Written by Karlamon :

[Sony Pictures]

Hello again, and welcome this week’s Weekly News! Hope you readers in the States had a wonderful Thanksgiving. In this article, we’ll discuss about the rave reception Moana has been getting, the new trailers of Smurfs: The Lost Village and Cars 3, a person jailed for suing DreamWorks over Kung Fu Panda, and a bonus story.

Moana amazes critics

Well folks, the wait is over. The most-anticipated animated film of this year is out in theatres. I am of course talking about Moana, the new musical by Walt Disney Animation Studios!

[Walt Disney Pictures]

As the big comeback for directing duo Ron Clements and John Musker (directors of Disney classics like The Great Mouse Detective, Aladdin, and The Princess and the Frog), their first venture into computer-animation brings the Disney Princess formula to ancient Polynesia, as Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) sets sail in search of Demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson of Planet 51) to save her people. But with Zootopia regarded as a masterpiece, could Disney make lightning strike twice with Moana?

The answer: An absolute yes! Moana has earned near-universal praise by critics, with reviews commending the outstanding animation, highly-memorable songs, and admirable characters with three-dimensional depth in them. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has earned not just the “Certified Fresh” seal, but also an almost-perfect percentage on the Tomatometer, making it a must-see.

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter described the movie as “a vibrantly rendered adventure that combines state-of-the-art CG animation with traditional storytelling and colorful characters, all enlivened by a terrific voice cast.” The Seattle Times critic Soren Andersen rated Moana 4 stars out of 4, saying “Everything in the picture, from the characters’ clothes and hairstyles to the vessels they sail, bear the stamp of authenticity. But Moana’s greatest strength is the verve in which they move the action along and the sheer joyousness evident in every aspect of their storytelling.”

So with what the critics are saying, Moana is something definably worth checking out. As a bonus during screenings, Disney will show their new animated short Inner Workings before the movie starts. Check out the trailer!

• Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic

Also with the release of Moana, we have been provided with new trailers for two upcoming animated features. Both of which are aiming to be franchise redeemers. We’ll dive into both right now.

Smurfs: The Lost Village - Official Trailer

For many decades, Peyo’s The Smurfs has charmed audiences worldwide with the comics, the Hanna-Barbera animated series, the various merchandise, and the live-action… scratch that, lets just say those two recent live-action Smurfs movies sucked. And Sony Pictures Animation clearly realised their mistake. They scrapped their plans for a third instalment, and are now rebooting the franchise as a fully-animated feature, so they can make The Smurfs good again.

Hence Smurfs: The Lost Village is on it’s way! The reboot serves as an origin story of the tiny blue creatures, with the aim of being very faithful to the works of Peyo. Of course we did get a teaser that was released alongside Storks, but the new full-length trailer gives us more of what to expect in the search for the Lost Village.

With what Sony has done so far, I have to say I’m pretty pleased with it. For one thing, the Smurfs themselves look really nice in design and animation. It’s not like the realistic ones in those live-action duds where they kinda fall into the uncanny valley. In here however, the cartoony aesthetics make them much more appealing. On top of that, some jokes have good wit to them, and the Forbidden Forest seems intriguing to check out. Far better than dumping the Smurfs in New York City and Paris I must say.

Another cool aspect of the production would be director Kelly Asbury. You may know him for directing Spirit: Stallion of the Cimeron, Shrek 2, and Gnomeo & Juliet, all of which I gotta say are highly enjoyable films. It seems like he’s doing a great job bringing new life to this world, and I would recommend checking out his production blog The Blue Print. It really showcases his dedication towards the project.

Scheduled for release on April 7, 2017 by Columbia Pictures, Smurfs: The Lost Village will be the first of three animated features of 2017 by Sony Pictures Animation. The studio will follow up with Emojimovie: Express Yourself in August, and The Star in November.

Cars 3 - Official Teaser Trailer

When Pixar announced that Cars 3 would be in the works, everyone face palmed. It’s a sequel to Pixar’s worst movie, which that itself is a sequel to Pixar’s then-worst movie, so nobody saw the point. But then Pixar released the 49-second teaser trailer, and audiences were left in shock.

The teaser shows what we’d least expected from a Cars movie. What we were given was Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) in a devastating racing accident, presented in slow-motion and dark colour grading. This got everyone on the internet talking about about it, considering this big tonal shift from the previous movies.

I will admit that the teaser is very well-crafted, yet darkly shocking at the same time. I guess the surprise came to everyone because Cars isn’t really Pixar’s most-loved franchise. The first movie was okay, but Cars 2 was just an downright embarrassment that damaged the studio’s reputation. But with this teaser, this is a full 180-turn from a goofy Mater spy cartoon, to McQueen in a near-death experience.

