Full Length "John Carter" Trailer

Disney have recently released a brand new full length trailer for the upcoming Sci-Fi adventure "John Carter" (formerly titled "John Carter From Mars"), based on the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Directed by Pixar's Andrew Stanton (Wall-E & Finding Nemo), this new trailer looks like the film has some promise. The original teaser trailer looked a little too Conan for my liking but this final trailer, whilst maybe still looking a bit Conan with a bit of Avatar thrown in, looks exciting and I can't wait for its release in March 2012.

A 'Brave' Move for Pixar - Brand New Teaser Trailer Released

The trailer above is for Pixar's next animated feature, "Brave" which tells the story of 'Merida', a young Scottish Princess who defies her parents by defying an old age custom sacred to the lords of the land.

This film will be Pixar's first fairytale and its first film to feature a female lead. It was originally titled "The Bear and the Bow" and was also originally going to be directed by Brenda Chapman (Little Mermaid, Road to Eldorado) but has now been replaced by Mark Andrews (One Man Band, Jack Jack Attack) and although Brenda Chapman is no longer working on the movie she will be credited as co-director.

It's good to see Pixar giving the lead to a female character. Kelly McDonald is supplying the voice of Merida. She has replaced Reese Witherspoon. The official line from Disney/Pixar with regard to the replacing of Reece was due to scheduling conflicts but I am not so sure. Recording voice characters is not quite the same as filming is it ? I think it was more of a case of Reese not being able to portray a believable Scottish accent. Regardless of that the cast list looks strong featuring the acting talents of Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly.

Brave is released in June 2011. Keep an eye out here at 'The Production Diaries' for more information and art as we receive it. So far though it looks pretty good to me.

John Carter Of Mars - First Images

Andrew Stanton is a two time Oscar winning Director from Pixar. Both Wall-E and Finding Nemo won Oscars for best animated feature and he was also co-wrote Toy Story 1, 2 & 3, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, Wall-E and Finding Nemo. He was the second animator to be hired at Pixar (after John Lasseter) and is part of Pixar's Brain Trust, which often review and participate in the film making process of non-Pixar films made by Walt Disney Pictures. To say the man is a talented film maker would be an understatement, but Disney are taking somewhat of a gamble with Andrew's next project.

Mr Stanton is currently on loan to Disney and is in the director's chair for his first live action film, "John Carter of Mars", based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs serialisation from 1912. This film is based on the first story to feature the character John Carter from the novel "The Princess of Mars". This is one story that film makers have wanted to bring to the big screen for decades and has its roots as far back as 1931 when MGM tried to turn it into animated rotoscoped cartoons but they failed to impress test audiences.

The rights to the story have been banded about since the 1980's between Disney, Paramount and back to Disney in 2007 again. As recently as 2005 Robert Rodriguez was lined up to direct the story using digital sets from his Sin City movie.

With Disney back in the frame in 2007 they 'loaned' both Andrew Stanton as director and Mark Andrews as writer from Pixar. Principal photography started in January 2010 at Shepperton Studios and finished in Utah in July the same year. The film stars Taylor Kitsch as 'John Carter', Lynn Collins as 'Dejah Thoris' and a strong supporting cast including James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe, Dominic West and Samantha Morton. Michael Giacchino will be composing the score.

This will be a heavy effects laden movie, as you can see from the concept art below but even I was surprised at how long this one is taking to make. The official release date is March 9th 2012 in the US so that gives Disney plenty of time to get it right.....and they will need to as this story is one that Burroughs fan-boys will be keen to see and, if not done right, will certainly make their opinions known !

Here is the official press release from Disney:

From Academy Award®–winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”—a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

Click on the Book Cover to read an excellent interview with Andrew Stanton in the LA Times. 

Digital Domain.......the new Pixar ???

