A new photo and trailer have arrived for DISNEY•PIXAR’s FINDING DORY.
The film opens in theatres June 17, 2016.
Disney•Pixar’s FINDING DORY reunites everyone’s favorite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?
The movie, directed by Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL•E”) and produced by Lindsey Collins (co-producer “WALL•E”), features the voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton.
FINDING NEMO won the 2003 Academy Award for best animated feature; the film was nominated for three additional Oscars (original screenplay, original score, sound editing). It was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best motion picture–comedy or musical.
In 2008, the American Film Institute named FINDING NEMO among the top 10 greatest animated films ever made. At the time of its release, FINDING NEMO was the highest grossing G-rated movie of all time. It’s the fifth highest grossing animated film worldwide.
Walt Disney Animation Studios revealed the roster of voice talent tapped to help bring a voice, snort and a roar to the animal residents of the modern-day mammal metropolis of ZOOTOPIA, which opens in theaters March 4, 2016.
“We had so much fun casting this film,” said director Byron Howard. “‘Zootopia’ features such a large and diverse range of characters – one of our biggest casts ever for a Disney Animation film. We needed talented actors who could help bring these animals to life.”
Adds director Rich Moore, “Everyone in this incredible cast is bringing something special, something unexpected to their characters, which really takes our story to a whole new level.”
Joining Ginnifer Goodwin, who provides the voice of Zootopia’s first bunny officer Judy Hopps; Jason Bateman, who lends his voice to con-artist fox Nick Wilde; and Shakira, who voices international superstar Gazelle, are the following members of the “Zootopia” voice cast.
Idris Elba (Netflix’s “Beasts of No Nation,” BBC’s “Luther”) provides the voice of CHIEF BOGO, head of the Zootopia Police Department. A tough cape buffalo with 2,000 lbs of attitude, Bogo is reluctant to add Judy Hopps, Zootopia’s first bunny cop, to his squad of hardened rhinos, elephants and hippos.
J.K. Simmons (“Juno,” Oscar® winner for “Whiplash”) lends his voice to MAYOR LEODORE LIONHEART, the noble leader of Zootopia, who coined the city’s mantra that Judy Hopps lives by: “In Zootopia, anyone can be anything.”
Nate Torrence (HBO’s “Hello Ladies,” Fox’s “Weird Loners”) lends his voice to the Zootopia Police Department’s most charming cheetah, BENJAMIN CLAWHAUSER. Clawhauser loves two things: pop star Gazelle and donuts. From his reception desk, he greets everyone with a warm smile and a helpful paw—covered in sprinkles.
Jenny Slate (“Obvious Child,” “Marcel the Shell”) provides the voice of ASSISTANT MAYOR BELLWETHER, a sweet sheep with a little voice and a lot of wool, who constantly finds herself under foot of the larger-than-life Mayor Lionheart.
Tommy Chong (“Up in Smoke,” “That ’70s Show”) lends his iconic voice to YAX THE YAK, the most enlightened, laid-back bovine in Zootopia. When Judy Hopps is on a case, Yax is full of revealing insights.
Octavia Spencer (“Insurgent,” Oscar® winner for “The Help”) voices MRS. OTTERTON, a desperate otter who turns to Officer Judy Hopps for help in solving her husband’s mysterious disappearance.
Bonnie Hunt (“Return to Me,” “Jerry Maguire”) provides the voice of BONNIE HOPPS, mother of Judy—and her 275 brothers and sisters. Mrs. Hopps loves and supports her daughter, but is a hare nervous about Judy moving to Zootopia to become a big-city police officer.
Don Lake (“Dumb and Dumber To,” “The Bonnie Hunt Show”) voices Judy’s father, STU HOPPS, a carrot farmer from Bunnyburrow. Along with Mrs. Hopps, he is worried about Judy moving to Zootopia and the untrustworthy big-city mammals who live there—especially foxes.
Alan Tudyk (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Trumbo”) returns to Disney Animation’s recording studio for his fourth feature in a row as the voice of DUKE WEASELTON, a small-time weasel crook with a big-time weasel mouth, who tries to give Judy the slip during a police chase.
Tommy “Tiny” Lister (“Friday,” “The Fifth Element”) voices FINNICK, a fennec fox with a big chip on his adorable shoulder.
Raymond Persi (“Wreck-It Ralph,” WDAS story artist) voices FLASH, the fastest sloth working at the DMV—the Department of Mammal Vehicles.
