Saving Mr. Banks is an Excellent and Realistic Potrayal of the Behind the Scenes of Mary Poppins

Millions of people around the world have seen and loved Mary Poppins, but not many of them know about the struggles Walt Disney went through to make this film. Saving Mr. Banks tells the story of how Walt Disney got the rights to Mary Poppins and does so in a beautiful, heartwarming way.

Ice Age 5 Officially Announced

It has recently been announced that Ice Age 5 will be in theaters on July 15, 2016. 

My Thoughts on the New How to Train Your Dragon 2 Trailer

Before you watch this trailer, beware! There is a big spoiler in the trailer!

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is a Welcome Addition to the Epic Zelda Franchise (3DS)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is the first Zelda game I have ever completed. I have played a ton of other Zelda games but, for some reason, never got around to completing them. I'm going to have to complete those soon. Anyways, after completing this game, I can wholeheartedly say that The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will not only please long-time fans of the franchise, but is also a perfect start for people who want to get into the franchise, with its epic story, excellent gameplay and vast, beautiful world.

Why you Should get a Wii U Instead of PS4 or Xbox One

Out of the three consoles in the eighth generation of gaming, I chose the Wii U instead of the PS4 and Xbox One. Now that the holiday season is upon us, I am going to tell you why I chose the Wii U and why I recommend you do the same.

Golden Globes 2014 Nominees Announced

The Golden Globe nominees have just been announced, and I am not entirely happy with the results. I mean, I never really cared about the Golden Globes, but this is just stupid. Since this is an animation blog, I will be focusing on the animation nominees, but you can see all of the nominees in all of the categories here.

Here are the nominees for Best Animated Film:

Annie Awards 2013 Nominees Revealed

It's awards season, folks! This is the time when all of the different award shows reveal the nominees, and what better way to kick it off then the nominees for the animation-centric Annie Awards?

Frozen Breaks Disney Box-Office Records!

I am happy to say that Frozen has not only became the highest opening for a film by Walt Disney Animation Studios, but it has also became the highest grossing Thanksgiving opening film ever!

Frozen is a Remarkable Fairy Tale Which Goes Back to Disney's Roots (Spoiler Free Review)

When Disney was marketing Frozen, one trailer claimed that it was the best animated event since The Lion King. I’m here to tell you that’s an understatement. Frozen is better than The Lion King. Frozen has a burst of originality while remaining reminiscent of classic Disney fairy tales.

Free Birds Disappoints in its First Box Office Weekend

Over the weekend, the newest animated film, Free Birds, only made $16,200,000, making it only reach fourth place in the box office. For an opening weekend, that is not good at all.

I can’t say I’m surprised, though. The film did not get good reviews, which is no surprise, either, but I thought tons of kids would have seen this movie. I wasn’t expecting it to be a box office hit, but $16 million on its first weekend? I wasn’t expecting it to do that bad.

What do think of this? Do you think Free Birds still has a chance to make at least a decent amount in the box office? Have you seen Free Birds? Comment below!

Fake Teaser Poster for The Good Dinosaur Hits the Web

The fact that the poster shown above is fake is really no surprise. The film got delayed 2 years and is not even the next Pixar film anymore. The next Pixar film is now Inside Out. So why would there be a poster for The Good Dinosaur before there was one for Inside Out?

Even though this is a fake poster, it makes me question a few things. Are those character designs the real designs? I don’t have a problem with the designs of the characters. In fact, I think Arlo’s design really captures the goofiness of the dinosaurs that John Lasseter was talking about in an interview a few years ago, while not making the character look too goofy. This is just Arlo’s head, though, so I can’t really judge his entire design. Also, the design for Spot (the kid on Arlo’s head) is pretty much what I expected him to look like, which is by no means a bad thing.

But if those are the real designs, where did the person who made this poster get these designs from? I haven’t seen any fully rendered character designs for this film until I saw this fake poster. Of course, I saw the concept art from D23, but never fully rendered images. And of course, this also makes me wonder whether or not these are the final character designs. There was a director change and got pushed back 2 years, after all, so a lot can change.

