Thursday, November 26, 2015

Einstein's Theory of Relativity - Animated

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Einstein's Theory of Relativity - Animated

And now for something completely different.

One of those never-noted but significant dates in history is 25 November 1915. Aside from some fighting during World War I, this was the date that Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity.

Einstein's theory is still difficult to understand. This animation aims to make is simple.

A lot of talent went into this. It was animated by award-winning animator Eoin Duffy, who worked with filmmaker Jamie Lochhead. That voice you hear may sound familiar - it is the star of Doctor Who, David Tennant. Some of the basic science was supplied by science communicator Anais Rassat. And all in three minutes!

#Einstein100 - General Relativity from Eoin Duffy on Vimeo.

Albert Einstein theory of relativity animatedfilmreviews.filminspector.com

A short film celebrating the centennial of Einstein's theory of General Relativity.

JAMIE LOCHHEAD - Writer / Producer
EOIN DUFFY - Design / Animation
DAVID TENNANT - Narrator
WESLEY SLOVER - Sound Design
ANAÏS RASSAT Writer / Science Outreach / Communication
A WINDFALL FILMS production for the SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL

2020

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Shortlist for 2016 Animated Feature Film Oscar

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It is time to start thinking about the 2016 Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.

The 88th Academy Awards are coming up, and the process already is underway to find out the winners - even though 2015 still has over a month to go, and several contenders haven't even been released yet.

It is impossible to handicap this race at this time, but some guesses are in order. "Shaun the Sheep Movie" is my own sentimental pick, and "Minions" is so popular ($1.15 billion) that it is one of the favorites, along with "The Good Dinosaur" (not yet released, but sure to be a holiday hit). I was not impressed by "Inside Out," but it also will get a lot of consideration simply due to how much money it made ($840 million). After that, "Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet" is my choice for a dark horse slot, though nobody saw it.

Five films out of these 16 will be nominated.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

Anomalisa
The Boy And The Beast
Boy And The World
The Good Dinosaur
Home
Hotel Transylvania 2
Inside Out
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet
The Laws Of The Universe – Part 0
Minions
Moomins On The Riviera
The Peanuts Movie
Regular Show: The Movie
Shaun The Sheep Movie
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water
When Marnie Was There

The Oscar nominations will be announced on January 14, with the Oscars telecast set for February 28 on ABC hosted by Chris Rock.

2020

Oscar Shortlist 2016 Best Animated Short Film

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Below is the shortlist for the 2016 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on January 14, 2016, and the 88th Oscars will take place on February 28, 2016. The process of selecting films is already in motion. The second round of voting commences on 30 December 2015, and the results will be announced on 14 January with other nominees.

While there is no clear favorite, any entry by Pixar such as "Sanjay's Super Team" is likely to get serious consideration. There are two National Film Board of Canada entries, and it always does well, too.

Five films will make the next cut.

The shortlisted animated short films:
  • “Bear Story (Historia De Un Oso),” Gabriel Osorio, director, and Pato Escala, producer (Punkrobot Animation Studio) 
  • “Carface (Autos Portraits),” Claude Cloutier, director (National Film Board of Canada) 
  • “If I Was God…,” Cordell Barker, director (National Film Board of Canada) 
  • “Love in the Time of March Madness,” Melissa Johnson and Robertino Zambrano, directors (High Hip Productions and KAPWA Studioworks) 
  • “My Home,” Phuong Mai Nguyen, director (Papy3D Productions)
  • “An Object at Rest,” Seth Boyden, director (California Institute of the Arts) 
  • “Prologue,” Richard Williams, director, and Imogen Sutton, producer (Animation Masterclass) 
  • “Sanjay’s Super Team,” Sanjay Patel, director, and Nicole Grindle, producer (Pixar Animation Studios) 
  • “We Can’t Live without Cosmos,” Konstantin Bronzit, director (Melnitsa Animation Studio) 
  • “World of Tomorrow,” Don Hertzfeldt, director (Bitter Films)
The 10 shortlisted films for Best Animated Short Film were chosen by members of the Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch from among 60 qualifying films.

Disney is by far the leader in wins in the category, and the company has won two of the last three years, with “Paperman” in 2013 and “Feast” earlier this year. It does not have an entry in the race this year for the first time in several years.


2020

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos (2015): A Surprise Mexican Hit

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Mexico is often overlooked as a source of animation, though I have written about it once or twice before. There are no borders when it comes to animation; it just requires skill, dedication, and creativity. Released in early September 2015, a satirical CG-animated film from Mexico titled "Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos" ("A Rooster With A Lot Of Eggs") became a surprise hit at the U.S. box office.

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos animatedfeaturefilms.filminspector.com

As reported on 14 September 2015, the 3D animated feature film in Spanish film opened in 10th place in the U.S. with a domestic gross of $4.8 million. To date, two months later, it has grossed over $9 million in the States and an unreported amount - probably a lot - elsewhere, including Mexico and Spain. Not too shabby for a film most Americans had no idea existed. The total was earned at only about 400 U.S. cinemas nationwide, too, which makes the size of its surprise hit even more unusual. In fact, it is the first Mexican animated feature to open in the United States with a limited theatrical release and is paving the way for others.