Katie Lowes (ABC’s “Scandal,” “Big Hero 6”) lends her voice to DR. MADGE HONEY BADGER, who heads up all of City Hall’s most pressing medical cases.
Jesse Corti (“Frozen,” “Beauty and the Beast”) is the voice of the jaguar MANCHAS, a highly regarded chauffeur who works for the biggest—and shadiest—limo company in town.
John DiMaggio (Fox’s “Futurama,” Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time”) voices JERRY JUMBEAUX JR., the easily annoyed owner of Jumbeaux’s Café, his elephant ice cream parlor.
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy.
Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ ZOOTOPIA, a comedy-adventure directed by Byron Howard (“Tangled,” “Bolt”) and Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph,” “The Simpsons”), and produced by Clark Spencer (“Wreck-It Ralph,” “Lilo & Stitch”) opens in theaters on March 4, 2016.
Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox have announced a citywide celebration of THE PEANUTS MOVIE. Starting Saturday, October 24th THE PEANUTS MOVIE is partnering with many great organizations to bring fans a unique Peanuts experience to fans.
On Wednesday, November 4th all the fun comes to an end with a screening of the film and a filmmaker conversation at the Museum of the Moving Image.
Watch as the animation team walk viewers through the film’s “Boot Camp.”
Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the beloved “Peanuts” gang make their big-screen debut, like they’ve never been seen before, in state of the art 3D animation. Charlie Brown, the world’s most beloved underdog, embarks upon an epic and heroic quest, while his best pal, the lovable beagle Snoopy, takes to the skies to pursue his arch-nemesis, the Red Baron. From the imagination of Charles M. Schulz and the creators of the ICE AGE films, THE PEANUTS MOVIE will prove that every underdog has his day.
THE PEANUTS MOVIE hits theaters everywhere on November 6, 2015.
On July 20, 2018, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, the directors of The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and 21 and 22 Jump Street, are taking Spider-Man back to his graphic roots with the first-of-its-kind animated Spider-Man feature, it was announced on Tuesday at CinemaCon by Tom Rothman, chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.
The film will exist independently of the projects in the live-action Spider-Man universe, all of which are continuing.
Lord & Miller are masterminding the project, writing the treatment and producing the film.
As previously announced, Spider-Man will next appear in a live-action Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, a live-action film being produced by Kevin Feige at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago.
The animated film from Lord & Miller, dated July 20, 2018, has Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Pascal also serving as producers.
Spider-Man, embraced all over the world, is the most successful franchise in the history of Sony Pictures, with the five films having taken in more than $4 billion worldwide.
This year there are 30 nominees in the animated category, between the Short and Features. “Don’t we love these people who bring us the magic?,” said Academy Governor Bill Kroyer as The Academy celebrated the Feature Animated films on Thursday.
The Academy presented their seventh annual event celebrating the nominees for Best Animated Feature Film.
Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, who won last year’s Animated Feature Film Oscar for FROZEN, moderated the discussion with all the nominated filmmakers from BIG HERO 6, THE BOXTROLLS, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, SONG OF THE SEA and THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA. This year’s nominated films come from around the world and encompass traditional animation, computer animation and stop-motion, and the evening also featured clips from each film.
Prior to the panel discussion, a few of the nominees spoke with WAMG.
Nominees Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
On her first nomination, Arnold said, “I feel like Cinderella at the ball. It’s so amazing because it’s a whirlwind of great activity and you get to meet so many people. So many great filmmakers. It’s fun and super special.”
On what’s in store for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3, DeBlois gave us details on the third installment of the beloved series. “The story takes on a little more balance between Hiccup and Toothless because they are now chiefs of their respective tribes. It’s a story of carrying Hiccup through to the fulfillment of his character’s growth and arc, but also seeing where Toothless goes with all of this new responsibilities.”
In January, DreamWorks Animation appointed Bonnie Arnold & Mireille Soria as co-presidents of Feature Animation. When asked about her new position, Arnold told us, “there are so many great filmmakers at DreamWorks and a lot of projects, and I’m getting to spend time with the other filmmakers. There’s not a house style, so each of them are very unique and I’m having a lot of fun getting to know more about them and what they’re doing and helping them get the best version of their movies on the screen. It’s very exciting, until I start having to focus back on DRAGON 3.”
