Prime CGI in New 'Walking with Dinosaurs 3D' Trailer

I guess this counts as animation: 20th Century Fox released their first "domestic" trailer for Walking with Dinosaurs (subtitled The 3D Movie) on iTunes Movie Trailers today, embedded above via YouTube.

The hybrid CGI/live-photography documentary based on the 1999 BBC miniseries opens in North America and a number of other markets on December 20. It's directed by BBC Earth creative director Neil Nightingale.

Unlike the better "international" trailer released at the beginning of this month, this trailer features an anthropomorphic narration which will hopefully not be heard in the final product. (Clearly, Fox is doing its best to make sure American audiences understand it's a family picture.)

Done on a budget of $65 million (according to The Hollywood Reporter), the CGI looks very good—best ever for this type of thing. What I want to know is why Disney didn't pick up the distribution rights for its Disneynature label, especially since they had no theatrical release this year.

Blue Sky's Latest is an 'Epic' Failure

Shame on me for falling for the grown-up trailer with the Snow Patrol track. Today I suffered the misfortune of seeing Blue Sky Studios’ eight feature, Epic. This movie is a three-legged dog, the blandest animated film of recent memory. I want my $14.99 back.

Everything about Epic is so epically wrong: introduction, story, script, character design, voice acting. On that last point, Beyoncé's "performance" as the weed queen (okay, that's not actually the character's name) has made me lose all my attraction for her. I now pity Jay-Z.

With respect to the people at Blue Sky, it is as if they decided to adhere a bunch of overused plot elements and clichés from the past eighty years of animated cinema to a skeletal mythology. I was shaking my head in disbelief during the first act, wishing that Rob Ford would show up and share some sweet crack.

To call these 3D characters two-dimensional is generous; they are holographic in substance. The three-legged dog was the most expressive of the bunch, and yet I have already forgotten the poor creature’s name. The dad was wretched.

Please, do the responsible thing and save your money this weekend. If your kids have been misled into wanting to see it, as I was—the saplings in the rows behind me did sound as if they were enjoying the madness—chain them to their seats and come back in an hour and a half.

You have been warned.

Sizzle Reel Shows Off World of Planes

Disney released this new sizzle reel yesterday for Planes, the non-Pixar Cars spinoff flying into theatres August 9. Big on visuals, which are pretty good; light on story, as expected. Watch—

Musical Teaser Trailer for Blue Sky's Rio 2

20th Century Fox has released the first, very musical teaser for Blue Sky's Rio 2, opening in theatres April 11 next year. I fear the young ones will play this on a loop. Watch—



The sequel to 2011's Rio will find Jewel, Blu and their three offspring leaving their urban "domesticated life" for a journey to the Amazon, where they 'encounter menagerie of wild characters'.

Rio 2 will reunite the director and entire cast of the original, including Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg, and adds the voices of Andy Garcia, Rita Moreno, Bruno Mars, and Kristin Chenoweth.

Angry Birds Movie Flocks to Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures Entertainment announced today that it has acquired the rights to distribute Rovio Entertainment's upcoming feature based on its massively popular Angry Birds gaming franchise. The CG film is set to project on screens worldwide on July 1, 2016.

Developed in-house by Rovio, the Angry Birds movie is being produced by Despicable Me producer John Cohen and executive produced by David Maisel, executive producer of Iron Man. No director, writer, or cast has announced yet, but "many more announcements" are slated for the coming months.

It must be said that Disney missed a big opportunity in not bringing in the hostile fowls. As Rovio loves pointing out, Angry Birds and Bad Piggies games have been downloaded more than 1.7 billion to date.