Written by steet :
Following our line of "What the heck are they doing", Disney has announced they will be closing down the ImageMovers Digital studios that they had opened 3 years ago. This studio only produced one film : the very recent "A Christmas Carol", who "only" generated 300M$ internationally (yes, nowadays, that's not enough...)
I have never been a real fan of Zemeckis' "undead/Resident Evil"-like characters, but it always seem a strange decision to close a studio after the release of only ONE film.
The studio will produce another film before it's closed though : Mars Needs Moms, which interestingly, will be directed by Simon Wells (who didn't direct an animated film since Balto and The Prince of Egypt)
Recently, quite a few new animated films have been released to DVD (including 3 hand-drawn ones - that's not going to happen every month!) :
- Curious George 2, a nice sequel to an overlooked animated film, and the last Universal direct-to-video animated film. Toonzone's review summarizes it very well :
Curious George 2 is a rarity: a technically accomplished hand-drawn animated movie for children that resolutely refuses to become "edgy" or "hip" or whatever it is that Hollywood types think they're doing when they fill kids movies with adult pop culture references and jokes about bodily functions.
- Studio Ghibli's Ponyo has also been released to DVD and Bluray. It may not have done very well in theaters, but it really deserved better : actually, I have to admit that this is my favorite among all of the Miyazaki's animated films. (I do not like all of them, but I LOVED Ponyo) If you've never seen one yet, then try and rent it!
Ponyo is delightful and adorable without being gag-inducing, and contains virtually nothing objectionable, so this is a perfect choice for not only the younger crowd but for older viewers as well who are weary of restless Hollywood movies where the only concern is getting from point A to point B, and want to soak in the gorgeous hand-drawn artwork while they're at it. Highly recommended.
- I should also mention that The Princess & The Frog is now available on DVD and Bluray in America (yes, already!) Be sure to get it, especially if you hadn't seen it in theaters (shame on you!)
The Princess and the Frog may have a few problems, but it stands as both a highly enjoyable film and a reminder of how great the traditionally-animated Disney musical comedy fairy tale can be.
I recommend getting the .
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| March 30, 2010 | ||
Webmaster   | ||
| AS leader |
Well, I should have mentioned that the reported buget for creating the
film was 200M$ - and considering a studio has to make grosses around 2
or 3 times the budget to be profitable, you can do the math... (which is why The Princess & The Frog was probably not profitable on the theaters run alone, but with the DVD sales it should be) |
 | March 30, 2010 | |
Shheessshh,i can't bielive 300M$,isn't enough these days! ImageMovers Digital studios,closing the studio after only making one movie? Whats going on around here?  |
| March 22, 2010 | ||
| Webmaster | ||
| AS leader |
Curious George was very good actually, one of the best animated films
from the 2000's if you ask me, even if a bit childish it's a very nice
film (I especially love the soundtrack)...Guess this is a matter of
opinion. |
| March 22, 2010 | ||
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I didn't think a Christmas Carol would go too well, my mum saw it and
said it was good but she says that about everything!  Curious George 2? I don't think that will go well... The first one wasn't good... |
| March 22, 2010 | ||
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I personally see nothing bad in "A Christmas Carol". But I guess,
future belongs to traditional animation which is almost abandoned
now. The downhill of Walt Disney Company reminds me similar downhill of mid 80s, after Wolfgang Reithermann death. For the few years studio was in collapse but it was then changed with Disney Renaissance which contains TaleSpin too. I hope we may see something unusual from Disney in 2010s. |
| March 20, 2010 | ||
!!wait, go to the part when you mentioned "resident evi" (!!I love
those videogames!!) are you referring to "Resident Evil Degeneration"? |
| March 18, 2010 | ||
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Never been a votary of Robert Zemeckis's "Uncanny Valley" style of
work as well. I actually Roger Rabbit since it was a interesting
concept that Ralph Bashki used. Would have wished for more
combinations of live action meets animation. Oh well, I wonder how the
Goon film is going to be? |
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The effects were amazing but the content of the film was NOT suitable for children.