2007's Upcoming Animated Features

Post by **Redwolfe** » March 19th, 2007, 11:02 pm

Note: I'm aware that a similar topic has been posted before, but since it turned into a discussion about penguins, I thought I might as well post this anyway.

With the Oscars over, and no real animated features released this year so far, I thought it was time to talk about what you think is your most anticipated animated movies this year.

The following is the list of animated features scheduled for this year (so far).

TMNT (3/23/07) - The turtles return to the big screen! Tech-industrialist Max Winters is scheming to amass an army of ancient, evil creatures to help him take over the world, and it's up to the turtles to stop him.

Meet The Robinsons (3/30/07) - The 46th animated feature from WDFA. Film is about a boy genius named Lewis whose invention is stolen by the dastardly Bowler Hat Guy. With the aid of the Robinsons, he must retrieve it if he ever hopes to find his real mother.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Colon) Movie Film For Theaters (4/13/07) - Based on the hit Adult Swim TV series. An immortal piece of exercise equipment threatens the balance of galactic peace, and it is up to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force to run away from it.

Shrek The Third (5/18/07) - Continuing the adventures of Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey. Shrek and company must find a suitable heir to the throne of Far Far Away, so they can leave their current lifestyle and return to the swamp.

Surf's Up (6/8/07) - A mockumentary, the film explores the premise that surfing was actually invented by penguins, and takes viewers behind the scenes of the "Penguin World Surfing Championship".

Ratatouille (6/29/07) - The eighth animated feature from Pixar. The film tells the success story of an unlikely hero, a rat named Remy,who finds himself in a Parisian restaurant made famous by an eccentric chef, Auguste Gusteau. Directed by Brad Bird.

The Simpsons Movie (7/27/07) - Based on the animated sitcom series of the same name. Plot details aren't really known, but every major character is expected to appear, and it will probably predominately feature Homer.

Bee Movie (11/2/07) - Jerry Seinfeld stars and produces in this animated comedy about a bee who pursues legal action against humans after discovering that they're stealing their honey.

Foodfight! (11/16/07) - In a supermarket, after hours, product mascots and icons come to life. When Lady X plots to sell evil detergent, it's up Dex Dogtective and Daredevil Dan to stop her with a foodfight.

Beowulf (11/21/07) - Directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written for screen by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary. This film is an adaptation of the Old English epic poem of the same name, and will be brought to life using the same performance capture techniques as the Polar Express.

Enchanted (11/21/07) - Giselle, a beautiful princess, is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Taditional animation and live-action.

Confirmed for this year, but without a release date:

Persepolis - Based on the best selling graphic novels. A poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution. 2-D Black and White.

So there you have it. What I want to know is what are the top three you're most looking forward to? I'll have my picks later this week, but right now I've gotta run.

Post by **ShyViolet** » March 20th, 2007, 12:02 am

Foodfight! (11/16/07) - In a supermarket, after hours, product mascots and icons come to life. When Lady X plots to sell evil detergent, it's up Dex Dogtective and Daredevil Dan to stop her with a foodfight.

Wow, I heard about this one a long time ago--apparently they had lots of story problems. I guess they're finally getting released?

What exactly constitutes "evil detergent"?

Surf's Up (6/8/07) - A mockumentary, the film explores the premise that surfing was actually invented by penguins, and takes viewers behind the scenes of the "Penguin World Surfing Championship".

I've been seeing a lot of ads for this.

I don't think I'll be watching it.

Ultra-cool surfer style Peguins? Won't that clash with the Turtles coming out? And remind people of another surfer sea animal, Crush? :

All I can say is: "Whoa...."

Persepolis - Based on the best selling graphic novels. A poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution. 2-D Black and White.

Wow....this sounds just incredible!

Post by **YCougar** » March 20th, 2007, 2:36 pm

ShyViolet wrote: Ultra-cool surfer style Peguins? Won't that clash with the Turtles coming out? And remind people of another surfer sea animal, Crush? :

All I can say is: "Whoa...."

I dunno, I like what I've seen of the visuals so far. And I fail to see how that'll conflict with TMNT... they only ever acted like surfers in the old 'toon. Michelangelo will still probably have hints of it in this movie, but more in a skateboarder kinda way.

Haha, though Crush always made me think of Mikey when I watched Nemo. "You've got serious thrill issues, dude."

Besides that, I've like the designs I've seen for Surf's Up so far. I'll probably need to see some more trailers before I can decide if I want to see it in theaters, though.

Post by **YCougar** » March 20th, 2007, 2:37 pm

ShyViolet wrote: Ultra-cool surfer style Peguins? Won't that clash with the Turtles coming out? And remind people of another surfer sea animal, Crush? :

All I can say is: "Whoa...."

I dunno, I like what I've seen of the visuals so far. And I fail to see how that'll conflict with TMNT... they only ever acted like surfers in the old 'toon. Michelangelo will still probably have hints of it in this movie, but more in a skateboarder kinda way.

Haha, though Crush always made me think of Mikey when I watched Nemo. "You've got serious thrill issues, dude."

