Teasing A Legacy...

Bring me some grid...


The new trailer for "Tron Uprising" is out...

And it looks quite detailed and visually intriguing to me. Let's cross our fingers that this turns out to be good. At least we know that Jeff Bridges won't look fake in it. It'll be interesting seeing how this does. Disney XD is becoming quite the Boys Network with all the Marvel properties and this. Wouldn't it be nice if they had a "Captain America" series and a new "Fantastic Four" series?

With the new Tron series you wonder if they'll try to animate another franchise like "Pirates" or "John Carter" even? Maybe since Paul Dini is already working for them on two series, they can get George Lucas to let him make that "Indiana Jones" series that he's been wanting to make? I can dream at least.

Until then, we have an uprising to look forward to...

Smashing Success...

Hulk crush puny humans in ratings...









So I'm recovering from jet lag right now...

Not only have I been away, but I was gone during Nerdvana so I didn't get to see some of my favorite people. Strangely, this years Comic-Con was a bit subdued. It didn't have the big surprises you normally expect. Not that there weren't surprises, just not anything earth shattering.

One of the surprising things that did get announced was another animated series for Disney XD based on the Marvel properties. It really is becoming the Marvel Channel, isn't it? For those uninformed, Jeph Loeb revealed that Doctor Bruce Banner was getting his own show on the cable network. His sidekick will be a tall, green man that looses his temper from time to time. No one knows who the band leader will be, but my suggestion is Michael Giachhino. Now that would make a heck of a theme song, don't you think? If you wanna see the logo for it click here.

The great think about this announcement is the revelation of who will be working on it. Non other than the great Paul Dini, who is now working on "Ultimate Spider-Man." So two Marvel series in a row? I always thought of Paul as a DC Man, I think he's defecting. Sad.

"Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H." will debut in 2012...

American Awakening...

Take that, Hydra...




I know I said I don't do reviews anymore, so I'm labeling this a commentary...

First off:

Go.

See.

This.

Film.

Follow that with a hundred exclamation points. I am absolutely in love with it. It's fun, earnest and filled with everything I had hoped it would contain. The script by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely with an uncredited polish by Joss Whedon, is great and the characters are real, interesting and you care for them. Something that doesn't always happen when watching a film these days. This is Joe Johnston's best film, by far. This puts him in a whole new league in my opinion. He's always had potential, but there seemed to be something holding him back in each of his films. Usually it's the script. It is no surprise then that this is the best script he's had to film and it shows.

Although "The Dark Knight" is my favorite superhero film, this is my favorite adaptation. It's the closest thing I've seen to a perfect adaptation of the material. In a word, it is authentic. It takes things from many periods and many storytellers. There's the familiar Joe Simon & Jack Kirby stuff as well as the classic reboot by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. But they also left room to use plot lines from the likes of Ed Brubacker and Mark Millar. You can tell where they leave off, and more than others, I can see how you could spin off several properties in the film. Bucky for "Winter Soldier," "The Howling Commandos," and even a glimpse of what a "S.H.I.E.L.D." film could be.

But this is a film that lives on its own. Unlike "Iron Man 2," where two thirds of the film felt like a set-up for "The Avengers," this film is totally self contained. There is no need to see or have seen another Marvel film. I was even fascinated by the closing credits and the way Johnston used them. Pure brilliance. If you waited around after the credits then you saw the teaser trailer for next summer's big offering, but I want to see a sequel to this film. And I hope at least part of it stays in the past that Steve Rogers longs to be in.

Because I know how he feels...

A-Game...

Saving the world, one film at a time...







A teaser poster was released for Marvel Studios' "The Avengers" film...

With the last piece of the set up for this film opening tomorrow, the Mouse and Marvel are going to start heating up the marketing of this big, superhero film. The official website of the film and this minimalist poster were released today.

Expect more reveals at Comic-Con, but nothing like last year. As the weeks and months pass the marketing burn should increase until no one is in the dark about this film coming out next summer.

