Final WALL-E Trailer

Disney and Pixar have unveiled the final trailer for their upcoming box-office smash.

WALL-E is going to be BIG. Pixar have come off Ratatouille, arguably one of their best films, and have all the momentum leading into this June release. The film will be a box-office hit, guaranteed, but I wouldn't be surprised if it cracked $125-million on opening weekend.



Pixar has brought out a new, and final, trailer for the film. Check it out below or click HERE to watch it in HD.



As much as I refuse to respect cg-animation I must admit that I'm kinda excited for this flick. The character designs are really tight and robots are totally sweet. Pixar is also pushing the envelope with visuals in this film unlike any other. Everything is crisp and the atmospheric effects look absolutely amazing.

What do you guys think about this trailer? What about computer-animation as a whole? Will you go watch WALL-E on opening weekend? Let me know, post a comment.

WALL-E hits theatres on June 27th. If any film is going go head to head with The Dark Knight this summer it will be this one. Watch out.

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Monsters vs Aliens 3-D

Dreamworks have rallied up a hilarious cast for their "ultimate 3-D" B-movie.

Dreamworks has announced the cast for their upcoming 3-D B-movie spoof Monsters vs Aliens. Reese Witherspoon will play the animated film's lead role as a 49-foot woman who must fend off an alien invasion. Joining her in the fight is Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogan, Kiefer Sutherland, and Will Arnett. Rainn Wilson will lend his chords to the alien villain and Stephen Colbert will voice the President.



Monsters vs Aliens will also be the debut of what Dreamworks' animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg is calling "ultimate 3-D". The animated film is the first to be shot in natural 3-D and will be digitally projected in theatres across North America come 2009. Dreamworks has also announced that, moving forward, all of their CG-animated movies will be shot in natural 3-D.

While I'm not normally a fan of computer-animation I am slightly interested in this project. I'm a sucker for 3-D on the big screen and Monsters vs Aliens looks like it could be a fun experience.

Monsters vs Aliens doesn't come out until March 27th, 2009. MediaZEALOT will have more information on the film leading up until its release.

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Spectacular Spider-Man's Saturday Morning Debut

Ultimate Spider-Man: Animated.

I woke up early, well earlier than normal, on Saturday to catch the first two episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man on the Kids WB. The show, which is being produced by Culver Entertainment, features a young Spidey on a timeline similar to that found in Ultimate Spider-Man. It also happens to be pretty good.



From what was shown in the first two episodes it looks like The Spectacular Spider-Man is going to stick around for the long haul. This is mainly because of aspect; connectivity. There seem to be quite a few subplots running through and fusing together each episode. Even after only an hour of animation I felt as if enough seeds had been planted to feed another three or four future stories. We may have only seen Vulture and Electro in action but Eddie Brock, Kurt Connors, and Dr. Octavius have all been established thus far. The one thing that bothers me the most with a show like this is when each story is self-contained. It looks like that won't be a problem with The Spectacular Spider-Man.

I'm also quite a big fan of the action scenes in the SSM. You really get a sense of movement when Spidey is in action as the camera swings and cuts quite a bit. The feeling is very cinematic and sets itself apart from other Saturday morning cartoons.



If I have one complaint about The Spectacular Spider-Man it's that it can get rather cheesy. Both episodes seemed to have a morale message tacked on that didn't really tie into the story. There's nothing wrong with sending a good message, I just felt that it was situationally unnecessary in both episodes.

Did any of you guys catch the first two episodes of SSM? What did you think? Post a comment and share your thoughts. If you haven't you can check them out on YouTube.

The Spectacular Spider-Man airs Saturdays at 10:00am on The CW.

Cheers.

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Jeff Smith's Bone Optioned by Warner

The Eisner Award Winning comic series has a date with the silver screen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter Jeff Smith's Bone is set for a film adaptation. Warner Bros has optioned the movie and brought in producer Dan Lin to supervise the project. Lin is one of the executives involved with the Thundercats movie and has also worked on The Doom Patrol and Masters of the Universe. A director has not yet been attached and there have been no details on what style of animation the film will employ.



I'm not too excited about a Bone adaptation. While I'm a big fan of the comic series I can't see the film sharing the same tone as the books. Bone is great because Smith blends light and dark and isn't afraid to take risks. The film would no doubt be geared towards a children's audience and would have to gear down and play it safe. There are some characters and situations in the comics that would have to be removed or changed in the adaptation to keep this film kid-friendly.

Warner has brought Smith on board as executive producer allowing him to overlook the project. Hopefully he can help maintain the integrity of his comic book creation.

I am skeptical of this project and will continue to be so until I hear more about it. Bone has the potential to be an amazing animated film. However, I'm not so sure it will happen.