Besides that, I've like the designs I've seen for Surf's Up so far. I'll probably need to see some more trailers before I can decide if I want to see it in theaters, though.

Post by **Meg** » March 20th, 2007, 4:02 pm

Besides that, I've like the designs I've seen for Surf's Up so far. I'll probably need to see some more trailers before I can decide if I want to see it in theaters, though.

Same here. The character designs are fantastic - MILES better than any of the ones in Happy Feet.

Post by **ShyViolet** » March 20th, 2007, 11:40 pm

Haven't seen Happy Feet yet (this week, FINALLY

) and while I don't doubt that the SU Penguins are better designed than the Happy Feet ones, I still think the whole Surfer/Penguin thing is just....WRONG.

It feels so marketed. Like the product of some executive meeting.

"People love Penguins....people love surfing.....how about.....surfing Penguins??!"

And not to split hairs or anything, but when I think Penguins....I think very very cold weather. Like snow and ice....y'know....like in that movie Happy Feet.

I wonder what overly-complicated plot twist has Penguins living and thriving (and surfing) in a tropical climate?

(But since I haven't seen it yet of course, and only a few ads, I will try to be more open minded.

)

Post by **Whippet Angel** » March 21st, 2007, 12:12 am

And not to split hairs or anything, but when I think Penguins....I think very very cold weather. Like snow and ice....y'know....like in that movie Happy Feet.

True, but the problem with that is it's been done. When I first saw the previews for Happy Feet, I thought "Another Penguin movie??? Ack, penguin overload!!!!!"

A few months later, when I saw the first preview for Surf's Up, my first thoughts were "Another penguin movie??? Hey.... This one is different.... seems like an interesting concept!" I dunno much about this film, but I do know I was more excited upon seeing the preview than I was when I first saw the one for Happy Feet.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure there are types of penguins that live in tropical climates.

Post by **Daniel** » March 21st, 2007, 2:04 am

Ahh, its turning into another penguin discussion!

cough*madagascar-penguins*cough j/k!

Foodfight! (11/16/07) - In a supermarket, after hours, product mascots and icons come to life. When Lady X plots to sell evil detergent, it's up Dex Dogtective and Daredevil Dan to stop her with a foodfight.

Hmm, now what would be my top 3 choices? That's easy;

1. The Simpsons Movie
2. Meet The Robinsons
3. Ratatouille

Woo hoo!

Post by **ShyViolet** » March 21st, 2007, 2:26 am

Ha ha Dan, you're a daredevil!

Post by **Daniel** » March 22nd, 2007, 12:26 am

After I told my friends about Foodfight, they said the exact same thing! How funny!

Post by **Ben** » March 23rd, 2007, 5:39 am

Thanks for kickstarting a new thread Redwolfe, but I'm guessing dancing/surfing penguins will invade whatever!

Here's my take on the films I'm interested in...

TMNT (3/23/07) - Never being a huge Turtles fan, I'm looking forward to coming to this "fresh" and hopefully being entertained by something different.

Meet The Robinsons (3/30/07) - The 46th WDFA, or the "third"? Whatever, hopes seem high for this, and a simul-release worldwide means I can go see when the States do too. Am hoping it will have real heart and not feel pasted together.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Colon) Movie Film For Theaters (4/13/07) - no interest in this. I don't know the show and it feels like an extended TV episode thrown into theaters to make a quick buck on a current fad. Could have been any other Adult Swim show and had the same effect.

Shrek The Third (5/18/07) - Worried this will be "more of the same", but will go see since the characters are fun and they pulled of Shrek 2 building on the first. Hopefully this will not be "third time UN-lucky".

Surf's Up (6/8/07) - The mockumentary concept is something NEVER done in animation before, and this movie has a vibe of its own. Penguins will rule the box office again, no dount, unless this gets very poor word of mouth. This looks fresh, original, and its own movie. Public fascination with penguins and the huge box office/award success of Happy Feet will lure in average Joes who will see this, like Antz/A Bug's Life, as some kind of "follow-up".

Ratatouille (6/29/07) - The annual Pixar juggernaught. This again looks fresh and unique, but faces VERY stiff competition from surrounding openings and the fact that rats just don't play well onscreen (see Flushed Away) to audiences. This is why, I am sure, we are seeing LOTS more of the human elements in the marketing. Seems to have the potential to succeed, but while this may be a great film in the end, box-office might not hit the heights of other Pixar fare. They should, really, stick to November "magic time" openings.

The Simpsons Movie (7/27/07) - This has the potential to be huge and a late summer opening gurantees its success. Will it be as hysterical as the earlier seasons? Probably not, but close. All the good eggs will have been put into this, and Fox are marketing aggressively. If audiences have become disappointed or over exposed to the show itself then at least they will be aware there is a movie out there. Why pay to go see what you can get at home for free though? They'll have to be making this one pretty special...