Slowly assembling...

Amazing Teaser...

Spider-Man, Spider-Man...






The teaser trailer for Sony's "The Amazing Spider-Man" is out...

While I won't call it amazing, I'll say that it sets a different tone than the Sam Raimi films. It looks interesting and Andrew Garfield gives the impression that he'll make a great Peter Parker. I'll be glad to see a full trailer near the end of the year. I'm curious as to what The Lizard will look like. I love the line in the trailer that he says, even though we don't really see him.

I know the Mouse doesn't mind getting the money, but they'd really love to get their hands on the character so that Marvel Studios could work him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But like the X-Men series, that'll have to wait for decade or so. But this film could be good. It can't be as bad as "Spider-Man 3." Hopefully, Sony has learned to stay out of the way. Riiiiiiight.

2012 is going to be a very big year...

August Projected...

A world filled with imagination...




One of the great things about the first D23 Expo was the Imagineer Display that everyone gravitated toward...

It was great to see the plans that WDI had for the upcoming future. At least what they were willing to reveal. Next month's D23 Expo will have another area that will display work throughout all 11 Disney Parks called the "Carousel of Projects."

It'll have much of what we've seen already, but several sections will have more detailed views of what to expect from the Fantasyland Expansion in the Magic Kingdom, the further progress of Hong Kong Disneyland and more elaboration on what to expect from Shanghai. Hopefully they'll show some of the incredible models for that River Run project we mentioned a while back, or perhaps what is to be expected in the very different Tomorrowland.

But what I'm looking forward to is the presentation by Tom Staggs who I'm greatly happy is in charge of the parks instead of the soulless Jay Rasulo. I always thought he was a creativeless, bean counter and it's good to see he is in the proper position now. The management team of Burbank is quite better than it was a decade ago, but the WDW management team seems more of an enigma to me. I wish they seemed to care about the parks as much as Anaheim. I expect that Staggs knows the problems and will slowly over the next few years make the moves that will put people in power in Florida that can advance that resort to its full potential.

Until August...

Fifty-Six Lovely Memories...

Happy B-day, DL...







Hard to believe the dream was born Fifty-six years ago today...

Walt Disney opened his version of what a theme park should look like on this day, and in doing so he reinvented it. It was the first, the original and unheard of at that time. Disneyland became the park that all others would emulate. Doesn't look too shabby for being born all the way back in 1955, does it?

Through most of his life Walt struggled to get money for his projects, from shorts to films... he very often gambled the fate of his studio on projects that if they were to fail, would have doomed his own company to bankruptcy. And when it really counted, like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" or "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" he came through more confident, more strong and more able than before. But after Disneyland opened he never ever had trouble getting financial backing again for anything.

Anything...

Happy Birthday to the one and only!

Building Back The Brand...

A bear of very little brain John is not...


Hopefully most of you got to see the new "Winnie the Pooh" film this weekend...

While I won't go into a review, I will say that it's a perfect example of how to pay homage to a classic and still bring it up to date for modern audiences.

And it's another sign of Disney animation reclaiming its tarnished image. From the late 80's to the early part of this century, the declining quality of the animated films and the credibility of the Disney name has given the public a bad perception of what it was capable of. With the onslaught of Cheapquels and the lowering of standards at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Disney fans were so happy to see when Pixar was bought by the Mouse. When John Lasseter was put in charge of WDAS, most people rejoiced like a group of people free from a long imprisonment. Like most fans, we thought that the change would be evident immediately. But as history shows us, change is slow and sometimes difficult to notice. Perhaps, in later years we can look back at the catalog of films that started with "Bolt" and see when the change occurred. Only then will we be able to clearly define when a Third Golden Age started, and sadly enough, how long it lasted.

