-looking film with a plot and characters that often times didn't settle with me.  It was mildly funny and clever, but not as much some of Aardman's other offerings (Wallace and Gromit).  The best aspect of this movie is definitely the quirky setting and plot, which makes it very enjoyable (despite a very slow first thirty minutes).

Wreck-It Ralph - A smart script, strong characters, and creative animation makes this my favorite animated film of the year (whether it will win the Oscar remains unknown).  It pays tribute to classic arcade games, and lends itself to some pretty funny jokes, but it's not afraid to delve into situations and language you normally don't see in Disney films.  The middle of the films feels slightly rushed, but the very sweet ending and smart twist near the end of the film is enough to make me fall in love with this film.

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As for the rest of the animated films this year, they were fun but not strong enough for a nom.  Ice Age 4 was fine but not special.  The Lorax had some clever character designs and delivered the Dr. Seuss tale in a very creative way, but felt too cliched.  Madagascar 3's last twenty minutes were probably the best out of the Madagascar franchise, but that's not enough to save the film's erratic first half.  Rise of the Guardians had beautiful animation, but its flat characters and poor plot development hindered its chances of being nominated.

Overall, this year was much better for animation than 2011 (in which I felt only one animated movie deserved a nomination, and that was Rango). I expect more competition next year (despite an overwhelming amount of prequel/sequels), and I'll be posting my current thoughts of each of the 2013 releases on Friday.  Keep an eye out!

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First concept art pieces of Pixar's 2014-2016 films!

First looks at The Good Dinosaur, The Inside Out, and The Untitled Dia de los Muertos Film have been released! They all look great.

From ComingSoon.net.

"ComingSoon.net received a really cool fold-out card from Pixar Animation Studios today, the last day of 2012. The card says, "Wishing you many happy adventures in 2013 and beyond!" It also features concept art from four of their upcoming releases, which you can see below! The first artwork is for Monsters University and is art we have seen before. The anticipated prequel, featuring the voices of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Dave Foley, Julia Sweeney, Joel Murray and Peter Sohn, hits theaters on June 21, 2013."

"Next up was art for the company's May 30, 2014 release, The Good Dinosaur, directed by Bob Peterson. The film is described as follows: What if the cataclysmic asteroid that forever changed life on Earth actually missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?"

"Then came art for director Pete Docter's Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind. The June 19, 2015 release is described as follows: From director Pete Docter ("Up," "Monsters, Inc.") and producer Jonas Rivera ("Up"), the inventive new film will take you to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind."

"And finally was The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dia de los Muertos. The 2016 release is described as follows: From director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson, the filmmaking team behind the Academy Award®-winning "Toy Story 3," comes a wholly original Pixar Animation Studios film that delves into the vibrant holiday of Día de los Muertos."

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In my opinion, all of these are looking great! It's good to see Pixar doing three original films in a row.  I've got my fingers crossed for all three to be fantastic.  Which Pixar film are you looking forward to the most?

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HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE ANIMATEDCYNIC'S BLOG TO YOURS

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TRAILER REVIEW: TURBO

Well, it was going to happen. The first trailer for DreamWorks Animation's second film offering for next year, Turbo, debuted a little while ago.

This is the DreamWorks film I'm looking the least forward to, but I'll have to admit this was very interesting trailer -much more interesting than the second The Croods trailer.  It's a teaser, so it doesn't show much regarding the plot (but it notably puts emphasis on the racing aspect of the film and downplays the snails until the end). The main character doesn't get a lot of screen time in this trailer, so it's hard to tell you much about him. Determined, maybe? Even then, we've seen determined main characters in animated films so often that he's going to have to bring something new to the table to be more interesting, and fast! (Pun intended.) This trailer's too short to give Turbo the opportunity to do so, however.  Maybe when the full trailer's released.

The music choice ("The Distance" by Cake) is great and gave me a laugh.  Animation looks good. I don't know if this makes me want to see this film more, but I can tell you that it didn't make me less interested either.

All in all, trailer's a B. Also, DreamWorks is going to have to try its best to make the film feel distinct, or it might have some explaining to do, what with the Cars/Ratatouille-like premise and the name of a fairly new and infamous Disney character...

My rating system:

A+, A, or A- = Makes me want to see the film! Impresses me, makes me want to see the characters in the film, draws me into the story.

