Channel Frederator Blog

January 30th, 2009. The Annie Awards. Animation’s big awards night was no disappointment to this happy fangirl.

Host Tom Kenny kicked off the ceremony with a musical spoof “I Want my Annie” featuring the incredible Andy Paley Orchestra (seen monthly at Hollywood’s M Bar in the Thrilling Adventure and Supernatural Suspense Hour) and a cameo by fellow Thrilling Adventurer, actor David “Gruber” Allen as the devil.

At the reception after the awards Mr. Kenny gave me major kudos on my vintage dress. So he wins everything on my ballot. But if you want to know how all those other awards went down…

Of the recipients Dreamworks Animation garnered the most awards with 15 total wins, the majority of which were for this year’s animation ass-kickers, television program Secrets of the Furious Five and the feature film Kung Fu Panda. In addition to winning Best Picture, Kung Fu Panda also took Best Animated Video Game, Best Direction for an Animated Feature, Storyboarding [Read more…]

Variety says it best:

 “Kung Fu Panda” kicked considerable butt at the 36th annual Annie Awards on Friday night, shutting out the competition to win every feature-related category the international animation society ASIFA offers — and then some, earning additional kudos for its videogame and “Secrets of the Furious Five” short film tie-ins.

This is huge for Deamworks! To many, they have been the house of Shrek. Now Kung Fu Panda changes that. The animation industry has seen that they are much more than just the home of the green ogre. Congratulations to the crew! Now, on to the Oscars! -Floyd Bishop 

The Golden Globe nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are Disney’s Bolt, DreamWorks Animation’s Kung-Fu Panda and Disney/Pixar’s WALL•E. Both Bolt and WALL•E have songs nominated for Best Original Song. “Down to Earth” from WALL•E features music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, with lyrics by Peter Gabriel, and “I thought I Lost You” from Bolt has music and lyrics by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele.

The animated documentary Waltz with Bashir from Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman is up for Best Foreign Language Film.

-Floyd Bishop

Ever since the release of “Toy Story” back in 1995, movie audiences seem to have been in love with all things Pixar. This goes for many animation fans as well, sometimes to the point of fanaticism. Is this a healthy thing? In this post, I’ll be asking some questions that challenge that fanaticism, and I hope that Pixar fans will try to provide some answers in the comments section.

When Dreamworks released “Shark Tale”, many people implied that Dreamworks was trying to follow in the footsteps of Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”. They are both films that are primarily based underwater. The similarities end there for me. When Pixar released “WALL-E” this year, no one seemed to remember either Blue Sky’s “Robots” from 2005, nor the design of Johnny 5 from “Short Circuit” (another robot who becomes self aware and gains a personality). Granted, the Pixar films were stronger films in both cases, but the similarities are there [Read more…]

via The Business Sheet

This was an interesting read. It seems that many of the actions and attitudes in the Dreamworks animated film “Kung Fu Panda” are at odds with what are common mainstays in Chinese cinema. While many have to do with the characters’ flaws (which help to sell their believability), some are taking offense to the way Po interacts with his teacher. In China, a student has nothing but deep respect for their instructor.

In such a global community, is it not possible to do an animated film that is based on a culture, yet observes that culture’s beliefs AND entertains a broad audience? I enjoyed the film, but was unaware of some of the cultural gaffs that it included. While I was not offended, I can now see why some may have been. What do you think?

-Floyd Bishop 

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that “Kung Fu Panda” has grabbed the #1 spot at the box office this weekend with an estimated $60 million domestically.

From the article:

Outpaced by a pair of sequels in the animation studio’s “Shrek” franchise and a four-day bow for 2005’s “Madagascar,” “Panda” had pre-release expectations more comparable to DWA’s family comedy “Over the Hedge.” “Hedge” opened in May 2006 with $38.5 million.

The “Panda” debut included $2.3 million rung up from 89 of Imax’s giant-screen venues.

Did you see “Kung Fu Panda”? If so, what did you think of the film? Write up your take on it in the comments section.

-Floyd Bishop

Today I was lucky enough to attend an advanced screening of the upcoming Dreamworks film “Kung Fu Panda”. I went into the film trying to keep an open mind. Everything I had seen from the film made it look like a fun film, but I’ve been burned before. This film delivered and then some. It kept me involved and entertained from the opening sequence right through to the end credits (and there is a small bit of animation after the credits… stick around for it).

It’s hard to believe this is the same studio that released “Shark Tale” just a few short years ago. If you remember the promotions for that film, they really promoted the heck out of the all star voice cast. Angelina Jolie and Jack Black, two “Shark Tale” alum appear in this film, but this time the voices seem to fit the characters very well.

Don’t judge the film by [Read more…]