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos animatedfeaturefilms.filminspector.com

The film was produced for about $5.3 million and distributed by Pantelion, a partnership between Lionsgate Entertainment and Grupo Televisa. It already is a financial success. It was a smash hit in Mexico, where it opened on 21 August and held the top spot at the box office for three weeks. Additional international releases are scheduled for Russia, Europe, and Latin American.

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos animatedfeaturefilms.filminspector.com

It really shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, though. The property has a relatively long history in Mexico, where it is quite popular. The marketing there includes a successful website, merchandising and a pair of 2D animated features. In fact, its origins are from the website, not vice versa, which makes the entire process even more unusual. The site, "Huevocartoon," was created by brothers Rodolfo and Gabriel Riva Palacio — who wrote, directed and produced "Un Gallo" — as a satirical site somewhat similar to The Onion. The uniqueness came from portraying the satire in the form of eggs. Just as in America, "Huevos" has the slang meaning of "balls," and you can conclude for yourself why a satirical website would choose that particular image, and why the titular character might have a lot of them.

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos animatedfeaturefilms.filminspector.com

The first cartoon appeared in 2002, and it was an immediate success. As Rodolfo has said:
“We were expecting to have around 6,000 visitors in the first six months, but what happened is that immediately everybody loved the idea of making a society with eggs and we had around 3 million visitors to our website in just two months, which was crazy!”
The brothers quickly formed a company, Huevocartoon Productions, to put out a successful line of merchandise.

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos animatedfeaturefilms.filminspector.com

Videocine, a division of Televisa, approached Huevocartoon about doing a standard 2D animated movie. "Una Pelicula de Huevos" ("A Movie about Eggs") came out in 2006, followed in 2009 by "Otra Película de Huevos y un Pollo" ("Another Movie about a Chicken and Eggs"). Both were hits in Mexico — Riva Palacio says the first movie was the second-highest-grossing Mexican film of all time when it was released. Its success was exceeded by the sequel.

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos animatedfeaturefilms.filminspector.com

The release of the first two films was limited to Spanish-speaking markets. The next step was to go global. Videocine, Pantelion and the government provided funding to make the project a possibility. The brothers had to learn how to do CGI, and then production took about 2½ years and involved 120 artists. Much of that time went into developing the story. The expense was always an issue, so the company developed its own software.

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos animatedfeaturefilms.filminspector.com

The talent is primarily from Mexico, where there is growing interest in animation, though the brothers themselves studied in the U.S. Pantelion was formed by Televisa and Lionsgate in 2010. It was a new direction for Lionsgate, which does not have much animation experience and is more known for its teen dramas like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent." The brothers’ relationship with Televisa and its Videocine division opened the door for the deal with Pantelion. The film was targeted at Spanish-speaking markets in the United States due to cost factors. However, there is an English-language version of the movie that likely will get a home-video release. And, yes, there is a sequel on the way.

2020

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Dragons: Race to the Edge

Dragons Race to the Edge animatedfilmreviews.filminspector.com
"Dragons: Race to the Edge."
"Dragons: Race to the Edge" is a prequel to "How To Train Your Dragon." More adventures from Hiccup, Toothless and the Dragon Riders. The series, from DreamWorks Animation and Netflix, stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, and Zach Pearlman.


2020

"Kung Fu Panda 3" coming on January 29, 2016

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"Kung Fu Panda 3" is directed by Jennifer Yuh and Alessandro Carloni, and the English voice cast stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, J.K. Simmons, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu. It follows the continuing adventures of Po, voiced by Black, who is an unassuming hero. The film opens simultaneously on January 20, 2016, in China and the US.




2020

"DinoTrux," A Great Netflix Animated Series

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"Dinotrux."
"DinoTrux" now is available from Netflix. It is a popular digital series from DreamWorks Animation.

From the DreamWorksTV website:
Welcome to a world of giant creatures that are half dinosaur, half construction vehicle and all awesome in DREAMWORKS DINOTRUX! Meet Ty Rux, a massive Tyrannosaurus Trux, and his best friend Revvit, a razor-sharp Reptool.  Together, the Dinotrux and Reptools join forces for the first time ever to build a bigger, better world and battle back against the biggest and baddest of them all: D-Structs, who threatens to wreck everything they’ve built.
Each DinoTrux episode is only five minutes long. It doesn't take much to bore kids, so these are bite-sized episodes designed for little kids who may get antsy. The show is on Netflix.


The cast includes Ty-Rux (Andrew Francis), a friendly T-Trux (combination Tyrannosaurus Rex and megaton excavator); D-Structs (Paul Dobson), a ruthless T-Trux who doesn't like nosy visitors; Revvit (Richard Ian Cox), a miniature "reptool" who is good at fixing things; Skya (Ashleigh Bell), a combination brachiosaur and crane; Ton-Ton (Matt Hill), an Ankylosaurus dump truck; and Dozer (Brian Drummond), a Triceratops-bulldozer with an attitude who must learn to get along. It is from the book by Chris Gall.


DinoTrux toys, incidentally, should be available at Toys 'R' Us.

Dinotrux animatedfilmreviews.filminspector.com

2020