B+, B, B- = Doesn’t make me want to see the film, but doesn’t make me less interested either.  Many redeeming qualities are in the trailer, but there are some problems that bug me.

C+, C, C- = Makes me less interested in the movie to some degree, shows off more potential problems than good qualities.

D, F  = Is the trailer trying to tell me not to see this film?

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"The Croods" Motion Poster

That's pretty neat! I hope it works on your browsers, though. I had a hard time getting it to work on mine.

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Have I reviewed this trailer yet? Methinks not, so I might as well get to it!  This is the second The Croods trailer by DreamWorks, and to be honest I'm not sold on this film yet.

Second trailers for animated movies usually showcase the humor and more of the premise of the film, and this one follows suit.

First off, the humor of this film. I read in an interview on Crave Online that the type of humor directors Chris Sanders and Kirk De Micco is going for is Looney Tunes/Ice Age-like humor (slapstick, prehistoric jokes).  For those of you who like this type of humor no matter what, you'll probably get a few laughs out of this trailer.  For those of you who think slapstick is overused in animated films and didn't laugh at this trailer, join my club.  I didn't laugh at all, and I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's because I've seen most of these jokes before...? Because obnoxious punching and excessive screaming isn't all that funny? Because "hating mother-in-law" jokes are cliche and not all too funny?

Visuals are okay-looking, here (although Sanders's original designs for this film looked much better than the final product, unfortunately).  However, just as in Rise of the Guardians, the character models/designs look off-putting.  There's something about the animation that is somewhat disturbing, and I think it has to do with the eyes of the characters. I find it hard to look into these characters' eyes.  None of the characters look too memorable either, especially the  obligatory cute-boy-that-DreamWorks-inserts-into-their-films-to-win-over-the-hormones-of-money-holding-teenage-girls. You know which character I'm talking about...

I'm still adjusting to the very concept of Nicholas Cage of a caveman - yep, the very idea of it all.  Emma Stone was somewhat grating in this trailer - Eep had slightly more likability in the first trailer.  Cloris Leachman sounds good, though.

I personally liked the first trailer more, because it showcased more of the environment and was more character-centric.  This one had too many unfunny jokes and didn't showcase enough of the characters to make me like them all too much.  C+ trailer score.

Soon, I'm going to post a 2013 animation slate preview! Including facts about some of the films coming out next year and a few opinions I have of each one, including The Croods! Stick around for that!

My rating system:

A+, A, or A- = Makes me want to see the film! Impresses me, makes me want to see the characters in the film, draws me into the story.

B+, B, B- = Doesn't make me want to see the film, but doesn't make me less interested either.  Many redeeming qualities are in the trailer, but there are some problems that bug me.

C+, C, C- = Makes me less interested in the movie to some degree, shows off more potential problems than good qualities.

D, F  = Is the trailer trying to tell me not to see this film?

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The "Extreme Mountain Man" has a voice! Jonathan Groff of "Glee" fame will voice Kristoff from the Disney film Frozen.

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Randall in glasses! Monsters University just come out now please!

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New 'Frozen' Concept Art

New Frozen concept art!

Hi-res picture of Anna and Kristoff

My personal opinion of the upcoming Disney animated film is somewhat shaky, to be honest.  In fact, I'm not sure what to expect from this project, to be honest!  It could go one of two ways: either it could be a visually creative and creative animated film that's sure to be another Disney hit, or it could be too similar to 'Tangled' to be considered memorable.

Either way, let's just enjoy the moment and look at the beautiful artwork here.  Just look at Kristoff's annoyed face!

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sexylamp reblogged your post: The Golden Globes nominations for Best Animated...

So, fucking Hotel Transylvania gets nominated...best animated feature, but ParaNorman...

I was very shocked at that, personally.  I thought ParaNorman was a shoe-in for a spot.

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The Golden Globes nominations for Best Animated Feature Film are in!

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

"Brave"

"Frankenweenie"

"Hotel Transylvania"

"Rise of the Guardians"

"Wreck-It-Ralph"

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Cynical Review! (watch for spoilers)

For my first review on this blog, I have chosen...Rise of the Guardians!

Remember, before reading this review, that I am quite a nitpicky cynic...

I saw ROTG a week ago, because I usually try my best to check out all the potential annual award nominees and whatnot.  I saw it in the afternoon, with a small crowd of about 20 people.