There haven’t been many details about the film since the director change. Hell, we don’t even know who the new director is! Is Pete Sohn the new director? He was the co-director before. All we know is that John Lasseter, Mark Andrews and Lee Unkrich are working with Pete Sohn, but we don’t know if he is the new director. This is a very weird situation and I really hope we get some answers soon.

Anyways, what do you think of this fake poster? Do you think the designs will change? Who do you think the new director will be? Comment below!

My Thoughts on the New Frozen Trailer

As some of you might know, I have huge problems with the way Disney markets their films. As for this trailer, I really have to hand it to Disney. It is actually a really good trailer. It focuses a lot more on the story (which looks brilliant, by the way) and it really makes the film look like more of an event (they even said it’s the biggest animated event since The Lion King!)

Toy Story of Terror is an Amazing, Fun TV Special

Toy Story of Terror is Pixar’s first TV special, and unsurprisingly, it is amazing. It is a TV special done right and it just goes to show that no matter what, whether it’s a film or a TV special, Pixar can make a great story, with great characters, character development and depth.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a Fun Film, But Not Nearly as Good as the Original

I just saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, and while it’s a fun time at theaters (for the most part), there are some major flaws in the film.

Sega Announces Animated Sonic the Hedgehog TV Show

Sega has announced that they will be making a Sonic the Hedgehog TV show. As a Sonic fan, I find this pretty interesting.

Disney Anniunces Live Action Cruella de Vil Film

Wow. Disney’s live action studio is dying in quality as we speak. I’m sorry to break it to you, but since John Carter bombed in the box office, Disney’s live action films have never been the same.

Disney will be making a live action “origin story” about Cruella de Vil. Yeah, you know the creepy lady who wanted to murder a bunch of adorable Dalmatians to turn them into a fur coat? Well guess what! She’s getting her own movie! What an awful concept! Why make a villain the main character of a movie?! They’re doing the same thing with another upcoming reboot, Maleficent. They’re also rebooting Cinderella. May I ask why?!

My Thoughts on the Frozen Trailer

Disney finally released an official trailer for Frozen. It’s an ok trailer. It’s a lot better than the teaser trailer. There is a poor choice of music at the beginning, though (what is it with Disney and putting modern day music in their trailers?!) Also, I’m not quite sure if it contains spoilers or not, especially when there are question marks after the traits of some of the characters (They would put a question mark after the stuff such as "The Nice Guy" etc.) Is that supposed to imply that they’re not all they’re cracked up to be?

Glen Keane Making His Own Animation Studio

Glen Keane, a man who worked at Disney for almost 38 years, has announced that he will be starting his own animation studio. This is very interesting and exciting.

Sony Announces R-rated Animated Film

This is a really interesting story. Sony will be releasing an R-rated animated film entitled Sausage Party in 2015. It will be written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir. The producers of the film are calling the film raunchy. The film will be directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan

The Little Mermaid Re-Release Promotes Playing on iPads in the Theater

I read about this and my mind was blown. Can Disney really be that stupid? Is this what the future of film is? Let me tell you the story.

Pixar Moves Around Their Schedule, The Good Dinosaur Delayed

After hearing about the director change for The Good Dinosaur, I was wondering why they changed directors so close to the film's release.

Bob Peterson No Longer Directing The Good Dinosuar

What is going on with Pixar lately?! Pixar has no made 3 director changes over the course of 3 years! They did this with Cars 2, Brave, and now The Good Dinosaur. This is getting a bit out of hand.

Monsters University is a Brilliant Prequel to the Original Pixar Masterpiece

It's that amazing time of the year again. The time where Pixar releases their latest film. Monsters University is as brilliant, inventive and heartfelt as the original!

In Monsters University, we get to see how Mike and Sulley first met. However, they are enemies in this film. They can't stand each other! However, when their rivalry gets them kicked out from Monsters University, they must team up and join a fraternity called Oozma Kappa and win the Scare Games to get back in the university.

