Final trailer for 3D Mexican “Top Cat”

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on

One more time. I promise its the last. Here’s the final version of the upcoming Mexican 3D “Top Cat” feature, coming to theaters in South America this fall:

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  • linklonk

    That’s some A+ flash animation right there.

  • Trevor

    If this was just hand drawn it would be a masterpiece.

    • Leo

      I imagine the budget wouldn’t allow that but i love what i see, great effort from the mexican team (also argentinian i think?) :)

      • PedroVel

        I’ve heard that, despite being flash, almost all the frames were hand drawn, using the minimum amount of tweening possible. And I think you can clearly see that in the trailer.

        I’m dying to see this. It looks awesome!

      • Atilio

        No… you’d be amazed of the level of many 2D animators in Argentina.

      • Jose

        and also Irish! cartoon saloon also participated in the movie

      • snip2346

        I’m sorry, but my sharp eye can tell that they used tweens EXTREMELY frequently.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      That’s how I felt, even if the story was weak, the animation could’ve saved it with some good ol’ fashion hand-drawn ingenuity.

  • top cat james

    Bonus points for the reference to an actual episode there at the end (“Hawaii, Here We Come”), and for capturing a more authentic New York feel than the series usually did…

    But otherwise-

    Eh.

  • Mary

    It’s looks much better that what I expected, based on the last trailer.

    • Benito B

      I’m soooooo excited about this movie, Benny is the best!

  • Skip

    I almost like this, and I wish that I could say that I do. The Flash animation is impressive, but the meshing of 2D and CG are not cohesive in my opinion, and thus the 2D and CG look to me like they belong in separate projects. With the time I spent viewing the trailer, all of my thoughts were on assessing why what I’m watching bothers me.

    • http://youtube.com/user/drexelboi1991 tedzey

      I had the same problem watching it! I feel CG models in a traditional or flash animated film could work if they can blend with the backgrounds. Here, I have to squint to make sure the characters are actually interacting with this world. Now I know this is made with a small budget, but if they can afford to have 90 percent of the backgrounds and props be 3-d computer animated models why not go all the way?

      • snip2346

        I’ll tell you why. CG characters are extremely hard to animate properly and convincingly, and are levels above those for backgrounds!

  • Deaniac

    A lot better than the last trailer, that’s for sure.

    I’m not sure why so many people are distraught that this movie is Flash animated, considering Hanna-Barbera always had a limited animation style to begin with.

    • http://www.ailhadoceu.com.br Ceu D’Ellia

      Agreed with you.
      Animators care so much about technique and do not pay attention to storytelling. Lost in frames…
      The story premise of this cheap movie is quite better than most of the poor Disney so careful hand drawn movies of the last 20 years.

  • RuloGax

    Can’t wait! This looks really good!

  • Theodore1972

    Very good animation, taking into account it’s all flash. Two thumbs up!

  • Atilio

    Leo: You’d be amazed of the level of many 2D animators in Argentina.

  • Paloma

    I really liked the tv show, and always hated how few episodes they made! The animation looks amazing!

    I’m looking forward to watching it and really hope it makes it to theaters in the states.

  • Mola

    I loved the animation of the drawings, I think it´s going to be an awesome movie!! i look forward to watch it! :)

  • Mola

    I loved the animation of the drawings,I think it´s going to be an awesome movie!! i look foward to watch it!

  • Raymond J

    Jerry, I don’t complain about Top Cat news, so please don’t stop and keep them coming.

  • http://www.rodtramonte.com Rod Tramonte

    It looks infinitely beter than the Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear movies.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      I’ll be happy if they at least refrain from toilet humor the most here.

  • http://www.frankpanucci.com Frank Panucci

    Could be watchable but I echo the complaints about the uncomfortable 2D/3D mix. If it gets a dub I’ll check it out.

    The characters in the trailer sound like no-talent local radio guys trying to do cartoon voices. There’s no trace of professional delivery. Maybe a dub into English would fix that.

    • snip2346

      I heard they were able to get their original dub actor for Top Cat to reprise his role.

      • Matute

        It was in fact the actor who dubbed Benny and Choo choo on the original show. (Jorge Arvizu) Top Cat’s mexican voice passed away about 20 years ago.

    • Anonymous

      Despite animating on the project you can clearly see by the lipsync in this trailer that it was all animated in English. And yes, to me it sounded like the original cast too

  • http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com robcat2075

    I’m curious to know to what extent the characters are 3D.

    They look to be very flat in design… will they be like flat cards in a 3D environment?

