August 18, 2006
THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO
I'm way overdue in mentioning this traditional hand drawn adult feature now in production at IDT Film Roman in Burbank.
I was visiting some friends on The Simpsons yesterday and wound up checking out some of the pre-production art for the Rob Zombie animated feature The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto. There's no doubt in my mind that this, at worst, will become a cult classic -- and at best, it just might inspire other traditional animators to produce something equally innovative, commercially atractive and as artistically satisfying as this.
Based on a Zombie-authored comic book from a few years back, the film is an R-rated action-comedy cartoon about a retired Luchador and his sexy secret agent sister and their battle against an evil super villian, his zombies and... oh yes... Hitler's head in a jar. It's loaded with female nudity and lots of gratuitous bloodshed... and it looks hilarious. Laugh out loud funny. It's got funny drawings and an all-star voice cast (Paul Giamatti is Dr. Satan, pictured above) -- it looks a lot better than it has any right to be.
Mr. Lawrence (Spongebob Squarepants) is the director on the project and Rob Zombie himself has a hands-on creative role as co-writer and executive producer. Bob Jaques (Ren & Stimpy) is involved with the timing. The film was originally a direct-to-video project but it's turning out so well that a theatrical release is being planned. I'll try have more info on this film as the production continues on - it'll certainly be one to keep your eye on for next year.