Trailer is out today for Wes Anderson’s first animated feature Fantastic Mr. Fox. Maybe it’s just me, but the dialogue delivery sounds stilted and leadfooted throughout the trailer. On the other hand, the production design looks fantastic indeed. Like Coraline, we’re seeing another stop-motion feature that is pushing the boundaries of mainstream feature animation design and searching for an original look. That’s never a bad thing.

What hath Disney’s G-Force wrought?

Thanks to its huge opening weekend box office gross, Paramount is fighting back with the Rats of Nimh. Neil Burger, who wrote The Illusionist and is currently working on The Bride of Frankenstein for Universal, is turning his attention to a CG re-do of Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH, according to Variety.

Meanwhile, Variety is also reporting that Universal Pictures and their animation division, Illumination Entertainment, are joining forces to turn the Dr. Seuss book The Lorax into a 3-D CG animated feature. The project will be co-directed by Chris Renaud and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio, with Paul & Daurio writing the script. The picture is targeted for a March 2, 2012, release, which falls on the birthday of Theodor Geisel, who died in 1991.

I’ve nothing against adapting great children’s literature, or remaking cartoons based on great children’s literature, but why hasn’t the success of UP (U.S. gross $284,239,283. to date) inspired Hollywood to create something original? Oh, yeah… it’s Hollywood.

Powerful trailer for Born Under Fire, a documentary about the on-going war conflict in Colombia that uses voices from children who have witnessed the events and incorporates their drawings into the film. It is directed by Jairo Eduardo Carrillo with animation produced by Oscar Andrade at his studio Jaguar Digital. It was originally a short, Pequeñas Voces, that has been reworked into a full-length film. Visit the website HERE.

(Thanks, Carlo Guillot)

A fact that took me by surprise: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is now the fifth-highest grossing animated feature of all-time at the worldwide box office. Here’s the list:

1. Shrek 2 – $919.8 million
2. Finding Nemo – $864.6 million
3. Shrek the Third – $799 million
4. The Lion King – $783.8 million
5. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $673.5 million

The film has performed phenomenally overseas, pulling in excess of $500 million from foreign markets. This Variety article mentions that the film is on its way to becoming the top-grossing animated feature at the foreign box office, surpassing the current title holder, Pixar’s Finding Nemo ($524 million).

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the reason for the film’s box office success isn’t because the entire world loves Ray Romano, but rather that the world loves Scrat, a refreshing cartoon creation whose appeal stems from his personality and mannerisms instead of his dialogue (a virtually unheard of innovation in contemporary animation).

The episode of Simon’s Cat I posted yesterday couldn’t be more different in style and tone than Ice Age, but at its core, I think the success of both of these cartoons revolves around an understanding that audiences still enjoy watching funny and appealing visually-driven cartoon characters.

No, it’s not Kung Fu Panda… it’s SO not Kung Fu Panda.

Yeah, once again it’s time to take note a knock-off DVD, but this one – The Prodigy – was not created by anonymous drones in some third world country, but by former Disney and Dreamworks artists.

Here’s the synopsis:

KG – the ‘Kung Fu Girl’ with a big heart – is an underdog. When the odds are against her, she discovers that there is no limit to what she can accomplish when she believes in herself. With the help of her brave yet zany Master Panda, KG sets off on a journey to restore justice to her beautiful kingdom and rescue her beloved prince. “A hilarious side-splitting animated feature, THE PRODIGY delivers Non-Stop Kung Fu Fun!”

Yeah, right.

According to a press release they foolishly sent me:

The film represents a milestone for Writer/Director Robert D. Hanna, who created Prevalent Entertainment as an independent animation house that has employed an American team without outsourcing to foreign animators, and performs outside of the big studio system.

Some top CG Animators, Production Designers, and Artists from DreamWorks, Sony, and Disney studios all contributed. An integral part of the team is David Colman of Disney Feature Animation; he’s an Emmy Award winning artist who generated character designs for The Prodigy. David Lowery (Head of story on Shrek) was producer and supervisor of the story department, and Craig Elliott (Shark Tale, Bee Movie) was the inventive production designer. Steve Gordon (Shrek II, Anastasia, Over The Hedge) created essential story boards to flesh out the meaningful romantic storyline. Instructive Bonus Featurettes on the DVD illustrate a primer for future animators on “Animated Character Creation” and bringing the “Story To Life”; they document the pre-production work of the talented artists and animators who worked tirelessly on the film.

You be the judge. The trailer is embedded below.

Variety is reporting on an animation boom in South Africa, focusing its article around the country’s first CGI feature, The Lion of Judah. The “faith-based” film is being readied for a U.S. release in November, through a new company called Animated Family Films headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.

The movie stars the voice of Ernest Borgnine (Spongebob’s own Mermaid Man) and is being produced at Cape Town’s Character Matters studio. According to the Variety article, the studio is desperate for qualified animators to join their team. One look at the trailer will demonstrate how desperate. The one sheet poster is also pretty bad.

Which reminds me – my Worst Cartoons Ever! screening is Friday night, 9pm at the San Diego Comic Con. Don’t miss it!

Next summer, from a lot of people who brought you Horton Hears a Who (but not Blue Sky Studios), comes the first release from Illumination Entertainment – the new Universal Pictures animated feature film division. Here’s the first teaser trailer for Despicable Me.

(Thanks Iain Robbins)

It’s been a big week for Hollywood’s goal to turn every crap cartoon of the 1970s into live action blockbuster movies.

Take the Smurfs… Please! Raja Gosnell (Scooby Doo 1 and 2, Beverly Hills Chihuahua) was just announced as the director of the live action-animation Smurfs movie from Sony Pictures Animation. It will be released in 3-D in December 2010.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Warner Bros. has just hired the man who brought you Carrot Top in Chairman Of The Board and the direct-to-video sequel to Inspector Gadget, Alex Zamm, to direct a live action feature length version of Hong Kong Phooey.

If any of these films were half the fun as the Hanna Barbera action figures (above) from McFarlane Toys (designed by Scott Shaw!), it might actually be worth the effort. Instead, you can throw these two in the one dollar DVD bin.

Recorded off a video screen at Anime Expo this past weekend. This is the 2010 release from Imagi Studios, with a script by Paul Dini (who was at my Tashlin screening last night – thanks Paul!):

We haven’t seen it yet… Did you? Give us your feedback in the comments below.

For Thanksgiving: Planet 51 is lookin’ a whole lot better in this new trailer.

As for Christmas: Furry Porn!

You know where I’ll really be on Christmas Day? Probably seeing The Princess and the Frog for the third time.

(Thanks, Mathew Gaastra)

Also: Armand Serrano has posted some nice artwork for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on his blog.

(Thanks, Marcos)