Archives for April, 2009
‘The Goode Family’ sneak peek
Check out this preview of Mike Judge’s new animated show, The Goode Family, premiering Wednesday, May 27 at 9PM on ABC.
“Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp” coming to Blu-ray
Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp, the long awaited sequel to the award-winning game Dragon’s Lair, has been completely restored and enhanced with an all-new 5.1 surround sound mix and will be available on Blu-ray this June.
From legendary animator Don Bluth, Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp is an interactive movie that allows you to play the heroic Dirk the Daring, who must stop the Evil Wizard Mordroc as he has kidnapped Princess Daphne and taken her through time. But you must hurry, for once the Casket of Doom has opened, Mordroc will place the Death Ring upon Daphne’s finger in marriage and she will be lost forever.
“The visuals and story of this game really bring me back.” says creator Don Bluth. “I haven’t seen this game look this good since it was on film, before we put it to laser disc at just TV resolution, two decades ago. It looks and sounds better than ever. You gotta just love Blu-ray and what you can do with sound today. People are in for a real treat with this release!”
This Blu-ray release includes the following special features:
- Interviews with game creators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
- Picture in Picture video commentary from the creators
- Viewing Mode Options: Widescreen (16:9) or Anamorphic (4:3) video playback
- Watch Mode – Watch Don Bluth’s stunning animation without playing
- Extras – An animatic of the lost ‘Pirate Ship’ scene, progression reel and more!
- Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Italian and German
All of the special features on the disc were shot natively in 1080p including all-new interviews with creators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and for the first time a full length visual commentary of the game.
Ricky Gervais’ “Flanimals” heading to the big screen
Illumination Entertainment announced today that it will create a 3D animated movie based on Ricky Gervais’ “Flanimals” children’s book series. The four-volume book series tells the story of 50 ugly creatures who turn out to be quite cute. Gervais will play a chubby purple creature who’s on a mission to change the world.
Gervais will serve as executive producer and will also voice the lead character. The script will be written by Matt Selman, whose credits include The Simpsons Movie.
Interview with Pixar’s Partly Cloudy director
The folks over at AWN had the opportunity to interview Peter Sohn, director of the new Pixar short film, “Partly Cloudy.” The short will play before Pixar’s upcoming feature “Up,” in theaters May 29. Peter Sohn was previously an animator/story artist on various Pixar films, including Ratatouille, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo.
AWN: Talk about the pitch and how it went from there.
Peter Sohn: The original pitch was just as I explained: There’s the world of storks that deliver babies, but where do they get these babies from? And my answer was obviously the clouds. And I had done some drawings of these cloud characters — taking some photos and Photoshopping eyes and a nose in and then having some birds all flocking up to the skies. I pitched this story of a smaller gray cloud that [lived below and] made some of the dangerous babies. And I showed John these images and he touched on one of them and said let’s start developing this one. And that was close to a year-and-a-half ago and it’s been a really interesting learning experience for me. Obviously, this is my first [short]. It really is like raising a baby. I felt very much like Gus during this thing — making something and wanting people to like it.
Read the rest of the interview at AWN.
Adult Swim nabs ‘G.I. JOE: RESOLUTE’ mini-series
Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim announced today that it will air a new, adult oriented G.I. JOE mini-series on TV and online. G.I. JOE: RESOLUTE will air in ten 5-minute episodes and one 10-minute finale, for a total of 11 episodes with a runtime of 60 minutes. Fans cans watch the series on AdultSwim.com and on TV April 25 at midnight.
Inside Pixar’s “Up” – Kevin: The Undiscovered Species
‘Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1 Vol. 2′ DVD set available now
Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1 Vol. 2 DVD set features the final 30 episodes of the series’ first season. It is available for purchase now at retailers or online at WBshop.com.
‘Freakazoid: The Complete Second Season’ now on DVD
The second and final season DVD set of the popular 90s cartoon features 11 episodes. It is available now at a retailer near you, or online at WBshop.com.
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ soundboard
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 7 on DVD May 12.
Tom Hanks dishes on ‘Toy Story 3′
The fine folks over at Empire Magazine, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, have gotten an exclusive interview with Tom Hanks in which they talk about his upcoming projects, including the much-anticipated Toy Story 3.
According to Hanks, he has gone through three complete recording sessions and will no doubt have to do at least one more within the next eight months. He then compares animated film work to “beasts,” revealing that he will probably have to go in for even more sessions after his presumed last.
Also, Hanks revealed that Pixar took a different approach this time in regards to revealing the story to him and fellow co-star Tim Allen. Instead of a traditional script, Pixar invited them to a story reel screening of the entire film. It consisted of moving storyboards backed by music, sound effects and voice work done by Pixar employees. After having seen the reel, both Hanks and Allen were excited and said: “This is great, let’s get to work!”
