August 14, 2006
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??
The Sunday L.A. Times mentioned that a new film called ROMEO AND JULIET: SEALED WITH A KISS was being released in southern California this Friday. That was news to me, so I did a quick Google search and found its website.
Sheesh! Traditional 2-D animation has enough problems without theatrical releases like this! I support the efforts traditional animation artists (and in this case, the co-director of WE'RE BACK and FIEVEL GOES WEST) who choose to ignore current market trends and find funding for personal projects or commercial independent productions - but this clearly low-budget effort may set the cause back another five years. Don't believe me? Check the trailer.
This feature is being distributed by Indican Pictures, a small L.A. based outfit, and it may be fine kiddie fodder for home video - but theatrical audiences, even those who might attend Saturday matinees, have moved on from this sort of thing. At least the film gave work to several talented local animators - Indican's next release, the Norwegian import Capatin Sabertooth, looks even more aesthetically horrendous.