  • http://dailygrail.com/ red pill junkie

    I’m really *not* looking forward to seeing this at all.

    I’m Mexican, and I know how huge Don Gato was here in Mexico because I was part of that generation of kids who religiously watched countless re-runs of the show on Canal 5.

    But this… this is not up to the standards of the old show, even with modern technology.

    For the life of me, I don’t understand why Mexican animation studios want to fly when they haven’t learned how to walk —i.e. why they don’t start growing and learning by taking small steps (cartoon shorts) the way Pixar and the rest of the great studios did, before they risk embarking on the big leagues of motion pictures.

    Then again… that’s the way Mexican society has ALWAYS behaved, that’s why we have a city with the biggest sky-scrapper in Latin America, along with lousy streets full of potholes and insecurity :-/

    • Matute

      “I don’t understand why Mexican animation studios want to fly when they haven’t learned how to walk”

      True. Mexican animation is not ready yet to be on the same level as PIXAR. We are still looking for our very own Felix the cat ^-^

      • Oscar

        I’m mexican also, and i can tell you that there’s a bunch of, i must say, excellent mexican shortfilms, i think the reason why Mexican animation hasn’t get out of the shortfilms, is because of the poorly support by producers and small budgets.

      • Chris Sobieniak

        I would not be surprised.

    • http://www.gamanimation.com Gamanimation

      It would be really hard to make enough money out of shorts to keep a staff and freelancers employed. Unless the studio makes commercials on the side or something, they really have to do the best they can with what they have.

  • http://waffyjon.blogspot.com Jon B. Knutson

    You know, if this kind of thought had gone into the Yogi Bear movie, it might’ve been watchable. Get Billy West and whoever else they need to replicate the original voices (or the original voice actors if they’re still alive to do it) and dub it into English, and I’ll be happy to take my kids to see it!

    • http://www.gamanimation.com Gamanimation

      This was originally animated in English, Jon. It will definitely be available in English somehow.

      • Chris Sobieniak

        I figured it was given how the lip movements appear slightly different from the Mexican voices here. At least they had the hindsight to do so for elsewhere.

  • Chris

    If you really want to see the best FLASH animation out there…. her it is…it’s not done in flash but in Toonboom…but still symbol/puppet animation.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag3pfJIqZnM

    • Raymond J

      Here we go again.. come on.. this is Disney Vs. the world

    • R.A. MacNeil

      Or this, actually done in Flash with symbols: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ENN_0nrAg8

      • Celophan

        I may be wrong but i think that Copernicus has worked with Anima in other projects (maybe was Kung Fu Magoo?).

    • Richie

      Nice effort, but it has nothing against the unfairly cancelled Nick show, El Tigre.

  • Steven M.

    I’m still put off by the Flash and 2D/3D mix. It just seem to be a bad omen.

  • MichaelDair

    Looks good, but the voice acting sounds a little flat.

  • http://elblogderg.blogspot.com Roberto

    I think the CG backgrounds are convincing. What I would avoid is CG ‘props’ or vehicles. When the characters interact with a CG element it looks fake. When it’s just in the background it kind of works.

    The character designs and colors are great. The animation not so much, but it sometimes work.

    The story shows more interesting elements in this trailer but they could have dropped the super-villains and modern robot aspect.

    Just use a new policeman with severe methods without making an arch-villain out of him and that would fit much better for a Top Cat story.

  • Michael F.

    What on earth was the OfficeMax involvement? This is kind of unusual to see an office supply store list its name in the info credits.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      Mmmm, maybe they provided paper? :-)

    • Zaki

      Sponsoring, the money has to come from anywhere, office supply stores included :P

    • tonma

      hehe… here in Mexico money for movies comes from most unsuspected places, I’ve seen canned food and processed meats logos and acknowledgments in the opening credits of movies, and yes, it looks kinda weird….

  • http://www.comemeetjesus.blogspot.com Chris Powell

    I’d take this over the Smurfs movie ANY day. Though I wish the story was different, I like all the nods to the original cartoon. Plus, it looks like they’ve got the personalities of the characters right.

  • km

    The integration between 2d and 3d elements are terrible. If I didn’t know this movie was Mexican I would still say the same, animation feels completely done in Flash, no squash or stretch at all, the art direction is very poor. And why not try to make the 3d feel a bit more 2d, so they feel like they belong in the same world. Despite of budget being small, simple things like materials should feel better, on the helicopter scene it feels they just got basic materials, slapped on a texture and didn’t even bother to see how it looks.
    Its great animation in Mexico is improving and to this I congratulate them. But they need to know where they stand and the long road ahead. I hope people don’t take this criticism wrong, but if this is the bar, its really set low.

