Open Season On DVD Today!

Just wanted to remind everyone that "Open Season" hits DVD shelves today.

I enjoyed the film in theaters a great deal, so I made sure to pick up my copy at lunch today. As a side bonus-note-thing, if you purchase it at Best Buy (on sale for $16 bucks), you get a free plush toy of one of the characters from the film. I got the rabbit, not by choice, but because the woman working the counter at Best Buy looked like she probably could have ripped my spine out with one hand if I had asked for a different one.

Dreamworks Scales Back Production

An interesting article over in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, regarding Dreamworks and their change in production philosphies.



So DreamWorks has a new motto for its business going forward: Slow down. The company has decided to add a year to the production of its films.

"We've been racing to the finish line and that has meant compromising on story telling sometimes," says DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. There's a strong financial incentive, he adds: "If we improve our box office performance by 10 percent, it adds $100 million pre-tax profit to the company."

The studio has been making other changes, too. It has overhauled its top team after its problems in 2005, when it had to restate its earnings estimates twice because of miscalculating how many "Shrek 2" DVDs it would sell. That episode resulted in an informal SEC inquiry, which was later dropped. The Glendale, Calif. company also has has unified its production systems and streamlined its corporate structure.

Regardless of what you think the true motivation is behind this revamped schedule, it makes sense. The market is too flooded with barely-above-average CG films right now, and scaling back production to add time to the baking process, is good no matter how you slice it.

The one thing that does worry me about the article is Dreamworks apparent focus on sequels. With the exception of "Toy Story," Pixar has created a forumla of consistently making money without making sequels. That's not to say that Pixar's formula is the only one in the lab, but it seems to be working quite well for them, while at the same time keeping fresh and new ideas at the forefront.

The Post Gazette Article

Prime Time Short

Aniboom.com has posted the finalists for it's Aniboom Awards, and one is the deliteful "Prime Time."



It starts off with a booger joke, something that will immediately gain high marks from this judge, and continues on with some really great humor and art. The characters are well designed, and the animation more than does the job. Not only that, but it has some of the best booger FX ever seen in a short film!

Worth your time.

Prime Time on Aniboom

Lifted Clip

A new clip of "Lifted" has been posted up on AWN's Oscar website.



While it's relatively short, it's still worth checking out at least once.

AWN's Lifted Oscar Page

Tinker Bell Clip

Watch this clip from the upcoming direct-to-dvd TinkerBell movie while you can, because Disney has been pulling them down off of YouTube left and right.

While I'm sure the overall story will be garbage, the artwork is very pleasing on the eyes. Much like talking with Jessica Simpson at a party. Which I often do.

Now... I'm off to party with J-Dizzle, as I call her.

Actually I'm just going to get some chicken McNuggets from McDizzle's.

I should stop now.

New Minuscule Episode

There is a new episode of "Minuscule" up on YouTube.

While it deals with an insect that once caused me to run at full speed into the closed backdoor of my house (wasps), I still enjoyed watching the short.

And I didn't run into any closed doors again.

Blur Website Update

The folks over at Blur have finally updated their website, which now includes a trailer for their latest short film, "A Gentleman's Duel."



Seeing the teaser only makes me want to see the entire film that much more, and I really hope that they post it online just as they have done for their previous short films.

To see the two giant robots collide in front of that beautiful mansion sent chills down my spine. The entire film just looks gorgeous from start to finish.

Official Blur Website

Brand New TMNT Trailer

There is a brand new (HD) trailer for "TMNT" up over on the Apple Quicktime site.



First of all, until I saw this trailer, I had no idea that the Weinstein Company was involved, which scares the turtle turds right out of me.

Second of all, I can already tell that the voices are going to completely ruin this film for me.

It sure looks nice though.

TMNT Trailer on QT

First Image of W.A.L.-E

By way of Animated News and their fancy forum, the first image of Pixar's upcoming film, "W.A.L.-E" has made it to the interwebs.



The image was in the latest letter to the shareholders that is also posted on the web.

It's awesome to finally know what happened to #5 from "Short Circuit," and I'm glad he's still able to find work in this day and age.

EDIT:Is it just me or if you look close can you also see a child's face on the front of the robot? Someone tell me I'm not seeing things.

Animated News Forums

Disney Letter to Shareholders

Cars Wins Golden Globe

In case you missed the news, "Cars" won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film.



The film beat out "Happy Feet" and "Monster House" to take the honor.

I must say I was surprised by the fact that no Weinstein films were nominated for this category, but then I realized I wasn't.

Complete List of Golden Globe Winners

Pixar's Official Site

Flushed Away DVD Details

Looks like Dreamworks has set February 20th as the release date for "Flushed Away."



According to the fine folks at DVD Active, extras are shaping up as follows:

Extras will include a commentary by Directors David Bowers and Sam Fell, two animated slug songs, a From Clay to CG: A Technical Journey featurette, a Meet the Cast featurette, a Jammy Dodger Fly-Thru, an animator's gallery, and a behind the scenes interactive tour. Completing the package will be a Flushed Away Jukebox, trailers, some interactive games, and more.

