Tag: Animation (71-80 of 191)

Mar 1 2012 02:36 PM ET

'Despicable Me 2' trailer: The return of the minions

See, now this is how you do a cover of the Beach Boys‘ “Barbara Ann.” (Watch and learn, McCain.) In the new teaser trailer for the upcoming Despicable Me 2, the best things about the first, wildly successful Despicable Me — the minions — are back with their bizarrely cute antics. In the preview, four of the pill-shaped yellow minions sing an a cappella rendition of the Beach Boys classic with their own brand of indistinguishable lyrics. (I did catch “potato” in there at some point.)

Watch, and attempt to sing along, here:
READ FULL STORY »

Mar 1 2012 02:08 PM ET

Q&A: Danny DeVito speaks for 'The Lorax' (in five languages!) -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

LORAX-DEVITO

Image Credit: Universal and Illumination Entertainment; Lester C

Dr. Seuss described The Lorax as “shortish. And oldish. And brownish. And mossy. And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy.”

It’s the role Danny DeVito was born to play.

“Well, I always think of myself as being a little gruffer,” DeVito laughs. “But I knew it would be such a trip to hear my voice coming out of this wonderful, cuddly character.”

In the big-screen animated movie debuting tomorrow, DeVito not only voices the little furry guy who “speaks for the trees” in English, but also in the Spanish, Italian, Russian, and German versions. After the jump, we’ve got exclusive video of the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor grappling with the languages.

Meanwhile, DeVito answers a few burning questions for EW, such as: What does the Lorax eat? And how did he end up with that Jersey accent? READ FULL STORY »

Feb 29 2012 02:10 AM ET

'Fantastic Flying Books' storytellers float to cloud nine with Oscar victory

Flying-Books-Morris

Everybody who claims an Academy Award is feeling pretty good in that moment, but perhaps no pair of winners on Sunday night were walking on air as much as the directors of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Oldenburg (low) and Joyce (high) — AP Photo/Jennifer Graylock

In lofty terms, the short is about the immortality of storytelling. In simple terms, it’s about an avid reader who discovers a flock of flying books and becomes caretaker for their library-aviary.

Directors William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg were also hovering just above the ground Sunday after claiming their Oscar win over powerhouse Pixar. Maybe they should have been accustomed to success with this animated short already — it was created as both a 15-minute film and an interactive storybook app that has become massively popular. (If you haven’t heard about it yet, sorry: You’re late to the party.)

But the Oscar, man… That just seemed to push them over the top. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 28 2012 04:48 PM ET

Casting Net: Robert Redford circling holiday comedy, and SpongeBob returns to theaters

Robert-Redford

Image Credit: Jason Kempin/WireImage.com

Robert Redford and Diane Keaton are “circling” The Most Wonderful Time, a holiday comedy ensemble film penned by Steven Rogers (P.S. I Love YouStepmom), with Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) set to direct. [Deadline]

• Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin may take on a small role in the French production Le Petit Joueur (The Little Player), about a high-stakes poker tournament. It stars members of the comedy troupe, Nous C Nous, that launched Dujardin’s career. Dujardin’s wife Alexandra Lamy is also set to star in the film. [THR]

 SpongeBob SquarePants has landed his next starring role in a new SpongeBob feature film set for 2014. It will be the inaugural film for Paramount Pictures’ new in-house animation studio. [THR]

Feb 23 2012 10:40 AM ET

New 'Brave' clip: A red-haired 'Mulan'?

An extended clip from Pixar’s upcoming Scottish adventure, Brave, just hit the internet. It presents one of those old-fashioned shoot-the-bullseye-to-marry-the-princess parties, with a procession of suitors showing off their archery skills. Things take a turn when Brave‘s star — ginger-haired Merida — decides to demonstrate her own talents with a bow and arrow. Brave looks a little bit like Mulan, and it’s refreshing to see Disney embrace a bold female protagonist after the marketing jiu-jitsu that was Tangled. Check out the clip below: READ FULL STORY »

Feb 22 2012 10:36 PM ET

Guillermo del Toro to produce animated 'Day of the Dead' -- so just how crowded is this man's plate?

Guillermo-del-Toro

Image Credit: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com

Guillermo del Toro signed on this week to produce the animated film Day of the Dead, a star-crossed romance that revolves around the Mexican holiday, EW has confirmed. The independent animation studio Reel FX is behind the film, and is aiming for a 2014 release. It also enjoys the stature of being at least the 14th yet-to-be-released project currently in the works to bear del Toro’s name.