Bee Movie (11/2/07) - Seinfeld gets animated. I love the throw-back style that reminds me greatly of "Mr Bug Goes To Town", but Jerry's wit may not play well away from the big cities. The story is going to have to be pretty bland to get all those demographics in, which may water down his very appeal to long-time fans. Let's not forget that "Seinfeld" wasn't a big hit outside the cities, so look for marketing to go "character-centric" as the release date comes up. With that in mind, and no real competition in the "magic time" November slot, this could do very nice "Over The Hedge" type numbers. I'm hoping for a warm, sweet (no pun intended!) comedy.

Foodfight! (11/16/07) - Looooong in development, and from a rip-off (and an unimaginative one at that) idea, this holds no interest from me other than out of curiosity at how bad it's going to be. This will tank big-time while people go see "Bee Movie" and wait for...

Beowulf (11/21/07) - This year's "Lord Of The Rings"? With "300" blowing people away, this could be a return to form for Zemeckis. "Monster House" showed that Performance Capture can work (kinda) when not trying to impersonate real humans, and Z has a stellar cast who could really add what is needed to the process. Given that the technology leaps from film to film, this <I>should</I> be awesome, <I>if</I> Zemeckis can pull back from the toys and display the attention to story detail he used to have so much off from "Used Cars" to "Forrest Gump". The best VFX director out there and the one with the keenest story sense could turn this into the Christmas hit of the year if Sony/Warners (??) market this right.

Enchanted (11/21/07) - More a live-action pic, me thinks, and one that could be "damaged" by yet more fairytale spoofing. A return to (almost!) Disney animation could be the draw here, but its only going to be as good as the live-action actors make it. As long as they believe in their characters and don't look "embarrased" to be there in Noo Yoik looking like they do, this could be great fun. Going for a slightly different audience than "Beowulf", I think "Enchanted" could take a hit from the amount of people that will flock to that film. I don't think - gasp! - this is going to be as big, and perhaps not as good, as people are hoping.

Persepolis - this is going to be a limited release, no question, that sinks without trace. Hopefully we'll see a quick DVD issue, where we can catch up.

My Top 3 Personal Picks (on level of interest, excluding "Enchanted"):

Meet The Robinsons
Surf's Up
Beowulf

My Top 3 Box-Office Predictions (in no particular order):

Shrek The Third
Ratatouille
Beowulf

Post by **YCougar** » March 23rd, 2007, 2:09 pm

Ohhh Beowulf, I didn't know that was coming out this year. I don't know how interested I am personally, but I know my old AP English teacher will be practically frothing at the mouth. He loves Beowulf.

Besides TMNT (going at 7 tonight!), the films that have the most interest for me now are Ratatouille and Surf's Up (the latter mainly because that teaser a while back managed to really suck me in). Meet the Robinsons and Shrek 3 (*cough* sorry, "the Third"

) have me mildly interested, but I'm more likely to catch them at the dollar theater or from the library shortly after DVD release. Bee Movie and Enchanted may be in this category too, but I'll need to catch up on the trailers to see how interested I am.

Foodfight! looks hilarious in a horribly unintentional sort of way.

Post by **Meg** » March 23rd, 2007, 2:45 pm

Looking foward to seeing stuff from Beowulf, even though I don't like mo-cap, because I've been dieing to see an epic CG movie.

Hey, Ain't It Cool News posted pics from it a short while back, but they were taken off. Anyone catch 'em?

And Foodfight! makes Hoodwinked look like Pixar.

Post by **ShyViolet** » April 10th, 2007, 6:50 am

Seems to have the potential to succeed, but while this may be a great film in the end, box-office might not hit the heights of other Pixar fare. They should, really, stick to November "magic time" openings.

Yeah, there's just something about the holidays and animation, isn't there?

*sighs*

I mean look at Monsters Inc, Incredibles, Bug's Life etc.....

Also:

Little Mermaid (November--Thanksgiving, Christmas)

Oliver and Company (November)

Also, the two re-releases of Cinderella in the theaters (one in 1988 and the other one in 2005 if I recall correctly) both were during the holidays.

Anastasia (I think if it had opened in Spring or Summer, very different BO results--especially with all those snow scenes--even though it was a good movie.)

and, of course:

An American Tale!!!

Opened in December I think, BIG BIG BIG hit....also, the film was the first animated film to open at Christmas and actually have Chanuka in it.

**********************************************************

Foodfight! (11/16/07) - Looooong in development, and from a rip-off (and an unimaginative one at that) idea, this holds no interest from me other than out of curiosity at how bad it's going to be.

Yes, I remember hearing about this back in 2003 I think.....

Wonder if it'll be worse than "Happily Never After"? Only time will tell.

http://www.foodfight.com/

You know it couldn't have been a very lavish production if the only big name stars they could get were Charlie Sheen and Hillary Duff!!

Post by **YCougar** » April 10th, 2007, 6:58 pm

Has anyone taken a look at "Foodfight!"'s character gallery? I know they're all supposed to represent different products, but shouldn't the character design have at least a little cohesion?

And their site is kinda tacky. I'm kinda surprised this thing is getting a theatrical release, to be honest.

2007's Upcoming Animated Features

2007's Upcoming Animated Features

Re: 2007's Upcoming Animated Features

Re: 2007's Upcoming Animated Features