Coming into the theater, I had no idea what to expect. Most DreamWorks films have always seemed to disappoint me in some aspect (with the exception of Shrek and maybe, maybe Kung Fu Panda, which I love).  For the first time in a while, however, I actually had hope for a DreamWorks film to be (for the first time) Pixar caliber.  The trailers for ROTG weren't cheesy or corny or anything you would expect from a DreamWorks film.  I saw that William Joyce was working on the film (and I'm a fan of his). Not to mention, I was actually surprised how strong the final twenty minutes of Madagascar 3 were (granted, I still give it a 5.9/10, but still...). "Perhaps, perhaps ROTG wouldn't be so bad," I thought. "Maybe, it will be a strong film..."

And then the movie started, and ended. And I walked out...disappointed.

Before I get into the disappointments, let me explain what I liked the most. The voice acting was great. The actors were very spot on with their characters (Jude Law and Alec Baldwin really stood out). Prior to the movie being released, I was one of the naysayers who thought Chris Pine's voice wouldn't fit Jack, but I was pleasantly suprised.

And, the visuals look good (very detailed, and very whimsical).  The beginning of the film especially looked beautiful. Creative designs, creative animation, and a creative musical score all made this a nice treat for the eyes.

However, visuals alone don't save a movie.  You can have the most innovative animation out there, and use gimmicks to wow an audience with it, but if you don't make your characters all too likable and don't connect plot points, then your film becomes a borefest.

The film seems not to linger much on character development (granted, they do try to introduce character development, but it doesn't feel genuine). It briefly introduces what the Guardians do, but it doesn't give us any connection to these characters. Their personalities are also vague, so it's difficult to connect with them. We are introduced to how their "powers" work, and how they work, but there's no pathos.  If you're going to show a different side to these characters (since the unconventional character designs seem to insist that we would see a different side to the classic holiday icons), then show a different side to these characters! Give us personalities that we wouldn't expect out of these characters! ROTG doesn't do that. The film passes up this opportunity that would have made it much more engaging and much more enjoyable. Granted, the film tries to make us feel bad for some of these characters (especially when the Guardians mourn Sandman, which is probably one of the more awkward scenes I've seen in a film for a while, since the film didn't even bother to develop the relationship between the Guardians and Sandy anyway so the scene felt forced). Jack Frost isn't that interesting of a main character either - he's just your everyday pretty boy rehashed with different underdog and cool guy traits.  The closest the film got to actually making him a standout character was the flashback as to how he died, which was moving, but not as impactful as it should have been. There's a lot of moments that there is an air of pretentiousness in that sense - some scenes seem to be almost forcing you to feel a certain emotion, which is not good storytelling.

The only two characters I ended up liking from the film were Pitch and Sandman.  In fact, if the film had focused on just these two alone, the film may have been much better (I liked the character chemistry between the two, and it would have been a treat to see a silent main character in a DreamWorks film of all places).  Yet, both were given very poor treatment in the film - Sandman's only in the film for, what, less than thirty minutes? He's kind of brushed to the side most of the time when in the Guardians' presence, anyway.  Pitch's downfall in the film was also very uncalled for, in my opinion.  The poor guy couldn't help having fear as his center, and all he wanted was to be recognized (but that doesn't make sense, as most other plot aspects of this film are concerned, since he was already believed in) and appreciated just as much as Jack was.  Yet, he is treated poorly by the Guardians defeated as if he was irredeemable.  As far as I'm concerned, the filmmakers should have found some other fitting ending for him - perhaps he could use his fear to make children behave.

The plot seemed too rushed.  There were aspects that made no sense at all.  For example, what exactly was the motivation of Pitch? He's already believed in and feared, so he's already powerful, so why does he want to destroy the Guardians? Why does he want all children to fear him? Was destroying the Guardians even necessary for his schemes? The "well, it was explained in the book" nonsense doesn't work here, because if you're going to make a movie based on a book you are going to at least make it so that people who don't know the book can follow along and understand the characters in the movie, and this film doesn't do that. Also, why did Santa lose his powers if Christmas was months off? How did the Guardians regain all their powers with only a few children believing in them (compared to the millions that, apparently, didn't believe in them anymore)? How did Jack have all those powers if the movie tells us nobody believes in him? There were too many questions unanswered, that could have been answered had too many unnecessary CGI scenes been taken out or cut in length. I couldn't believe how long that sledding scene at the beginning of the film was...