Can Warner Bros put out a solid Bone adaptation? Who would be the best choice to direct? Who would you cast as the voice of Fone Bone? Post a comment and let me know what you think.

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Conroy to Voice Batman in Gotham Knight

The Batman veteran will once again lend his voice to the Dark Knight.

MediaZEALOT ran an article a week ago about the confirmation Christian Bale may not voice The Bat in the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight. Well, today DC and Warner Home Entertainment have revealed Kevin Conroy will once again be the man behind the voice of Batman.



As much as I love Kevin Conroy's Batman I am disappointed by this announcement. Bale should be the one doing this project. Gotham Knight is about Batman in Christopher Nolan's universe, not the one found in Batman: The Animated Series. Bringing Conroy into the mix just blurs the line between what has come before and what is now.

I'm still enthusiastic about Batman: Gotham Knight. However, quite a bit of my excitement has been lost due to Bale not taking part.

Batman: Gotham Knight hits DVD and Blu-ray disc on July 8th.

Cheers.

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Official Wall-E One Sheet

Pixar has released the official movie poster for their next big animated release.

The final theatrical poster for Pixar's Wall-E has been released and will most likely start showing up wherever posters are hung in the next few weeks. Check it out below:



This is a much better poster than the boring white teaser Pixar released a few months back and really sets a good tone for the animated film. While the movie has been getting a ton of buzz leading up to it's June release I'm still not sold. Then again, I've had a really hard time buying into most of the CG-animated films released over the past few years, they just aren't my thing.

Wall-E lands in theatres on June 27th.

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Batman: Gotham Knight Sneak Peak

A sneak peak at the Batman: Gotham Knight DVD has hit the net.

Batman: Gotham Knight is an anime anthology DVD which will be released in the weeks prior to The Dark Knight hitting cinemas. There will be six interlocking stories on the DVD from creators such as Josh Olsen (A History of Violence), David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), Greg Rucka (Detective Comics), Alan Burnett (Batman: The Animated Series), and Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets). Christian Bale will, naturally, lend his voice to the project as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Check out the sneak peak below:



Warner Bros has also confirmed that a deluxe edition of Batman Begins will be released at the same time as Batman: Gotham Knight on both DVD and Blu-ray. An uber-deluxe edition will also be released combining the two. Click HERE to pre-order your copy over at Amazon.

Cheers.

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Star Wars Headed Back to the Big Screen

Lucasfilm Animation has 22 episodes ready and an animated feature to kick things into gear.

It looks as if Star Wars is headed back to the silver screen. It's true, and no, it won't be live action. Instead George Lucas and his crew at Lucasfilm Animation will release a fully computer-animated feature titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars followed by 22 already completed 30-minute episodes.

The show will be labeled an expansion and will follow key concepts introduced during 2003's Cartoon Network show Star Wars: Clone Wars. Set during the three year period known as the Clone Wars it will explore the good side of Anakin's character and Obi-Wan's relationship with the young apprentice.



This should be really sweet. George Lucas has a chance to re-establish the Star Wars Universe in a different medium and take his time with things over the course of the show. The focus should be on fun, great visuals, and great storytelling. Hopefully that's what we get.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars will hit theatres in the summer leading the way for the show to kick off in the autumn. It will air on The Cartoon Network and later hit cable's TNT.

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New Spider-Man Animated Series Kicks Off in March

The wall-crawler is back in his Saturday morning time slot.

A few months ago Marvel announced that Spider-Man was once again going to be returning to the animated world under the title The Spectacular Spider-Man. The show, which features an artistic style similar to that of the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and the Cartoon Network's new Tranformers animated series, will hit The CW in just under a month.

The show looks like it could be awesome. Spider-Man animation needs to get back to where it was in the mid nineties and, while that may be a ambitious goal, I think this new show could do it. The Spectacular Spider-Man is all about Peter getting into the swing of being a superhero. He's young, inexperienced, and has a lot to learn; think Ultimate Spider-Man. Who wouldn't love an animated Ultimate Spider-Man?



The show will supposedly follow a similar timeline to that in the comics but condensed to introduce key characters and plot points at a quicker pace. Hopefully it isn't rushed but still manages to cover enough ground every week. The first episode features the introduction of The Vulture, Peter's first super-villain test in the show.

Hopefully The Spectacular Spider-Man is a success. I've been dying to see a faithful animated Spider-Man on TV for ages and hopefully this can do the trick. Well, at least until Fox and Marvel find a way to bring the 1994 Spider-Man Animated Series out on DVD.

The Spectacular Spider-Man premieres on Saturday, March 8th on Kids' WB! on the CW at 10:00am with two back-to-back 30 minute episodes.

Check out the trailer below.

Cheers.

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