Slowly over the past few years John and Ed Catmull have been rebuilding the House of Mouse brick by brick. From the small beginnings of green lighting the first hand-drawn film in more than half a decade to the restarting of the shorts program, drop by drop, the foundations for a rebirth were being put in place. And even though the first features didn't quite live up to their box office projections, they were far better than what had been coming from the Hat Building for a long time. It was clear that the new regime in power was getting it's footing slower than they expected and we wanted.

Finally with last year, the release of "Tangled" showed everyone that Disney magic hadn't died and wasn't dormant. It was just lost somewhere in the halls of the old Disney Animation Building. This updated tale of Rapunzel showed that it could keep up with its younger and more contemporary sister in Emeryville. With this year, the hand drawn release of a sequel to "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," drew a groan of disappointment that WDAS had lost its ability to create original stories and had given in to the marketing department's desires to churn up yet another film featuring these classic characters. Those that have seen the film will tell you it's not so. It's a wonderfully refreshing walk back into your childhood that you can enjoy with your family or simply the kid deep down inside you. It, along with the "The Ballad of Nessie" short are an example of the quality that families can expect from future films with the iconic Steamboat Willie logo in front of it.

As we mentioned in "Untitled Road," the future of Disney Animation is picking up steam and the stories that will be coming out are going to be filled with tales and characters that have heart and purpose and entertaining. For the last few years the public has started getting used to going into a Disney animated film and actually coming out feeling that they got their money's worth. Something the Suits seemed to have forgot how to do for almost a decade before the Lamp was brought into the family. Come next year, "Wreck-It Ralph" will expand the narrative of what a Disney film is even more. But it'll do it in classic Disney storytelling. It will be another example to show the public that the one that started it all still knows how to tell great stories better than anyone else.

And it'll show why paying for Pixar was a steal...

Poster Propaganda...

American Poster, ##(@$ yeah...







Purty...

Another poster has been released for Marvel Studios upcoming "Captain America" film over at Hitfix. Very love with some classic Drew Struzan qualities to it. My only complaint is a consistent one with all the posters so far. Why they aren't showing him with the mask? Anyway, the buzz on this one is way good and I'm going to have fun sitting down and watching this with friends in a week.

I just hope they have Hydra in the sequel...

First Tour Of Mars...

Walt Disney Pictures has released the teaser trailer for "John Carter" a day early...

And we have to remember that it's a teaser. It's meant to tease. And I think that it partially achieves its purpose. But it does give me hope that Andrew Stanton has gotten it right. I like various elements, but feel that the marketing campaign has got their hands full.




Like many people I've heard from, this is based on a classic that is a hundred years old (next year). But there are many things in this that are going to seem as though they are stolen from "Star Wars" or "Avatar." The opposite is true. But I think marketing are going to have to address this. From what I know, everyone associated with the screenplay viewed this as a labor of love. I'm going to cross my fingers and put my confidence in them to faithful put my and other geek/fanboy's dreams on the screen to Barsoom.



Come March, I can't wait to make the journey...

A Day In His Shirt...

Once Upon A Time in Sonoma Valley...




We've all wondered what it would be like to be John Lasseter...

Now Walt Disney Studios and the man himself give you the chance to follow him from the time he wakes up until he leaves work on a particular day. It's really a very interesting look at a very busy man, and how he runs his life. Running two studios and being the chief creative advisor to another division must be daunting. Having six iPads to manage it must help.

Take a look and enjoy for yourself...

Disney's Stalker...

Come on, believe me. It was a monster...




Now it'll be interesting seeing how this develops...

When I was a wee, little lad, I would sit around the television and watch this show that came on every Friday. It scared the living daylights out of me and I loved every minute of it. "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" was one of those shows that made a deep impression on me as a child. I didn't understand why it ended as a boy I knew nothing of what ratings or seasons were. I was deeply disappointed when it stopped playing new episodes and even more sad when the program disappeared all together.

Later, while going to college at USC, my friends and I were hooked fans of "The X-Files" series. I couldn't help but notice a lot of similarities between this and The Night Stalker. So it was no surprise that I found out that Chris Carter, the creator of the series, was a huge fan of the Darren McGavin series. So much so, that he actually put him in the show as a guest.