Maybe they learned from their mistakes in the second film, and could make Cars 3 into something great. Who knows? We don’t know if the movie itself is going to be consistently somber like in the teaser, but it sure has kicked up my then-limited interest on the third instalment.

Since Cars creator John Lasseter is busy making Toy Story 4, Cars 3’s directing is in the hands of newcomer Brian Fee, who worked as a storyboard artist on the first two films. The sequel is set to be released on June 16, 2017 by Walt Disney Pictures. Pixar will then follow up with their Día de Muertos movie Coco in November of that same year.

Fake Kung Fu Panda “creator” jailed for up to 25 years

From time to time, a person insane enough would try to sue a big company over their “stolen idea”, just for the sake of getting rich. Most of the time, they fail miserably. This one involving someone who claimed he created Kung Fu Panda was no exception, and my oh my did things get ugly with this!

[DreamWorks Animation]

51-year-old “cartoonist” Jayme Gordon attempted to sue DreamWorks Animation for stealing his “idea” of a fighting panda bear. Not only was DreamWorks thrown into this pointless mess, but it even started criminal investigation by the federal government. Gordon’s excuse for his “creation” is probably among the most pathetic I have ever come across. You won’t believe it at first, but it’s true.

It was said that Gordon revised his “Panda Power” concept after seeing the trailer of Kung Fu Panda back in early-2008. He then registered his concept retitled “Kung Fu Panda Power” to the Copyright Office in May 2008, one month before the release of the DreamWorks film.

Gordon attempted to use concept artwork he claimed to create back in 1992 to prove his point. After an intensive investigation into this evidence, it was discovered he not only lied about the year of creation, but it was also the fact that his drawings were flat-out copied from a 1996 Lion King colouring book! DreamWorks’ lawyers traced down this fact through an eBay shopping spree on Lion King merchandise.

Jayme Gordon's so-called "concept art" was copied from a Lion King colouring book.
[Image obtained from Cartoon Brew]

“I’ve never had a case that involved this kind of spoliation of evidence, this kind of destruction of evidence. This was absolutely unique in my experience.” said Jonathan Zavin, one of DreamWorks’ lead lawyers of Loeb & Loeb.

Through all this lying and fake evidence (and even deliberating deleting computer files containing lawsuit material in April 2012), Jayme Gordon was convicted for wire fraud and perjury by a Boston federal jury. He will be sentenced to prison on March 30, 2017 for a maximum of 25 years. DreamWorks Animation and co-defendant Paramount Pictures blew an unrecoverable $3 million just to defend themselves, making this preposterous court case a complete waste of time and money.

The moral: Never sue a major corporation just for a quick buck. You will not win.

• Source: Cartoon Brew

Bonus Story - A flood of bizarre Bee Movie videos

Remember Bee Movie? That 2007 DreamWorks movie with Jerry Seinfeld as a bee? The one where a woman ditches her boyfriend for a bee and the bee sues the entire human race over stolen honey? Well, the internet sure does, and boy have they done some weird stuff with the movie.

[DreamWorks Animation]

The movie has gained a rather unusual online following due to it’s ridiculous premise, and the weird relationship between a human and a bee. Among the many memes spawned from Bee Movie, the latest fad is bizarre (or should I say “buzzarre”) edits of the movie on YouTube. These include the movie/trailer sped up, slowed down, and warped (usually occurring every time the word “bee” is said in the video).

A flood of these videos have been going on throughout this week. Many of these have gathered thousands of views, even millions! The fad’s popularity has led it to be reported on sites like The A.V. Club, The Independent, and Polygon.

I have embedded one of the many crazy examples of these videos. Bee movie trailer but every "bee" is repeated by how many were said before it is exactly what the title says. Can you “beelieve” that this has 1.3 million views!?

Here’s more to lose your sanity over:

• - The bee movie trailer but every time they say bee it does the whole trailer really fast
• - Bee movie trailer but every time they say bee it gets slower
• - Bee movie trailer but it's backwards but every bee is forwards
• - the bee movie trailer but every time it says bee it gets more distorted
• - The Bee Movie Trailer but Every Word is in Alphabetical Order
• - Bee Movie but it's in 3 minutes
• - The entire bee movie but every time they say bee it gets faster
• - The Bee Movie But Without Bees

And this is where I’ll wrap things up for this week. Have you seen Moana yet? Are you interested in seeing Smurfs: The Lost Village and Cars 3? Are you dumbfounded with the Kung Fu Panda lawsuit? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see ya next week!

• - Karlamon