While the story makes it seem like a film with a theme about friendship, that is not the case. Where movies like Pinocchio teach you that anything can happen if you wish for it, Monsters University tells it like it is and tells you that you can't get your way or reach a goal because you wished for it. Mike is a bookworm. He will do anything for good grades so he can be a scarer. However, he lacks the scariness. However, Sulley is a naturally talented scarer who comes from a family of legendary scarers. However, he is lazy and doesn't put the effort into anything. This film is trying to say that no matter how many books you read, you will get the good grades, but they won't help you if you don't have the talent. It is also trying to say that you can't be lazy, either. No matter how talented you are. The theme in this film is brilliantly executed and is an extremely risky theme to pull off for an animated film, or any film for that matter. This theme of not always being able to make your wishes come true is one that filmmakers seem to shy away from. I love how Pixar is not afraid to take risks like this.

Speaking of originality, this film had twists that I did not expect it to have. The film is full of surprises. Prequels are always very bland since you know how they end. With this film, you know what happens at the end, but how the characters got to where they are will shock you. This lack of predictability is what makes it stand out from any other prequel. It also makes it a lot more interesting since it moves away from the formula of any other college or sports movie by adding these twists.

Having the film start off with a younger Mike really helps you get to know him and care for him. When he first enters the university, you can't help but say, "You did it, Mike. You're on your way." And it also makes you feel really bad for him when he gets kicked out of the university.

This may be Mike's story, but all of the Oozma Kappa members have their own little stories and develop throughout the film as well. They are all so lovable. There is not one member of Oozma Kappa I did not like. They are all extremely funny and it's really interesting to see their stories that they go through and seeing how they develop. Even though they aren't the main characters, they are still very lovable and memorable and are given a perfect amount of screen time and character development

All of the characters, especially the Oozma Kappa members are gut-bustingly funny, but I can't get enough of Art! He is a brilliant depiction of that one weird kid that everyone has met in school. He pretty much stole the show! He gave non-stop laughs whenever he would say something. The comedic timing in this film is top notch.

Another character that stood out was Dean Hardscrabble. She's this really creepy centipede/bat. When you hear her hundreds of tiny centipede legs when she walks, you can't help but shudder. She keeps to herself and seems to bottle everything up inside of her and you never know whether or not she might let out a sudden outburst.

The film also briefly focuses on how Randall grows to hate Mike and Sulley. This was handled brilliantly. His story makes sense and makes me feel for him and the other characters a lot more. Also, he didn't take up too much screen time.

I also love how Monsters University ends right where Monsters Inc. begins. You can watch these films back to back and not feel you missed any part of lives of Mike and Sully.

The score, composed by Randy Newman, is remarkable to say the least! I'm actually listening to the score while I'm writing this review! It feels like a mixture of the scores from Monsters Inc., A Bug's Life and Toy Story while still having it's own unique tune to it. It's easily one of my favorite Pixar scores!

And what kind of Pixar film review would this be if I don't talk about the short film that comes before it? In this case, it's The Blue Umbrella. It's an excellent short film with an amazing score. It's also Pixar's first time they tried photorealistic animation, and it looked beautiful. The short film may feel a bit like Paperman, but then when something (I'm not saying what) happened, I thought to myself "That wasn't in Paperman!" So it has some differences.

Overall, Monsters University is a remarkable masterpiece and is a more than welcome addition to the Pixar canon. It's easily the best film I've seen this year and probably the best prequel I've ever seen!

Film Grade: A+

Teaser Trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2

To be honest, I'm kind of shocked that they already released a trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2, especially since before that film is released, DreamWorks will release Mr. Peabody and Sherman, but there is no trailer for that yet.

Ed Catmull Talks About Pixar's Future

 

In an interview with Buzz Feed, Pixar president, Ed Catmull told us what to expect from Pixar from now on. He said the following:

 

“For artistic reasons … it’s really important that we do an original film a year. Every once in a while, we get a film where we want or people want to see something continuing in that world — which is the rationale behind the sequel. They want those characters, which means we were successful with them. But if you keep doing that, then you aren’t doing original films.”

 

This isn't entirely new news, though. John Lasseter said the same thing a while ago. But this shows that Pixar's ideas about their future has not changed a bit!

 

The article's author also says that the studio is trying to hold back on making sequels. However, this kind of contradicts another quote that is said from the interview, which says:

 

“We’re going to have an original film every year, then every other year have a sequel to something. That’s the rough idea.”