  • Claudia

    This is going to be such a trainwreck, and I’m not going to miss it for anything in the world.

  • David Breneman

    Interesting to see Benny doing his “Aloha” dance just like he did in the TV show pilot.

    This film prompted me to look up the original title sequence on You Tube, and it’s spectacular. Hoyt Curtin’s hot jazzy theme, combined with animation that’s far and away better than anything in the body of the show, blew me away. The limousine turn, complete with British tripod headlights and “H-B” substituted for “R-R” on the grille is a study in attention to detail. I bet this was done by one of the “old hands” who hung on from the MGM days. There really needs to be a retrospective of Curtin’s work. Audio was a high point of the otherwise drab H-B factory TV animation, and Curtin’s themes were a big part of that.

    One question that’s bugged me since I was a kid: Does anyone know why the light above Top Cat’s garbage can is blinking? (And take note of the effect it has on the foreground and background.) Does it have something to do with the police call box?

    Anyway, it’s here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxz1fuKjMr8

    • KatellaGate

      David: TC is stealing electricity from the blinking overhead sign, and so the lamp blinks as well. (He’s unscrewed a single bulb on the sign and replaced it with an outlet adapter).

      • Chris Sobieniak

        A clever move I thought (though I could see why someone might get the wrong idea and think the print of the ending was just like that by accident or so).

      • David Breneman

        OK, It’s obvious when you know what to look for. :-) I hadn’t seen this title sequence since I was about 5 or 6, and it goes dark during the tilt down, so I didn’t see the connection between the wire in the sign (which looked like it might have been hair in the gate) and the lamp below. That’s a clever “breaking the fourth wall” gag. Too bad the whole show wasn’t as good as the titles.

      • Chris Sobieniak

        Too often it comes down to what I wish to see in a film like this. The animation in that opening/closing sequence alone would’ve suited it fine if they have went with that.

  • Yolander

    PLEASE Anima Studios:

    stop using cutout animation for feature films. it’s okay for broadcast or Direct-to-DVD but not for Movie Theaters.

    you have a very talented team, just fire whoever was responsible for that look development.

    2D and 3D CAN work together, just not like this.

    3D was good by itself. 2D was pretty good for broadcast, but you get the point…

    don’t blame the money. there are amazing animators around the world working for free or at very cheap prices.

    you are ahead in animation in mexico, just take that big step, raise the bar.

    • babadooo

      @ yolander: you never know who was the hands behind that animations, maybe they are great animators? but budget, deadlines and stuff was awfull? we NEVER know. i think they did at the best they can. i dont think they hired not professional or unexperienced animators and artists…
      i dont like this kind of comments.i hope they will do TOPCAT 2 :D

    • AloHawaii

      “there are amazing animators around the world working for free or at very cheap prices.”
      i feel insulted by that comment. Isn’t part of the point of Anima and Illusion to give work to Mexican and Argentinian animators?

      • Atilio

        Maybe I was not clear … no Argentine animators behind of Top Cat, is a Mexican team. But if I wanted to point out that in Argentina there are very good 2D animators. I pass the link of a study that often work for CN, Nickelodeon and Disney.

        http://www.hookupanimation.com/

      • Martin

        Atilio: there were Argentinians involved. Many many Argentinians from Illusion Studios. I was offered to enter there to work as a 3D modeler. I have friends working there. They told me the nightmare they had when trying to fit the Flash animation coming from Mexico. Walks and runs are out of sych, so in Argentina they found a solution: “let’s not show the whole body in some parts. Let’s show the upper part only” and that happens in many takes.

      • Chris Sobieniak

        Still it was kinda sad they couldn’t do all the animation in your country than letting Mexico in on this.

      • Sebas

        what’s the problem of letting Mexico do that? they were the ones who got the license.

      • Chris Sobieniak

        I know. Not that it matters, and it was nice they at least knew where to put the money where their mouth was there, but it would’ve been nice if it had been another studio than Anima here.

      • aline

        So this is personal vs anima. It’s not like there are tons of studios in Mexico and from those who start, very few survive, Anima is one of those exceptions and the ones that revived the animation genre in Mexico after 30 years that had dissapeared and thanks to that some other projects have seen the light (Huevo Cartoon, Animex, Batallon, etc).

    • GW

      No cutout animation in feature films? Tell that to David Cherkasskiy. Pin down your criticisms to something more specific.

  • http://www.artware.mx Arturo

    Couldn’t Anima find a better Voice Actor for “Demóstenes”?…

    Radio personality, Olallo Rubio can do a much better voice impersonation of this character, and being a fan of the series, he probably would accepted the job.

