Mars Needs MoCap...

Earth to Mars, Earth to Zemeckis, Earth to Disney...






The poster for one of the last projects from Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers company is out...

"Mars Needs Moms" is based on the book by Berkeley Breathed, directed by Simon Wells and scheduled for release March 11, 2011. Zemeckis was/is supposed to direct an adaptation of "Yellow Submarine" for the Mouse, but it appears that it's not going to happen according to David Tennant.

It'll be interesting to see if this film adapts Breathed's artwork style for the MoCap...

Bad Image...

Early in his tenure as the new head of Walt Disney Pictures, Rich Ross flew up to Northern California to visit ImageMovers Digital to see their digs in Marin County...

Now we know he was casing the joint. With all the money it took to create "A Christmas Carol" versus all the money it made, a decision was made to cut the Mouse's losses. That's right, a movie that made over well over three hundred million dollars is a looser in this day and age. As of 2011, Disney is shuttering the facility/production company and its 400+ employees. Sad day for those affected by this action.

Here is the official press release:

BURBANK, Calif. – March 12, 2010 – The Walt Disney Studios and ImageMovers Digital (IMD) today announced that they will close operations at IMD’s Marin County facility after production is completed on Mars Needs Moms. The IMD facility is expected to be closed by January, 2011.

“Bob and the entire IMD team successfully built a state of the art studio and produced an amazing film, A Christmas Carol, at a time when the dynamics of the industry are rapidly changing,” said Alan Bergman, President of The Walt Disney Studios. “But, given today’s economic realities, we need to find alternative ways to bring creative content to audiences and IMD no longer fits into our business model.”

“I’m incredibly proud of the talented team that we assembled at IMD and the fantastic work they have accomplished,” said Robert Zemeckis, one of the co-founders of ImageMovers Digital. “Their pride and dedication to making quality movies is evident in everything we have produced.”

The Studio is hoping to create a new long-term production deal with Zemeckis and his IMD partners, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, which will include the continued development of the Yellow Submarine project.

Quite a bit different that what Bergman said just a couple years ago with the creation of IMD:

"We're really excited about this new performance-capture company," said Alan Bergman, president of Walt Disney Studios. "We think it's going to play a huge role in making film going forward. We want to be at the cutting edge of this technology."

Amazing how a couple years, one film and mediocre box office can change one's perspective, eh?

I'm not a huge fan of the hyper-realistic MoCap that Zemeckis has used or more particularly, the stories he's chosen to make, but I am a fan of Bob Zemeckis. He's produced some truly wonderful films in my childhood through the end of my college years as a star quarterback for, wait. Sorry, dreaming there for a moment. But many of Mr. Zemeckis' films have littered the shadowy corners of my brain and I thank him for it. I do wish he'd join the world of the living though and stop making films in a warehouse with guys wearing ping pong balls on their outfits.

Perhaps he'll now make a Roger Rabbit sequel that has actual actors in it. No final word yet on what will become of "Yellow Submarine," but the deal could be a stopgap measure to ensure he continues working for Disney. It's hoped that something along those lines will keep the animators busy for a couple more years. And maybe the director can put some other exciting ideas he has into development.

Time will tell...

Mouse's New Steampunk...

Look, up in the sky...


It's a bird, no, it's Airman?

Disney and ImageMovers are planning on making an adaptation of Eoin Colfer's "Airman" novel...

Those that don't know, Colfer is most famous/infamous for Artemis Fowl, a series of books about a boy genius who finds out that the world of fairies is real. This is a series of books I suggested in another post that Disney should adapt into a film. It appears they've at least purchased the rights to the author's other works. Who knows if this will lead to other adventures in Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer's world.

The story of Airman involves a young boy named Connor, a boy who lives on an island off the coast of Ireland, where his father is the king's bodyguard. The king is murdered and Conor is framed for the crime, thrown into prison where he builds a flying machine to escape and rescue his family. It has a very Steampunk flavor to the story and hopefully Ann Peacock will write an amazing adaption for Gil Kenan to direct. Zemeckis will produce with Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey through their company for the Mouse.