Digital Domain, co founded in 1993 by creatures effects god Stan Winston and academy award winning director James Cameron are probably one of the biggest effects houses in the world today. Along with the other big two effects companies ILM and Weta Digital, they are responsible for stunning imagery in films such as "Titanic", "Speed Racer", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Not content with that they are now branching out into film making in their own right with plans to build a $40 million dollar studio in Florida with the aim of following in Sony Imageworks and ILM's recent foray into the world of animation. 

ILM had some recent success with "Rango", which marked their very first attempt at an animated movie. Sony Imageworks on the other hand have more than proved they can compete with the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks with successful films such as "Open Season" and "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs." 

Can Digital Domain capture what these other studios have done.....to be honest the jury is still out with me. Whilst I have admired Digital Domain's work for many years, for me they have always just lagged behind ILM and Weta when it comes to innovation. Also their recent attempt to create a realistic 'young' looking Jeff Bridges in "Tron Legacy" just didn't pay off and left me feeling a bit creeped out with it all, despite all the other effects blowing me away. 

Creepy Jeff

Creepy 'Dead Eyed' Jeff

As you can see from these two pictures there is something a little "Uncanny Valley" about them.

Ok, so a creepy looking Jeff Bridges isn't enough evidence to suggest Digital Domain are not up to the job of creating some stunning looking CGI animated films I will admit but there is more to making an animated film than just making it look good.

Take London based effects house Framestore for example. Aside from supplying some awesome effects work for films such as Avatar, they have also gone down the complete film production route with films including "Harry Brown", "Triangle" and "Me and Orson Welles". However their attempt at animation was the incredibly dire "Tale of Despereaux". A film that starred a very cute big eared mouse but lacked story, script, heart and characterisation. It was one of the worst films of 2008 despite having big names attached to it. It was no Pixar, that's for sure.

Digital Domain are laying all their hopes on their employment of two ex-Disney employees. Animator Aaron Blaise, whose credits include animating "Pocahontas", "The Lion King", "Beauty and the Beast" and directing "Brother Bear" has been hired along with "Brother Bear's" executive producer Chuck Williams. Chuck has been quoted as saying.

  “As Pixar is struggling with sequels and Disney’s struggling to find itself, I think it’s a good time for us to come in with a different point of view with great family films.” 
I reckon most companies wished they were 'struggling' as much as Pixar. Toy Story 3 grossed over $1 billion in 2010 which is no mean feat for any film, let alone an animated sequel. Pixar have not had a failure yet. Despite "Cars" being their least popular film to date, they are gambling on its sequel "Cars 2" and I think it will be a huge success worldwide, plus the marketing side including the toys alone will probably rake in ten times more that what the film will make, so I'm guessing Pixar are a long way from 'struggling' just yet !

Time will tell I suppose and I really do wish them well but please don't try and knock really, really successful companies when you haven't even dipped your toe in the water first.

New Winnie the Pooh Clip on Youtube

Walt Disney Animation studios have recently posted a clip from the forthcoming Winnie The Pooh feature which opens April 15th 2011 in the UK whilst the US will have to wait until July (unusual for the UK to get a WD film first ??)

I think this is a brave move for Disney and I really hope it pays off. In a world of 3D CGI animation, going back to hand drawn for a second time after The Princess and the Frog is a gamble because although 'Princess' was a great film it suffered from being released at the same time as Avatar and we all know how well that did. Also Winnie the Pooh is nothing new and the techniques used are the same as the ones used on other Winnie the Pooh shorts but is this a bad thing ? Answer....No ! 

If is isn't broken, don't fix it. This promises to be classic Disney and I can't wait for it. I am most excited though about Bud Luckey voicing Eeyore. Bud Luckey is a legend in the world of animation. Working for Pixar for many years he was one of the main artists behind the creation of Toy Story's Woody and he also created and directed one of Pixar's best short films ever in the form of Boundin'.

Take a look at both the clip and the trailer (which features music from Keane to great effect) and I don't mind telling you I had a small tear forming in my eye at the end of it. Quite beautiful !