    • Arabela

      I had listened they contacted him but he was busy with his new movie.

  • Adobada

    If you want to embed the Youtube trailer, directly from Warner Bros Mexico

    http://youtu.be/3MNCu1KTveI

  • Hargi

    The melding of the 2D/3D worlds is jarring but more disturbing is the mere inclusion of such swooping camera, extreme down angles borrowed from live action into the Top Cat limited animation arena. It looks like two different worlds because it IS, regardless of what digital tricks they used to attempt a blend. From the shots in this trailer, it looks like the animators did as good a job as possible on a tight budget. The use of Flash isn’t a bad thing when working in this style. Top Cat was the most poorly animated of Hanna-Barbera’s early shows, despite being done completely in-house. Just compare the A level animation in its main and end titles against the C level stuff in the body of any episode. Top Cat boasted a strong and likable cast of characters, mostly borrowed from “You’ll Never Get Rich”, the 1950′s Phil Silvers military comedy, before the days of kneejerk litigation over such liberties. Top Cat was no Flintstones level hit but remains fondly remembered due to its characters and setting.

    • Chris Sobieniak

      I would’ve prefer that A Level animation anyway if they could afford it personally. Those little teasers like the opening/closing sequences in those old shows, hell even the Kellogg’s commercials always made me wished it could be that way.

  • Lucy

    It’s good, I think it’s just weird seeing Top Cat -that- animated…. I was just sorta used to the limited animation from the original cartoons. It’s good, it just takes some getting used to! But good job to everyone who worked on it!!

  • http://youtube.com/user/toonsmyth Toonsmyth

    Looks pretty sweet to me! Just seems strange that the property is Mexican owned and produced, yet still portraying very American scenarios. At least the lip synch looks sloppy enough where it should be an easy dub into English.

  • tonma

    I got to say here in Mexico we are not indulging ourselves, criticism here towards the movie and the studio is very heavy. Audience is more than ready to watch a national animated movie that rocks in every sense, and Top Cat is something we don’t like to see mishandled. All this made the process long and difficult, and many though decisions had to be made.

    I worked in this movie for a long time, I still do, And I don’t like some things about it, I absolutely hate some others, but the rest (that is a lot)I really love. Individually and collectively we are trying our damndest to make this movies work, advance our still hypothetical industry and get rid of the crap that doesn’t fit in. We are not trying to make Disney movies(some did, but they blew it real bad) and we push to find our own style. In all, I’m glad we are putting out a project right here instead of spreading everywhere and never taking that step. We catch the attention of the brewsters for a while and I hope not for all the wrong reasons. Thanks for taking a look at the movie and giving some words.

    • Km

      I know when you work on a project it becomes almost personal what people say, but in reality its not. people are alowed to give their opinions and that is valid, even if you dont agree. Im glad mexico is doing more animation, I think personally and specially growing up with top cat, I would have loved to see a more homogenic product even with a small budget. At the end of the day animation and visuals have no nationality and this product still needs more polish. Having said that I hope to see more mexican animation, and why not an original production.

    • BlueBoy

      Hey Tonma, give me a clue…How were you involved in the movie?

      • tonma

        Km, I very glad to hear all kinds of opinions about the movie, and I hope my comment didn’t sound too defensive because that is not the point. I love off-Hollywood productions and always look out for them. Yes this is far from Kells or Kirikù, still we have the need and the objective to get there, both creators an audience. There is a lot of original concepts in the cooking right now, so I share your hopes in that regard. thanks!

        Blueboy, I did all kinds of work for this movie but mostly Background designs, you can see some of those 2D concepts we made in the text cuts of the trailer.

  • RODAN

    I kissed a cat…and I liked it.

  • Blake

    Looks awesome to me , it looks like one of those pop out comic books. Very cool , I hope they can dub this in English. I’d totally check it out :) , I’m just happy to see a Hanna Barbera character is still relevent in this day in age.

  • Mister Twister

    Okay, I am actually impressed.

  • http://dalia1784.deviantart.com/ Kristen R.

    Okay now where do I start, This is by far an excellent way to make a movie based on an animated series. I honestly can say that live action adaptations of animated shows is rather depressing, they suck out elements of the original and make it bland.

    But this one is far more promising just like when I first went to see The Simpsons Movie, When the live action Alvin and the Chipmunks film and it’s sequel came out I was disappointed by how they tried to make it appeal to modern audiences (and it really didn’t).

    So I’m looking forward to an American release for Top Cat.