Nominees Roy Conli, Don Hall and Chris Williams, BIG HERO 6
The film is filled with a rousing score by composer Henry Jackman. On the choice to go with Jackman, Don Hall said, “He’s awesome. I worked with him on WINNIE THE POOH. I think he’s the best. I love working with Henry. He’s so collaborative. For those who don’t know music, he’s really good at breaking down what he’s thinking and very clear with his thoughts. He’s also a very fun, entertaining person who knows story. There was never any doubt that he was the guy.”
Chris Williams added, “the music covers a lot of ground tonally. He was able to hit all of those tones and bring a cohesion to the film, so he was fantastic.”
Roy Conli said Jackman, “saw early clips and had an idea where we going thematically. From those early themes, he was crafting ideas and as the film kept evolving, he would bring more. During our weekly meetings, for over a three month period, we would talk about the film, listen to music and he’s the most collaborative composer I’ve ever worked with.”
On how they put together the look and dialogue for Baymax. “It’s based on a real concept called soft robotics and I discovered it at Carnegie-Mellon University,” said Chris Williams. “I did a real trip and this is real stuff – vinyl robots that are inflatable for use in the health care industry. The entire personality of Baymax and his character design came from that research trip. We can’t say enough about the voice of Baymax, Scott Adsit.”
Adsit looked at many drawings of Baymax before deciding on the voice. “We wanted him to have a calm soothing voice and Scott himself came up with the idea of having the weird pauses between words. It was like the computer was trying to think of the things to say. It was great to have an amazing actor to work with,” said Roy Conli.
Between the filmmakers, the three mentioned their favorite animated films were PINOCCHIO and BAMBI.
Nominees Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, THE BOXTROLLS
The film’s charming score is from Dario Marianelli. “He’s a genius. We listed to a bunch of different composers and something unique as far as the instrumentation from Dario really stood out,” said Stacchi on their choice to go with the Oscar-winning composer (ANNA KARENINA).
Annable added, “He’s never done animation. I didn’t even know if he was going to be interested. We were nervous to meet him and it turned out he was just as nervous to meet us. He has his own children and he really wanted to do an animated feature.”
“Plus, a composer usually comes in at the end of the process, when the film is cut. Dario worked with us all the way through the process, so he did the music for our story reels. Sometimes we went to him for sequences where “Fish” and “Eggs” are playing with the music machine and he had to write the music before we would storyboard it. The dance sequence, he wrote that whole waltz while we were still storyboarding. It’s not only a waltz, it has to be a score, it has to be an emotional bed under the romantic moments. We worked with him for the entire 18 months of production,” concluded Stacchi.
Nominees Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura, THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA
Nominee Tomm Moore, SONG OF THE SEA
While waiting for the Q&A to begin, the song “Let It Go” was piped into the theater. We noticed co-hosts and Oscar-winners Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck sitting in the row ahead. Both turned and said, “not this song again.” With a sense of humor, Lee went onto say, “my new phrase is ‘it’s not my fault.’ ” Buck said he is a fan of the latest video to come online where one N.C. mom records her frustration with FROZEN on the third snow day as well as the Oscar nominated song.
The nominees discussed how their films were developed, their creative processes and presented clips illustrating their technique. The five nominated films all deal with young characters who had lost someone and invokes the conversation no matter the age of the viewer.
“Sometimes an animated movie is the first film a child will see,” said HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 producer Bonnie Arnold.
For all the filmmakers, the process is still very organic. SONG OF THE SEA director Tomm Moore said, “It’s a way to tell the story so we don’t lose the folklore.” (trailer)
From drawings to movies, the panel discussed what originally drew them all to animation. “Comics was a way into animation,” said BIG HERO 6 director Don Hall.
THE BOXTROLLS nominee Anthony Stacchi said, “I’d love to see the people who do the behind the scenes work acknowledged with nominations in the main categories like Best Costume and Best Visual Effects.”
Nominees Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura (THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA), via a translator, said they brought their film to life with a process of flat plane effects for animating. “It’s all about the simplicity of the line work.”
Watch the Oscars this Sunday, February 22nd on ABC.
Sony Pictures Animation today announced the casting of Oscar-, Tony-, Grammy- and Emmy-winning writer, director, performer, composer and producer Mel Brooks in the sequel to the 2012 worldwide hit, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2.