 

This could be interpreted in many different ways. On one hand, it may be that the 2nd film which is supposed to be released in 2017 will be a sequel. After all, that is 2 years after Pixar next sequel, Finding Dory. But if the 2nd 201 film is a sequel and they are planning on making sequels to something every year, are they pretty much saying that they will force a sequel every other year no matter whether or not the story is good? If that's the case, wouldn't that go against Pixar's rule of making a good story? And let's not forget what Bob Iger said. Also, Pixar's first 10 films only had one sequel in it. now, their slate is like this:

 

2010: Sequel

2011: Sequel

2012: Original

2013: Prequel

2014: Original

2015: Original

2015 (2nd half): Sequel

2016: Original

2017: Original

2017 (2nd half): POSSIBLE Sequel

2018: Original

 

5 sequels and 6 originals are very close in number. Is this pattern something we should be worried about? How did they go from 7 original films in a row to this?

 

But wait! Let's not make assumptions yet! We don't know whether or not the 2nd 2017 film will actually be a sequel. It could be that the 2nd 2017 film will be an original film and Bob Iger doesn't know what he's saying. After all, he did claim that there are no upcoming hand drawn animated Disney films when there clearly is going to be one. This could mean that Ed Catmull simply meant that they'll make a sequel whenever they feel they have a good story and not have one literally every other year. All we can do is wait for D23, where we will, hopefully, get some more details about Pixar's upcoming slate. Also keep in mind that this website only gives pieces of the full interview and in could be very possible that Ed Catmull said that they don't want to make many sequels

 

In the interview, Ed Catmull was also talking about carrying on Pixar's legacy after he and John Lasseter pass away. He said the following:

 

“How do you figure out how to pass the baton onto other people?” he says. “In some places they don’t do that. When Walt [Disney] died, he didn’t pass the baton to anybody else, and so they went downhill after that. So John and I take very seriously the fact that we need to get people up to the level where they can tell original films.”

 

What are your thoughts on this?

My Thoughts on the Free Birds Trailer

While a teaser for The Good Dinosaur is becoming more unlikely to be released before Monsters University, we're instead getting a trailer for Free Birds.

Trailer for The Lego Movie Released

Along with the trailer for Frozen, a trailer for the 2014 animated film, The Lego Movie, was released. This trailer will probably be shown before Monsters University.

Thoughts on the New Frozen Teaser Trailer

It's about time! They finally released a teaser trailer for Frozen. I will be telling you my thoughts on it.

LAIKA's The Boxtrolls Gets an Official Release Date

It has been announced that LAIKA's upcoming film, The Boxtrolls, will go back to being released on the release date it was originally planned for. Instead of it being released on October 17, 2014, it will be released on September 26, 2014.

Pixar and Disney Announce their Release Schedules from 2016 and Onward

 

Wow! This is amazing news! ECRboxoffice has announced the release dates for another set of Pixar films after Finding Dory! Here’s the tweet:

Epic is Interesting, But Derivative and Poorly Voice Acted at Times

When I was watching Epic, the beginning was really boring and just kept going. I was hoping for it to pick up and, thankfully, it did.

Monsters University Predictions

With less than a month until Monsters University is released, this is the perfect time to make some predictions. I will be predicting the film’s length, budget, box office take in, rating and Rotten Tomatoes percentage.

Merida’s Disappointing Disney Princess Design

When I first found out that Merida would be part of the Disney Princess line, I was wondering how Merida would fit in with the other Disney Princesses. She’s so different from the other princesses. I now know how and it is not good at all.

Shockingly Interesting Trailer for Planes Released

A trailer for the upcoming DisneyToon spinoff to Cars has been released. Planes was originally supposed to be a direct to video release, but it somehow became a theatrical release. This movie did not interest me one bit, but this trailer is really different from your average trailer. There is absolutely no dialogue throughout the entire trailer. It's not like the trailer for Epic where there was no talking, but at the end, made some unfunny dialogue based jokes. This trailer has no dialogue. Instead, they show beautiful sets, colorful animation and breathtaking camera angles.