That’s right: 14. Actually, it’s 16, since del Toro co-wrote the screenplays for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again while he was attached to direct them. But even before del Toro stepped away from the helm of those films two years ago, he has been madly stacking his plate with possible directing, screenwriting, producing, and exec producing projects, both at major studios and as independent endeavors. Most of these projects remain in the script stage and/or without an official greenlight, and Hollywood’s fickle nature means we could see almost all of them in theaters at some point in the next ten years, or a great deal could end up permanently stuck in development purgatory. Del Toro fans already know that his adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness had to be shelved last year due to concerns over budget and the film’s planned R rating, even with James Cameron attached to produce.

So to keep them all straight, here is a rundown of each of the films currently cooking on del Toro’s ever expanding filmmaking stove, in roughly descending order of how close they are to actually coming to a boil, i.e. making it to theaters. (And the tortured food metaphors end here.)  READ FULL STORY »

Feb 22 2012 10:00 AM ET

Oscars 1992: Producer Don Hahn on how 'Beauty and the Beast' changed animation

DON-HAHN

Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

From the time that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released as the first feature-length animated movie in 1937, it took the Academy 54 years to recognize the medium with a Best Picture nomination. That honor went to 1991’s Beauty and the Beast, which set the stage for Disney’s decade-long string of traditionally animated hits and proved that “cartoons” deserved to be taken as seriously as their live-action counterparts. Don Hahn was Beauty’s sole credited producer at the Oscars, and though the film ultimately lost to The Silence of the Lambs, he insists that the nomination itself was reason enough to celebrate. Below, Hahn shares his memories of the 1992 Academy Awards ceremony, during which Beauty picked up statuettes for Original Score and Original Song.

Beauty and the Beast was a big turning point. When we won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical, I was sitting way in the back — practically in the kitchen. Three years later, when we won for The Lion King, I was in the very front table. I said to myself, “What am I doing here? I make cartoons for a living and I’m sitting next to Diana Ross!” That kind of shows you the journey that happened in just those three years. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 14 2012 09:06 PM ET

Peter Jackson going straight from directing 'The Hobbit' to 'Tintin 2'

TINTIN

Image Credit: WETA

Look alive, Tintin lovers! You won’t have too long(ish) of a wait for the The Adventures of Tintin 2. Peter Jackson’s Tintin co-producer Steven Spielberg tells Total Film that Jackson will not take a break between the two Hobbit films — which are being produced simultaneously — and the as-yet-untitled sequel. ”We made a deal,” said Spielberg. “I said, ‘I’ll direct the first one, you direct the second one.’ Peter, of course, is going to do it right after he finishes photography on The Hobbit. He’ll go right into the…performance capture.”  READ FULL STORY »

Feb 13 2012 04:38 PM ET

Selena Gomez steps in for Miley Cyrus on 'Hotel Transylvania'

MileyCyrus-Mavis

You can now begin envisioning the girl to the right with Selena Gomez’s voice. EW has confirmed that the 19-year-old singer will take over the part that Miley Cyrus had originally been slotted to play in Sony Picture Animation’s upcoming 3-D family film Hotel Transylvania. Gomez will voice Mavis, the teenage daughter of vampire hotelier Dracula (Adam Sandler).

Despite Cyrus’s departure for as-yet-undisclosed reasons, Genndy Tartakovsky’s film — costarring Andy Samberg, Cee Lo Green, and Kevin James — is still scheduled to check in to theaters on Sept. 21, 2012.

Read more:
Miley Cyrus departing ‘Hotel Transylvania’
Miley Cyrus to voice Adam Sandler’s daughter in ‘Hotel Transylvania’ — EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK
Adam Sandler leads ‘Hotel Transylvania’

Feb 9 2012 02:44 PM ET

Miley Cyrus departing 'Hotel Transylvania'

MileyCyrus-Mavis

Looks like the accommodations at Hotel Transylvania may not have been up to snuff for Miley Cyrus. A rep for Sony Pictures has confirmed to EW that the singer is no longer set to voice Mavis, the daughter of Dracula (Adam Sandler), in the Sony Picture Animation production. The studio had no comment on why Cyrus was leaving the film, and Cyrus’ rep did not immediately return a request seeking comment. (E! Online first reported the departure.) READ FULL STORY »

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