Brooks has been cast in the role of Vlad, the ancient, undead and incredibly grumpy father to Dracula (Adam Sandler). Dracula, Mavis, Jonathan and all of their monster friends are back in the brand new comedy adventure: when the old-old-old-fashioned vampire Vlad arrives at the hotel for an impromptu family get-together, Hotel Transylvania is in for a comic collision of supernatural old-school and modern day cool.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 is slated for a September 25, 2015 release, and is being directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, produced by Michelle Murdocca, executive-produced by Sandler, Allen Covert,and Ben Waisbren, and written by Robert Smigel.
Brooks – who takes on the role 40 years after helming the horror-comedy classic Young Frankenstein – said, “I’m having a wonderful time with the character Vlad. He’s been around for eons and he’s a pretty crabby guy. Basically, he reminds me of me.”
Selena Gomez and Andy Samberg also return for the sequel
Brooks isn’t the only icon who will be voicing Vlad, as Sony Pictures Releasing International is securing the talents of additional high-profile stars around the world to voice the ancient one for the non-English versions of the film.
So far, these regional Vlads include: France’s Michel Galabru, the esteemed 92-year-old actor who has appeared in more than 200 films; Japan’s Junji Inagawa, whose voice is instantly recognizable as the “go to” narrator of horror films, radio programs and DVDs; Holland’s Bram Van Der Vlugt, who, for decades, was the most requested Dutch TV/film “Sinterklaas” (Saint Nicholas); and Belgium’s Jacques Vermeire, the well-known Flemish performer with decades of memorable comic television and feature film performances.
Check out this preview of Disney Animation’s FEAST.
A new short from first-time director Patrick Osborne (head of animation, “Paperman”) and Walt Disney Animation Studios, FEAST is the story of one man’s love life as seen through the eyes of his best friend and dog, Winston, and revealed bite by bite through the meals they share.
FEAST’s producer, Kristina Reed, produced 2012’s Oscar-winning short PAPERMAN.
Director Patrick Osborne, who joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2008 as an animator on Bolt, took part in the Studio’s Spark program – which invites artists to explore their own unique ideas in a month-long project that is presented to the Studio team. His experimental short “Pet” was a hit among his fellow Disney artists. Osborne, whose credits Disney’s 2010 feature TANGLED and 2012’s Oscar-winning short PAPERMAN, for which he served as head of animation, was later tapped as co-head of animation for the upcoming feature BIG HERO 6.
But his plans changed when he pitched the idea for FEAST as part of WDAS’ new shorts program – the project was greenlit with Osborne as director.
The short opens on Nov. 7, 2014, in front of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ BIG HERO 6.
From the inventive LAIKA folks who brought us the Oscar-nominated CORALINE and PARANORMAN comes this adorable, first trailer for THE BOXTROLLS.
PARANORMAN producer Travis Knight and co-director Sam Fell were recently invited by The Academy to join the membership.
THE BOXTROLLS – a 3D stop-motion and CG hybrid animated movie is based on Alan Snow’s bestselling fantasy adventure novel Here Be Monsters.
The voice cast includes Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, Academy Award nominee Toni Collette, Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Game of Thrones), Emmy Award nominee Jared Harris (Mad Men), Simon Pegg (Star Trek), Nick Frost (the upcoming The World’s End), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), and Tracy Morgan (30 Rock).
I like how the baby wasn’t afraid of them – as if to say, “ok, lets go!” – and being a huge fan of the amazing stop-motion animation, I can’t wait to see what LAIKA has in store for us.
Watch this Academy video, from August 2012, where the PARANORMAN filmmakers discuss the inordinate amount of time and great care that goes into making these types of sophisticated films.
THE BOXTROLLS is a comedic fable that unfolds in Cheesebridge, a posh Victorian-era town obsessed with wealth, class, and the stinkiest of fine cheeses. Beneath its charming cobblestone streets dwell the Boxtrolls, foul monsters who crawl out of the sewers at night and steal what the townspeople hold most dear: their children and their cheeses. At least, that’s the legend residents have always believed. In truth, the Boxtrolls are an underground cavern-dwelling community of quirky and lovable oddballs who wear recycled cardboard boxes the way turtles wear their shells.
The Boxtrolls have raised an orphaned human boy, Eggs (voiced by Mr. Hempstead-Wright), since infancy as one of their dumpster-diving and mechanical junk-collecting own. When the Boxtrolls are targeted by villainous pest exterminator Archibald Snatcher (Mr. Kingsley), who is bent on eradicating them as his ticket to Cheesebridge society, the kindhearted band of tinkerers must turn to their adopted charge and adventurous rich girl Winnie (Ms. Fanning) to bridge two worlds amidst the winds of change – and cheese.
