Warner Bros. Looks to Rejuvenate its Animation House
“Warner Bros. has an extraordinary legacy in the world of animation, including some of the most enduring characters in cinema history. Looking to the future, we have now gathered some of the best and brightest talents in the industry to help us grow and broaden that legacy. Drawing upon their imaginations and inspiration, the Studio will produce a slate of new and original animated films that are sure to delight audiences of all ages.” said Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov.
It seems Warner Bros. aren’t content with just being a studio with a strong animation history, as Variety reports the studio has put in place a “creative consortium” (á la Pixar’s Brain Trust I imagine) to spearhead its new animation initiative.
In recent years, Warner Bros. has output live-action mega-blockbusters, like Harry Potter and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, however, its animation front hasn’t really been firing on all cylinders since the golden days of Looney Tunes. The studio looks to try and fix that with this new set-up, aiming to release one “high-end” film a year, starting in 2014 with Lego.
The newly formed consortium consists of John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Crazy, Stupid, Love., Cats & Dogs), Nicholas Stoller (The Muppets), Phil Lord and Chris Miller - not DreamWorks’ Chris Miller - (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and Jared Stern (Mr. Popper’s Penguins). A pretty strong gathering, it seems, with a firm grounding in animation. As mentioned, the group’s first project is next year’s The Lego Movie (released 7th February, 2014), which is directed by Lord and Miller and stars the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and others.
Warner Brothers, in an attempt to comeback as one of the leading animation studios, have announced a line-up of upcoming films: The Lego Movie (February 7, 2014), Storks (2015)written by Stoller and directed by Pixar alum Doug Sweetland, and Smallfoot (2016)written by Requa and Ficarra, from an idea by director Sergio Pablos.
Yaaay! I love this. I haven’t seen of their movies, like Iron Giant (please don’t kill me) but I LOVE their old stuff like Looney Toons.
the latest in the lois-gets-her-art-stolen chronicles: a chilean publisher has decided to take this artwork, drag it through photoshop hell, and use it as a cover for this book, obviously without permission or compensation of any kind. not only is it copyright infringement but making book covers this ugly should be outlawed too.
anyways, i went through this before when i found my art printed on sweaters in south korea. i talked to a few different lawyers at the time, who told me that i needed a lawyer in the actual country that the theft was taking place. sending threatening letters from the netherlands just wasn’t the way to be taken seriously or get things solved. because i never found out who was making those korean sweaters, i decided to give up fighting after they were removed from the korean web-shops - it just wasn’t worth the money i would have to invest in pursuing it.
however, this time around i actually do know who the thief is (Puerto de Escape in Chile) and i intend to go after them. however, i need someone who is familiar with chilean law and ideally could hook me up with a lawyer in chile to help me out and give advice. i could also use advice from anyone familiar with these situations and how they can be resolved. if you guys could spread the word and e-mail me at loishh@gmail.com with any information, that would help me SO much! thanks a ton for reading!!
For those of you who haven’t seen this and are interested in animation/disney history, here we have “Frank and Ollie”, a documentary from 1995 about probably the two most well known of Walt’s Nine Old Men.
Definitely worth a watch, and in my opinion a purchase. You can get the DVD cheap online.