A few years ago, they tried to make an updated version of The Night Stalker show featuring Stuart Townsend as the character, but it was tonally wrong. They took everything that was great about the show and through it out, replacing it with a edgy and sexy motif. They just didn't get it.

Now, it appears that Johnny Depp was as big a fan of 70's shows as I was and now he wants to remake the show as a film. The most interesting thing is that they seem to want this to be a Disney film. As in, under the Walt Disney Pictures banner. I hope that they keep it set in the early Seventies, that would be great tonally. And there has to be some of that schlocky atmospheric humor. This shouldn't be set up to be some hard edge film. Johnny Depp could turn in an interesting portrayal as a two-bit reporter, down on his luck that happens to stumble into cases that are way over his head.

I just pray the Suits get it...

Rises Teases...

Holy end of an era, Batman...








The teaser poster for Christopher Nolan's final Bruce Wayne film is out...

Nice use of negative space. Hopefully the film will live up to the incredible amount of hype that will be heaped on it after the box office and critical hit of "The Dark Knight." Will it be as good as that film? Doubtful, but Nolan has never let me down. I've never seen a film of his that made me feel I didn't get my money's worth. If he turns a character like "Bane," which is totally uninteresting to me, I'll be very happy. He has a great actor playing him. Selina Kyle will hopefully turn out to be a great addition as well, but I'll wait and see. Hard to believe this time next year it'll be out.

And then it'll be time for someone else to reboot the Caped Crusader...

Untitled Road...

Don't stop, go, go, go...








A lot has been happening in the Hat Building over the past six months...

After all, at the end of last year saw the release of "Tangled," which was a huge film for the studio. Not only did it relieve a bit of pressure to perform by the Disney animators, it also made way for a lot of projects to move further into development. Many have complained that there wasn't much in development over the past few years, causing many an animator/artist to get a layoff notice.

I am happy to tell you that that is not the case now. Of course, the development slate is nowhere near as large as DreamWorks Animation, which has a very large and long list of projects, but it is getting fattened up, and it's still growing.

First off, we know that Walt Disney Animation Studios next film is the hand-drawn sequel "Winnie the Pooh," which comes out as counter programing to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2." But where does the road take us after that?

Well, come 2012 we know that Rich Moore's "Wreck-It Ralph" will be the studios' animated offering. I hear that the project is very different from the last few films, but still shares the same, Disney heart. If some of the hysterically dark scenes I heard make it though the cut then this one will get an unusually rare, PG13 rating for the 52nd animated feature from Disney Animation. But we'll have to wait and see what final form it arrives in.

As of 2013, the next project to be moving down the pipeline is newly re-envisioned "King of the Elves," which has been chugging along under the direction of Chris Williams (something we reported exclusively last year). The storyboarding has been going on, new scenes are being written and the story structure is being tightened up. This CG animated feature should tentatively arrive during the holidays unless a kink in the production process pops up. I've heard many people asking if rumors of it being out of development were true and from what I know, it has continually been moving forward since last year.

Now for 2014, it gets a little murkier, as these projects are in a more fluid state of development, so changes could happen. But as of now, this is what you are likely to see.

Based on the current state of projects, a CG version of "Snow Queen" directed by Chris Buck is likely to see release sometime during the year. The story structure problems that popped up in the last hand-drawn version seem to be ironed out and storyboarding has moved forward with Chris' unique take on the material. And for those of you wondering if it'll be faithful to the original story? I can only say that it'll be as faithful to it as the Mouse was to "The Little Mermaid." Presuming that another film gets released that year, it is likely to be the new hand-drawn film from John Musker and Ron Clements. And no, I'm not talking "Mort" as the rights to that would have required the Mouse to purchase the entire series, which it didn't want to commit to. So this new project is something else that the duo has pitched Lasseter. All that is known, is that it will be hand-drawn.