So...color me disappointed for the most part.  Too much CGI for too little character and too little plot.  The character designs were creative, and animation was beautiful, but that's probably not enough to drag a mainstream audience into the theater.  As far as Oscar noms, I don't see one happening (unless the animation alone gives it a nom). I would probably list it as the eighth best animated film of the year (my favorite's still Wreck-It Ralph). As much as I felt Brave wasn't up to normal Pixar standard, I feel as if Brave was better than ROTG.  All, in all, I give ROTG 6.5/10. I'm still waiting for the one DreamWorks film that will really wow me, and I hope they do make a really strong film one day since there really is a lot of talent at DreamWorks, but in my opinion, this film wasn't the one to break the ice.

My rankings:

1. Wreck-It Ralph

2. Frankenweenie 

3. ParaNorman

4. Brave

5. The Rabbi's Cat 

6. The Painting

7. From Up on Poppy Hill

8. Rise of the Guardians

9. Hotel Transylvania

10. Madagascar 3

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Two new teaser posters for Pixar's upcoming "Monsters University". The posters look nice (the second one really captures the feel of a college dorm), but despite the nostalgic feel Mike and Sully bring to the table I still feel concerned for this film.  I wish Pixar would have stopped with the sequels/prequels after "Toy Story 3" and focused on more original projects, but who knows? Maybe the film will be fine enough on its own...maybe...maybe it might avoid being the fiasco that was "Cars 2"...maybe...

Either way, there's still "The Good Dinosaur" to look forward to.

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Animation news roundup!

Here's a roundup of what's been goin' on the past week or so!

"Wreck-It Ralph" writer Jennifer Lee has been chosen to co-direct Disney's upcoming Tangled-esque "Frozen" with "Tarzan"'s Chris Buck, and there's a new logo! (On a side note, I've been reading the film's a little behind schedule. I hope a little Disney magic can fix that)

A rumor on Bleeding Cool News has it that the "Untitled Pixar Film That Takes You Inside The Mind" will soon be given the formal title "The Inside Out".  John Lasseter gave a short description of the film, saying, "The emotions of this little girl are the characters and it takes place in the head of this little girl, and shows how they control things that go on." Personified emotions, perhaps? It will be interesting to see what direction this film takes!

A new Pixar project has been announced, with Derek Connolly ("Safety Not Guaranteed") writing and Teddy Newman (director of Pixar's "Day and Night") directing. No release date (or year!) yet.

DreamWorks's "Rise of the Guardians" isn't rising well domestically in the box office, but it seems to be doing decent numbers oversees, pulling in $57 million overseas (more than half of what it made in the U.S.), to a grand total of $105 million so far.  I think the question is now, will the foreign box office be enough incentive for DreamWorks to make a sequel? I'm guessing, "not really", but we'll see.

The tie-in DreamWorks "The Croods" videogame has been titled "The Croods: Prehistoric Party!"

These are just the snippets I can remember off the top of my head right now.  I'll be making separate posts for the Annie Award nominations and for my review of "Rise of the Guardians".  If I remember any more news, you'll see me making a new bulleted post. Until then, ciao!

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Epic (2013) Trailer Review:

Here's the latest trailer for Blue Sky's "Epic", which seems to at least improve from the last trailer (if you ignore the usage of the same song from the first trailer).  Overall, the trailer doesn't add much else to what we already know about the Blue Sky pic: just a better look at the human characters, including the main girl and her father. The animation looks good, though it's nothing groundbreaking.

There is still the issue that it seems to mimic "Ferngully's" plot, with "Avatar"-esque angles and designs. None of the leaf men have been given any personality in this trailer either (not a plus if they're supposed to be our focus in this film).  Are we supposed to be happy for the girl becoming small? Afraid for her life? The trailer doesn't make any of this clear.  There is also that issue involving the snail (which I'm already afraid will pester me throughout the flick) played by comedian and Parks and Recreation actor Aziz Ansari, which I'm assuming will be the comic relief of the film (and doesn't seem to be all that funny, unless you count forced "cool dude" lines funny).  Overall, the film feels frenetic; not able to pick whether it should be like "The Borrowers" or "Avatar", trying to balance being both magical and some strange form of sci-fi, and trying to find an identity.

Trailer score: B-

Check out future reviews on my blog!