THE BOXTROLLS is being directed by Anthony Stacchi (co-director of the hit animated feature Open Season) and Graham Annable (story artist on Coraline and ParaNorman), and produced by David Ichioka and Travis Knight.
Focus Features will release the film into theaters on September 26, 2014.
Here’s a first look at Pixar’s new short BLUE UMBRELLA. The clip comes courtesy Pixar Animation Studios via WSJ.com.
It is just another evening commute until the rain starts to fall, and the city comes alive to the sound of dripping rain pipes, whistling awnings and gurgling gutters. And in the midst, two umbrellas – one blue, one not – fall eternally in love.
From Pixar Animation Studios, director Saschka Unseld (conceived and directed by one of its technical artists) and producer Marc Greenberg, BLUE UMBRELLA opens in theaters on June 21, 2013, in front of MONSTERS UNIVERSITY.
From the studio behind 2010’s TANGLED and this year’s WRECK-IT RALPH, Walt Disney Animation Studios has released this first look at the concept art from FROZEN, the coolest comedy-adventure ever to hit the big screen. When a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, Anna (voice of Kristen Bell), a fearless optimist, teams up with extreme mountain man Kristoff and his sidekick reindeer Sven on an epic journey to find Anna’s sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), the Snow Queen, and put an end to her icy spell. Encountering mystical trolls, a funny snowman named Olaf, Everest-like extremes and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction.
The film is directed by Chris Buck (“Tarzan,” “Surf’s Up”) and Jennifer Lee (screenwriter, “Wreck-It Ralph”), and produced by Peter Del Vecho (“Winnie the Pooh,” “The Princess and the Frog”). Featuring music from Tony®-winner Robert Lopez (“The Book of Mormon,” “Avenue Q”) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (“In Transit”),
A few fun facts on the film’s cast and crew:
Kristen Bell has starred in a variety of films, including the comedies “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Couples Retreat,” and the upcoming films “Hit & Run,” “Some Girls” and the Farrelly Brothers’ “Movie 43.” On the small screen, Bell is currently starring in the Showtime series “House of Lies” alongside Don Cheadle; she has also starred in “Heroes” and “Veronica Mars.” Broadway credits include “The Crucible” and “Tom Sawyer.”
Idina Menzel, who won a Tony Award® as Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Elphaba in Broadway’s “Wicked” (2004), landed her first role on Broadway in 1995 in the Tony Award-winning musical “Rent.” Film credits include “Enchanted” and the feature film “Rent.” She has appeared in a recurring role on TV’s “Glee” and recently released “Idina Menzel Live: Barefoot at the Symphony,” a live concert with an orchestra led by composer/conductor Marvin Hamlisch. Menzel is currently on a North American concert tour.
Robert Lopez is a three-time Tony Award®-winning writer of the Tony and Grammy® Award-winning musical “The Book of Mormon,” which was co-written with Trey Parker and Matt Stone (“South Park”), and the musical “Avenue Q,” which ran for six years on Broadway and four years in London’s West End. Lopez teamed with wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez, whose Drama Desk-winning show “In Transit” is Broadway-bound, to write original songs for 2011’s “Winnie the Pooh,” a stage version of “Finding Nemo” and a new musical called “Up Here.”
Director Chris Buck helmed the 1999 Disney classic “Tarzan” (with Kevin Lima) as well as the 2007 Oscar®-nominated “Surf’s Up” (with Ash Brannon). His animation credits also include 1989’s “The Little Mermaid,” “The Rescuers Down Under” (1990) and “Pocahontas” (1995).
Director/screenwriter Jennifer Lee is one of the screenplay writers of this year’s hit arcade-hopping comedy adventure “Wreck-It Ralph.” Her screen adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights” is being produced by Troika Pictures. She has an original screenplay in development with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, and her original script “Lucid Dreams” was optioned by Wolfgang Peterson’s Radiant Productions.
Peter Del Vecho’s credits as producer include 2011’s “Winnie the Pooh” and 2009’s “The Princess and the Frog.” He served as associate producer for “Chicken Little” and “Treasure Planet.”
FROZEN journeys into theaters November 27, 2013, in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters.