One additional extra is a short titled, "Why we spent millions of dollars on computers to make animation that looks just like the stuff we made with clay for way less."

That last extra probably isn't true.

DVD Active's Flushed Away DVD Info

Arthur Box Office Report

Arthur and the Invisibles opened in theaters nationwide this past weekend, and the results were less than earth-shattering.



The film opened in 9th place with $4.3 million in ticket sales, making it the third lowest debuting computer animated film, just above "Doogal's" $3.6 million opening, but below "Happily N'Ever After," which opened last week with $6.6 million.

Now it's just a matter of seeing how the industry reacts, now that there have been more than a handful of animated flops released in the last year. Along with the two mentioned, films like "Everyone's Hero," "The Ant Bully," "The Wild," and "Flushed Away," have all underperformed, and there is an equally long list of films that just broke even.

For someone like myself who is trying to break into the business, it's scary on one hand to see this trend, as studios will inevitablly scale back production of animated films, leading to less job openings. At the same time, the quality bar will (hopefully) rise as studios re-focus on quality over quantity.

It will be interesting to see how the big name animated films such as "Ratatouille" and "Shrek the Third" perform in the year to come, as that will be a good measuring stick of whether or not audiences are fed up with animated films in general, or just fed up with bad ones.

The Grandfather of Soul

Yet another great find from RE-Animation Blog.



Really nice animation and slapstick humor in this one.

Worth checking out for sure.

The Grandfather of Soul

RE-Animation Blog

Arthur and the Invisibles In Theaters Today

"Arthur and the Invisibles" hits theaters today and should satisfy both fans of "The Dark Crystal," and fans of troll dolls.



Currently the film continues the recent tradition of poorly reviewed animated films, as compiled over at Rotten Tomatoes. The film currently sits at a 25% overall, with most critics saying that the two-hour-plus film is nothing new. Sounds like even the all-star cast of David Bowie and Snoop Dogg (I really wish I was making that up), couldn't save this one from the critics.

I guess they should have gone with my idea of "Arthur and the Nympho Women of Busty Beach" instead.

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews for Arthur and the Invisibles

Office AatI Site

Happy Feet DVD Info

One more from DVD Active today, which is the info for "Happy Feet," hitting store shelves March 27th.



Extras will include two new fully animated sequences (Mumble Meets a Blue Whale and A Happy Feet Moment), a Dance Like a Penguin: Stomp to the Beat feature, two music videos (Gia's Hit Me Up and Prince's The Song of the Heart), and the classic cartoon - I Love to Singa.

And while it isn't region free, it is Whoopi free (see "Everyone's Hero" release post), which is almost as good.

DVD Active's Happy Feet DVD Info

Everyone's Hero DVD Details

DVD Active has the details on "Everyone's Hero," which comes out on March 20th.



Extras will include a commentary by Co- Directors Colin Brady and Dan St. Pierre and Writers Jeff Hand and Rob Kurtz, a Tribute to Christopher and Dana Reeve, a making of featurette, and theatrical trailers.

I was really hoping for a way to disable Whoopi's voice, but maybe I'll have to hold out for the special edition for that option.

DVD Active's Info On Everyone's Hero DVD

Duke's Diner

An Animation Mentor short film so good, you'll slap your mama.

What a great school!

Happily N'Ever After Box Office Info

"Happily N'Ever," after debuted in 6th place at the box office this weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.



The opening weekend for the film brought in $6.8 million dollars, which is slightly lower than "The Ant Bully," which brought in $8.4 on it's opening weekend, and just above "Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie," which brought in $6.2 million.

As a point of reference, "Happy Feet" opened with $42 million, "Open Season" opened with $24 million, and "Flushed Away" opened with $18 million.

While the numbers aren't exactly earth shattering, I'd be interested to know what the film's budget was, as most Lionsgate movies aren't usually super high budget projects.

Box Office Mojo's Weekend Box Office Results

Official Happily N'Ever After Site

Happily N'Ever After In Theaters Today

"Happily N'Ever After" begins showing on the big screen today.



I haven't seen the film yet, so I can't speak on whether it's a good or bad film, but I will say that the overall score on Rotten Tomatoes is currently a 7.

Out of 100.

You can read the reviews and judge for yourself, but after reading some of the quotes myself, it's safe to say that the Weinstein Co. may finally have some competition on their hands.

Official Happily N'Ever After Website

Happily N'Ever After Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Surf's Up Site Up

The Official Surf's Up site is now ready to receive your mouse clicks.



The site is a bit bare right now, but I'm sure that will change as the movie draws closer to release. There also happens to be a really annoying bird on the site (pictured above) who just gets in the way when you're trying to look at screenshots and other items. I wanted to make a soup out of him, but that would just ruin my computer monitor.

Official Surf's Up Website

New Happily N'ever After Clips

Yahoo! Movies has posted a bucketload of new clips from this Friday's "Happily N'ever After."



I'll actually probably take this one in on a matinee, as it looks somewhat appealing to me. However, it's got just a touch of "Weinstein" to it (even though the company is in no way involved), and that's got me a bit scared.

Take a look at the clips and decide for yourself.

Happily N'ever After Clips on Yahoo!

Happily N'ever After Trailer