Angry Birds Movie Gets a Release Date

I still can't believe they're making a full length animated film out of the insanely successful Angry Birds. It just doesn't get more pointless and more stupid than that. Making a movie out of an overrated app makes absolutely no sense and it's insane to hear about these kinds of things.

Another Pixar Sequel?

During a Disney stockholders conference call, Bleeding Cool Noticed that the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger said the following:

On the animation front, Pixar continues to create great value for our company too. We are very excited about Monsters University which opens next month. Pixar’s slate of films for the next five years includes fantastic original stories as well as some great sequels to their previous hits. And as we recently announced, we are in production on one of those sequels, Finding Dory, featuring Ellen DeGeneres once again as the voice of Dory, one of the most beloved characters from Finding Nemo which was one of the most popular and profitable movies to date.

New Toy Story of Terror Image Released

Pixar recently tweeted the image you see above for the upcoming Halloween TV special, Toy Story of Terror. I am really excited about this. It sounds really interesting and fun. For those of you who are not entirely sold on the idea, perhaps this synopsis will change your mind.

DreamWorks to Make a TV Series of The Croods?

They did it do Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, and Kung fu Panda. Now, they might be doing it to The Croods. The CEO of DreamWorks, Jeffery Katzenberg has mentioned this. Here is the quote:

Iron Man 3 is an Epic Start for Phase 2 Marvel Films

With the upcoming release of The Avengers 2, Marvel is building up the film’s release by making sequels to each of the superhero’s standalone films, like they did to build up the first film. Iron Man 3 is kicking it off, and there could not have been a better way to do so.

Disney Officially Announces Big Hero 6

Recently, Disney announced their first compilation project. And what could be a better studio to team up with than Marvel? The film is going to be called Big Hero 6 and it will be released for November 7^th, 2014.

Monsters University Final Trailer Review

“If you’re not scary, what kind of a monster are you?”

Disney News From CinemaCon!

To me, the best part of CinemaCon is when Disney announces lots of news about their upcoming films. This year is absolutely no exception.

The Croods Has Its Moments, but Lacks in Some Areas

Lately, DreamWorks has not been on the top of its game. Rise of the Guardians was a good film, but was nothing special or memorable. As for Turbo, I can’t quite judge yet. This brings us to the film in between these two films, The Croods.

Finding Nemo Sequel Entitled Finding Dory Officially Announced

Well the rumors were true. A sequel to the much beloved Pixar film, Finding Nemo has been officially announced as Finding Dory.

Disney Infinity Details Announced!

Today’s the big day! Disney announced all of the details for their upcoming game, Disney Infinity! I’ve been excited for this day since I realized that this game existed!

Disney Infinity News and Rumors and My Thoughts

 

 

Disney Infinity is an upcoming Disney videogame. It is rumored to be interactive between many different videogame consoles and tablets, with the ability to unlock different characters, worlds and levels from all of the Disney and Pixar movies through releasing certain playsets and toys. In other words, it's Disney's take on Skylanders. The frustrating thing about this is that this article I read also mentioned stuff about character cards instead of playsets so we don't know for sure what route they're going to go. It would make more sense, however, if they release the separate world through downloadable content, but whether it's going to be through DLC or through toys, I don't mind either way.

 

I am really looking forward to this videogame. I don't know how any Disney fan would be able to resist a videogame that is this epic and ambitious. If the picture on the top isn't getting you excited like crazy, then the one below this has to, or else something may be wrong.

 

 

Look at all of those Disney and Pixar characters. and that's not going to be all of them. It's also rumored that Disney is going to make levels out of the whole Disney and Pixar library!

 

Now the big question is, are all these rumors true? Well, based on the photos I just showed, they're more than likely true, but we will not know for sure until January 15th when Disney officially announces it. For a full scoop on the announcement, come back to the blog on January 15th.

 

Click here to read the article I got all of this information from.

Wreck-it Ralph is Enjoyable, Heartwarming and Epic!

Disney's 52nd animated film, Wreck-it Ralph is finally here! As a huge fan of videogames, animation and film, I could not have been more excited for this film. And I am happy to say, I adored this movie!