After that, in the 2014/2015 range will be the untitled project coming from Nathan Greno & Bryon Howard's. Not much is known about this film, but the duo hit it off on "Tangled" and have apparently pitched a project that Lasseter thinks will be great. If their project is not ready, then Dean Wellins' project will fill the slot. His is a story that will be very different from the mold we picture Disney animated films and this is a project that is aimed at all those boys that don't like princess movies.

Sometime around this point in the schedule, Don Hall's super secret project may have been greenlit and far enough down the line to be penciled in for a 2015/2016 release. That project, once announced will generate a lot of buzz in certain geek communities, as it's going to surprise a lot of people for what it is and what it's not. But it's in the very early embryonic stage and it depends on how well the project is received upon the presentation that is being prepared for John and Ed.

After that, there are several ideas that are being prepared for pitches which could compete for time on the release slate, but as of now there you have it. It will be interesting seeing how Disney's marketing department deals with some of these titles as they are out of what we normally picture for a Disney film. Even some of the ones you would think are in the classic mold, are really not.

Although several of these films have titles, they are very much temporary ones and are as much in flux as is the schedule itself. The development track expanding in the last year is a very positive step and Lasseter's trust in the talent is also a very reassuring development as well.

The greatest contribution about last years hit is not the box office it generated, but that it may have untangled the restrictions that had been placed on the company's animation future...

The Other Half Passed...

Drawing angles for four decades...


Forty years ago today, Ub Iwerks passes away in Burbank, California...

With the exception of Walt Disney, he was the one person most responsible for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Iwerks was a legendary animation pioneer and helped Walt turn the animation medium into the art form it is today. Animation fans in general and Disney fans in particular, truly owe this great man a world of gratitude.

Animation and Disney itself would look very different without his fingerprints...

A Fourth Of Liberty...

Red, white and blue baby...







Two hundred, thirty-five years ago America was born...

Happy 4th of July! A group of representatives gathered from the thirteen independent colonies of Great Britain, to put together a union that would help them brush off the shackles of Mother England. What they put down with a quill in ink upon paper, this very day we celebrate. A day on which we cherish the God given freedoms that our Founding Fathers acknowledged to us on this historic event in 1776.

You may not believe it, but there was a time early on when people didn't really know which day to celebrate our founding, either the Declaration of Independence, which was signed on July 4, 1776, or when the Constitution was passed on September 17, 1787. It took many years for the tradition to take hold and become the celebration we now know it as. By the time our fiftieth anniversary had come along, it had taken hold and on that occasion, something very poignant happened.

Our second President(John Adams) and third President(Thomas Jefferson) both died on that day... in the same year, 1826... just as we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United States of America! And the president at the time was John Quincy Adams, the son of the former president. Both Adams and Jefferson had been bitter rivals in the early days of our founding. Years later, they started up a correspondence after many years of not speaking to one another and eventually became close friends. But the rivalry still remained. When John Adams breathed his last breath he was heard to say: "Jefferson still lives." But he was wrong. Jefferson had passed away a few hours before him earlier that day. Coincidence? No. Not in my belief, at least.

Providence, it was providence. Happy 235th Birthday, America! Everyone go out and celebrate the freedoms and liberty given to us by our Creator, acknowledged by our Founders and defended by our Forefathers. Don't just have a barbeque or a day at the beach.

Freedom and liberty are too precious to be so trivial...

The Beginning Of Second Chances...

The ground work for what would come...





It's hard to believe that it was twenty-five years ago today, Walt Disney Productions put out what would be the subtle beginning of the Second Golden Age of Disney Animation...

"The Great Mouse Detective", based on Eve Titus book, "Basil of Baker Street" was released in America a quarter of a century in the past. It was directed by four great animators, Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, Dave Michener and John Musker. Clements and Musker would go on to define the films that this animation Renaissance would be recognized as over the next decade. And now, the Hat Building is slowly working towards a Third Golden Age.

Time will tell...