Hello everybody, and welcome to the first of my weekly news articles on Animation Source, the place where I discuss about the animation highlights of this week! For this week, I’ll talk about the teaser trailer of The Boss Baby, the theatrical re-release of Space Jam, and Hawaiian Airlines’ Moana-themed planes.

The Boss Baby teaser trailer

Try to picture this idea as an animated feature: Alec Baldwin as a talking baby. Sound weird? Well DreamWorks Animation has apparently made that weird idea a reality with The Boss Baby, and have given us a first look with the first teaser trailer that coincides with the release of Trolls.

Based on the children’s book of the same name by Marla Frazee, Baldwin (Rise of the Guardians) headlines this DreamWorks comedy as a smart-talking corporate business baby who steals the attention from his older brother Tim. Other cast members joining in include Steve Buscemi (Monsters Inc.), Lisa Kudrow (Father of the Pride), Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live!), and Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man) narrating as older Tim.

The movie is directed by DreamWorks veteran Tom McGrath, who helmed the Madagascar trilogy and Megamind, and written by Michael McCullers, writer of the Austin Powers sequels. 20th Century Fox will release the movie in North America on March 31, 2017.

With this teaser, I will admit seeing Baldwin’s voice come out of a cartoon baby seems pretty funny. But other than that, the overall idea of the film doesn’t sound that original or appealing, and seems sub-par compared to most other DreamWorks films. While it could have some comedic potential, my anticipation is more towards Captain Underpants, their movie after this one.

Space Jam returns to theatres

Everybody get up, it's time to slam now! In celebration of the 20th anniversary, Warner Bros. Pictures and Fathom Events are bringing the 90’s live-action/animated-hybrid hit Space Jam back to the big screen for a limited time! Yup, that one’s a guilty pleasure of mine.

Released back in 1996, Space Jam brought two worlds together where the Looney Tunes team up with professional NBA player Michael Jordan for a game of basketball against evil aliens. Despite mixed reviews on such a weird concept, it turned out as a massive hit by grossing $230 million worldwide, and has since maintained a huge fanbase. Heck, the official website is still active after two decades!

Considering how successful the limited re-release of Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant was, it would be no surprise that Fathom would do this again with another Warner animated movie. Fathom will give Space Jam several limited screenings for two days in 450 US theatres, with showings taking place on Sunday, November 13 (2:00pm and 6:00pm), and Wednesday, November 16 (7:00 pm). The movie will precede with the CGI Looney Tunes short I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat, which was originally shown in front of Happy Feet Two in 2011.

In a press release, Fathom vice president Tom Lucas said that “Space Jam has been a family favorite for the last 20 years and is sure to remain so for the next 20 and beyond. This event is the perfect chance for audiences of all ages to view the film as it was meant to be seen—on the big screen.”

For those keen to relive the nostalgia on November 13 or 16, you can book your tickets at FathomEvents.com.

• Source: Cartoon Brew

Moana takes voyage with Hawaiian Airlines

As one of the most-anticipated animated movies of this year, Disney’s Moana is guaranteed to recieve a big marketing push to spread the word of their Polynesian tale. And what better way to express that than with the modern way of voyaging? That modern way being Moana-themed planes of course! As an animation and aviation fan, I gotta say that is pretty cool.

Honolulu-based Hawaiian Airlines has unleashed the first of three Airbus A330 aircraft with a special Moana paint scheme, featuring Moana herself and demigod Maui. Think of this as the modern-day voyaging canon that the characters would use. From now until March 2017, Hawaiian’s Moana planes will fly on it’s many US domestic routes, as well as their international destinations including Auckland, Brisbane, Osaka, Sydney, and Tokyo.

Peter Ingram, the chief commercial officer for Hawaiian Airlines stated ”In important ways, Moana's voyage of discovery parallels that of our guests' own travel adventures, and we're pleased to work with Disney to take this wonderful story to the skies."

If you’re curious on where the Moana planes are flying right now, you can track them at HawaiianAirlines.com/Moana. Or if you live near one of the destination airports, you might be able to spot one!

• Sources: Hawaiian Airlines, Stuff.co.nz

And thus this concludes the first of my weekly news articles. This is something I wanted to try out so I don’t overload the site with a lot of seperate news articles. If you have any suggestions you’d like to give for next week’s article, feel free to tell me in the comments below. See you next week!

• - Karlamon