Here's hoping the look is stylized and not photo-realistic like earlier and current ImageMovers films, oh, and a good story too...

Memo To Zemeckis...

Get Back! Get Back! Get Back to where you once belonged...


It seems I'm not the only one who loves those "Beatles Rockband Cinematics," I guess...

Over at The Monkey Puzzle, they've lamented about why they don't make an animated film in the style of the opening and closing cinematics done by Pete Candeland of Passion Pictures.

In case Robert Zemeckis is reading this (don't worry, I know he isn't), if you want to see how to make an entirely cool and amazingly unique Yellow Submarine, watch this. Please. It'll save many of us having to waste two hours of our lives with your nostalgia. I hope that someone or somehow suits and creatives get you to see it, because if I have to sit through some photo-realistic MoCap representation of the Fab Four from the 60's, I may just have to break all my old LPs. Wait, I don't have any LPs. Well, you get the idea.

I just hope Zemeckis does...

Hat Tip to Cartoon Brew.

A Yellow Submarine On Disney's Radar...

Or on Robert Zemeckis' Radar...

News comes that the director's MoCap production shingle, ImageMovers is trying to acquire the film rights to the Beatles film, "Yellow Submarine" along with sixteen songs for use in the film.

I really am suspect to this. I am unimpressed with anything Zemeckis has done since he abandoned live-action at the beginning of this decade. I hated "The Polar Express," where the characters were just down right creepy. I liked the story and designs of "Beowulf," but saw no reason to use CG characters when they could have had the actors in it. This new version of "A Christmas Carol" looks no more exciting to me than watching an in-game cut footage to a PS3 title.

I will hold my powder dry until I see more... but if it looks like the current CGI characters or they try and do photo-realism then it will fail badly. If they attempt to do semi-cartoony in the new video game it will be just as atrocious. The only way I can find any redeeming hope is if it turns out like the Cinematic for The Beatles Rock Star game. That is brilliant animation, but the actual game play animation leaves a great deal to be desired.

This is an idea that whose time should not come. Could you just make a sequel to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and torpedo this latest idea, Robert?



Some motions should not be captured...

The Mouse May Have A Stoneheart...

Walt Disney Studios and ImageMovers are currently working to pick up rights to "The Stoneheart Trilogy" for Robert Zemeckis to produce according to The Hollywood Reporter...

The novels are about a twelve year old boy in London that finds an alternate world where statues have souls and come to life. The boy finding the place upsets the balance between good and evil and has to work with an orphaned girl and statue of a WW I gunner to put the world back into balance.

More MoCap madness from Zemeckis, who now seems to live in an alternate world where he doesn't have to deal with actors as much...

Bots Over Bodies...

It's kind of ironic that another movie featuring MoCap is coming from Robert Zemeckis via the Mouse...

It seems the man has abandoned film making with actors in favor of living in a world where he only has to deal with actors for a few weeks instead of months. I'm beginning to think that what one Hollywood insider told me could be true. Zemeckis has simply gotten tired of dealing the demands and idiosyncrasies of actors. He hasn't abandoned film, but appears more and more he's abandoned actors as part of the process. At the very least he's limited his involvement with them to as little time as possible. I guess the experiences he's had over the last two decades have had him say "enough is enough".

Well, enough of my rantings...

Michael Dougherty("X2",Superman Returns") is attached to direct the performance capture sci-fi adventure "Calling All Robots" for Walt Disney Pictures and Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers production shingle. The film is described to be in the vein of the 50's Sci-Fi monster movies ala "Godzilla"... so that aspect of it could be pretty cool, but I wish they'd quit trying to create realistic representations of actors. I think this could be accomplished easily, and um... better using the real thing. It's one thing to create a creature like Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings", but to try and recreate something we see throughout our entire life, everyday is almost impossible. It's a monumental, mostly impossible task to cheat the human eye when it comes to realistic humans. Hopefully, the characters in this film will be stylised representations, not realistic depictions.

Here's hoping this is going to be good. No, scratch that. Here's hoping I'm wrong and it's great...