With the release of “Planes”, I thought it’d be a good time to look back at the recent animated films that Walt Disney Pictures has distributed but didn’t actually produce. In other words, these are all non-Walt Disney Animation Studios/non-Pixar films: DisneyToon Studios created a bunch of hand-drawn animated films in the late 90’s and […]
“Planes” is a Disney animated film. However it’s not a Pixar film or from Walt Disney Animation Studios (which recently made “Bolt”, “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph”). Instead, “Planes” was created by DisneyToon Studios, who usually make Direct-to-DVD films. And that’s exactly what this film was supposed to be. That is, until late last year, when […]
When it came out this summer “Turbo” drew obvious comparisons to “Cars”, Disney/Pixar’s animated film about auto racing. But this clever DreamWorks creation can stand-out on its own, thanks to a simple, but sincere script which contains a whole lot of heart. Turbo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) is a snail with a dream: He wants […]
Two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks could receive a double Oscar nomination this year for his upcoming roles as Captain Phillips in “Captain Phillips” and Walt Disney in the making-of “Mary Poppins” movie “Saving Mr. Banks”. He also just ended his Tony-nominated run on Broadway in the play “Lucky Guy”. This past weekend I was […]
“Monsters University” is Pixar’s 14th animated feature. It’s also their first prequel, to a film that many have near the bottom of their list of all-time favorite Pixar films. 2001’s “Monsters, Inc.” grossed $255 million but lost the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature to DreamWorks’ “Shrek”. Recently I watched “Monsters Inc.” again, and […]
For a while now, studios have been setting release dates for their upcoming films YEARS in advance. However a new trend in Hollywood is taking this practice to a ridiculous level. Studios are “grabbing the date” by announcing untitled projects (often ones that haven’t even been discussed) with openings way in the future. For animation […]
The Summer Movie Season will kick back into high gear next weekend with the highly-anticipated release of “Man of Steel” – the Superman film millions have been waiting for. While director Zach Snyder’s previous films (2010’s animated “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” and the 2011 flop “Sucker Punch”) underperformed, “Man of Steel” […]
If only I was sitting in an auditorium at CinemaCon on Wednesday afternoon instead of in a classroom at school. Lucky attendees at the annual Las Vegas event got quite a surprise: the chance to watch the entire version of Disney/Pixar’s “Monsters University” two months before it’s official release. It was an unfinished, rough-cut of […]
“The Croods” is DreamWorks Animation’s first film of 2013 (they followed with “Turbo” 4-months later). It’s directed by Kirk DeMicco (“Space Chimps”) and two-time Oscar nominee Chris Sanders (“How to Train Your Dragon”, “Lilo & Stitch”). While “The Croods” isn’t as funny or charming as any of those films, it is visually stunning and has […]
Once is an event. Twice is a pattern. Each of the past two Best Picture Oscar winners has featured John Goodman in a memorable supporting role. Many people are writing this week about the possible 2014 Oscar contenders and their lists are long and varied. But for me it’s not that difficult – since Goodman’s […]